Weekend Open Thread
[guest post by Dana]
Here are a few news items to talk about. Feel free to share anything you think readers would find interesting. Please make sure to include links.
Here we go!
First news item
Georgia Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan on Sunday said he wants to expand voting, calling many voting reform proposals “solutions in search of a problem.”
“Republicans don’t need election reform to win, we need leadership,” he said on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” disavowing former President Donald Trump’s attempts to undermine faith in elections.
“I think there’s millions of Republicans waking up around the country that are realizing that Donald Trump’s divisive tone and strategy is unwinnable in forward-looking elections,” Duncan said.
Pulling dumb, tone-deaf stunts like this is not “leadership”:
A controversial provision of a massive voting and election administration-related bill signed into law in Georgia on Thursday will prohibit volunteers from delivering free supplies like food, water, chairs, or rain gear to voters waiting in line to vote.
…
Those limits apply inside and within 150 feet of voting locations, and within 25 feet of voting lines. The section of the law says that volunteers and election officials, however, can set up water stations that voters can independently go to.
So Georgia Republicans believe that making it illegal to hand out water to voters waiting in line is a sure path to victory? Got it.
A majority of voters in Georgia oppose a provision in the recently signed election bill that makes it a crime to provide food and water to voters while they are waiting in line to cast their ballot, according to a new poll.
The poll, which as conducted by Target Smart, found that 76 percent of voters in the state said they oppose the provision, including 83 percent of Democrats and 66 percent of Republicans.
Georgia Republicans had been pushing to:
1) Eliminate mail voting for most people under age 65
2) Curtail early in-person voting
3) Completely end “Souls to the Polls” Sunday voting
4) End automatic voting registration
5) Eliminate drop boxes
None of that got included.
Second news item
Poor is poor and hungry is hungry, no?:
The mayor of Oakland, Calif., announced on Tuesday that a privately funded program will offer low-income families of color $500 per month, with no restrictions on how to spend the funds.
To be eligible for the Oakland Resilient Families program, which has already raised $6.75 million from private donors, must be non-white, have at least one child under 18, and income at or below 50 percent of the area median income — roughly $59,000 per year for a family of three.
Half of the spaces are set aside for those who earn below 138 percent of the federal poverty level, which amounts to roughly $30,000 per year for a family of three.
Participants will be randomly selected from a pool of applicants who meet eligibility criteria. It will aim to help up to 600 families, one of the largest efforts nationwide and the first to restrict participation to black, indigenous and people of color communities.
Third news item
The San Francisco school board voted 5-2 Thursday to strip Board member Alison Collins of her title as vice president and committee assignments in a rare and somber vote of no confidence…
Collins has been the subject of widespread calls for her resignation this week after a group working toward the recall of several board members resurfaced 2016 tweets of hers targeting Asian Americans.
In the tweets, Collins wrote that she was attempting to “to combat anti-black racism in the Asian community at at [sic] my daughters’ mostly Asian Am[erican] school.” She wrote that she once attended a “mostly Asian Am[erican] school” and knows “all too well” that many Asian Americans “believe they benefit from the ‘model minority’ BS,” and use “white supremacist thinking to assimilate and ‘get ahead.’” She noted that on Facebook, her former high school peers’ timelines are full of whites and Asians, and yet “No recognition #BlackLivesMatter exists.”
She demanded to know where “are the vocal Asians speaking up against Trump? Don’t they know they are on his list as well?”
“Do they think they won’t be deported? profiled? beaten? Being a house n****r is still being a n****r. You’re still considered “the help.”
Collins’ apologized for the tweets but said they were taken out of context. Just gonna say, Allison, you are a grown-ass woman and not some dumb 17-year old, and you cannot justify tweeting what you did, so just sit down.
Collins also pushed to rename 44 of San Francisco’s public schools because a pandemic and thousands of school kids stuck in fronts of screens at home apparently wasn’t the pressing problem that parents believed it to be.
Fourth news item
Identity crisis: no, we will not refer to you as Her Royal Highness:
I didn’t write the loopholes you exploit, @amazon – your armies of lawyers and lobbyists did. But you bet I’ll fight to make you pay your fair share. And fight your union-busting. And fight to break up Big Tech so you’re not powerful enough to heckle senators with snotty tweets. https://t.co/3vCAI93MST
— Elizabeth Warren (@SenWarren) March 26, 2021
Dear Liz, you entitled prig, consider yourself heckled with the purest, most precisely aimed, well-honed bit of passive-aggressive snottiness ever lobbed your way. America’s wonderful freedom to criticize, heckle, and insult its leaders – especially those self-regarded aristocrats – shall not be allowed to languish when such a ripe opportunity presents itself. Sniff.
Fifth news item
How is this not censoring the news:
As the Biden administration scrambles to accommodate a spike of migrant children crossing the border, it has largely cut off media access to the story where it is taking place, leaving the American public blind to the costs and consequences. Every administration endeavors to manage the images that shape public opinion, but this is not management; it seems more like censorship…
…
Unfortunately, with almost no journalists allowed inside, there is little indication how those strains look, sound and feel. A few members of Congress have visited — one, Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), who accompanied Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas to a Customs and Border Protection processing facility in El Paso last week, described young migrants sleeping on thin mattresses on the floor, bunched a foot or less apart from each other. But for now, that description and a few other scraps are all Americans have to go by…
News organizations that for weeks have been requesting access to facilities, or permission to go on ride-alongs with border agents, have been refused or ignored. One photojournalist who has worked along the border for years, John Moore, wrote in The Post that the restrictions he has encountered are unprecedented in recent years.
Sixth news item
A colossal container ship that ran aground in the Suez Canal on Tuesday has ensnarled one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes in a marine traffic jam.
Two days later, more than 100 container ships are still waiting at each end of the canal as tug boats and dredgers struggle to free the Ever Given, which weighs 200,000 metric tons and stretches 1,300 feet long.
“It’s just like having an accident on the interstate,” Donald Maier, the Dean for the School of Maritime Transportation, Logistics, and Management at the California Maritime Academy, tells Pop Mech. “That accident shuts down all lanes of travel, and everything will then start to back up.”
If the Panamanian-flagged ship isn’t freed soon, it could spell disaster for a global shipping industry already hobbled by the effects of COVID-19.
The Ever Given, which is owned by the Japanese company Shoei Kisen Kaisha, was on its way to the port of Rotterdam from China when it became stuck after a sandstorm blew through the region. Visibility plummeted and wind gusts reached speeds of up to 31 miles per hour.
It’s certainly a grave situation given that the longer the ships remain stuck, the greater the possibility of piracy.
Japan puts on an optimistic face:
On Friday morning, the canal’s service provider, Leth Agencies, said in a tweet that the Ever Given “remains grounded in the same position” with tugboats and dredgers working to dislodge the vessel, which is blocking the flow of an estimated $12 billion in goods.
Meanwhile, the Japanese owner of the ship expressed hope that it could be freed by Saturday night. Yukito Higaki, president of Shoei Kisen Kaisha, apologized Friday for the “great trouble and concern,” adding, “we want to work hard and get the situation back to normal,” according to the Japanese financial news website Nikkei Asia.
Egypt’s Suez Canal Authority said Friday afternoon that its dredging operations were roughly 87 percent complete, but navigational safety regulations prevented the dredging ship from moving too close to the Ever Given. Other methods of removing the sand will be deployed, the authority said, without specifying what that might entail.
I’m adding this to end on a lighter note and because it’s so cleverly done:
The former traffic reporter in me couldn’t resist giving you a Suez Canal traffic update… pic.twitter.com/1CssLkQDty
— Jon Hansen (@JonHansenTV) March 26, 2021
Seventh news item
The sister of a man who was shot and killed by a juvenile gang member is outraged after the motion to have him prosecuted as an adult was withdrawn by District Attorney George Gascón as part of his new reforms, despite the fact that the murderer has continued to post his allegiance to his gang on social media while in custody.
In September 2017, 40-year-old Ontario Courtney’s car broke down in the wrong neighborhood in South LA, in an area that was controlled by the Hoover’s gang.
While he was waiting for AAA, a vehicle full of four Main Street Mafia Crips gang members spotted him, pulled up, and shot at him at least 36 times, according to prosecutors.
Ontario didn’t survive. He had been mistaken as a member of the Hoovers gang, according to prosecutors.
No wonder victims of violent crimes are campaigning to recall Gascon.
Eighth news item
Michigan Republican Party Chairman Ron Weiser labeled the state’s top Democratic officeholders “witches” and referenced “assassination” when pressed Thursday for answers about how to remove two sitting GOP congressmen.
After the remarks were reported by The Detroit News on Friday, prompting a firestorm of criticism mostly from Democrats and calls for his resignation from the University of Michigan’s Board of Regents, Weiser said on Twitter that his comments “are clearly being taken out of context.” But he admitted he should have “chosen my words more carefully,” while saying he wouldn’t resign from the UM board.
Someone in the crowd asked how to unseat U.S. Reps. Fred Upton of St. Joseph and Peter Meijer of Grand Rapids Township, who were among 10 House Republicans to support the impeachment of former President Donald Trump in January. The Senate voted to acquit.
Weiser responded the party is focused on beating the “three witches” in 2022, apparently referring to Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Attorney General Dana Nessel and Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson — the three statewide Democratic leaders who are up for re-election next year.
Then someone in the crowd can be heard asking about the “witches in our own party.”
“Ma’am, other than assassination, I have no other way … other than voting out. OK?” Weiser said. “You people have to go out there and support their opponents. You have to do what you need to get out the vote in those areas. That’s how you beat people.”
Ninth news item
Blasting filibuster flip-flop:
Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., ripped President Biden and congressional Democrats Friday for changing their view of the Senate filibuster rule, telling “Fox News Primetime” that they are invoking racism in order to scare Republicans.
Scott told host Brian Kilmeade it was both “frustrating and irritating” to see Democrats use the filibuster last year to block a police reform bill he proposed and claimed would have disproportionately helped the Black community.
“Here’s what we know about the Democrats,” Scott said. “They were for the filibuster before they were against the filibuster. I keep asking myself, ‘Will the real Chuck Schumer please stand up?’ Is it the one who was for the filibuster or is it the new one who is now against filibuster?”
Finally, this is so true! (Keep an eye on the gate):
People online vs Reality pic.twitter.com/PlTTerQIbU
— Nick Rickles (@NickRickles) March 24, 2021
(h/t norcal)
Have a great weekend.
–Dana
Happy Friday!
Dana (fd537d) — 3/26/2021 @ 9:31 pmI didn’t write the loopholes you exploit, @amazon – your armies of lawyers and lobbyists did.
So, you didn’t get a vote on the law, Senator Warren?
I still love this from a couple of years ago: Lizzie Warren took an ax, and gave New England 40 whacks; when she saw what she had done, she gave her country 41.
norcal (01e272) — 3/26/2021 @ 11:13 pmMany republican leaders have said worse and weiser sounds germanic so what do you expect.
asset (5336eb) — 3/27/2021 @ 12:59 amWell it is literally true that Warren did not write the loopholes being exploited by Amazon and probably voted against them.
I note that you stated the idea of eliminating drop boxes was dropped from the Georgia bill. Now as I understand them the drop boxes are in the same location as the early polling stations, and are inaccessible after hours, making them functionally useless.
It would be sweet if the excesses of the Georgia bill were enough to push the elimination of the filibuster. And Senator Scott, if he is so unhappy his bill got filibustered, should support the elimination of the filibuster. But I doubt that’s going to happen.
Charges of hypocrisy are the easiest to make in politics and the least consequential. Over the years politicians will give numerous and conflicting reasons for the things they do. In the end the important question is what are the things they are doing.
Victor (4959fb) — 3/27/2021 @ 1:50 amVoting is reserved for morons. This country is filled with losers. My time is worth more to my granddaughter than this fricking schiff hole country. Loved this country for 70 years, now it and all you people can kiss my lilly white azz. And stay off my property. Guard Dogs on Duty.
mg (8cbc69) — 3/27/2021 @ 3:02 amSenile internet tough guys are the best internet tough guys.
Dave (1bb933) — 3/27/2021 @ 4:56 amAn old white azzed tough guy telling people to stay off their property and glaring at the morons and losers who surround him, while playing with his granddaughter, would make a good Clint Eastwood movie except that I think it may have been done already.
Victor (4959fb) — 3/27/2021 @ 5:58 amGuys, guys, guys! This is the Internet. What reason do you have to believe that mg is not really a Brazilian incomplete transsexual pron actor with four French bulldogs in West Hollywood?
nk (1d9030) — 3/27/2021 @ 6:24 amYeah, it would be funny, except that if he lives long enough, he’ll poison his grand-daughter’s mind with his hatred for America.
Dave (1bb933) — 3/27/2021 @ 7:06 amWell, there’s a possibly (just possibly, I don’t really know but there are books on Amazon that say that it’s a thing) a fem-dom who sissified her little boy and turned him into a girl and got elected to Congress and is now trying to pass a law making it easier for other weirdos to do the same thing to their kids, so what can we do? We live in a pluralistic society.
nk (1d9030) — 3/27/2021 @ 7:19 amA controversial provision of a massive voting and election administration-related bill signed into law in Georgia on Thursday will prohibit volunteers from delivering free supplies like food, water, chairs, or rain gear to voters waiting in line to vote.
Reports are that these contacts are used for electioneering, inside the area where electioneering is forbidden.
Kevin M (ab1c11) — 3/27/2021 @ 7:27 am6,7,8,9
So, personal attacks are OK now?
Kevin M (ab1c11) — 3/27/2021 @ 7:29 amGeorgia Republicans had been pushing to:
1) Eliminate mail voting for most people under age 65
As in require a statement of need for absentee ballots. Like, say, being absent or disabled. Other needs are supposed to be handled by early in-person voting. I would make an exception for pandemics, though.
2) Curtail early in-person voting
Curtail does not mean eliminate. How many weeks does one really need?
3) Completely end “Souls to the Polls” Sunday voting
Churches are supposed to avoid politicking. And if you can’t buy liquor, you shouldn’t vote, especially given the choices we have been getting.
4) End automatic voting registration
Voting should take some minimal effort. If you can’t be bothered why should we care?
5) Eliminate drop boxes
Kevin M (ab1c11) — 3/27/2021 @ 7:39 amProbably not a great idea, but I see nothing wrong in ensuring that drop boxes are secure (people have been known to set them on fire in the other side’s strongholds) and that they are distributed fairly.
Kevin,
The Georgia law, as I read it, criminalizes providing water or food to anyone in a line for voting no matter how far away from the polling place it happens (and Georgia voting lines have sometimes lasted 8 hours). That is different from rules preventing electioneering within a proscribed space near the polling place itself.
And if there is a real concern that somewhere a mile or so away somebody is electioneering while giving water, why not prevent the electioneering – no badge or shirt or slogans. Why insist on making voting itself more difficult?
Which seems to be your main point. Voting should be difficult. I gather this appeals to some part of the brain that sees voting as heroic and heroism requires struggle or something. Voting should be as easy as possible because it’s a process to lead to the desired result – a leadership that is representative and in a position to effectuate the policies beneficial to the majority of the population.
As for souls to polls. If you read the history of black voting in Georgia, and elsewhere, it was a consequence of fear of individual voters being harassed. Going as a block after church made people feel more secure. Republicans seem to like to pretend that when it comes to understanding the reaction to the Georgia bill, and arresting a black legislator for knocking on the governor’s door, that history doesn’t matter.
I mean it matters for statues and high school textbooks I suppose, but not the history people carry around them in their heads.
Victor (4959fb) — 3/27/2021 @ 7:56 amPlease note. The Georgia legislation was developed and passed to make Donald J. Trump happy. Any other effects are merely damage not intended. Please do not credit our local politicians with the courage to stand up and be proudly racist. everyone knows that talk show tough guy gestures are the surest way to the Donald’s heart.
Kemp’s still doomed. He’s signing this bill to keep his GOP comrades out of the orange man’s fire.
Appalled (7b7466) — 3/27/2021 @ 8:03 amMaybe a better option would be have a vending machine available.
It’s the people handing out “free” supplies that might be pushing people to vote a specific way.
After all, nothing is ever free.
BillPasadena (5b0401) — 3/27/2021 @ 8:28 amDon’t let the basstards grind you down, you can take it. Remember the scene in Lawrence of Arabia where the Turks whip “El Laurence?” Just look them in the eye. With contempt.
felipe (484255) — 3/27/2021 @ 8:31 amCarrying Guns in Public Is Not a Constitutional Right, Ninth Circuit Rules
Americans have no right to carry guns in public, a divided en banc Ninth Circuit panel ruled Wednesday, reversing a prior Ninth Circuit decision that struck down a Hawaii firearm restriction as unconstitutional.
“There is no right to carry arms openly in public; nor is any such right within the scope of the Second Amendment,” U.S. Circuit Judge Jay Bybee, a George W. Bush appointee, wrote for the majority of an 11-judge panel in a 127-page opinion.
Looking back on 700 years of legal history dating back to 14th century England, seven judges in the majority found “overwhelming evidence” that the law has never given people “an unfettered right to carry weapons in public spaces.”
Rip Murdock (d6b59b) — 3/27/2021 @ 8:33 am………
“The Second Amendment did not contradict the fundamental principle that the government assumes primary responsibility for defending persons who enter our public spaces,” Bybee wrote. “The states do not violate the Second Amendment by asserting their longstanding English and American rights to prohibit certain weapons from entering those public spaces as means of providing ‘domestic tranquility’ and forestalling ‘domestic violence.’”
………
“The Second Amendment’s text, history, and structure, and the Supreme Court’s reasoning in Heller, all point squarely to the same conclusion: Armed self-defense in public is at the very core of the Second Amendment right,” (Senior U.S. Circuit Judge Diarmuid O’Scannlain, a Ronald Reagan appointee) O’Scannlain wrote (in dissent).
……..
“Heller found that the pre-existing right to keep and bear arms is not a right to ‘carry any weapon whatsoever in any manner whatsoever and for whatever purpose,’” Bybee wrote for the majority.
……..
By upholding state laws that restrict carrying guns in public, the Ninth Circuit joined three other circuit courts that have issued similar rulings: the Second, Third and Fourth Circuits. Meanwhile, the D.C. Circuit and Seventh Circuit have struck down state laws that ban carrying guns in public. That makes the dispute ripe for Supreme Court review.
…….
I believe that an individual right to bear arms includes the right to any firearm that an individual soldier can carry openly or concealed.
Re: Voters in looooong lines without food and water -in the freezing rain!
Sounds like a first-world problem to me. These people had days and days to vote early/absentee, and now, by mail. And they still go to the polls risking the possibility of hunger and thirst? Voters in some countries risk being murdered just for showing up. -SNICKERS- “Don’t let hunger happen to you!”
felipe (484255) — 3/27/2021 @ 8:45 amPerhaps one reason the nonfirst world is the nonfirst world is because the people in charge make it very difficult, and risky, to vote.
Victor (4959fb) — 3/27/2021 @ 8:50 amWhich seems to be your main point. Voting should be difficult.
No, I said it should require some effort. For some reason, the effort it takes to buy a six-pack of beer is called “onerous” or “Like Jim Crow” by some. Or even “difficult.” This strikes me as way-over-the-top characterization, if not just outright slander.
Kevin M (ab1c11) — 3/27/2021 @ 8:53 amI think we may have to go to purple dye on fingers.
Kevin M (ab1c11) — 3/27/2021 @ 8:55 amIt’s chimerical. Imaginary. Made up out of whole cloth like a Supreme Court opinion. If it were real people, really standing in line, who were complaining, they’d be complaining about no Porta-Potties. Porta-Potties! Not for not increasing their need for them.
nk (1d9030) — 3/27/2021 @ 8:55 amPerhaps one reason the nonfirst world is the nonfirst world is because the people in charge make it very difficult, and risky, to vote.
Not true. They just make it that way to vote for someone else.
Kevin M (ab1c11) — 3/27/2021 @ 8:55 am[this is stuck in moderation on the Biden press conference open thread, maybe it will come through on the weekend open thread]
From the Sammy’s Biden transcript [emphasis mine]: Zeke: (26:13)
https://www.rev.com/blog/transcripts/president-joe-biden-first-white-house-press-conference-transcript-march-25
At the link you can click on the blue “26:13” and it will take you to the video so you can check for accuracy.
Here is the transcript from The Whitehouse:
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/speeches-remarks/2021/03/25/remarks-by-president-biden-in-press-conference/
According to their version “leader” was the word Biden wanted us to know was in quotes. The way the sentence reads is that Biden is noting that “General Austin is the ‘leader,’ quote, in Afghanistan and Kabul.” Is he mocking the general? Maybe the utterance about Ghani means that he stopped talking about Austin and is mocking Ghani’s leadership role?
Everything above is from my comment yesterday. Today, it was pointed out to me that The Whitehouse, in that same quote, changed Kayani to Ghani in their transcript.
It seems problematic no matter how you slice it.
BuDuh (72f5b7) — 3/27/2021 @ 10:03 amThose were responses to the sweeping attack in #5 on “you people”– i.e. most of the commenters here — and the vile characterization of America and the people who populate it — i.e. people like us.
Radegunda (f4d5c0) — 3/27/2021 @ 10:23 amRegarding the Suez Canal debacle, what would happen if we produced more of our own products?
What would happen when a terrorist loads a ship with explosives and sinks it?
Real world issues.
NJRob (eb56c3) — 3/27/2021 @ 10:30 amPeace mg.
All we can do is try and educate the next generation to the truth and fight back against the indoctrination. We live in a dangerous world. Reality has a way of getting through.
NJRob (eb56c3) — 3/27/2021 @ 10:32 amThe Ninth Circuit again proves that our black robed clergy doesn’t give one hoot about the law or respecting the people. It’s about power and getting people to submit to their will. Nothing more, nothing less.
NJRob (eb56c3) — 3/27/2021 @ 10:35 amI thought you were inclined to subject yourself to clergy.
Leviticus (59f663) — 3/27/2021 @ 11:01 amTrump’s secret sit-down with Ohio candidates turns into ‘Hunger Games’
………
Donald Trump was headlining a fundraiser on Wednesday night at his golf club in West Palm Beach, Fla. But before the dinner began, the former president had some business to take care of: He summoned four Republican Senate candidates vying for Ohio’s open Senate seat for a backroom meeting.
The contenders — former state Treasurer Josh Mandel, former state GOP Chair Jane Timken, technology company executive Bernie Moreno and investment banker Mike Gibbons — had flown down to attend the fundraiser to benefit a Trump-endorsed Ohio candidate looking to oust one of the 10 House Republicans who backed his impeachment. …….
What ensued was a 15-minute backroom backbiting session reminiscent of Trump’s reality TV show. Mandel said he was “crushing” Timken in polling. Timken touted her support on the ground thanks to her time as state party chair. Gibbons mentioned how he’d helped Trump’s campaign financially. Moreno noted that his daughter had worked on Trump’s 2020 campaign.
Rip Murdock (d6b59b) — 3/27/2021 @ 11:08 am………
One person familiar with what transpired in Wednesday evening’s huddle described it as “Hunger Games,” an awkward showdown that none of them were expecting. Making matters even more uncomfortable, this person said, was that the rival candidates sat at a circular table, making it so that each had to face the others.
………
Multiple people familiar with what transpired during the meeting said most of the tension seemed to be between Timken and Mandel, and that it appeared they were trying to outdo one another. Timken and Mandel have already announced their candidacies and are considered the early frontrunners; Gibbons and Moreno have yet to formally launch their campaigns.
……..
Over the course of the evening, Trump appeared to be fixated with Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, whom the former president attacked last fall after DeWine called Joe Biden “president-elect” during an appearance on national television.
……..
Trump has yet to endorse in the race, and during the meeting he made no indication that he was backing one candidate over another. The four are running to replace retiring GOP Sen. Rob Portman. The Republican field is also likely to include author J.D. Vance, who was not present Wednesday evening.
………
“The truth” meaning “things as I see them?”
One source of danger today is pronouncements from a formerly hifalutin conservative think tank saying that over half the citizens of the United States are not Americans in any meaningful sense because they did not vote for the guy who tried to force the overturning of an election he lost — and that if you did not vote for that guy, then you’re probably “a zombie or a human rodent.”
Another is all the talk about revolution and civil war coming from a certain political faction, and the assertion that it’s inevitable and necessary that the right will soon choose an actual fascist as a leader.
We’re in a dangerous place when some people equate patriotism with agreement policy — or with loyalty to the individual they anointed as the one true champion of perfect patriotism.
Radegunda (f4d5c0) — 3/27/2021 @ 11:12 amIf my posts are unwelcome, please let me know. I have had several that were in moderation that were then posted over the last few weeks, but now they don’t go through.
Thank you.
BuDuh (72f5b7) — 3/27/2021 @ 11:18 amLeviticus, I submit myself to Jesus. No man shall ever take his place.
Thanks.
NJRob (eb56c3) — 3/27/2021 @ 11:18 amRadegunda,
you’re the one who sounds amped up for civil war. I asked for peace and you’re attacking me for it.
Thanks.
NJRob (eb56c3) — 3/27/2021 @ 11:19 amThe contenders — former state Treasurer Josh Mandel, former state GOP Chair Jane Timken, technology company executive Bernie Moreno and investment banker Mike Gibbons — had flown down to attend the fundraiser to benefit a Trump-endorsed Ohio candidate looking to oust one of the 10 House Republicans who backed his impeachment. …….
Then to hell with them! They deserve all Trump dishes out. All four should lose.
nk (1d9030) — 3/27/2021 @ 11:25 amRe: Georgia Voting Law
Most laws are passed to address existing problems. Georgia voting in 2020 was reviewed and certified to be free of any substantial defects. It was reviewed and audited several times and was praised for increasing turnout and solving problems that occurred in previous elections.
Given all that, what are the existing problems (not hypothetical) that the recently adopted changes to Georgia’s laws addresses?
John B Boddie (d795fd) — 3/27/2021 @ 11:44 amYou’re Catholic, right?
Leviticus (59f663) — 3/27/2021 @ 12:02 pmIt’s false to say I was “attacking” you because you “asked for peace,” or for any other reason. I was asking what you mean by “truth.” For the past five years, a lot of people who claim to be against indoctrination have been insisting that I must disregard what my own ears and eyes tell me.
My first comment today was to raise the point of who had actually started the personal attacks. #5 may not have been targeting an individual, but it was clearly an expression of hatred toward most of the people who comment here, and most fellow Americans. That is not the side of “peace.”
And it’s wildly absurd to say that I want civil war when I expressed dismay that so many on the right, including supposedly serious people, are now saying that civil war is inevitable and even necessary, and that so many on the right are openly saying that half the country (or more) are un-American and even subhuman because they did not vote the “right” way.
I was also critical of the last president’s effort to force his way into a second term, and of the people who fought their way into the Capitol, causing injuring (and death) to many police officers, in an effort to overturn an election — many of them openly calling for “civil war” or a “1776 moment.”
I am critical of the people who are now justifying or minimizing that event, and who are still arguing that the person who tried to force his way into a second term was the only honorable, decent, and truly American choice at the polls.
I am explicitly opposed to the “civil war” mentality, and I have plenty of experience getting along with people of greatly differing political views. But since I don’t like the guy you voted for, I must be a very bad person, right?
Radegunda (f4d5c0) — 3/27/2021 @ 12:19 pm1. Except for electronics there are american made substitutes for most good. They cost more so there’s less demand.
Time123 (cd2ff4) — 3/27/2021 @ 12:20 pm2. It would be really bad in the short term add cost to shipping in the medium term and, likely have no long term impact.
I know your question was not directed at me, Leviticus, but I can speak for all Catholics that We submit ourselves to no one other than the Triune Lord. The mystery of the Trinity is a central belief of Catholicism. The Trinity was Revealed by Jesus Himself when he said “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
. – Matthew 28:19
The Trinity consists of One G*D, but three Persons, The Father, The Son, and The Holy Spirit; each completely G*d. It is something that no one can understand – that’s why it is called a mystery. So I can truthfully say that “I submit myself only to Jesus.”
All Priests (this includes the Pope) act as alter christus – another Christ, but they, obviously, are NOT Christ.
felipe (484255) — 3/27/2021 @ 12:29 pmUSPS chief DeJoy cuts post office hours, lengthens delivery times in new 10-year plan
Postmaster General Louis DeJoy on Tuesday unveiled the largest rollback of consumer mail services in a generation, part of a 10-year plan that includes longer first-class delivery windows, reduced post office hours and higher postage prices.
…….
……. DeJoy has cited the need for austerity to ensure more consistent delivery and rein in losses. The agency is weighed down by $188.4 billion in liabilities, and DeJoy told a House panel last month that he expects the Postal Service to lose $160 billion over the next 10 years. Without the plan, Postal Service Board of Governors Chairman Ron Bloom said, the agency’s future was “profoundly threatened.”
DeJoy’s plan to make up that projected shortfall largely depends on Congress repealing a retiree health care pre-funding mandate and allowing postal workers to enroll in Medicare. …….
DeJoy projected these steps would save the agency $58 billion over the next decade, and the agency could make up the rest through postage rate increases ($44 billion in new revenue), “self-help” cost cutting in mail processing, transportation and administrative efficiencies ($34 billion), and revenue from package volume and price increases ($24 billion).
…….
It is couched in the view that the historically high package volumes of the pandemic era will persist, and reorients the agency around consumers who don’t rely on the mail service for letters, advertisements or business transactions as much as they once did.
The blueprint would have first-class mail ferried cross-country on trucks instead of airplanes, and introduces new products to help commercial shippers move packages more efficiently.
Rip Murdock (d6b59b) — 3/27/2021 @ 12:42 pm…….
Little in DeJoy’s plan seeks to stem those losses, and the plan codifies slowdowns for nonlocal first-class mail, adding as many as two days to delivery timetables for items sent further than 930 miles.
……..
Most of DeJoy’s changes will not face regulatory roadblocks. The postmaster general unilaterally controls operating hours at post offices, and the board of governors appears to back DeJoy’s changes to delivery times.
…….
The USPS should get out of the delivery business. Like NASA, it should contract out mail delivery to the private sector. First class mail shouldn’t cost the same within Los Angeles and between Los Angeles and Hawaii or Alaska or New York. The should reflect the differences in distance and difficulty in reaching the intended destination. Retaining USPS mail delivery is an exercise in nostalgia. Cliff Klaven and Newman are the USPS.
OK, BuDuh, I found the reason I moderated you. You wrote this:
Perhaps I should have given you the opportunity to retract that ridiculous statement, and apologize. Consider this as your opportunity.
Patterico (27c55f) — 3/27/2021 @ 12:45 pmI do apologize for what is obviously a dirty comment, Pat. Sadly I don’t remember what the thread was or to whom I was directing that statement. Thank you for unblocking my 10:03AM comment should anyone take interest in what I wrote.
I don’t want to relive or defend what I wrote, but I am curious what thread it was where I made that comment.
Consider it retracted either way.
BuDuh (72f5b7) — 3/27/2021 @ 12:54 pmA Minnesota man can’t be charged with felony rape because the woman chose to drink beforehand, court rules
…….[T]he Minnesota Supreme Court unanimously ruled this week that Francios Momolu Khalil, 24, cannot be found guilty of rape because the woman got drunk voluntarily beforehand. The decision Wednesday overturned Khalil’s prior conviction of third-degree criminal sexual conduct, which had been upheld by an appeals court, and granted him the right to a new trial.
……..
At issue in Khalil’s case was a state law that says a person is only considered “mentally incapacitated” and incapable of consenting to sex if they are intoxicated on substances “administered to that person without the person’s agreement,” like if someone spikes a punch bowl at a party. In Khalil’s case, Justice Paul Thissen wrote in an opinion, no one disputes that the woman chose to become drunk.
“If the legislature’s intended meaning is clear from the text of the statute, we apply that meaning and not what we may wish the law was or what we think the law should be,” Thissen wrote.
Khalil has been incarcerated since his sentencing in 2019. His attorney in the lower court said he expects his client to be released soon.
Rip Murdock (d6b59b) — 3/27/2021 @ 12:56 pm…….
Minnesota is among a majority of states that treat intoxication as a barrier to consent only if victims became drunk against their will. As of 2016, intoxication provisions in 40 states did not include situations in which someone chose to consume drugs or alcohol, according to Brooklyn Law Review.
……..
I deleted the comment. You were linking to a commenter I banned from this site for dishonesty, who was setting forth a wholly fanciful account of Trump’s Raffensperger call which portrayed Trump as innocent and basically doing the right thing in that call. Evidently you agree with that point of view, and that’s fine, but a) I delete links to the cretin I banned, and b) the way you characterized things was wildly inappropriate.
Had I recalled the reason, I might not have unmoderated you this morning, but having done so I won’t go back on it. Suffice it to say a second such violation will be permanent and I won’t forget.
Patterico (27c55f) — 3/27/2021 @ 1:07 pmI work very hard for accuracy here, and so do Dana and JVW, and people who make light of that the way you did really get under my skin.
Patterico (27c55f) — 3/27/2021 @ 1:08 pmNation’s first ‘vaccine passport’ coming to New York
………
The program, dubbed the “Excelsior Pass,” is an app that will allow New Yorkers to prove their vaccination status, or recent history of a negative COVID-19 test, in order to gain entry to events and businesses, Governor Cuomo announced in a news release Friday.
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The app won’t show any health information when scanned — it’ll only show a green checkmark if the person has been vaccinated or tested negatively or a red “x” if they haven’t.
Major venues, such as Madison Square Garden and the Times Union Center in Albany, will begin using the app next week and on April 2, Excelsior Pass will expand to “smaller arts, entertainment and event venues,” Cuomo’s office said.
………
The app, which launched Friday, already works to prove vaccination status or negative test results and can be used to gain access to wedding receptions, which now require negative tests from attendees, and other events above the social gathering limit.
The app, launched after two pilot demonstrations held in recent weeks, will use blockchain technology and encryption to ensure the health information is stored securely.
Rip Murdock (d6b59b) — 3/27/2021 @ 1:19 pm……….
Probably better for both of us that I don’t remain a thorn in your side. I don’t recall much of the topic, but I have figured out who it was that I must have linked. Sorry again. I’m certain that I knew your position on him and I should not have posted anything of his over here.
I have manufactured the thin ice I am on here and I don’t feel comfortable placing you in the position of monitoring everything so intently. You probably have better things to do with your time.
Take care.
BuDuh (72f5b7) — 3/27/2021 @ 1:19 pmLeviticus,
Protestant.
NJRob (762eb5) — 3/27/2021 @ 1:38 pmI’ve never understood the law that says a woman cannot consent if drunk, but a man can. Drunkenness is not an excuse for stupidity, but neither can it be used to absolve regret.
NJRob (762eb5) — 3/27/2021 @ 1:48 pmYou can make your own decisions, but I don’t think that it’s too much to ask that commenters refrain from a) promoting material from a banned commenter or b) snidely insinuate that this site is rife with inaccuracies.
If you think you can follow those and other simple common-sense rules, I’m happy to have you comment. Your call.
Patterico (27c55f) — 3/27/2021 @ 1:57 pmWhat goes around comes around. Republicans can not vote, register or change registration unless they can prove they are not an insurrectionist. Any judge who tries to interfere with law is guilty of abetting insurrection. Think AOC and ilhan omar and the rest of the left won’t pull this in a new york minute when they take power. Vote suppression works both way
asset (5eee67) — 3/27/2021 @ 2:00 pmI doubt the law says that.
Dave (1bb933) — 3/27/2021 @ 2:00 pmOil Lobby Backs Climate Action Plan
……….
The board of directors of the American Petroleum Institute, one of Washington’s most powerful trade associations, which for years worked to play down the impact of climate change, on Thursday approved a “climate action framework,” a wide-sweeping plan to lower the emissions blamed for global warming.
It backs increasing government and industry collaboration, seeking to preserve a role for oil companies to solve a problem it says requires “continuous innovation.”
The plan supports a price on carbon dioxide that every emitter must pay, but doesn’t back any specific type of plan such as a tax. It also supports more federal research funding, federal regulation on methane emissions and improved industry efforts to track and reduce emissions, among other measures.
Rip Murdock (d6b59b) — 3/27/2021 @ 2:03 pm………
Mike Sommers, the group’s president and chief executive, said its decision to endorse carbon pricing reflects a change in circumstances. U.S. emissions have fallen since API’s past opposition to carbon pricing, he said, and the U.S. now needs further market incentives to spur innovation to sustain that progress.
……..
Many now question (carbon pricing’s) efficacy and reach, noting that global emissions continued to rise even while some markets have deployed carbon-pricing schemes. Some liberals also say it disproportionately hurts poor and minority communities that are often home to heavy industry by giving de facto permission for polluters to keep polluting—as long as they pay for it.
……..
Many believe their advocacy in 2009 for creating a cap-and-trade system for emissions contributed to Democrats losing control of Congress in the next year’s elections.
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I’ve never understood the law that says a woman cannot consent if drunk, but a man can. Drunkenness is not an excuse for stupidity, but neither can it be used to absolve regret.
NJRob (762eb5) — 3/27/2021 @ 1:48 pm
Given that vast majority of sexual assault cases involve men assaulting women, with the woman being the intoxicated victim, I doubt there are many cases of intoxicated men not consenting to sex. In the infamous Stanford rape case, both were intoxicated, but the woman was unconscious and could not give consent. The man was also intoxicated but not enough to assault the victim.
If you have examples supporting your argument, please post some links.
Rip Murdock (d6b59b) — 3/27/2021 @ 2:31 pmThe San Francisco school board voted 5-2 Thursday to strip Board member Alison Collins of her title as vice president and committee assignments in a rare and somber vote of no confidence…
While I am sure that she would be the first to pull the guillotine cord on others, I still have a big problem with an elected representative body curtailing the office of one of their members, absent clear criminal activity. Doesn’t matter if it’s this Leftie or the asshat Congresswoman from Georgia.
She is elected to represent her constituents and if she’s doing it wrong they’ll send someone else. To say that she cannot represent them as theydesire is a boxcar on the tain to the Ayatollah’s short list.
Kevin M (ab1c11) — 3/27/2021 @ 3:41 pmI thought you were inclined to subject yourself to clergy.
His not yours. You are much the same way, except that your “clergy” are secular.
Kevin M (ab1c11) — 3/27/2021 @ 3:44 pmExcept for electronics there are american made substitutes for most good.
I have used Japanese- and Chinese-designed processors and FPGAs. No thank you. Until Intel saw fit to let a beancounter run the company into the toilet, they had the world’s best fabs. They still aren’t that bad for most things and their new boss is turning it around. The best fabs were TSMC, Intel and Samsung. They will be again.
I build my own PCs and they generally use American parts, except for displays which the US gave up on 40 years ago.
Or, maybe by “electronics” you mean low-end electrochotchkas. You might be right there.
Kevin M (ab1c11) — 3/27/2021 @ 3:50 pmHaving sex with an unconscious woman is rape. Having sex with an unconscious man is difficult. At least as Bill Clinton understands sex.
Kevin M (ab1c11) — 3/27/2021 @ 3:54 pmRe: Georgia Voting Law
It might come as no surprise that the the criminalization of providing water to voters waiting in line has drawn a lot of the on-air attention, but the ability of the state legislature to nullify the votes cast in a voting district or county goes to the heart of the law as a threat to democracy as we know it and deserves considerably more attention than it has received thus far.
Given that our constitution allows the individual states wide leeway in administrating the voting process, I wouldn’t rush to bet a lot of money on the way that this feature of the Georgia law will evenually be adjudicated.
John B Boddie (d795fd) — 3/27/2021 @ 8:30 pmHaving sex with an unconscious woman is rape.
Apparently not in all circumstances.
Rip Murdock (d6b59b) — 3/27/2021 @ 8:52 pmI can’t be bothered to look it up, but I doubt we’re getting the whole story. They probably tried to charge him with the harsher Mickey Finn law, when they could have charged with the universal “incapable of consent” law. My experience with Minnesota prosecutors is admittedly limited, but in the ones I’ve seen, the ratio of zealousness to competence is high.
nk (1d9030) — 3/27/2021 @ 9:16 pmWhy do you think that is?
Dana (fd537d) — 3/27/2021 @ 9:31 pmLike I said, I didn’t look it up, but I find it hard to believe that in this day and age when a man could be charged with rape if the Ferrari turns out to be a rental, the Sisterhood would have allowed such a loophole in the law.
nk (1d9030) — 3/27/2021 @ 9:31 pmTrump falsely claims Jan. 6 rioters were ‘hugging and kissing’ police
………
Trump, who encouraged his supporters to fight against the confirmation of Joe Biden’s victory by Congress and to march to the Capitol, told Fox News’ Laura Ingraham on Thursday night that the rioters posed “zero threat.”
“Right from the start, it was zero threat,” he said. “Look, they went in — they shouldn’t have done it — some of them went in, and they’re hugging and kissing the police and the guards, you know? They had great relationships. A lot of the people were waved in, and then they walked in, and they walked out.”
Rip Murdock (d6b59b) — 3/27/2021 @ 9:35 pm………
More than 300 people have been charged since the attack that resulted in five deaths and 130 police assaults. Prosecutors have said they expect at least 400 people to be charged.
……..
Why do you think that is?
That last comment of mine was not in answer to your question, Dana, just musing on my part.
In answer to your question, I think it’s the political nature of the office in conflict with professionalism. Painting with a very broad brush, the prosecutors in the trenches will try to make the elected boss happy by doing things that will make him (her, in Cook County) look good.
nk (1d9030) — 3/27/2021 @ 9:38 pm#63 nk (1d9030) — 3/27/2021 @ 9:16 pm-
The Brooklyn law review article linked in my post #45 provides details regarding laws that allow someone to avoid a rape charge if the victim gets herself drunk. The Minnesota Supreme Court decision in that case was unanimous.
Rip Murdock (d6b59b) — 3/27/2021 @ 9:41 pmThanks Rip. From your linked WaPo article (not the law review one) which I had not read all the way to the end:
So yeah, I guessed right, the prosecutors wanted a harsher charge, and there were political considerations involved.
nk (1d9030) — 3/27/2021 @ 9:53 pmAnd my apologies to WaPo. They did give us the whole story, if we could be bothered to read it.
nk (1d9030) — 3/27/2021 @ 9:55 pmFormer Trump chief of staff calls ex-President’s Capitol riot claims ‘manifestly false’
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Mick Mulvaney, who stepped down as Trump’s special envoy to Northern Ireland after the insurrection, called Trump’s comments that his supporters were “hugging and kissing” police officers and posed “zero threat,” despite widespread violence, “manifestly false.”
“I was surprised to hear the President say that. Clearly there were people who were behaving themselves, and then there were people who absolutely were not, but to come out and say that everyone was fine and there was no risk, that’s just manifestly false — people died, other people were severely injured,” Mulvaney told CNN’s Pamela Brown on “Newsroom.”
Rip Murdock (d6b59b) — 3/28/2021 @ 7:49 am………
Still, Mulvaney said he “absolutely would” still vote for Trump if he were to win the Republican presidential nomination in 2024.
………
Mulvaney acknowledged, however, that if Trump were to run again, he’d likely have to answer for the events of January 6.
……….
Someone sticking things inside your body when you don’t want them to is assault.
If you’re drunk and therefore unable to effectively stop them from sticking things inside your body you’ve still been assaulted.
If they were also drunk when they stuck things inside your body then they’ve still assaulted you.
It can get more complicated from there but that’s the basic theory.
Time123 (69b2fc) — 3/28/2021 @ 8:17 amTime123, you yet again ignored my point.
You didn’t want to has nothing to do with not being able to consent. They are not the same thing. A drunk guy and a drunk girl engaging in carnal acts then experiencing regret in the morning does not equate to what you said.
In most cases this doesn’t get to the criminal level, it just ends up with the guy being harassed, if in college being put in a show trial, and trying to ruin his life.
But carry on.
NJRob (eb56c3) — 3/28/2021 @ 8:46 amOh, you’re right. I misunderstood you. Fwiw, the women i know who made a bad decision while drunk experienced it differently then the women who were raped while drunk by a guy they didn’t want to have sexual with.
Time123 (fba777) — 3/28/2021 @ 8:57 am> can set up water stations that voters can independently go to.
thereby forfeiting their place in line.
aphrael (4c4719) — 3/28/2021 @ 10:08 am> For some reason, the effort it takes to buy a six-pack of beer is called “onerous”
I’ve never in my life had to register for the ability to buy a six pack of beer six weeks or more in advance of when i’ve wanted to buy it, and I’ve never had to stand in line for an hour to buy beer.
aphrael (4c4719) — 3/28/2021 @ 10:13 amRip Murdock — Trump lies, his fanbois believe him, and the country further loses its ability to talk to each other.
The man has done more damage to the Republic than any other person, at this point, and his fans cheer him on.
aphrael (4c4719) — 3/28/2021 @ 10:17 am@2. Reaganoptics:
‘Warren was registered as a Republican from 1991 to 1996. She voted Republican for many years. “I was a Republican because I thought that those were the people who best supported markets”, she has said. But she has also said that in the six presidential elections before 1996 she voted for the Republican nominee only once, in 1976, for Gerald Ford.’ – source,wikioops.org
Stranger things have happened: ‘The Simpsons has gained notoriety for jokes that appeared to become reality. Perhaps the most famous example comes from the episode “Bart to the Future”, which mentions billionaire Donald Trump having been President of the United States at one time and leaving the nation broke. The episode first aired in 2000, sixteen years before Trump (who at the time was exploring a presidential run) was elected’ source, – wikipen&inkdotd’oh
“D’oh!” – Homer Simpson [700-plus episodes] ‘The Simpsons’ Fox TV 1989-2021
DCSCA (f4c5e5) — 3/28/2021 @ 10:55 amaphrael-
What’s more interesting is Mick Mulvany’s reaction-Trump’s wrong, but I’ll still vote for him.
Rip Murdock (d6b59b) — 3/28/2021 @ 11:00 amWhat’s more interesting is Mick Mulvaney’s reaction-Trump’s wrong, but I’ll still vote for him.
Reaganomics: no less ‘interesting’ than ‘Woodshed’ Stockman.
‘Voodoo economics’ – GHWB
DCSCA (f4c5e5) — 3/28/2021 @ 11:12 am‘Vaccine passports’ are on the way, but developing them won’t be easy
The Biden administration and private companies are working to develop a standard way of handling credentials — often referred to as “vaccine passports” — that would allow Americans to prove they have been vaccinated against the novel coronavirus as businesses try to reopen.
………
The administration’s initiative has been driven largely by arms of the Department of Health and Human Services, including an office devoted to health information technology, said five officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the effort. The White House this month took on a bigger role coordinating government agencies involved in the work, led by coronavirus coordinator Jeff Zients, with a goal of announcing updates in coming days, said one official.
The White House declined to answer questions about the passport initiative……
………
The passports are expected to be free and available through applications for smartphones, which could display a scannable code similar to an airline boarding pass. Americans without smartphone access should be able to print out the passports, developers have said.
……..
There is evidence vaccine passports could motivate skeptical Americans to get shots. Several vaccine-hesitant participants at a recent focus group of Trump voters led by pollster Frank Luntz suggested their desire to see family, go on vacation and resume other aspects of daily life outpaced fear of the shots, particularly if travel companies and others moved to require proof of vaccination.
……..
Public health and ethics experts agreed that the Biden administration needed to strike a careful balance: Encourage shots and support the private-sector initiatives but don’t put too much federal emphasis on the looming passports.
“If it became a government mandate, it would go down a dark road very quickly,” said Brian C. Castrucci, who leads the Bethesda, Md.-based de Beaumont Foundation, a public health group funding Luntz’s research into why some Americans are balking at the vaccine. “It becomes a credential. It becomes a ‘needing your papers,’ if you will. That could be dangerous — and it could turn off people.”
“It has to be that everyone can get it, and it’s their choice, as it were,” said Ezekiel Emanuel, a University of Pennsylvania bioethics expert who co-authored a Journal of the American Medical Association article last year about the ethics of such certificates and advised Biden’s transition team on the coronavirus. “The one thing I am concerned is that some people won’t be able to get vaccinated for a variety of reasons.”
Emanuel added that the passports will be an element of global travel — not just domestic policy. Key aviation and travel associations on March 22 called on the White House to finalize its vaccine credential plan by May, saying it was essential for the safe resumption of international travel.
Rip Murdock (d6b59b) — 3/28/2021 @ 11:40 am……..
Government shouldn’t mandate “vaccine credentials” but I have no problem with businesses requiring proof of inoculation to attend conferences, travel, dining, concerts, movies, mall shopping etc.
81.‘Vaccine passports’ are on the way, but developing them won’t be easy. The Biden administration and private companies are working to develop a standard way of handling credentials — often referred to as “vaccine passports” — that would allow Americans to prove they have been vaccinated against the novel coronavirus as businesses try to reopen.
‘Papers, please?’
Sure, he’s literally as old as an original 1942 print of WB’s Casablanca… but this is total Biden Bullsh!t:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CzhIPvEanMg
DCSCA (f4c5e5) — 3/28/2021 @ 6:44 pmSure, he’s literally as old as an original 1942 print of WB’s Casablanca… but this is total Biden Bullsh!t:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CzhIPvEanMg
DCSCA (f4c5e5) — 3/28/2021 @ 6:44 pm
You mean, it’s not Reaganomics?
norcal (01e272) — 3/28/2021 @ 6:57 pm“D’oh!” – Homer Simpson [700-plus episodes] ‘The Simpsons’ Fox TV 1989-2021
There’s nobody more devout than a convert.
Davethulhu (6ba00b) — 3/28/2021 @ 7:02 pmWord, Davethulhu. My father converted to Mormonism as an adult. My mother’s ancestors came across the plains to set up shop in Utah during Brigham Young’s tenure. Guess which one ended up not believing in the church? 🙂
norcal (01e272) — 3/28/2021 @ 7:07 pm@83. Sniff the air. Or clean your boot– once you’ve stepped into it is there a difference?
No.
😉
DCSCA (f4c5e5) — 3/28/2021 @ 7:37 pmRe: passing out water at polls.
Can it really be that people don’t know the history of ‘anti-treating’ election regulations and why they are necessary?
Can it really be that people don’t know that almost every US state has substantially similar provisions as part of their own election laws? New York’s are more onerous at first glance than GA, and the current version in NY dates to 1992, so it is not exactly a vestigial remnant of some ancient solution to an ancient problem.
I’d been thinking that people in my social media and the blogs and news reports I read about this were being particularly obviously disingenuous, but reading it here makes me think that maybe they are really this clueless about our own history.
I guess we are doomed to repeat it, those of us who know the history are along for the ride whether we like it or not.
Douglas2 (14a8b5) — 3/29/2021 @ 7:40 amParler explains ‘free speech’ to angry users after sharing Capitol riot posts with the FBI
………
(In its response to a separate investigation into Parler by Congress), Parler accused the Big Tech companies of trying to scapegoat the right wing social network in order to avoid accountability for their own roles (during the events of January 6th)…….
One major point Parler focuses on its letter is that the company “referred violent content and incitement from Parler’s platform over 50 times before January 6th” as well as “specific threads of violence” relating to events being planned at the Capitol on Jan. 6.
………
“So you are snitches over nothing but democrat conspired bs???” commented one user on Parler’s own post about the letter to it’s Parler profile page.
The comments section quickly filled up with some of Parler’s users accusing the right wing social media platform of “ratting out” the site’s own members.
“SO PARLER IS NO BETTER THAN FAKEBOOK AND TWITTER…..?” posted another user in reply. “This is NOT an example of a free speech platform. Parler is a fraud,” claimed yet another.
The reaction to the news that Parler “colluded” with the FBI in order to report violent content was so strong on the right wing platform, the company was compelled to release a statement addressing those outraged users.
“Some users have raised questions about the practice of referring violent or inciting content to law enforcement,” begins Parler’s latest statement. “The First Amendment does not protect violence inciting speech, nor the planning of violent acts. Such content violates Parler’s TOS. Any violent content shared with law enforcement was posted publicly and brought to our attention primarily via user reporting. And, as it is posted publicly, it can properly be referred to law enforcement by anyone. Parler remains steadfast in protecting your right to free speech.”
……….
While the replies were more supportive in Parler’s latest announcement, again, some of their users expressed their disapproval with Parler in the comments to that post as well.
“I want some damned response to the farce that we called an election,” repied one user. “Sometimes, violence IS the answer.”
Rip Murdock (d6b59b) — 3/29/2021 @ 8:36 am………..
There was apparently an argument made here that this could be electioneering at the polls (particularly if the people giving the water out wore shirts emblazoned with the name of a union or used it as a cover to distribute flyers but I have a question:
Isn’t helping people register to vote or telling them one party doesn’t want them to vote more of an influence?
What about driving people to the polls?
They didn’t make that illegal.
…
Sammy Finkelman (6975b4) — 3/30/2021 @ 3:44 pmIsrael has them for some purposes, but one criticism is that they are easy to forge – they plan on making a more counterfeit proof one later.
Sammy Finkelman (6975b4) — 3/31/2021 @ 8:53 am