4/16/2021

271 Responses to “Weekend Open Thread”

1. Happy Friday!

   Dana (fd537d) — 4/16/2021 @ 7:03 pm

   
   

2. 49 years ago today, April 16, 1972- ‘Sweet Sixteen’ roared out of town…

   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_PEGi3k6yNQ

   DCSCA (f4c5e5) — 4/16/2021 @ 7:23 pm

   
   

3. But what if I don’t want to respect the British government? IIRC we kind of had a war over not respecting the uniquely Anglo-Saxon political traditions of that most anglo-saxon of countries.

   Also, I’m pretty sure that my ancestors, including the non-Anglo-Saxon who fought in the Revolutionary war but perhaps most especially my Irish and French ancestors, didn’t have a lot of respect for the Anglo-Saxons.

   Nic (896fdf) — 4/16/2021 @ 7:23 pm

   
   

4. Just when you thought the question had been decided at the Battle of Hastings ….

   Nice pictures, Dana.

   nk (1d9030) — 4/16/2021 @ 7:29 pm

   
   

5. Rep. Louie Gohmert, R-Texas, told reporters Friday that he’s “looking at” joining.

   Keep looking; he’s clearly a Marxist:

   “I don’t want to belong to any club that would accept me as one of its members.” – Groucho Marx

   DCSCA (f4c5e5) — 4/16/2021 @ 7:31 pm

   
   

6. Awesome images, Dana. But admit I sneezed when looking at the middle one. Allergies!

   DCSCA (f4c5e5) — 4/16/2021 @ 7:33 pm

   
   

7. I love the photos! Where was the last one taken?

   norcal (01e272) — 4/16/2021 @ 8:02 pm

   
   

8. I totally forgot to post the wildest bobcat video that was trending today. Just added it to a P.S. at the end of post.

   Dana (fd537d) — 4/16/2021 @ 8:11 pm

   
   

9. Item #7 explains a lot of things

   steveg (ebe7c1) — 4/16/2021 @ 9:34 pm

   
   

10. Back in the late 80s and early 90s, the Paul Simon Songbook was broadly unavailable in the US — it had never been reissued on cassette, and when Simon moved from Columbia to Warner, the rights to that album didn’t come with him. So unless you could find a used import LP in a used record store, or could spring for the boxed set, it was impossible to find.

    I spent *years* looking for a copy.

    aphrael (4c4719) — 4/16/2021 @ 10:19 pm

    
    

11. a low refugee admissions target is yet another case of vote suppression

    JF (65f747) — 4/16/2021 @ 10:48 pm

    
    

12. https://taibbi.substack.com/p/aaugh-a-brief-list-of-official-russia

    The report added Ukrainian legislator Andrey Derkach, described as having “ties” to “Russia’s intelligence services,” and Konstantin Kilimnik, a “Russian influence agent” (whatever that means), used “prominent U.S. persons” and “media conduits” to “launder their narratives” to American audiences. The “narratives” included “misleading or unsubstantiated allegations against President Biden” (note they didn’t use the word “false”). They added a small caveat at the end: “Judgments are not intended to imply that we have proof that shows something to be a fact.”

    As Glenn Greenwald already pointed out, the “launder their narratives” passage was wolfed down by our intelligence services’ own “media conduits” here at home, and regurgitated as proof that the “Hunter Biden laptop story came from the Kremlin,” even though the report didn’t mention the laptop story at all. Exactly one prominent reporter, Chris Hayes, had the decency to admit this after advancing the claim initially.

    With regard to the broader assessment: how many times are we going to do this? We’ve spent the last five years watching as anonymous officials make major Russia-related claims, only to have those evidence-free claims fizzle.

    From the much-ballyhooed “changed RNC platform” story (Robert Mueller found no evidence the changed Republican platform was “undertaken at the behest of candidate Trump or Russia”), to the notion that Julian Assange was engaged in a conspiracy with the Russians (Mueller found no evidence for this either), to the story that Trump directed lawyer Michael Cohen to lie to Congress (“not accurate,” said Mueller), to wild stories about Paul Manafort meeting Assange in the Ecuadorian embassy, to a “bombshell” tale about Trump foreknowledge of Wikileaks releases that blew up in CNN’s face in spectacular fashion, reporters for years chased unsubstantiated claims instead of waiting to see what they were based upon.

    The latest report’s chief conclusions are assessments about Derkach and Kilimnik, information that the whole world knew before this report was released. Hell, even Rudy Giuliani, whose meeting with Derkach is supposedly the big scandal here, admitted there was a “50/50 chance” the guy was a Russian spy. Kilimnik meanwhile has now been characterized as having “ties” to Russian intelligence (Mueller), and as a “Russian intelligence officer” (Senate Intelligence Committee), and is now back to being a mere “influence agent.” If he is Russian intelligence, then John McCain’s International Republican Institute (where Kilimnik worked), as well as embassies in Kiev and Moscow (where Kilimnik regularly gave information, according to the New York Times), have a lot of explaining to do.

    How many on here posted leftist propaganda because they thought it would hurt President Trump? How many didn’t care about the truth, it was the narrative that mattered? Any willing to own their mistakes?

    NJRob (eb56c3) — 4/17/2021 @ 6:09 am

    
    

13. https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2021/04/from-the-bizarre-twin-cities-hellworld.php

    Over the last 4 nights, while working very hard to protect those who were peacefully protesting and the residents of Brooklyn Center, our officers (along with our partners from the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office, the Minnesota State Patrol, the Minnesota DNR, and the Minnesota National Guard) were faced with many dangerous and violent situations. Officers had projectiles and industrial-grade fireworks thrown at them, along with being sprayed with mace and bear spray. A number of these officers, all of whom who have come from outside of Brooklyn Center to help your community, have sustained various levels of injury. As Police Chiefs, we can not stand by and allow our officers to be injured by individuals trying to disrupt your community’s right for peaceful protest. In addition, officers have heard numerous comments by individuals in the crowds suggesting a desire by some to vandalize or burn down the Brooklyn Center Police Department and our officers have been working diligently to protect your community asset.

    What’s not making it into news reports because it doesn’t fit the radical agenda.

    NJRob (eb56c3) — 4/17/2021 @ 6:15 am

    
    

14. https://hotair.com/karen-townsend/2021/04/16/major-publisher-rejects-distribution-role-in-louisville-cops-book-about-breonna-taylor-raid-n383766

    One of the Louisville police officers involved in the disastrous Breonna Taylor raid has written a book about that night. Post Hill Press announced it would be publishing Sgt. Jonathan Mattingly’s upcoming book, “The Fight For Truth: The Inside Story Behind the Breonna Taylor Tragedy.” This was a surprise to Simon & Schuster, the publishing giant that distributes books for Post Hill Press.

    Simon and Schuster are making it perfectly clear that they want nothing to do with Mattingly’s book. Post Hill Press is a small independent publisher. According to its website, Post Hill Press was founded in 2013 and publishes a wide array of books, including Christian and conservative books. After learning of the publisher’s plan to release the book, Simon and Schuster released a statement that it would not distribute the book, as it normally would for Post Hill Press books.

    The cop that was shot by Taylor’s boyfriend is publishing a book detailing the events of that night. Heaven forbid the truth get out. Simon and Schuster continually bans books that do not fit the agenda.

    NJRob (eb56c3) — 4/17/2021 @ 6:19 am

    
    

15. https://greenwald.substack.com/p/how-do-big-media-outlets-so-often

    There were so many false reports circulated by the dominant corporate wing of the U.S. media as part of the five-year-long Russiagate hysteria that in January, 2019, I compiled what I called “The 10 Worst, Most Embarrassing U.S. Media Failures on the Trump-Russia Story.” The only difficult part of that article was choosing which among the many dozens of retractions, corrections and still-uncorrected factual falsehoods merited inclusion in the worst-ten list. So stiff was the competition that I was forced to omit many huge media Russiagate humiliations, and thus, to be fair to those who missed the cut, had to append a large “Dishonorable Mention” category at the end.

    That the entire Russiagate storyline itself was a fraud and a farce is conclusively demonstrated by one decisive fact that can never be memory-holed: namely, the impetus for the scandal and subsequent investigation was the conspiracy theory that the Trump campaign had secretly and criminally conspired with the Russian government to interfere in the 2016 election, primarily hacking into the email inboxes of the DNC and Clinton campaign chief John Podesta. And a grand total of zero Americans were accused (let alone convicted) of participating in that animating conspiracy.

    When they all have the same agenda, it’s easy to confirm the lie.

    NJRob (eb56c3) — 4/17/2021 @ 6:22 am

    
    

16. https://www.projectveritas.com/news/part-1-cnn-director-admits-network-engaged-in-propaganda-to-remove-trump/

    James Okeefe and Project Veritas banned from Twitter for doing actual investigative reporting and exposing the Goebbels like propaganda CNN pushed that so many lapped up eagerly.

    NJRob (eb56c3) — 4/17/2021 @ 6:26 am

    
    

17. https://legalinsurrection.com/2021/04/chauvin-trial-day-14-wrap-up-mistrial-narrowly-avoided-closing-arguments-monday/

    Chauvin elected to assert his 5A right to not testify, and when offered to have the jury instructed that guilt could not be inferred from his not testifying, he affirmed he wanted that instruction given. You can see my previous write-up of those events, including court room video of that discussion and exchange, here:

    The big surprise of the day, however, was the state’s sudden claim that they had discovered “new evidence” that justified re-calling state expert witness Dr. Martin Tobin, pulmonologist, to the witness stand to rebut some of yesterday’s testimony by defense expert Dr. David Fowler, a forensic pathologist.

    The “new evidence” was purportedly just-discovered data on Floyd’s blood oxygen levels when at the Hennepin County Medical Center.

    The state wished to have Dr. Tobin testify about that data to rebut suggestions by Dr. Fowler that given the proximity of Floyd’s face to the exhaust of squad car 320, it was possible that Floyd’s carbon monoxide blood concentration could have been as high as 18%–a level Fowler testified was sufficient to be dangerous to Floyd, and a contributing cause to Floyd’s death, given Floyd’s fragile physiology.

    As these things tend to go in court, the argument over whether to allow Tobin to be re-called as a witness for this rebuttal purpose took about twice as long as did his actual testimony—but for good reason.

    Obviously, this demand for rebuttal by the state, particular on this blood data “discovered” just after Fowler’s testimony ended yesterday afternoon, and with notice provided to the defense only about 5 o’clock in the evening, was about as late in the course of the trial as could be imagined.

    Further, the defense expert witness on this subject matter, Dr. Fowler, was presently on a plane flying home while the state was arguing in court for their own expert, Dr. Tobin, to be recalled.

    During the discussion about whether Tobin should be permitted to provide additional testimony, the state set out four areas that they wished Tobin to testify about.

    First, the state claimed that the Hennepin County Medical Examiner, Dr. Thomas Baker, after hearing Fowler’s testimony yesterday on the carbon dioxide issue, had somehow dug into the hospital’s records and found that Floyd’s blood concentration of CO had, in fact, been measured at the time—but had never been previously produced when the parties had subpoenaed Floyd’s medical records.

    The state now wanted these data to be shared with the jury and explained by Dr. Tobin, to rebut Fowler’s claim that Floyd’s CO concentration could have been as high as 18%.

    Normally, of course, the state would have been expected to make such arguments in Dr. Tobin’s original testimony, and their failure to do so would not be a good reason to suddenly allow Tobin to re-testify now.

    An exception to that normal prohibition on re-testimony, however, can be made if the defense itself had “ambushed” the prosecution with scientific arguments for which they had not provided the state with notice.

    Prosecutor Blackwell argued that Fowler’s reference to CO concentrations as high as 18% had never previously been disclosed to the state, and so qualified as just such an “ambush” that justified Tobin’s re-call to the witness stand.

    The defense countered that Fowler had explicitly referenced CO as a possible contributor to Floyd’s death in his expert report shared with the state weeks before trial began and had even recommend that the state test the blood for CO concentration.

    It was only the state, not the defense, that had possession of the blood. As a result, the state was on notice with respect to the CO issue, and if they failed to address that issue in a timely manner, that was on them.

    Judge Cahill agreed with the defense with respect to this “newly discovered” blood gas level data, and informed the state that if Tobin so much as hinted at this new data, the Judge would order a mistrial had occurred.

    That said, Cahill said he would allow Tobin to speak to the CO concentration issue if he only referenced data that had long been available to both parties. That opened the door to the prosecution having Tobin reference Floyd’s oxygen (rather than carbon monoxide) levels, and use the O level to infer possible CO level.

    Branca has done the best reporting on the Chauvin trial that I’ve found on the interwebs.

    NJRob (eb56c3) — 4/17/2021 @ 6:31 am

    
    

18. https://nypost.com/2021/04/16/psaki-biden-wont-remove-un-ambassador-over-white-supremacy-comments/

    White House press secretary Jen Psaki on Friday said President Biden has no plans to remove UN Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield over comments she made that “slavery weaved white supremacy into our founding documents and principles.”

    The senior US diplomat described racism and discrimination in the US in taped remarks this week to Al Sharpton’s National Action Network.

    Emerald Robinson of Newsmax asked Psaki at her daily press briefing whether Biden is “going to remove her from her position” — saying the speech hit themes similar to an anti-US diatribe by Chinese diplomats in Alaska last month.

    But Psaki defended Thomas-Greenfield

    Racism is permissible in government as long as it’s against a particular one.

    NJRob (eb56c3) — 4/17/2021 @ 6:43 am

    
    

19. https://www.breitbart.com/law-and-order/2021/04/16/watch-blm-activist-asks-when-people-ready-to-get-blood-on-their-hands/

    An activist speaking at Black Lives Matter Plaza asked how long before “people are really ready to get blood on their hands” to make change happen. His call to action came during a “Jail Killer Cops” rally in Washington, DC, on Friday evening.

    “Voting is not gonna bring us this (change),” Rahim B., a 21-year-old activist, said during a “Jail Killer Cops” rally held Friday night in the nation’s capital. “We voted in the new president, Joe Biden, but I told folks straight up — Joe Biden ain’t gonna do nothing for us because Joe Biden was in office as the vice-president when the Black Lives Matter movement started and ain’t nothing changed.”

    “We’ve been protesting for a really long time,” Rahim continued. “How much longer can we protest and march in the streets before we are ready, really ready, to get blood on their hands because one of these days, it’s going to have to come to that.”

    Earlier in his speech, Rahim said he was ready to “dedicate my life to change.”

    “Bringing about that change is not going to always be pretty, and it’s not going to be peaceful,” he predicted. “I don’t condemn who loot, I support them for looting. I support people who take matters in their own hands. If you want to set something on fire, go do that.”

    Incitement anyone?

    NJRob (eb56c3) — 4/17/2021 @ 6:45 am

    
    

20. How many on here posted leftist propaganda because they thought it would hurt President Trump? How many didn’t care about the truth, it was the narrative that mattered? Any willing to own their mistakes?

    Greenwald is the one peddling propaganda, Rob.
    Derkach literally attended a Russian spy school, but that didn’t stop Rudy from using Derkach’s disinformation to help his “client”.
    Kilimnik was bounced out of the International Republican Institute (a fact that Greenwald neglected to mention) because they became convinced that he was spying for Putin, but that wasn’t enough to stop Manafort from hiring him. Why Rudy and Greenwald would be sympathetic to Putin-aligned bad actors and a country that is hostile to American interests has yet to be explained, but it’s unpatriotic and un-American on their part.

    Paul Montagu (26e0d1) — 4/17/2021 @ 7:16 am

    
    

21. Anglo-Saxon: a member of the Germanic peoples conquering England in the fifth century a.d. and forming the ruling class until the Norman conquest.
    As I recall, the Anglo-Saxon period was 1½ centuries before the Magna Carta and their political traditions were about tribal and royal rule. Ms. Taylor Greene is not a great American.

    Paul Montagu (26e0d1) — 4/17/2021 @ 7:22 am

    
    

22. @21.‘The term “Anglo-Saxon” is sometimes used to refer to peoples descended or associated in some way with the English ethnic group, but there is no universal definition for the term. In contemporary Anglophone cultures outside Britain, “Anglo-Saxon” may be contrasted with “Celtic” as a socioeconomic identifier, invoking or reinforcing historical prejudices against non-English British immigrants, such as the Irish.’ -wikihardcheese.wot

    “Your German is good. And I hear, also, your French. Your hands… UP!” – S.S. Officer Steinach [Karl-Otto Alberty] ‘The Great Escape’ 1963

    DCSCA (f4c5e5) — 4/17/2021 @ 8:04 am

    
    

23. I liked this response to the “America First Caucus”

    Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy tweeted: “America is built on the idea that we are all created equal and success is earned through honest, hard work. It isn’t built on identity, race, or religion. The Republican Party is the party of Lincoln & the party of more opportunity for all Americans — not nativist dog whistles.”

    The hyper-focus on immigration…and personality worship….betrays that the new GOP is simply floundering in direction….looking for the next grift to keep the masses maximally angry. It would be nice to hear about a GOP agenda that extends beyond immigration and seeks to attract persuadable voters.

    AJ_Liberty (ec7f74) — 4/17/2021 @ 8:07 am

    
    

24. It will get her reelected in her district and that’s all she could ask for. Well, that, and the sheriff not finding the still under her chicken coop.

    nk (1d9030) — 4/17/2021 @ 8:13 am

    
    

25. Paul,

    thank Senator McCain.

    Now that you’re still trying to focus on Russia, do their blockade of the Black Sea and their buildup of forces on the Ukrainian border. Also mention Biden’s response. I’ll wait…

    NJRob (eb56c3) — 4/17/2021 @ 8:22 am

    
    

26. 22, Sergeant York had a good “your English is better than mine” scene as well.

    urbanleftbehind (3c6be6) — 4/17/2021 @ 8:28 am

    
    

27. A seven-page organizing document that includes the group’s name and a logo, first reported by Punchbowl News, says: “America is a nation with a border, and a culture, strengthened by a common respect for uniquely Anglo-Saxon political traditions.”

    Irish, Italians, Spaniards, Norwegians, etc, need not apply.

    Kevin M (ab1c11) — 4/17/2021 @ 8:54 am

    
    

28. I am ok with the Anglos, not so sure about the Saxons, but as for the Jutes? They will not replace us.

    And I am really glad that Biden listened to Senator Durbin and other and gave up on the idea of an artificially low cap on refugees. The U.S. should take as many as it can reasonably handle, given how Trump has systematically wrecked our refugee system over the years. Sticking to the miserably low number propounded by Trump would have been a betrayal of his voters.

    Victor (4959fb) — 4/17/2021 @ 8:57 am

    
    

29. Scotts, Czechs and Slovenians, too. Not to mention Cubans.

    nk (1d9030) — 4/17/2021 @ 8:58 am

    
    

30. https://greenwald.substack.com/p/journalists-learning-they-spread

    Turns out the “Russian Bounty” story was fake. Who could have guessed?

    BuDuh (9627f6) — 4/17/2021 @ 8:59 am

    
    

31. The Boston Marathon bombers were refugees. They bought the pressure cooker and gunpowder with EBT cash and built the bomb in housing paid by HUD.

    nk (1d9030) — 4/17/2021 @ 9:10 am

    
    

32. Greenwald?

    Seriously?

    It’s fascinating seeing people work so hard to defend Russia though. I wonder why they do it. Biden’s not really up to the task, but at least he isn’t a traitor like his predecessor.

    Dustin (4237e0) — 4/17/2021 @ 9:11 am

    
    

33. I read DeSantis is Catholic; at least he didnt (or hasnt yet) convert to evangelical or born-again…that might help him in the northeast of all places. 2024 will likely be the 3rd black president running against the prospective 2nd italian president.

    urbanleftbehind (3c6be6) — 4/17/2021 @ 9:13 am

    
    

34. 31:

    …but their paleness compared to the north Africans who actually have rooting interests in marathons bought them a couple days head start running from the cops.

    urbanleftbehind (3c6be6) — 4/17/2021 @ 9:15 am

    
    

35. Greenwald was Snowden’s accomplice, remember?

    nk (1d9030) — 4/17/2021 @ 9:24 am

    
    

36. Dustin,

    have you read Taibbi’s post yet? Look forward to you commenting on it.

    NJRob (eb56c3) — 4/17/2021 @ 9:25 am

    
    

37. CNN was Saddam’s accomplice, remember.

    NJRob (eb56c3) — 4/17/2021 @ 9:25 am

    
    

38. And they are a very handsome people, urbanleftbehind. Tall, too. Minnesota is a very good place for them. Cross them with the Norwegians and Wowee!

    nk (1d9030) — 4/17/2021 @ 9:28 am

    
    

39. I thought the Croatians hit the genetic lottery of height, athleticism and being able to tan, not burn…but then there’s Bill Belichick, though I’m sure hes not complaining.

    urbanleftbehind (3c6be6) — 4/17/2021 @ 9:32 am

    
    

40. I was surprised that Chauvin decided not to testify. It sounds like his attorney advised him to testify, but he refused.

    Testifying seemed like a no-brainer to me – likely the only avenue to acquittal.

    What do all you fancy-pants lawyers think?

    Dave (1bb933) — 4/17/2021 @ 9:48 am

    
    

41. Of course, there will always be that guy.

    nk (1d9030) — 4/17/2021 @ 9:48 am

    
    

42. https://therightscoop.com/riots-portland-in-flames-overnight-as-antifa-sets-apple-store-other-buildings-on-fire-but-its-not-insurrection-okay/

    More arson and wanton destruction in Portland thanks to antifa. Anyone want to continue defending their attacks on society and civilization?

    NJRob (eb56c3) — 4/17/2021 @ 9:49 am

    
    

43. Well I guess one possible principle of government is that if a member of some identifiable group ever commits a terrorist act than all members of that group should be banished, and this would also have the additional benefit of reducing overall levels of misogyny, but my guess is that the few people remaining in the U.S. would get lonely.

    Victor (4959fb) — 4/17/2021 @ 9:49 am

    
    

44. Nice blame-shifting, Rob, trying to make McCain responsible for a Russian spy’s subterfuge.

    Now that you’re still trying to focus on Russia, do their blockade of the Black Sea and their buildup of forces on the Ukrainian border.

    What about it? Putin is still trying to take sovereign territory that’s not his. Why are you a Putin sympathizer? And why do you endorse his invasion of a neighboring country, violating the very treaty his Russian Federation signed?

    Paul Montagu (26e0d1) — 4/17/2021 @ 10:14 am

    
    

45. Dustin,

    have you read Taibbi’s post yet? Look forward to you commenting on it.

    NJRob (eb56c3) — 4/17/2021 @ 9:25 am

    No I hadn’t. I just tried to read it and he doesn’t seem to be saying anything. Just kinda waving his arms that Russia did a lot of bad things, but the details in the moment were poorly understood. I don’t care about that.

    Is it true Russia and Trump were helping eachother? Yes.

    Dustin (4237e0) — 4/17/2021 @ 10:30 am

    
    

46. More arson and wanton destruction in Portland thanks to antifa. Anyone want to continue defending their attacks on society and civilization?

    If you’re naughty enough, you don’t need Santa Claus. These people aren’t protesting anything. They got tired of buying losing lottery tickets and are going out and helping themselves to whatever is not nailed down, and smashing or burning what is.

    nk (1d9030) — 4/17/2021 @ 11:06 am

    
    

47. What a pathetically staged “bobcat” video. It borders on animal abuse.

    Chris (3d25b0) — 4/17/2021 @ 11:09 am

    
    

48. trengthened by a common respect for uniquely Anglo-Saxon political traditions.

    Will the anti-Celitic bigotry and anti-Norman bigotry never end?

    Radegunda (aea52f) — 4/17/2021 @ 11:12 am

    
    

49. If you’re looking for pro-Russia content, Taibbi and Greenwald are excellent sources you should totally check out.

    Patterico (e349ce) — 4/17/2021 @ 11:12 am

    
    

50. What a pathetically staged “bobcat” video. It borders on animal abuse.

    It is apparently real. There is a 911 call where you can hear the woman talking about it and hear the guy shooting it. Authorities have said the bobcat was rabid.

    Patterico (e349ce) — 4/17/2021 @ 11:14 am

    
    

51. Greenfield isn’t mentioned in this link:

    White House dials down likelihood Russia offered bounties in Afghanistan

    White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Thursday there is not strong evidence that Russia allegedly offered bounties to the Taliban to target U.S. and allied forces in Afghanistan.

    Psaki said a review by the intelligence committee conducted in the wake of explosive news reports last year about the allegation determined its veracity with only “low-to-moderate confidence.”

    https://www.politico.com/amp/news/2021/04/15/russia-afghanistan-bounties-psaki-481990

    The Russian Bounty story lacked anything verifiable when it was launched.

    BuDuh (9627f6) — 4/17/2021 @ 11:21 am

    
    

52. You have to respect a man who grabs a bobcat by the neck and chunks him away from his family.

    Dustin (4237e0) — 4/17/2021 @ 11:26 am

    
    

53. The Russian Bounty Story was based on evidence of “low to moderate” confidence when it was made public a year ago. I don’t see that much has changed.

    Victor (4959fb) — 4/17/2021 @ 11:37 am

    
    

54. “Greenfield” should have been “Greenwald.”

    BuDuh (9627f6) — 4/17/2021 @ 11:38 am

    
    

55. And speaking of recently uncovered information regarding Trump’s connections with the Russians:

    Trump campaign chair Manafort shared proprietary data that the Russians used to help Trump.

    Did Trump order Manafort to share the data? Who knows.

    Was Trump aware? Ditto.

    Did Trump benefit? Yes.

    Did Trump approve? Well, he pardoned the guy who did it.

    https://twitter.com/davidfrum/status/1383045317071867913?s=20

    Victor (4959fb) — 4/17/2021 @ 11:42 am

    
    

56. Doe it change any of the weight behind Biden’s statements about it during the campaign, Victor?

    From the Politico article:

    The administration’s admission undercuts a narrative wielded by then-candidate Joe Biden against former President Donald Trump on the campaign trail. Biden repeatedly raised the possibility of Russian bounties as further evidence that Trump treated Russia with kid gloves at the expense of the military, and used it as a cudgel against him.

    To me, that Biden was able to exaggerate because of a compliant and biased media. They could have corrected the record at the time as I image they, like you, knew it was a story that lacked concrete evidence. You probably argued this same defense of Trump back when the story broke.

    BuDuh (9627f6) — 4/17/2021 @ 11:43 am

    
    

57. Black Lives Matter co-founder Patrisse Khan-Cullors is under fire for allegedly going on a real-estate buying binge where she purchased four high-end homes, with some being in wealthy predominately white neighborhoods.

    Can you please show me the fire? I don’t see any smoke or feel any heat.

    Hoi Polloi (b28058) — 4/17/2021 @ 11:44 am

    
    

58. recognize disinformation, Russian’s most powerful tool against democracy, against the safety and future of every child and good person you know

    Russia is often responsible for exaggerations or distortions to things they did, so they can point to errors as proof they were innocent.

    Hard fact: collusion happened. https://thehill.com/opinion/white-house/548794-there-was-trump-russia-collusion-and-trump-pardoned-the-colluder

    Trump goes down in history the worst president we had.

    Dustin (4237e0) — 4/17/2021 @ 11:45 am

    
    

59. The Russian Bounty Story was based on evidence of “low to moderate” confidence when it was made public a year ago. I don’t see that much has changed.
    Victor (4959fb) — 4/17/2021 @ 11:37 am

    You are correct. It was BS story then and it is a BS story now. Except the media is not correcting its lies when it reported Trump was briefed on it.

    FYI – for those not steeped in USIC intel reporting, a low to moderate confidence level means about a 15-25% chance of being true.

    We should have known it was a BS intel report because Biden didn’t do squat about it once he became president. In fact, he went right on with Trump’s withdrawal from Afghanistan and didn’t even try to punish the Taliban or Russia.

    Because the report simply wasn’t true.

    Hoi Polloi (b28058) — 4/17/2021 @ 11:46 am

    
    

60. More arson and wanton destruction in Portland thanks to antifa. Anyone want to continue defending their attacks on society and civilization?
    NJRob (eb56c3) — 4/17/2021 @ 9:49 am

    According to Democrats, as long as it was night and there was no one in the building, then it’s okay.

    Hoi Polloi (b28058) — 4/17/2021 @ 11:48 am

    
    

61. According to Democrats, as long as it was night and there was no one in the building, then it’s okay.

    Which Democrats said that?

    Dave (1bb933) — 4/17/2021 @ 11:57 am

    
    

62. Who on this blog is ‘defending antifa’? All I see are many desperate defenses of Russia’s government.

    Dustin (4237e0) — 4/17/2021 @ 12:07 pm

    
    

63. Did Trump approve? Well, he pardoned the guy who did it.

    After dangling a pardon as a way of buying Manafort’s silence.

    The fact that the MSM lean left doesn’t mean that Trump is pure as the driven snow or that every negative thing reported about him is a lie. Especially when the bad stuff is demonstrated by his own words and public actions. Or those pictures from Helsinki where he looks like a whipped puppy while Vlad smirks triumphantly.

    Radegunda (aea52f) — 4/17/2021 @ 12:07 pm

    
    

64. April 17, 1970; 51 years ago today.

    Okay- you saw the movie version; now watch the real thing, as we saw it:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wX8-Vmys-Fk

    DCSCA (f4c5e5) — 4/17/2021 @ 12:26 pm

    
    

65. #58

    The opinions of this person are the facts? Or the articles linked are the facts?

    “Marik von Rennenkampff served as an analyst with the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of International Security and Nonproliferation as well as an Obama administration appointee at the U.S. Department of Defense.”

    The way I approached it was to blank out Trumps name and evaluate Tiabbi’s article as if we were dealing with some guy named Smith. I had to admit I’d jumped to some conclusions. For example I remember us talking about the Bounty story here and I rated it as plausible because we’d killed a lot of Russian operatives in Syria. I also rated it as plausible because it might not have been something the US government wanted hashed out in public. I’m not so proud that I can’t admit I was wrong on that. Re-insert Trumps name into the story and watch a lot of necks get stiff and proud and refuse to give an inch. Hatred does that to people.

    steveg (ebe7c1) — 4/17/2021 @ 12:36 pm

    
    

66. people voted for him based on that promise.

    This is probably the most annoying claim that people make. “I voted for him based on X, therefore he should do X.” People voted for Biden because he claimed to be a uniter, so he should unite! Bet you AOC wouldn’t think so.

    Kevin M (ab1c11) — 4/17/2021 @ 1:03 pm

    
    

67. Authorities have said the bobcat was rabid.

    Really!? Rabid animals are very rare.

    Kevin M (ab1c11) — 4/17/2021 @ 1:04 pm

    
    

68. Raul Castro announced on Friday he is resigning as the secretary-general of the Communist Party of Cuba, AP reports.

    Meet the new boss
    Same as the old boss

    Kevin M (ab1c11) — 4/17/2021 @ 1:09 pm

    
    

69. “If you go around calling yourself a socialist, you have to ask how much of her own personal money is going to charitable causes,”

    Socialism is about other people’s money.

    Mattsky (55d339) — 4/17/2021 @ 1:10 pm

    
    

70. When former President Donald Trump took office, his administration sought to claim about 7 acres and divide their land—which they rent to various tenants—in two. A huge chunk of their property would thus be nearly inaccessible to prospective customers, paralyzing their business…

    Wait. They took 7 acres AND put some of “their” remaining land on the Mexico-facing side of the wall?

    I would think they could at least get the government to pay for any land that was made inaccessible as it was also effectively taken. Or am I misreading this? The linked article is no clearer than this excerpt.

    Kevin M (ab1c11) — 4/17/2021 @ 1:14 pm

    
    

71. What a pathetically staged “bobcat” video. It borders on animal abuse.

    Staged? Hm, i’ve never read about any bobcats being that cooperative. He must have been getting paid a hefty salary to pretend to be vicious…

    Dana (110c28) — 4/17/2021 @ 1:15 pm

    
    

72. More arson and wanton destruction in Portland thanks to antifa. Anyone want to continue defending their attacks on society and civilization?
    NJRob (eb56c3) — 4/17/2021 @ 9:49 am

    Who here specifically has defended attacks on society and civilization? Your comment implies that people have been continually defending such actions. I’d like to know who it is that has been doing that here.

    Dana (110c28) — 4/17/2021 @ 1:18 pm

    
    

73. “If you go around calling yourself a socialist, you have to ask how much of her own personal money is going to charitable causes,”

    I remember when Bill Clinton donated his used underpants to charity and tried to write them off.

    Kevin M (ab1c11) — 4/17/2021 @ 1:19 pm

    
    

74. Marjorie taylor greene has formed the ku klux kaucus for white republicans house members.

    asset (350ef9) — 4/17/2021 @ 1:56 pm

    
    

75. ICYMI:
    First results from Fermilab’s Muon g-2 experiment strengthen evidence of new physics

    g-2 (“gee minus two”) is a parameter describing the behavior of elementary particles (in this case, the muon, a particle that interacts like an electron, but is ~200 times more massive).

    This quantity is interesting because its value can be slightly modified by the effects of hypothetical particles that we haven’t discovered yet. So the game is to measure it as accurately as possible, and work out what it should be based on all the particles we *do* know about. If the measurement and prediction disagree it would be a hint of “new physics”. Conceptually it’s a bit like looking for a new planet based on unexpected deviations in the orbit of a planet we already know about.

    About 20 years ago, an experiment at the Brookhaven National Laboratory measured a fairly large discrepancy. This could mean any or all of three things:

    1) The experiment screwed up
    2) The people calculating the prediction screwed up
    3) There’s new physics

    Screwing up the prediction has happened before (literally a sign error in calculating the Feynmann diagrams). The theorists have worked to check their calculations and recently published a best estimate combining several independent techniques.

    To rule out experimental error, the experiment was repeated at Fermilab with many improvements, and the results were recently announced. The experiment was conducted “blind” in such a way that all the data selection and calibrations had to be completed before the research team found out what their result would be.

    The (older) Brookhaven result was

    (g-2)/2 = 0.001 165 920 80(60)

    The number in parentheses is experimental measurement uncertainty, corresponding to about 0.5 parts per million (ppm).

    The new measurement (with a small fraction of the data the experiment will eventually collect) is

    (g-2)/2 = 0.001 165 920 40(54)

    the uncertainty is about 0.47 ppm, and the two measurements are in excellent agreement. If the two measurements are combined, the experimental precision is 0.35 ppm.

    The theoretical prediction is

    (g-2)/2 = 0.001 165 918 10(43)

    The discrepancy corresponds to 4.2 standard deviations, just shy of 5 standard deviation threshold for claiming discovery.

    The Fermilab experiment will take six times more data, so the experimental precision will improve. Most physicists would probably bet (conservatively) on a systematic error in the theoretical prediction being the explanation. New computation techniques for the most difficult (and uncertain) parts are being worked on.

    Dave (1bb933) — 4/17/2021 @ 2:33 pm

    
    

76. …describing the behavior of elementary particle *in a magnetic field*…

    Dave (1bb933) — 4/17/2021 @ 2:38 pm

    
    

77. I remember when Bill Clinton donated his used underpants to charity and tried to write them off.

    Kevin M (ab1c11) — 4/17/2021 @ 1:19 pm

    Why, those are Presidential skid marks!

    norcal (01e272) — 4/17/2021 @ 4:51 pm

    
    

78. I heard that the homeless made tent cities out of Hillary’s used underwear.

    norcal (01e272) — 4/17/2021 @ 4:52 pm

    
    

79. People voted for Biden because he claimed to be a uniter, so he should unite! Bet you AOC wouldn’t think so.

    Nah. He ran twice for POTUS before and was soundly rejected for consideration by his own party– and only rode in as VEEP aboard Mr. Spock’s shuttlecraft. People didn’t vote “for” the Plagiarist Swamp Creature- they voted against Trump.

    DCSCA (f4c5e5) — 4/17/2021 @ 4:54 pm

    
    

80. I remember when Bill Clinton donated his used underpants to charity and tried to write them off.

    I remember when the problem was him taking them off. 😉

    DCSCA (f4c5e5) — 4/17/2021 @ 4:56 pm

    
    

81. What do all you fancy-pants lawyers think?

    Dave (1bb933) — 4/17/2021 @ 9:48 am

    I think it was the right decision. If he looks like a complete psychopath to me in the videos, I can’t imagine what he would look like to the jury on the witness stand.

    BTW, under Anglo-Saxon law, the defendant was barred from testifying in his own defense as a matter of law. Now, it’s up to him and, without looking it up, I think it had to go to the U.S. Supreme Court for it to happen, and was held to be part of the Sixth Amendment right to compel witnesses to testify in the defendant’s favor.

    nk (1d9030) — 4/17/2021 @ 5:15 pm

    
    

82. Dave,

    As I “understood” the muon results, there was another group claiming a different method of computation that happened to be in agreement with experiment. I’m unable to judge any of this, of course, as this is deep into the weeds of particle physics and I’ve not been paying attention for the last 40 or so years.

    But the idea that a different calculation method agreed with experiment reminded me of Planck’s “mathematical trick” to deal with the blackbody problem. I got the impression that this new calculation was nowhere near as interesting, but what is the scoop on that?

    Kevin M (ab1c11) — 4/17/2021 @ 5:29 pm

    
    

83. It will get her reelected in her district and that’s all she could ask for. Well, that, and the sheriff not finding the still under her chicken coop.

    It should be noted that the NW corner of GA is where the Cherokee got forced out of, so not a lot has changed there in a while.

    Kevin M (ab1c11) — 4/17/2021 @ 5:38 pm

    
    

84. 75. Color me shocked that Mr. Wobbly Conservative Dave is also an apologist for wobbly subatomic particles.

    lurker (59504c) — 4/17/2021 @ 5:43 pm

    
    

85. Trial balloon popped; CNN reports after much in-party criticism, M-T-Greene has tabled the ‘Anglo-Saxon’ club idea today. Still, ferrets like Gohmert, who sniffed the bait too quickly, were smoked out.

    DCSCA (f4c5e5) — 4/17/2021 @ 5:49 pm

    
    

86. Now she can fund raise on being “cancelled”.

    Davethulhu (6ba00b) — 4/17/2021 @ 6:07 pm

    
    

87. As I “understood” the muon results, there was another group claiming a different method of computation that happened to be in agreement with experiment. I’m unable to judge any of this, of course, as this is deep into the weeds of particle physics and I’ve not been paying attention for the last 40 or so years.

    That’s right, although the very newest one of these “Lattice QCD” calculations was itself something of an outlier from earlier ones of the same kind (which disagree more with the experiments).

    The problem is that strong force is so strong at low energies that it can’t be treated perturbatively like the other two forces.

    These Lattice QCD calculations are kind of analogous to what Planck did, in that they attempt to compute integrals that are intractable when integrating over continuous spacetime by summing over a lattice of discrete points instead. Planck solved the problem of divergent integrals over a continuum of *energies* by turning the continuous integral into discrete sum.

    Dave (1bb933) — 4/17/2021 @ 6:33 pm

    
    

88. Color me shocked that Mr. Wobbly Conservative Dave is also an apologist for wobbly subatomic particles.

    I’m not “wobbling”, I’m precessing.

    Dave (1bb933) — 4/17/2021 @ 6:36 pm

    
    

89. antifa is an idea not an organization

    anyone who voted for biden defends this drivel

    JF (65f747) — 4/17/2021 @ 6:46 pm

    
    

90. I think it was the right decision. If he looks like a complete psychopath to me in the videos, I can’t imagine what he would look like to the jury on the witness stand.

    Perhaps, but as the legendary Cuban chess grandmaster Jose Raul Capablanca once observed: “There are no wrong moves from a losing position”…

    Dave (1bb933) — 4/17/2021 @ 6:58 pm

    
    

91. antifa is an idea not an organization

    anyone who voted for biden defends this drivel

    JF (65f747) — 4/17/2021 @ 6:46 pm

    The “one drop” school of thought.

    norcal (01e272) — 4/17/2021 @ 8:43 pm

    
    

92. I hope GG will be forthcoming with the next installment sometime this weekend.

    norcal (01e272) — 4/17/2021 @ 8:45 pm

    
    

93. anyone who voted for biden defends this drivel

    JF (65f747) — 4/17/2021 @ 6:46 pm

    Trump had to go. Instead of being a sore loser, try reflecting on why Trump had to go so much. Far too many of his supporters are refusing to think about this, pretending Trump actually won. He didn’t and I’m glad.

    Dustin (4237e0) — 4/17/2021 @ 9:02 pm

    
    

94. via Drudge, some information about a high-budget Amazon Prime original series, set in Tolkien’s Middle Earth:

    Amazon’s ‘The Lord of the Rings’ to Cost $465M for Just One Season

    The official description: The Lord of the Rings “brings to screens for the very first time the heroic legends of the fabled Second Age of Middle-earth’s history. This epic drama is set thousands of years before the events of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, and will take viewers back to an era in which great powers were forged, kingdoms rose to glory and fell to ruin, unlikely heroes were tested, hope hung by the finest of threads, and the greatest villain that ever flowed from Tolkien’s pen threatened to cover all the world in darkness. Beginning in a time of relative peace, the series follows an ensemble cast of characters, both familiar and new, as they confront the long-feared re-emergence of evil to Middle-earth. From the darkest depths of the Misty Mountains, to the majestic forests of the elf-capital of Lindon, to the breathtaking island kingdom of Númenor, to the furthest reaches of the map, these kingdoms and characters will carve out legacies that live on long after they are gone.”

    In Tolkien’s universe, the Second Age is the least fleshed out, so there’s a lot of scope for dramatic license. Presumably they’ll focus on a small time slice; if so, the last years of the island kingdom of Men (Numenor) seems like the best bet. After their king was beguiled by Sauron (who at that time could still take on a fair-seeming form) things got pretty depraved in a hurry, with a small group of decent folk (led by Aragorn’s ancestors) resisting and being persecuted as a result.

    Dave (1bb933) — 4/17/2021 @ 9:07 pm

    
    

95. A person can think that Antifa are unemployed losers with nothing to do except make trouble and look for a chance to snatch a little loot, and that Trump is too.

    nk (1d9030) — 4/17/2021 @ 10:24 pm

    
    

96. I’m kind of hoping to see Beren and Lúthien steal the Silmaril from Morgoth.

    Kevin M (ab1c11) — 4/17/2021 @ 10:48 pm

    
    

97. Trump had to go

    Always hoping the frying pan was worse than the fire.

    Kevin M (ab1c11) — 4/17/2021 @ 10:49 pm

    
    

98. Perhaps, but as the legendary Cuban chess grandmaster Jose Raul Capablanca once observed: “There are no wrong moves from a losing position”…

    Also, there are no right ones.

    Kevin M (ab1c11) — 4/17/2021 @ 10:52 pm

    
    

99. I’m kind of hoping to see Beren and Lúthien steal the Silmaril from Morgoth.

    That was the First Age, which would also be a great setting, but telling the whole story would be like trying to make a movie out of the Old Testament…

    The exile of the Noldor and the voyage of Earendil (Elrond’s dad) is another great First Age narrative thread.

    Dave (1bb933) — 4/17/2021 @ 11:32 pm

    
    

100. BuDuh,

     The thing is that after Trump I am really not that disturbed if a presidential candidate exaggerates an actual thing for the purpose of attacking his political opponent during a campaign. Trump would just flat out lie. Getting all upset about Biden now shows pure amnesia.

     And in any case, 1) Trump actually was cozy with Russia and 2) Biden wasn’t privy to the underlying information and thus in as good a position as the rest of us to speculate.

     So I guess this is really a complaint that the media wasn’t clearer about what “low to moderate” means in intelligence circles at the time, and that they were wrong about whether Trump was or was not briefed and did or did not take it with the seriousness appropriate. And if you can point to me specific stories from the time that showed the media getting a breaking story wrong I will be happy to criticize them right with you. Boo sometimes exaggerated or distorted media!

     But again Trump supporters don’t seem to realize that they’ve no credibility – none – when they criticize Biden for exaggerations or hyperbole. The rest of us just shrug.

     Victor (4959fb) — 4/17/2021 @ 11:57 pm

     
     

101. Hey Victor, take your ridiculous credibility and…..

     mg (8cbc69) — 4/18/2021 @ 2:30 am

     
     

102. Fund-Raising Surged for Republicans Who Sought to Overturn the Election

     Republicans who were the most vocal in urging their followers to come to Washington on Jan. 6 to try to reverse President Donald J. Trump’s loss, pushing to overturn the election and stoking the grievances that prompted the deadly Capitol riot, have profited handsomely in its aftermath, according to new campaign data.

     Senators Josh Hawley of Missouri and Ted Cruz of Texas, who led the challenges to President Biden’s victory in their chamber, each brought in more than $3 million in campaign donations in the three months that followed the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.

     Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, Republican of Georgia who called the rampage a “1776 moment” and was later stripped of committee assignments for espousing bigoted conspiracy theories and endorsing political violence, raised $3.2 million — more than the individual campaign of Representative Kevin McCarthy, the minority leader, and nearly every other member of House leadership.

     A New York Times analysis of the latest Federal Election Commission disclosures illustrates how the leaders of the effort to overturn Mr. Biden’s electoral victory have capitalized on the outrage of their supporters to collect huge sums of campaign cash. Far from being punished for encouraging the protest that turned lethal, they have thrived in a system that often rewards the loudest and most extreme voices, using the fury around the riot to build their political brands.

     Fascism pays.

     Expect plenty more of it from Trump and his handmaidens.

     Dave (1bb933) — 4/18/2021 @ 3:12 am

     
     

103. Nigerian princes hurt most.

     nk (1d9030) — 4/18/2021 @ 4:10 am

     
     

104. I just learned, belatedly, that my friend and former colleague, Jack Steinberger, passed away last December:

     Jack Steinberger, Nobel Winner in Physics, Dies at 99

     He was a remarkable character. Quick with a joke, unpretentious, always happy to talk to younger scientists, but if you somehow angered him … well, you really didn’t want to anger him.

     We worked together on an experiment at CERN in the 1990’s, and attended a conference in Jerusalem together in 1997. His letter of recommendation helped me get my current job.

     Steinberger had something of career-long feud with Fred Reines, who co-discovered the first neutrino, led the experiment I got my PhD on, and was the founder of the UCI School of Physical Sciences and the neutrino group I worked in at UCI (after his retirement and death). The building that houses my office is named after him. The feud was based on a very technical point – Jack thought that in between Fred’s first neutrino discovery paper and the follow-up, they had fudged the data to agree better with a new theoretical calculation. I have no idea what the truth of the matter is.

     Jack and his colleagues discovered the *second* type of neutrino (the muon variety) in 1962, and received the Nobel Prize in 1988. At that time, Reines had not yet won the prize for co-discovering the *first* neutrino (the electron type) in 1957. At the time, Maurice Goldhaber (who discovered that neutrinos violate mirror symmetry, and worked with Fred and I on my thesis experiment) joked that you only win a Nobel Prize for every other neutrino… Fred didn’t win the Nobel Prize until 1995, when he was in the throes of severe Alzheimers and had no idea what was happening.

     Dave (1bb933) — 4/18/2021 @ 4:37 am

     
     

105. mg,

     You seem to be upset. Is there something in particular you object to?

     Victor (4959fb) — 4/18/2021 @ 5:03 am

     
     

106. The White House said Friday President Joe Biden will set a new, increased refugee cap next month after facing a barrage of criticism when officials confirmed to CNN and other outlets that it would remain at the historically low level set by former President Donald Trump.

     But he didn’t announce what the actual number will be. He’s waiting to see how things look on May 15.

     One reason given for not raising the cap (besides claiming overwork somewhere, due to migrants coming from Mexico (largely untrue) was that Donald Trump dismantled much of the refugee approval process and closed offices, but 33,000 people have been approved. It was done in anticipation of Biden raising the quota – but he didn’t. Some medical approvals have expired. Airplane tickets have also been affected.

     When Biden announced he was keeping it at 15,000 he also promised that every slot will be filled. And he divided it among regions, with 1,000 unassigned and available to any region (IIRC) This is all for the second half of Fiscal Year 2021 – half the year;y quota. These people are all coming from refugee camps, I think.

     Biden resembles FDR maybe more than you might think. He has got the political courage of Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

     Sammy Finkelman (b434ee) — 4/18/2021 @ 6:38 am

     
     

107. Does anyone know the half life of a loose neutron or does it depend on the number of neutrinos passing through?

     Sammy Finkelman (b434ee) — 4/18/2021 @ 6:41 am

     
     

108. Black Lives Matter co-founder Patrisse Khan-Cullors is under fire for allegedly going on a real-estate buying binge where she purchased four high-end homes, with some being in wealthy predominately white neighborhoods.

     The real hypocrisy is that she lives in a safe, crime free neighborhood.

     One person was suspended from Twitter for not removing a tweet that referenced and linked to a story telling where she lived – and he says on;y the community not the exact address.
     .

     This is how I think censorship by Internet companies works:

     1) They have grounds for removal of tweets etc, largely vague or even secret.

     2) They use an algorithm that depends on the total number of complaints.

     3) Specific trigger words needed in the complaints are kept secret in order to avoid being manipulated.

     4) They are manipulated because organized left wing wokesters know them.

     5) Posts that don’t even technically violate the rules (like the “doxxing” of Black Lives Matter co-founder Patrisse Khan-Cullors) are removed because the right trigger words or grounds of complaint were used in making the complaints. They don’t notice, until counter-complaints are made, that the post being complained about doesn’t actually violate their terms of use.

     Sammy Finkelman (b434ee) — 4/18/2021 @ 6:55 am

     
     

109. The thing is that after Trump I am really not that disturbed if a presidential candidate exaggerates an actual thing for the purpose of attacking his political opponent during a campaign.

     The media “exaggerated,” Victor. The criticism is the bias of the media. Of course Biden ran with the “exaggeration” as it was designed for his campaign to exploit.

     The media did the exact same thing with Hunter Biden’s laptop when they exaggerated that is was Russian disinformation. That too was a lie that favored a particular candidate. I am of the opinion that the media should not have their collective finger pressing on one side of the political scale.

     Buduh (32a12c) — 4/18/2021 @ 7:02 am

     
     

110. Trump campaign chair Manafort shared proprietary data that the Russians used to help Trump.

     The proprietary date was internal campaign polls. It didn’t help the Russisna. It maybe encouraged the Russians. Manafort maybe did it to convince Russia that Trump could win and that he might become a spy (which he had no intention of doing)

     I doubt Trump was aware. The only way he might have benefitted was that Russia kept leaking Dem files but the basic issue had other sources.

     Sammy Finkelman (b434ee) — 4/18/2021 @ 7:03 am

     
     

111. Hunter \Biden’s new book is doing terrible. Of course – the only people interested are people who oppose Joe Biden or want to know the truth. Fans of Biden are not going to buy this book because even though it covers up things it is not complimentary to Hunter Biden.

     Sammy Finkelman (b434ee) — 4/18/2021 @ 7:05 am

     
     

112. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/15/world/asia/pakistan-afghanistan-withdrawal.html

     Near the peak of the American war in Afghanistan, a former chief of neighboring Pakistan’s military intelligence — an institution allied both to the U.S. military and to its Taliban adversaries — appeared on a talk show called “Joke Night” in 2014. He put a bold prediction on the record.

     “When history is written,” declared Gen. Hamid Gul, who led the feared spy service known as the I.S.I. during the last stretch of the Cold War in the 1980s, “it will be stated that the I.S.I. defeated the Soviet Union in Afghanistan with the help of America.”

     “Then there will be another sentence,” General Gul added after a brief pause, delivering his punchline to loud applause. “The I.S.I., with the help of America, defeated America.”
     In President Biden’s decision to withdraw all American forces from Afghanistan by September, Pakistan’s powerful military establishment finally gets its wish after decades of bloody intrigue: the exit of a disruptive superpower from a backyard where the I.S.I. had established strong influence through a friendly Taliban regime before the U.S. invaded in 2001.

     Sammy Finkelman (b434ee) — 4/18/2021 @ 7:14 am

     
     

113. I never thought that the two facts of Russia helping the Taliban pick targets and Russia giving money to the Taliban amounted to anything so simple as paying a bounty for American deaths/

     Sammy Finkelman (b434ee) — 4/18/2021 @ 7:15 am

     
     

114. https://www.aa.com.tr/en/asia-pacific/afghanistan-divided-over-us-withdrawal-plan/2210633

     Hours after Biden wrapped up his speech in the Treaty Room, the same location from which President George W. Bush had announced the invasion of Afghanistan in 2001, the Taliban delivered a detailed reaction.

     “As the withdrawal of [foreign] forces is being delayed by several months and will be completed before September…This decision is a clear violation of the Doha Agreement and non-compliance with its commitments,” said the group in a statement, referring to the agreement signed in February 2020 that called for the withdrawal by May 2021.

     “The Islamic Emirate [Taliban] urges America and all occupying countries to stop making excuses for prolonging the war and to withdraw all their forces from Afghanistan immediately,” the statement said, while stressing that the group “will under no circumstance ever relent on complete independence and the establishment of a pure Islamic system and remains committed to finding a peaceful solution to the Afghan problem following the complete and certain end of occupation.”

     Sammy Finkelman (b434ee) — 4/18/2021 @ 7:21 am

     
     

115. Biden’s hope for negotiations is pathetic.

     e may not be counting on that too much. He probably intends to rely on the CIA. But he might not have any bases, unlike the case in Syria or Yemen or even Niger.

     Sammy Finkelman (b434ee) — 4/18/2021 @ 7:23 am

     
     

116. By the way the Taliban have now warned that they may now attack American soldiers but I can’t .

     https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/biden-us-troop-withdrawal-afghanistan/2021/04/13/918c3cae-9beb-11eb-8a83-3bc1fa69c2e8_story.html

     While the Taliban has promised to renew attacks on U.S. and NATO personnel if foreign troops are not out by the [earlier May 1] deadline — and said in a statement it would not continue to participate in “any conference” about Afghanistan’s future until all “foreign forces” have departed — it is not clear whether the militants will follow through with the earlier threats given Biden’s plan for a phased withdrawal between now and September.

     I think it could happen even before May 1 – they complained about the May 1 deadline being pushed off, The goal is to create the impression (for Afghan political reasons) of having chased the United States out of Afghanistan,
     .

     Sammy Finkelman (b434ee) — 4/18/2021 @ 7:35 am

     
     

117. Derek Chauvin probably didn’t testify because his lawyers didn’t want to violate bar association rules against suborning perjury (although there are lawyers who would and it’s highly unlikely to be proven)

     Another reason would be that he would have to admit to some crime. The jury would convict him on what he admitted to, but, if what he said was at all possible, acquit him on what he did not.

     The carbon monoxide claim is ridiculous. Have you ever heard of anyone dying of caron monoxide poisoning from a car engine when not in an enclosed space?

     Sammy Finkelman (b434ee) — 4/18/2021 @ 7:46 am

     
     

118. The lifetime of a free neutron is 881.5 +/- 1.5 seconds, Sammy.

     Dave (1bb933) — 4/18/2021 @ 8:03 am

     
     

119. Waters told the protesters at Brooklyn Center that she will fight for justice on their behalf and urged them to ‘to get more confrontational’ – just one day after protests descended into violence. ‘I am not happy that we have talked about police reform for so long,’ Waters said. ‘We’re looking for a guilty verdict,’ she added in regards to the Derek Chauvin trial. ‘If we don’t, we cannot go away.’ ‘We gotta stay on the street,’ Waters was recorded saying, adding that protesters needed ‘to get more confrontational’ and they should ignore the curfew in place. Her comments sparked outrage on Twitter.

     Maxine Waters trying to incite terrorism. Will anyone have the guts to charge her?

     NJRob (eb56c3) — 4/18/2021 @ 8:05 am

     
     

120. Hunter Biden being paid millions for a book that won’t sell 50k copies is legalized graft. It’s a payoff to favored constituents.

     NJRob (eb56c3) — 4/18/2021 @ 8:08 am

     
     

121. Sammy, twitter promoted a link this weekend that doxed a cop who helped contribute to the defense fund of one of the unfavored. They are leftists. They have no standards.

     NJRob (eb56c3) — 4/18/2021 @ 8:09 am

     
     

122. That is true NJRob, I don’t think hunter biden has anything to say I want to read. He is an embarassment to our country.

     the GOP and dems have been doing that book thing for generations. The publishers make a lot of money off of it, and they would happily do it for Trump’s son (who has published a few idiotic books, such as “triggered”).

     Allen West had an event down the road from me, each ticket included his dumb book, which I’m sure he had already purchased and was reselling, which is how he became a best seller. It’s stupid.

     I will probably pick up Dubya’s new book.

     Dustin (4237e0) — 4/18/2021 @ 8:11 am

     
     

123. Also, Russian disinformation makes it hard to know what they are doing. I am confident they were actually paying for dead US Soldiers, just based on the usual suspects saying they weren’t, a little too loudly, and a little too certainly, with only confusion as their basis. We are certain they are our foe and Trump was kissing their ass. The hack was a bigger deal and these guys have recently innovated a doomsday weapon (a nuclear powered missile, a dirty bomb that can fly for months). When the Americans invented that 60 years ago we shut it down because it was so wrong. Not Putin though, and I guess Trump’s cool with that.

     Dustin (4237e0) — 4/18/2021 @ 8:15 am

     
     

124. I will probably pick up Dubya’s new book.

     I hope it is a revealing as his other book.

     “In early 2007, I called Dad and asked him if he would invite President Vladimir Putin of Russia to Walker’s Point (the Bush family home in Kennebunkport, Maine),” Bush writes in his new book 41: A Portrait Of My Father.

     Former president George H.W. Bush was thrilled to process the request. “Just let me know what you need, son,” he said.

     “When Putin arrived on July 1, 2007, Dad met his plane at the airport in New Hampshire and accompanied him on the helicopter ride to Walker’s Point. Then he took both of us for a speedboat ride,” Bush writes.

     https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.businessinsider.com/bush-fishing-with-putin-2016-4%3famp

     How cozy.

     Buduh (32a12c) — 4/18/2021 @ 8:21 am

     
     

125. https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/twitter-jason-whitlock-black-lives-matter-lock

     Good for Jason Whitlock for standing firm against the horde.

     Some adult language at the link.

     NJRob (eb56c3) — 4/18/2021 @ 8:21 am

     
     

126. Buduh, that you’re that upset about that passage relating to Dubya is indeed revealing that you are not analyzing Trump’s totally insane behavior towards Putin reasonably.

     Dustin (4237e0) — 4/18/2021 @ 8:30 am

     
     

127. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9483085/Father-pulled-daughter-NYCs-54K-year-Brearly-School-says-speak-out.html

     Then we have Mr. Gutmann who at least had the courage to speak out and pull his daughter from their formerly elite school that has become a Maoist indoctrination camp. If only all would speak out against the insidious and dangerous critical race theory propaganda infiltrating our schools.

     NJRob (eb56c3) — 4/18/2021 @ 8:33 am

     
     

128. I don’t understand what you are saying, Dustin. I am not upset that diplomacy can take on many different forms.

     Buduh (32a12c) — 4/18/2021 @ 8:40 am

     
     

129. How cozy.

     Putin took office one year before Dubya, and did some helpful things early in the War on Terror. By 2007, there were warning signs, but Putin was in the final stages of consolidating his power in Russia, and had not yet become an open adversary.

     Dave (1bb933) — 4/18/2021 @ 8:43 am

     
     

130. Any thoughts on the nuts who put a severed animal head and blood at the home of one of the witnesses for the defense in the Floyd trial?

     How can anyone expect a fair result with the type of intimidation that’s never ending by the radicals trying to force a result?

     NJRob (eb56c3) — 4/18/2021 @ 8:43 am

     
     

131. Another take on Trump’s “insane behavior towards Putin:

     The RSC charges that Biden’s tough talk has not been matched by a sufficient policy to counter Moscow’s misbehavior. When it comes to Russia, writes Banks, “President Biden called Russian President Vladimir Putin a ‘killer,’ then his team mostly returned to failed ‘reset’ Obama policies.” The Indiana Republican goes on to criticize the president for his conciliatory remarks this week as Russia has amassed tens of thousands of troops on Ukraine’s border.

     Biden notably campaigned on rhetoric critical of Putin’s repression at home and Russia’s aggressive foreign policy abroad, drawing a contrast between his own hawkish rhetoric and what he claimed was former president Trump’s insufficient approach. Although Trump spoke approvingly of the Russian president, in one instance even taking Putin’s assertions over those of the U.S. intelligence community, he presided over an administration that bulked up the U.S. military and its presence in Eastern Europe, sent lethal weaponry to Ukraine, and responded to Russian misbehavior with several aggressive sanctions packages.

     So far, Biden’s approach has been considerably weaker, Banks writes, citing Biden’s unconditional renewal of New START, a bilateral arms-control agreement, for five years without negotiating new provisions to cover modern weapons. And despite the Biden administration’s decision to impose sanctions on Russian entities for the attempted assassination of dissident Alexei Navalny, cyber breaches, and political interference, critics say that the president hasn’t gone far enough.

     Although the RSC had previously called for imposing sanctions on Russian sovereign debt, as the administration did this week, Banks writes that the White House’s implementation of the policy includes “a number of exceptions that lack real teeth.” The Biden administration also neglected to include some key entities in its sanctions, such as VTB, a Russian bank.

     https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/exclusive-conservatives-warn-biden-against-russia-reset

     I would be hard pressed to put the NR folks in the Trump Fanboy Club.

     Buduh (32a12c) — 4/18/2021 @ 8:53 am

     
     

132. His name was Officer Darian Jarrott of the New Mexico State Police. Like most Americans, Mark couldn’t watch the entire video of Jarrott being gunned down in cold blood. Omar Felix Cueva shot Jarrott eleven times at close range during a routine traffic stop. Where was the biased liberal media? Showing Kim Potter’s bodycam footage over and over again and covering the violent protests in Brooklyn Center, MN. The police were once respected in this country, especially after 9/11. They were heroes. Now they are being made out to be racist thugs who murder with impunity. The attack on our police must stop.

     NJRob (eb56c3) — 4/18/2021 @ 8:54 am

     
     

133. Any thoughts on the nuts who put a severed animal head and blood at the home of one of the witnesses for the defense in the Floyd trial?

     To be honest I’m not as invested in the day to day outrage and anger thing. Life is short. That sounds awful of course. We have some real problems. I bet the weirdo who did that needs to consume a lot less media and social media.

     Dustin (4237e0) — 4/18/2021 @ 8:54 am

     
     

134. Fascinating that defending Trump will cause people to defend Putin. It’s almost as though Trump was a bad president or something.

     Dustin (4237e0) — 4/18/2021 @ 8:56 am

     
     

135. 125, whitlock, sh/+lock…I bet you he flips back militant if a white cop pulls him over or someone cuts in front of him in the grilled meat line at the Golden Corral

     urbanleftbehind (abdb8c) — 4/18/2021 @ 9:01 am

     
     

136. More material for future seasons of The Crown besides the PP funeral:

     https://news.yahoo.com/sinn-fein-leader-apologises-death-120254044.html

     (P.S. dead ringer for Caitlyn Jenner or Wretched Gritmer? They may become passing ships as Governors, BTW)

     urbanleftbehind (abdb8c) — 4/18/2021 @ 9:06 am

     
     

137. Buda,

     Given that the Trump campaign had been telegraphing for a couple of years, and even suffered through an impeachment in the effort, that they intended to weaponize Hunter’s various faults, it’s not particularly surprising that the Hunter Biden Laptop Scandal was looked on with jaundiced eyes by just about everyone, in or out of the media. If Russian intelligence didn’t have a hand in it they should lose their jobs for incompetence.

     Like I said, Trump’s loss of credibility isn’t really the fault of anyone other than himself.

     Victor (4959fb) — 4/18/2021 @ 9:09 am

     
     

138. Any thoughts on the nuts who put a severed animal head and blood at the home of one of the witnesses for the defense in the Floyd trial?

     It’s not the home of the witness. It’s a former home.

     How can anyone expect a fair result with the type of intimidation that’s never ending by the radicals trying to force a result?

     Since all witnesses have already testified, how do you see this having any effect on the ability to obtain a fair result?

     Dave (1bb933) — 4/18/2021 @ 9:13 am

     
     

139. Thomas Joscelyn on the Russian bounty story.

     Psaki explained that the U.S. intelligence community “assesses” with “high confidence” that Russian’s military intelligence service, the Main Intelligence Directorate (also known as the GRU), “manage[s] interaction with individuals and Afghan criminal networks” and the “involvement of this [GRU] unit is consistent with Russia’s encouraging attacks against U.S. and coalition personnel in Afghanistan.” It may be “consistent” with the bounty story, but it doesn’t close the loop and show that the GRU paid for actual attacks.

     Of note is that the confidence in the bounty assessment was “low to moderate”, which is the first time I heard of this level, yet it still made its way into an intelligence briefing last May. Also of note is that Putin is actively siding with the Taliban and against our military, so he continues to be hostile to American interests, and yet adorers of Trump love that Putin fella.

     Paul Montagu (26e0d1) — 4/18/2021 @ 9:20 am

     
     

140. Here’s the conclusion to a George W. Bush op-ed:

     Over the years, our instincts have always tended toward fairness and generosity. The reward has been generations of grateful, hard-working, self-reliant, patriotic Americans who came here by choice.

     If we trust those instincts in the current debate, then bipartisan reform is possible. And we will again see immigration for what it is: not a problem and source of discord, but a great and defining asset of the United States.

     Some of you may even want to buy his new book.

     Jim Miller (edcec1) — 4/18/2021 @ 9:35 am

     
     

141. With regards to Russia, Putin, and Trump….it always surprises me that some here are not at all bothered by Putin’s open support and praise of Trump….as if the former head of the KGB was objectively looking for the most competent, most knowledgeable, and best prepared leader of a competing world power. Putin got 4 years of what he wanted: Divisive language about NATO, increased polarization in U.S. politics, direct challenges to the legitimacy of a U.S. election, two impeachments, and the leader of the U.S. serially beclowning himself on Twitter and at press conferences. Any perceived toughness in terms of sanctions or Ukraine were more than offset by Trump’s undisciplined actions….like losing the confidence of a good secretary of defense like Jim Mattis…over abandoning the Kurds.

     The only thing I can reason from this lack of any hesitation is that it simply doesn’t fit into the over-riding need for every narrative to be about hating the media and liberals. As long as “the media” and liberals both hate Trump, Trump must be fervently fluffed. I certainly would like to understand this mindset better….

     AJ_Liberty (ec7f74) — 4/18/2021 @ 9:37 am

     
     

142. Dave,

     it tells the jurors they will never be safe. They will be followed, harassed and threatened at best. Likely worse.

     But you knew that already. What’s a little intimidation if it gets the “right” result.

     NJRob (eb56c3) — 4/18/2021 @ 9:38 am

     
     

143. Some of you may even want to buy his new book.

     Jim Miller (edcec1) — 4/18/2021 @ 9:35 am

     Yeah I do.

     I wouldn’t be here if not for immigration. Sappy and simplistic, but my dad came here in the 1960s and worked very hard his whole career, never broke the law. He’s a lot better off, so am I, and so is the country. If Trump had led with this, secured the border, and had a heart about it, America would be a better place today. His failure is absolute.

     Dustin (4237e0) — 4/18/2021 @ 9:51 am

     
     

144. it tells the jurors they will never be safe. They will be followed, harassed and threatened at best. Likely worse.

     This is true. And it’s a good point. The way the Floyd situation was handled was awful from the start. I know the video shows Chauvin was extremely wrong, partly as though people were waiting for this kind of video (look how they respond to the iffy situations).

     The jurors see this and they know they will be doxxed and if they don’t conform, hunted. But they will conform. It’s not a huge comfort to me that Chauvin should be convicted at least of manslaughter anyway, because the country is being torn apart.

     Dustin (4237e0) — 4/18/2021 @ 9:54 am

     
     

145. I feel like some people are lobbing grenades in an effort to try and force the hand of commenters into an either-or take on various news items. They’re like little purity tests. IMO, issues can be more nuanced than how they are presented. It is even possible to hold two seemingly disparate thoughts at the same time, and that, although it would be easier if everything were black and white, often life doesn’t work that way. It takes more thought and effort to go deeper than the basic reflexive response, no matter which side of the aisle one is on.

     Dana (fd537d) — 4/18/2021 @ 10:21 am

     
     

146. 132. Officer Darrian Jarrett was killed on February 4. The story is a little complicated.

     nk (1d9030) — 4/18/2021 @ 10:34 am

     
     

147. Any thoughts on the nuts who put a severed animal head and blood at the home of one of the witnesses for the defense in the Floyd trial?

     How can anyone expect a fair result with the type of intimidation that’s never ending by the radicals trying to force a result?

     NJRob (eb56c3) — 4/18/2021 @ 8:43 am

     I hope whoever did this is caught and prosecuted to the full extent of the law.

     From what i’ve seen i think Chavin is guilty, (but I’ll accept whatever verdict the jury delivers). I’d hate to see him escape justice because someone intimidated a witness.

     Time123 (89dfb2) — 4/18/2021 @ 10:58 am

     
     

148. “I wouldn’t be here if not for immigration”

     Most would note that your father did it the right way (I hope!)…legally. But there is a nastiness in the current GOP’s view on immigration which is out of proportion to the problem….and border obstacles (the wall)….have distracted from more productive measures. If you want to drive down illegal migration from the south, kill the economic incentive. Start putting high-profile businessmen who use undocumented workers into jail at far greater number. If you start seeing landscapers, contractors, hotel operators, and agricultural field managers doing time for not thoroughly vetting their employees, then we get to the root of the problem. However, this is part of the issue….these businesses often need cheap labor to stay afloat….and many Americans aren’t dying to go pick lettuce or cabbage out in a field all day. It’s also labor intensive to catch these businesses…and prove that they should have recognized a fake ID. Yes, people shouldn’t sneak into the country…or overstay a visa. They should follow the law. But a lot of these immigrants do truly work hard and are sacrificing a lot for the next generation to have it better. There’s a lot there that I admire. We don’t need millions of unskilled laborers…but we certainly need some. I’d like to see more rational thought on guest worker programs, better ID’s, and tracking down visa overstays. Sorry Noel…getting a little long here!

     AJ_Liberty (ec7f74) — 4/18/2021 @ 11:00 am

     
     

149. It looks like the congressmen who voted to hold trump accountable for his crimes are seeing an increase in fundraising and are positioned well for re-election.

     https://www.wsj.com/articles/house-republicans-who-voted-to-impeach-trump-see-fundraising-boost-11618664400

     Time123 (89dfb2) — 4/18/2021 @ 11:03 am

     
     

150. Some of you may even want to buy his new book.

     Pre-ordered signed copy arriving Tuesday.

     Dave (1bb933) — 4/18/2021 @ 11:03 am

     
     

151. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9483085/Father-pulled-daughter-NYCs-54K-year-Brearly-School-says-speak-out.html

     Then we have Mr. Gutmann who at least had the courage to speak out and pull his daughter from their formerly elite school that has become a Maoist indoctrination camp. If only all would speak out against the insidious and dangerous critical race theory propaganda infiltrating our schools.

     NJRob (eb56c3) — 4/18/2021 @ 8:33 am

     For sure you should take your kid out of a private school if you don’t like what they’re teaching.

     Time123 (d1bf33) — 4/18/2021 @ 11:04 am

     
     

152. Good points, AJ. It’s a path to second-class-exploited-almost-citizens, which saves some people some money, also at the expense of Americans who need work. I also think it’s a relief valve on desperately needed change. Probably more of a case to deploy to Mexico than Afghanistan at this point.

     I’d say lawful immigration should come with a bar, or at least a pretty stiff limitation, on benefits.

     Dustin (4237e0) — 4/18/2021 @ 11:10 am

     
     

153. Hilarious that Rob thinks critical race theory is “Maoism”.

     Has the school set up collective farms yet?

     Dave (1bb933) — 4/18/2021 @ 11:13 am

     
     

154. @148, we don’t need to criminalize it. Fine it, and offer whistleblowers a 50% of the fine. If the law allowed INS to fine a business 1,000$ for an undocumented worker and the whistleblower kept half it wouldn’t be worth it. I wouldn’t even deport the ones they find unless they’ve committed other crimes. We wouldn’t need to. If the 18 year old hostess can make an extra 2,000 by calling INS about 4 dishwashers who don’t speak English restaurants will stop hiring undocumented workers.

     Time123 (d1bf33) — 4/18/2021 @ 11:21 am

     
     

155. All US states ranked from best to worst, according to Americans
     ………
     We asked people to choose the better of two states in a series of head-to-head matchups. States are rated based on their “win percentage”, that is: how often that state won the head-to-head matchup when it was one of the two states shown.

     All 50 states were shown, in addition to Washington, D.C., but territories were not included.
     ………..
     Top fifteen states:

     Hawaii 69%
     Colorado 65%
     Virginia 64%
     Nevada, North Carolina, Florida 61%
     Arizona 60%
     New York 59%
     Georgia, Texas 58%
     Maine, California, Alaska 57%
     Vermont, Washington 56%

     Bottom fifteen states:

     North Dakota, Wisconsin, Illinois 44%
     Idaho 43%
     Kansas, Kentucky, Missouri 42%
     South Dakota, Indiana 40%
     Iowa, New Jersey, Arkansas 39%
     Mississippi, Alabama 38%
     District of Columbia 35%

     Rip Murdock (3e2319) — 4/18/2021 @ 11:25 am

     
     

156. Idaho lawmakers hear pitch to absorb three-fourths of Oregon
     ……..
     Representatives of a group called Move Oregon’s Border For a Greater Idaho outlined their plan to a joint meeting of Idaho lawmakers from the House and Senate on Monday.

     The Idaho Legislature would have to approve the plan that would expand Idaho’s southwestern border to the Pacific Ocean. The Oregon Legislature and the U.S. Congress would also have to sign off.

     Supporters of the idea said rural Oregon voters are dominated by liberal urban areas such as Portland, and would rather join conservative Idaho. Portland would remain with Oregon.
     ……….
     If everything falls in line with Oregon, supporters envision also adding adjacent portions of southeastern Washington and northern California to Idaho. Backers said residents in those areas also yearn for less government oversight and long to become part of a red state insulated from the liberal influence of large urban centers that tend to vote Democratic.
     ……..
     The group’s strategy has been to get advisory votes in Oregon counties likely to make the switch. But last November the group had mixed success with two counties opting to join Idaho but two wanting to stay a part of Oregon. Supporters blamed the setback on the coronavirus pandemic and an inability to get their message out. Five more Oregon counties are expected to vote on the matter in May.
     ………
     Democratic Sen. Michelle Stennett, who represents one of the few liberal-leaning areas of Idaho that include the resort towns of Ketchum and Sun Valley, wondered how people in Oregon making a minimum wage of $11.25 would like a pay cut to Idaho’s minimum wage of $7.25.

     There were also questions about paying for roads, schools, prisons and state employee retirement obligations. Idaho also prohibits any marijuana use, including medical. In Oregon, recreational pot is legal.
     ………

     Rip Murdock (3e2319) — 4/18/2021 @ 11:32 am

     
     

157. We asked people to choose the better of two states in a series of head-to-head matchups.

     Michigan 54%
     Ohio 45%

     Damn right.

     Dave (1bb933) — 4/18/2021 @ 11:37 am

     
     

158. One America News Network Stays True to Trump

     Months after the inauguration of President Biden, One America News Network, a right-wing cable news channel available in some 35 million households, has continued to broadcast segments questioning the validity of the 2020 presidential election.

     “There’s still serious doubts about who’s actually president,” the OAN correspondent Pearson Sharp said in a March 28 report.

     […]

     To go by much of OAN’s reporting, it is almost as if a transfer of power had never taken place. The channel did not broadcast live coverage of Mr. Biden’s swearing-in ceremony and Inaugural Address. Into April, news articles on the OAN website consistently referred to Donald J. Trump as “President Trump” and to President Biden as just “Joe Biden” or “Biden.” That practice is not followed by other news organizations, including the OAN competitor Newsmax, a conservative cable channel and news site.

     OAN has also promoted the debunked theory that the rioters who stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6 were left-wing agitators. Toward the end of a March 4 news segment that described the attack as the work of “antifa” and “anti-Trump extremists” — and referred to the president as “Beijing Biden” — Mr. Sharp said, “History will show it was the Democrats, and not the Republicans, who called for this violence.” Investigations have found no evidence that people who identify with antifa, a loose collective of antifascist activists, were involved in the Capitol riot.

     Fascism pays.

     Dave (1bb933) — 4/18/2021 @ 11:55 am

     
     

159. That’s an amusing story and definitely makes OAN look like the hacks they are. But how is Antifa antifascist? All I’ve ever seen of them is intense hostility towards speech they want stamped out, encouragement of using force against speech, and this ‘we’re anonymous’ effort to avoid accountability as an organization. They liken themselves to heroic fights against Nazis in WWII but this is a facade.

     Dustin (4237e0) — 4/18/2021 @ 12:01 pm

     
     

160. Antifa has demonstrated, repeatedly, that they can break things. Big whoop. When my kids were toddlers, they broke things all the time. The question is, what can Antifa build? And what can they build that betters the lives of the very people that need the help? That’s the real test. And one they have proven to be incapable of doing.

     Dana (fd537d) — 4/18/2021 @ 12:09 pm

     
     

161. “There’s still serious doubts about who’s actually president,” the OAN correspondent Pearson Sharp said in a March 28 report.

     This is nothing less than intentionally agitating Trumpers and fomenting divisiveness. What a shame there continues to such an unwillingness to concede even when the courts determined it was a legitimate election (and loss for Trump). No matter what Biden does, we will never not be divided while this issue still being pushed. He cannot unite that segment of the population that sees him as illegitimate.

     Dana (fd537d) — 4/18/2021 @ 12:16 pm

     
     

162. That was the First Age, which would also be a great setting

     OK, maybe in flashback like LotR flashed back to the battle at the end of the second age.

     Kevin M (ab1c11) — 4/18/2021 @ 12:24 pm

     
     

163. The lifetime of a free neutron is 881.5 +/- 1.5 seconds, Sammy.

     This is shameful in such a rich country. Neutron Lives Matter.

     Kevin M (ab1c11) — 4/18/2021 @ 12:32 pm

     
     

164. Putin took office one year before Dubya, and did some helpful things early in the War on Terror. By 2007, there were warning signs, but Putin was in the final stages of consolidating his power in Russia, and had not yet become an open adversary.

     When it had become clear, in 2012, President Obama made light of Romney’s warnings about Putin.

     “Gov. Romney, I’m glad you recognize al-Qaida is a threat, because a few months ago when you were asked what is the biggest geopolitical group facing America, you said Russia, not al-Qaida,” Obama said. “You said Russia. And the 1980s are now calling to ask for their foreign policy back. Because the Cold War has been over for 20 years. But Governor, when it comes to our foreign policy, you seem to want to import the foreign policies of the 1980s, just like the social policy of the 1950s, and the economic policies of the 1920s.”

     Kevin M (ab1c11) — 4/18/2021 @ 12:35 pm

     
     

165. I bet the weirdo who did that needs to consume a lot less media and social media.

     Courtesy of the state prison system.

     Kevin M (ab1c11) — 4/18/2021 @ 12:37 pm

     
     

166. Since all witnesses have already testified, how do you see this having any effect on the ability to obtain a fair result?

     A threat is still a threat even if the effect is diminished. If someone left that kind of message on my lawn — or even my former lawn — I’d be looking to move.

     Kevin M (ab1c11) — 4/18/2021 @ 12:41 pm

     
     

167. Fascism pays.

     Even on the Left.

     Kevin M (ab1c11) — 4/18/2021 @ 12:49 pm

     
     

168. This is nothing less than intentionally agitating Trumpers and fomenting divisiveness.

     It is. However you heard the same kind of thing from some folks in 2001.

     Kevin M (ab1c11) — 4/18/2021 @ 12:51 pm

     
     

169. This is shameful in such a rich country. Neutron Lives Matter.

     Kevin M (ab1c11) — 4/18/2021 @ 12:32 pm

     No protons, no matter, that’s what I think. (took chemistry at community college and… did not earn an A)

     Dustin (4237e0) — 4/18/2021 @ 1:18 pm

     
     

170. ” All I’ve ever seen of them is intense hostility towards speech they want stamped out, encouragement of using force against speech, and this ‘we’re anonymous’ effort to avoid accountability as an organization. ”

     Here’s my take: They started out brawling with fascists. There was a surge of fascist activity during the Trump administration, which was met with a surge of antifa activity, including a lot of former Black Bloc (anarchist anti-globalists). Since they’re anarchists, if there aren’t any fascists around to fight, they end up fighting with the state instead.

     Davethulhu (6ba00b) — 4/18/2021 @ 1:22 pm

     
     

171. Conclusion: They’re Trump’s fault.

     Davethulhu (6ba00b) — 4/18/2021 @ 1:25 pm

     
     

172. Antifa started off attacking speakers at colleges for not being “Progressives.”

     Kevin M (ab1c11) — 4/18/2021 @ 1:26 pm

     
     

173. From Wikipedia:

     In 2007, Rose City Antifa, likely the first group to utilize the name antifa, was formed in Portland, Oregon by former ARA members. Other antifa groups in the United States have other genealogies. In Minneapolis, Minnesota, a group called the Baldies was formed in 1987 with the intent to fight neo-Nazi groups directly. In 2013, the “most radical” chapters of ARA formed the Torch Antifa Network which has chapters throughout the United States. Other antifa groups are a part of different associations such as NYC Antifa or operate independently.

     The op[enluy and repeatedly claim the right to stop others from speaking, and extend their term “fascists” to anyone on the Right.

     The idea in Antifa is that we go where they (right-wingers) go. That hate speech is not free speech. That if you are endangering people with what you say and the actions that are behind them, then you do not have the right to do that. And so we go to cause conflict, to shut them down where they are, because we don’t believe that Nazis or fascists of any stripe should have a mouthpiece

     From the various descriptions, it’s clear that Antifa and their apologists view ALL the 74 million people who voted for Donald Trump as Nazis, white supremacists or otherwise fascists.

     https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antifa_(United_States)

     Kevin M (ab1c11) — 4/18/2021 @ 1:33 pm

     
     

174. Also, 2007 is early to blame things on Trump.

     Kevin M (ab1c11) — 4/18/2021 @ 1:34 pm

     
     

175. “Antifa started off attacking speakers at colleges for not being “Progressives.””

     They attacked Milo because he’s a fascist.

     Davethulhu (6ba00b) — 4/18/2021 @ 1:37 pm

     
     

176. “Also, 2007 is early to blame things on Trump.”

     Nobody was talking about antifa until Trump got elected.

     Davethulhu (6ba00b) — 4/18/2021 @ 1:37 pm

     
     

177. Perspective loss:

     NASA spacecraft leaves mess after grabbing asteroid samples

     So, some gravel is disturbed and a depression is left on an asteroid after getting some samples, and this fills column inches in a science website. Go take a look at the before and after and, without reading, tell me which is which.

     Kevin M (ab1c11) — 4/18/2021 @ 1:39 pm

     
     

178. Nobody was talking about antifa until Trump got elected.

     Oh, we were. You just weren’t listening.

     Kevin M (ab1c11) — 4/18/2021 @ 1:40 pm

     
     

179. “Oh, we were. You just weren’t listening.”

     No you weren’t.

     https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?date=all&geo=US&q=antifa

     Davethulhu (6ba00b) — 4/18/2021 @ 1:41 pm

     
     

180. “There’s still serious doubts about who’s actually president,” the OAN correspondent Pearson Sharp said in a March 28 report.

     This is not about Biden vs Trump; this is another issue -it is about Joe Biden vs somebody else, maybe Jill Biden (you know like with Woodrow Wilson in 1919-21) They haven’t settled on a hypothesis as to who supposedly really is running things behind the scenes. (but it is not Kamala Harris)

     The evidence for it is Biden supposedly showing signs of impairment here and there and supposedly being too left wing and doing things or endorsing things the old Biden supposedly would never do.

     Sammy Finkelman (51cd0c) — 4/18/2021 @ 1:51 pm

     
     

181. Hilarious that Dave tried to whitewash critical race theory and dismiss the dangers coming from it without actually making an argument. Just wipes it away… with a cloth.

     NJRob (eb56c3) — 4/18/2021 @ 1:58 pm

     
     

182. They were attacking and intimidating right-wing college speakers prior to 2016. They have Twitter accounts that were opened a decade ago (although only fellow thugs can see the tweets.)

     Admittedly, it wasn’t until the Trump campaign that they went into high gear and were designated “domestic terrorists.”

     Federal authorities have been warning state and local officials since early 2016 that leftist extremists known as “antifa” had become increasingly confrontational and dangerous, so much so that the Department of Homeland Security formally classified their activities as “domestic terrorist violence,” according to interviews and confidential law enforcement documents obtained by POLITICO….

     [b]y April 2016, authorities believed that “anarchist extremists” were the primary instigators of violence at public rallies against a range of targets. They were blamed by authorities for attacks on the police, government and political institutions, along with symbols of “the capitalist system,” racism, social injustice and fascism, according to a confidential 2016 joint intelligence assessment by DHS and the FBI….

     “It was in that period [as the Trump campaign emerged] that we really became aware of them,” said one senior law enforcement official tracking domestic extremists in a state that has become a front line in clashes between the groups. “These antifa guys were showing up with weapons, shields and bike helmets and just beating the shit out of people. … They’re using Molotov cocktails, they’re starting fires, they’re throwing bombs and smashing windows.”

     Kevin M (ab1c11) — 4/18/2021 @ 1:59 pm

     
     

183. This is not about Biden vs Trump; this is another issue

     Not so much Jill, but the idea of a Democrat politburo, with Biden as the figurehead.

     Kevin M (ab1c11) — 4/18/2021 @ 2:00 pm

     
     

184. Thulu, why do you keep trying to minimize the fascist behavior of antifa? They are the literal KKK wing of the leftist party and love to use violence to enforce their beliefs.

     NJRob (eb56c3) — 4/18/2021 @ 2:03 pm

     
     

185. Without diminishing the culpability of the Jan 6th insurrection, I see very little difference in intent between them and Antifa. Both are violent, both intend to disrupt institutions and prevent lawful activity. Only one of them has protection from the media and the elites.

     Kevin M (ab1c11) — 4/18/2021 @ 2:05 pm

     
     

186. The rise of domestic extremism in America
     Domestic terrorism incidents have soared to new highs in the United States, driven chiefly by white-supremacist, anti-Muslim and anti-government extremists on the far right, according to a Washington Post analysis of data compiled by the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
     ……..
     Since 2015, right-wing extremists have been involved in 267 plots or attacks and 91 fatalities, the data shows. At the same time, attacks and plots ascribed to far-left views accounted for 66 incidents leading to 19 deaths.
     ………
     Victims of all incidents in recent years represent a broad cross-section of American society, including Blacks, Jews, immigrants, LGBTQ individuals, Asians and other people of color who have been attacked by right-wing extremists wielding vehicles, guns, knives and fists.

     Dozens of religious institutions — including mosques, synagogues and Black churches — as well as abortion clinics and government buildings, have been threatened, burned, bombed and hit with gunfire over the past six years.
     ……..
     Both far-left and far-right attacks hit groundbreaking levels in 2020, the database shows, with far-right incidents still the much larger group.

     The 73 far-right incidents were an all-time annual high in the CSIS database, which goes back to 1994.

     Left-wing attacks reached 25 in 2020. Those incidents include multiple attempts by extremists to derail trains to hinder oil pipeline construction and at least seven incidents in which police and their facilities were targeted with guns, firebombs and graffiti. The incidents included the burning of a Minneapolis police precinct during protests over the death of George Floyd.
     ……..
     The CSIS database is one of the best public sources of information about domestic terrorism incidents, which the group’s analysts define as attacks or plots involving a deliberate use or threat of violence to achieve political goals, create a broad psychological impact or change government policy. That definition excludes many violent events, including incidents during nationwide unrest last year, because CSIS analysts could not determine whether attackers had a political or ideological motive.
     ……..
     The data shows that far-right attacks diminished following a federal crackdown in response to the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995. In the attack, Timothy McVeigh detonated a truck bomb outside a federal building, killing 168 people. It remains the deadliest homegrown terrorist attack in American history.

     Right-wing extremism began gathering fresh momentum after the election of Barack Obama, the nation’s first Black president, according to an April 2009 Department of Homeland Security intelligence assessment. “Right-wing extremists have capitalized on the election of the first African American president, and are focusing their efforts to recruit new members, mobilize existing supporters, and broaden their scope and appeal through propaganda,” the assessment said.
     ……….

     Members of militias and other extremist groups — such as the KKK, Aryan Cowboys and the Base — had roles in at least 67 attacks since 2015, according to The Post’s examination.

     But a large majority of perpetrators appear from the data to be operating independently, a defining characteristic of many recent attacks, counterterrorism researchers have said……..
     ………
     The Post’s review of the database found 30 attacks or plots attributed to right-wing violence against Black Lives Matter since 2015, a large majority of them last year.

     Perpetrators beat BLM activists in the streets and attacked them with mace, knives, guns or explosives, records show. Right-wing extremists used their vehicles as weapons against activists, plowing into crowds of racial justice demonstrators on at least nine occasions over the past six years, according to The Post’s analysis.
     ………
     There have been 15 anti-immigrant-related incidents since 2015, resulting in 27 fatalities and dozens of injuries, a review of the CSIS cases shows. Some of those attacks drew national attention, including an Aug. 3, 2019, massacre at a Walmart in El Paso, by a gunman who authorities say posted a manifesto railing against a “Hispanic invasion” of Texas. The shootings left 23 people, including eight Mexican nationals, dead and two dozen others wounded.
     ………..

     Rip Murdock (46eeea) — 4/18/2021 @ 2:05 pm

     
     

187. “Thulu, why do you keep trying to minimize the fascist behavior of antifa? They are the literal KKK wing of the leftist party and love to use violence to enforce their beliefs.”

     Which Democrats are directing antifa, Rob? You’d think they’d tell them to settle down now that Biden is president.

     Davethulhu (6ba00b) — 4/18/2021 @ 2:10 pm

     
     

188. By that measure, fascism was invented in 2016.

     https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?date=all&geo=US&q=fascist

     Kevin M (ab1c11) — 4/18/2021 @ 2:14 pm

     
     

189. 118 Dave (1bb933) — 4/18/2021 @ 8:03 am

     The lifetime of a free neutron is 881.5 +/- 1.5 seconds, Sammy.

     That works out to 14 minutes and 41 seconds, which is a different figure that any one I’ve seen.

     How come it took decades to get an accurate figure, if that is accurate.

     https://www.aps.org/publications/apsnews/201907/neutron.cfm

     July 2019 (Volume 28, Number 7)

     Sorting Out the Neutron Lifetime

     ….For over a decade, physicists have puzzled over the neutron lifetime: how long, on average, it takes the isolated particle to decay into a proton, electron, and antineutrino. Counting the number of neutrons in a container over time, they measure the half-life to be about 14 minutes and 39 seconds. Using a different experimental method where they count one of the neutron’s decay products, they measure the lifetime to be about 8 seconds longer.

     Wikipedia says:

     https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neutron

     A free neutron is unstable, decaying to a proton, electron and antineutrino with a mean lifetime of just under 15 minutes (879.6±0.8 s).[5]

     Now that’s the mean lifetime. That is said to be equivalent mathematically to a half life of 10 minutes, 10 seconds.

     Nowhere else in the field of radioactive decay do they talk of mean life?.

     About one in 1000 times there is also a gamma ray, and about four times per million the electrom doesn’t escape as a beta ray but remains bound to the proton creating a regular unionized hydrogen atom.

     Sammy Finkelman (51cd0c) — 4/18/2021 @ 2:14 pm

     
     

190. Biden Administration Proposes Reversing Ban on Federal Funds for Clinics That Refer Abortions
     ……
     The Department of Health and Human Services on Wednesday proposed a rule that, when finalized, would reverse the policy on the federal program, known as Title X. The program offers about $286 million each year to clinics that provide reproductive healthcare and other women’s health screenings, such as Pap smears, to about four million uninsured Americans a year.

     The Trump administration rule, enacted in 2019, called for clinics that received federal funding to physically separate their abortion services in a separate building from all other services, and not to discuss abortions as an option with patients.
     …….
     …….[C]ritics said that by pushing Planned Parenthood clinics out of the federal network where uninsured women could receive family-planning services, the Trump administration also cut off access for women in many underserved communities where Planned Parenthood is the only provider offering birth control and other women’s healthcare.
     ……..
     Susan B. Anthony List, a national antiabortion group, criticized the plan to roll back the rule, saying the Trump administration’s decision was consistent with the statutory language of Title X and supported by Americans who oppose using taxpayer dollars to fund abortion.
     ………

     Rip Murdock (46eeea) — 4/18/2021 @ 2:14 pm

     
     

191. “By that measure, fascism was invented in 2016.”

     These charts are not the same, Kevin. But I’m willing to look at what you were saying about antfa pre-2017.

     Davethulhu (6ba00b) — 4/18/2021 @ 2:18 pm

     
     

192. 121. NJRob (eb56c3) — 4/18/2021 @ 8:09 am

     Sammy, twitter promoted a link this weekend that doxed a cop who helped contribute to the defense fund of one of the unfavored. They are leftists. They have no standards.

     I think the reason that account stayed was that right wingers didn’t know the magic words and the address to make complaints to, and nobody organized a complaint mob.

     I think it is very possible leftists designed (and are manipulating) the system but I also think it’s facially neutral.

     Sammy Finkelman (51cd0c) — 4/18/2021 @ 2:21 pm

     
     

193. “I Felt Hate More Than Anything”: How an Active Duty Airman Tried to Start a Civil War

     It was 2:20 p.m. on June 6, 2020, and Steven Carrillo, a 32-year-old Air Force sergeant who belonged to the anti-government Boogaloo Bois movement, was on the run in the tiny mountain town of Ben Lomond, California.

     With deputy sheriffs closing in, Carrillo texted his brother, Evan, asking him to tell his children he loved them and instructing him to give $50,000 to his fiancée. “I love you bro,” Carrillo signed off. Thinking the text message was a suicide note from a brother with a history of mental health troubles, Evan Carrillo quickly texted back: “Think about the ones you love.”

     In fact, Steven Carrillo had a different objective, a goal he had written about on Facebook, discussed with other Boogaloo Bois and even scrawled out in his own blood as he hid from police that day. He wanted to incite a second Civil War in the United States by killing police officers he viewed as enforcers of a corrupt and tyrannical political order — officers he described as “domestic enemies” of the Constitution he professed to revere.
     ……..
     …….. Carrillo ambushed three deputy sheriffs, opening fire with a silenced automatic rifle and hurling a homemade pipe bomb from a concealed position on a steep embankment some 40 feet from the deputies. One deputy was shot dead, and a second was badly wounded by bomb shrapnel to his face and neck. When two California Highway Patrol officers arrived, Carrillo opened fire on them, too, police say, wounding one.

     “The police are the guard dogs, ready to attack whenever the owner says, ‘Hey, sic ’em boy,’” Carrillo said in an interview, the first time he has spoken publicly since he was charged with murdering both the deputy sheriff in Ben Lomond and, a week earlier, a federal protective security officer at the Ronald V. Dellums Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse in Oakland.

     When Carrillo was finally subdued on June 6, cellphone footage captured him shouting at deputies as they led him away, “This is what I came to fight — I’m sick of these go@@amn police.”
     ………
     Carrillo’s arrest was also an omen of something larger and even more ominous: the rise of a violent insurrection movement across America led by increasingly extreme and aggressive militias that seek out opportunities to confront and even attack the government. Examples of this broader insurrection abound, from October’s foiled plot to abduct Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer to the leading role militia groups such as the Proud Boys and Oathkeepers played in the violent takeover of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6.
     ………
     An examination of Carrillo’s life and his path to radicalization, based on extensive interviews with him, his family, his friends and his fiancée, along with a review of hundreds of pages of court records, previously undisclosed text messages and internal militia documents, revealed startling new details about the threat posed by the Boogaloo Bois.
     ……..
     In a federal indictment unsealed on Friday, prosecutors said Carrillo and four members of the Grizzly Scouts, including its leader, “discussed tactics involving killing of police officers and other law enforcement.” The indictment also alleges that the same four Grizzly Scouts tried to thwart a criminal investigation into their activities by destroying evidence of their communications with Carrillo and each other.
     ………

     Rip Murdock (46eeea) — 4/18/2021 @ 2:24 pm

     
     

194. 119, NJRob (eb56c3) — 4/18/2021 @ 8:05 am

     Maxine Waters trying to incite terrorism.

     I don’t know if that is terrorism, but she’s , AND ALL THE PROTESTERS are trying to
     give Derek Chauvin grounds for appeal if the jury is at all aware of this.

     https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sam_Sheppard

     The U.S. Supreme Court determined that the “carnival atmosphere” surrounding Sheppard’s first trial had made due process impossible; after ten years in prison he was acquitted at a second trial.

     Sheppard v. Maxwell, 384 U.S. 333 (1966)

     https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/384/333

     Will anyone have the guts to charge her?

     Sammy Finkelman (51cd0c) — 4/18/2021 @ 2:27 pm

     
     

195. And we will again see immigration for what it is: not a problem and source of discord, but a great and defining asset of the United States.

     Too bad it’s Joe Biden who is the president and not him.

     W had his chance but in his defense, he didn’t realize what he was up against.

     Sammy Finkelman (51cd0c) — 4/18/2021 @ 2:32 pm

     
     

196. 154, Time123 (d1bf33) — 4/18/2021 @ 11:21 am

     If the 18 year old hostess can make an extra 2,000 by calling INS about 4 dishwashers who don’t speak English restaurants will stop hiring undocumented workers.

     If you want to go and make American citizens bitter enemies of each other, that’s the way to go. She’d be compared to a slave catcher. By the way, it’s ICE bow and the INS and they were never interested in informants.

     Maybe interested in taking bribes though.

     https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/homeland-security-agents-took-15m-in-bribes-closed-their-eyes/

     Sammy Finkelman (51cd0c) — 4/18/2021 @ 2:37 pm

     
     

197. Rip Murdock (3e2319) — 4/18/2021 @ 11:25 am

     We asked people to choose the better of two states in a series of head-to-head matchups. States are rated based on their “win percentage”, that is: how often that state won the head-to-head matchup when it was one of the two states shown.

     All 50 states were shown, in addition to Washington, D.C., but territories were not included.
     ………..

     Bottom fifteen states:

     North Dakota, Wisconsin, Illinois 44%
     Idaho 43%
     Kansas, Kentucky, Missouri 42%
     South Dakota, Indiana 40%
     Iowa, New Jersey, Arkansas 39%
     Mississippi, Alabama 38%
     District of Columbia 35%

     I read that New Jersey was actually the third worst state, just ahead of Mississippi and Alabama. (and D.C. but D.C. is really a crime ridden city with a poor school system, and few good spots.)

     Sammy Finkelman (51cd0c) — 4/18/2021 @ 2:43 pm

     
     

198. Will anyone have the guts to charge her?

     That’s not incitement, legally, but how is it nobody calls attention to the fact that sort of thing goes against all principles of a fair trial?

     Sammy Finkelman (51cd0c) — 4/18/2021 @ 2:47 pm

     
     

199. The Military, Police, and the Rise of Terrorism in the United States
     ……..
     The data indicate that U.S. military personnel have been involved in a growing number of domestic terrorist plots and attacks. The percentage of attacks and plots committed by active-duty and reserve personnel rose in 2020 to 6.4 percent of all attacks and plots (7 of 110 total), up from 1.5 percent in 2019 (1 of 65 total) and none in 2018. Active-duty personnel perpetrated 4.5 percent of the attacks in 2020 (five incidents), and reservists conducted 1.8 percent (two incidents). While these individuals represent a tiny percentage of all current active-duty and reserve personnel, the increased number of incidents is still concerning. The data also indicate a rise in law enforcement involvement in attacks. The growth is notable since individuals with a military or law enforcement background have skills that extremists want—such as proficiency in firing weapons, building explosive devices, conducting surveillance and reconnaissance, training personnel, practicing operational security, and performing other types of activities. The data should serve as a cautionary tale. While the numbers are relatively low, they are growing—and the military and law enforcement agencies need to take preventive action now.

     ………[D]omestic extremists increasingly targeted the military, police, and other government agencies—putting security agencies in the crosshairs of domestic extremists. In 2020, government, military, and especially police personnel and facilities were the target of 38 percent of attacks, the most of any category. …….. White supremacists, extremist militia supporters, and other like-minded individuals were involved in two-thirds of the attacks and plots in 2020. Anarchists, anti-fascists, and other like-minded individuals perpetrated roughly 23 percent of the plots and attacks in 2020, a notable increase from recent years. And Salafi-jihadists were involved in a mere 5 percent—their lowest share of incidents since 2008.
     ……….
     On January 19, 2021, for example, the FBI and U.S. Army Counterintelligence Coordinating Authority arrested a U.S. Army soldier, Cole James Bridges, at Fort Stewart after he conspired to blow up the 9/11 Memorial in New York and attempted to provide support to the Islamic State. On May 30, 2020, authorities in Las Vegas, Nevada, arrested Andrew Lynam, an Army reservist, alongside Navy veteran Stephen T. Parshall and Air Force veteran William L. Loomis—all self-identified Boogaloo Bois—for conspiring to firebomb a U.S. Forest Service building and a power substation to sow chaos during the protests held in response to the murder of George Floyd. On June 10, 2020, the FBI arrested Army Private Ethan Melzer, who sent sensitive U.S. military information to the Order of the Nine Angles (O9A), an occult-based neo-Nazi and white supremacist group, in an attempt to facilitate a mass-casualty attack on Melzer’s Army unit. …….

     In addition, the January 6, 2021, attack at the U.S. Capitol included veterans, reservists, a member of the National Guard, members of several militias and extremist organizations (such as the Sons of Liberty New Jersey, Groyper Army, Oath Keepers, Proud Boys, Boogaloo Bois, and Three Percenters), supporters of the extremist conspiracy QAnon, and other groups and networks. No participants have been identified as active-duty military personnel. On January 13, the FBI arrested Jacob Fracker, a U.S. Army National Guardsman, for his involvement in the Capitol attack. As Fracker explained in an Instagram post, “Sorry I hate freedom? Sorry I fought for it and lost friends for it? . . . I can protest for what I believe in and still support your protest for what you believe in. Just saying . . . after all, I fought for your right to do it.”
     ……..
     Domestic extremist groups and networks have also attempted to recruit veterans, active-duty personnel, and reservists. To be clear, this analysis is not suggesting that individuals serving in the military or who are veterans are more inclined to embrace extremism than the general population or are attracted to extremist ideologies. Nevertheless, violent far-right and far-left networks have solicited military personnel because of their skill sets. According to one estimate, veterans and active-duty members of the military currently make up roughly 25 percent of active militia members.
     ………..
     CSIS data identified six incidents since 1994 in which current or former law enforcement personnel committed domestic terrorist plots and attacks—though all six cases occurred since 2017………At least four current police officers and three former officers were allegedly involved in the January 6 incident at the Capitol.

     Former law enforcement officers were involved in two incidents in 2017 and one in 2020. On October 19, 2020, former Houston police captain Mark Anthony Aguirre ran a repairman off the road, pinned him to the ground, and threatened him at gunpoint, claiming that the man was transporting 750,000 false ballots as part of an election fraud scheme—a conspiracy theory pushed by the group Liberty Center for God and Country.

     ……..[G]overnment, military, and police personnel and facilities were the targets of 34 of 89 attacks in 2020 from perpetrators of varying ideologies, making them the most frequent targets. Of these 34 attacks, 19 targeted the government, 15 targeted law enforcement, and 1 targeted the military. The attacks were led by perpetrators of various ideologies, including violent far-right, violent far-left, religious, and the Boogaloo Bois—who were responsible for all attacks coded as “other” in the 2020 data.

     [T]he percentage of domestic terrorist attacks against government, military, and police agencies increased over the past five years. In 2020, 38 percent of all domestic terrorist attacks targeted these institutions. This was the second-highest percentage since at least 1994—exceeded only in 2013, when attacks against government, military, and police targets comprised 46 percent of all attacks. The frequency of attacks against military and—in particular—law enforcement targets may be due, in part, to a growing belief by extremists that security agencies are the most visible arm of an illegitimate and oppressive government.
     …………
     Footnotes omitted.

     Rip Murdock (46eeea) — 4/18/2021 @ 2:56 pm

     
     

200. https://www.gunviolencearchive.org/reports/mass-shooting

     There have already been four mass shooting incidents in the United States in just 72 hours since the FedEx massacre I Indianapolis on April 15.

     America: you suck.

     DCSCA (f4c5e5) — 4/18/2021 @ 3:11 pm

     
     

201. Pew-Biden Nears 100-Day Mark With Strong Approval, Positive Rating for Vaccine Rollout
     Joe Biden approaches the 100-day mark of his presidency with a relatively strong job approval rating and the public continuing to express positive views of the coronavirus aid package passed by Congress last month. Moreover, nearly three-quarters of Americans (72%) say the Biden administration has done an excellent or good job managing the manufacture and distribution of COVID-19 vaccines to Americans.

     Currently, 59% approve of the way Biden is handling his job as president, while 39% disapprove. Biden’s job approval rating has increased modestly from 54% in March. Biden’s job approval is comparable to several of his predecessors – including Barack Obama and George H. W. Bush – and much higher than Donald Trump’s in April.
     …….
     Public support for the coronavirus aid package, which Biden signed into law a little more than a month ago, remains robust. More than twice as many Americans approve (67%) than disapprove (32%) of the $1.9 trillion aid bill. That is little different from the 70% who favored the economic aid package in March, shortly before it was enacted.

     More Americans expect the economic aid bill will benefit the country than themselves: 55% say the aid package will have a mostly positive effect on the country as a whole. Fewer than half as many (26%) say it will have a negative effect, while 18% say it will not have much of an effect. About half (49%) expect that the aid bill will have a mostly positive impact on themselves and their families.
     ……..
     While views of most national problems are divided along partisan lines, including illegal immigration, increasing shares of both Republicans and Democrats rate illegal immigration as a very big problem. Nearly three-quarters of Republicans (72%) say illegal immigration is a major problem, up 29 points since last June. The share of Democrats who say this is a major problem is now 29%, compared with 15% nearly a year ago.

     Over this period, Republicans and Democrats have moved in opposite directions in concerns about the federal budget deficit. Currently, 71% of Republicans say the budget deficit is a very big problem; about half of Republicans (49%) said this in June 2020. By contrast, just 31% of Democrats rate the deficit as a major problem, down from 45% last year.
     ……….
     About six-in-ten Americans say they approve of the way Joe Biden is handling his job as president, while 39% say they disapprove. Biden’s overall approval ratings have ticked up since March, when 54% of the public said they approved of his job performance.

     Majorities of most demographic groups approve of Biden’s job performance, with the exception of White Americans, who are roughly as likely to disapprove (51%) of Biden’s performance as to approve (48%). By comparison, nearly nine-in-ten Black Americans (89%) approve of Biden’s performance, as do 74% of Hispanic Americans and 72% of Asian Americans.
     ……..
     There are wide partisan and demographic differences in views of Biden’s conduct as president and in agreement with him on key issues. About three quarters of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents (76%) say they like how Biden conducts himself in office, while 23% say they have mixed feelings. A smaller majority of Republicans and Republican leaners (59%) say they do not like Biden’s conduct as president; 30% say they have mixed feelings about his conduct, and 10% say they like how he is conducting himself.
     ……..

     Rip Murdock (46eeea) — 4/18/2021 @ 3:18 pm

     
     

202. 177. Thruster activity that can hurl a one ton boulder 40 feet in a low gravity field is a messy business; tricky, too. Not much holding those celestial ‘granola bars’ together.

     DCSCA (f4c5e5) — 4/18/2021 @ 3:20 pm

     
     

203. Quinnipiac-Biden Receives High Marks On Pandemic, Low Score On Mexican Border Situation, Quinnipiac University National Poll Finds; Infrastructure Plan Is More Popular If Corporate Taxes Fund It
     As President Joe Biden approaches his 100th day in office, he receives a positive 48 – 42 percent job approval rating, with 10 percent not offering an opinion in a Quinnipiac University national poll of adults released today. This compares to a February 17th poll when 50 percent approved, 38 percent disapproved, and 13 percent didn’t offer an opinion.

     …….. On Biden’s handling of …
     the response to the coronavirus: 64 percent of Americans approve, 29 percent disapprove, with 7 percent not offering an opinion;

     the economy: 50 percent of Americans approve, 42 percent disapprove, with 8 percent not offering an opinion;

     climate change: 48 percent of Americans approve, 35 percent disapprove, with 17 percent not offering an opinion;

     taxes: 45 percent of Americans approve, 42 percent disapprove, with 13 percent not offering an opinion;

     gun policy: 39 percent of Americans approve, 49 percent disapprove, with 11 percent not offering an opinion;

     the situation at the Mexican border: 29 percent of Americans approve, 55 percent disapprove, with 15 percent not offering an opinion.
     ………
     A slight majority of Americans (52 – 44 percent) say that Biden has good leadership skills, and a similar number say 51 – 42 percent that Biden is honest. Nearly six in ten, 58 – 37 percent, say that he cares about average Americans.

     A slim majority of Americans say 51 – 41 percent that Biden is doing more to unite the country than divide it.

     A plurality of Americans (44 – 38 percent) support President Biden’s $2 trillion infrastructure plan, while 19 percent did not offer an opinion.

     However, support grows for the infrastructure plan if it is funded by raising taxes on corporations, as Biden has proposed. In that scenario, a majority support the infrastructure plan 53 – 39 percent, with 9 percent not offering an opinion.
     ………
     When it comes to general views on spending, 48 percent say the Biden administration wants to spend too much money, 37 percent say it wants to spend the right amount, and 8 percent say it wants to spend too little.
     ………
     In this survey, conducted before federal health officials called for a pause on the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, more than one-quarter of Americans (27 percent) say they do not plan to get the COVID-19 vaccine. Roughly two-thirds (68 percent) say they have either already been vaccinated or plan to get a COVID-19 vaccine.

     Republicans show the most hesitancy out of all listed groups toward getting a COVID-19 vaccine with 45 percent saying they do not plan to receive one, and 50 percent saying they’ve either gotten one already or plan to get one.
     ………
     Americans are concerned 57 – 41 percent about another surge in COVID-19 cases, and say 53 – 45 percent that all states should have a mandatory mask order in place.

     A large majority of Americans (65 percent) say that it is safe for students to attend elementary, middle, or high schools in person, while 29 percent say it is unsafe.
     …….

     Rip Murdock (46eeea) — 4/18/2021 @ 3:28 pm

     
     

204. Hey Joe,

     While you’re in the mood to call off wars, how about putting an end to the insane War on Drugs? It’s been going on much longer than the war in Afghanistan, and is even more futile.

     I mean seriously, anybody who wants drugs can find them. Sure, they can be expensive (precisely because it’s a black market), but that just means addicts will have to steal to obtain funds with which to buy the drugs. They can also be of unknown potency, and adulterated with harmful substances (again, thanks to it being a black market).

     If the goal was to corrupt Mexico and other parts of Latin America from top to bottom (more than they already were), to cause a wake of death and destruction, and to enrich the worst elements of society in the U.S. and parts south, then I guess this has been a success, and I should just shut my pie hole.

     I’m sure Big Alcohol and Big Tobacco are thrilled with this state of affairs.

     norcal (01e272) — 4/18/2021 @ 3:28 pm

     
     

205. Marist/NPR/PBS-American Jobs Plan Garners Support by a Wide Margin, Biden Approval Rating at 53%

     Americans (56%) support President Joe Biden’s $2.3 trillion plan to address infrastructure, climate change, and job creation. A plurality (40%) think the plan hits the right balance. 23% say it goes too far, and 20% think it should do more. On both of these questions, there is a wide partisan divide, drawing overwhelming support from Democrats. Republicans are more likely to oppose the plan and say it overreaches. Still, 19% of the GOP think the bill needs to address more. 13% say the plan is on target.
     ……..

     President Biden’s job approval rating has notched up to 53%, reaching his highest approval rating since taking office. Biden’s score stood at 52% in late March. 25% of residents strongly approve of Biden’s job performance. 39%, including 29% who strongly do so, disapprove. Independents divide, 45% approve to 43% disapprove. Trump’s rating, at a comparable time, was underwater with 39% approving and 48% disapproving.

     Biden’s score on the economy (54%) has notched up from 51% last month. This is Biden’s highest score on the economy as well. A plurality (48%) of independents approve, and 41% disapprove.

     Majorities of Americans oppose companies (57%) and professional sports teams (55%) using their public image to influence political, cultural, or social change. While Democrats are more likely to favor this type of involvement, Republicans and independents oppose it.

     Rip Murdock (46eeea) — 4/18/2021 @ 3:37 pm

     
     

206. Monmouth-One in Five Still Shun Vaccine Biden gets high marks for Covid response
     ……..
     …….. Currently, 21% of Americans claim they will never get the vaccine if they can avoid it, which is down a statistically insignificant 3 points from prior polls (24% in both January and March). However, the number who say they want to let other people get it first to see how it goes before getting it themselves has dropped – from 21% in March to 12% now. [Note: Interviewing for this poll was completed before federal authorities called for a pause in administering the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.]
     ………
     Partisanship remains the main distinguishing factor among those who want to avoid the vaccine altogether, with 43% of Republicans versus just 5% of Democrats saying this. Currently, 22% of independents say they want to avoid getting the vaccine altogether. Demographically, adults under age 65 (25%) continue to be more likely than seniors (11%) to rule out getting the vaccine. There are no discernable differences by race, though, with similar number of whites (22%) and people of color (20%) saying they will avoid getting the vaccine if they can.

     Just over half (51%) of the adult population reports having already received at least one Covid jab and another 14% say they will get the vaccine as soon as they are allowed. Democrats (67%) are more likely than independents (47%) and Republicans (36%) to report being vaccinated. More white Americans (54%) than people of color (45%) report having already received a shot.
     ………
     In other poll findings, Biden currently holds a job rating of 54% approve and 41% disapprove. His rating last month stood at 51% to 42%. The president gets a 95% approval rating from Democrats and an 88% disapproval rating among Republicans. Independents are divided at 47% approve and 43% disapprove.

     Biden gets positive reviews for his handling of the coronavirus outbreak specifically, with 62% saying he has done a good job and 31% saying he has done a bad job. This rating stood at 57%–31% in March and 58%–23% in late January. Donald Trump’s good job ratings on handling the pandemic started out at 50% during the initial onset but quickly dropped; landing at 34% by the time he left office.
     ……….
     Just over 6 in 10 (63%) Americans support the $1.9 trillion Covid stimulus package enacted last month, while 34% oppose it. These overall numbers are similar to when the bill was being considered by Congress last month (62% support and 34% oppose), but strong support for the package has ticked up to 43% from 35% in March. Overall support for the plan comes from 96% of Democrats and 63% of independents, but just 23% of Republicans.
     ……….

     Rip Murdock (46eeea) — 4/18/2021 @ 3:45 pm

     
     

207. America: you suck.

     There have been as many killed in police shootings in the same period. Is this bad?

     Since testimony began on March 29, at least 64 people have died at the hands of law enforcement nationwide, with Black and Latino people representing more than half of the dead. As of Saturday, the average was more than three killings a day.

     The NY Times thinks it is (and repeats the “hands up” thing about Adam Toledo).

     https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/17/us/police-shootings-killings.html

     Kevin M (ab1c11) — 4/18/2021 @ 4:23 pm

     
     

208. Pew-Biden Nears 100-Day Mark With Strong Approval, Positive Rating for Vaccine Rollout

     You can buy all of the people some of the time, and some of the people all of the time, but when inflation hits 10% at the mid-terms all the printing presses in the world won’t save you.

     Kevin M (ab1c11) — 4/18/2021 @ 4:24 pm

     
     

209. Boy, it’s sure good that Biden got that vaccine approved the week after the election!

     Kevin M (ab1c11) — 4/18/2021 @ 4:25 pm

     
     

210. AJ Liberty says: “Sorry Noel…getting a little long here!”

     I figured that somebody would say it this weekend.

     noel (9fead1) — 4/18/2021 @ 4:41 pm

     
     

211. Nowhere else in the field of radioactive decay do they talk of mean life?.

     Mean lifetime is used exclusively in elementary particle physics, Sammy.

     While the half-life is slightly easier to interpret, the mean lifetime is the reciprocal of the decay rate, and thus in some sense a more fundamental quantity.

     The reason it’s difficult to measure the free neutron lifetime is that it’s difficult to control an uncharged particle for such a (relatively) long period of time. You essentially have to stop them, which probably introduces uncertainty on the number you’re studying, and hence the decay rate.

     That’s my educated guess, anyway.

     At least neutrons decay. The mean lifetime of *protons* is apparently larger than 10^34 years.

     Dave (1bb933) — 4/18/2021 @ 4:49 pm

     
     

212. @207. ‘Is this bad?’

     If you gotta ask, then yes: America, you suck.

     DCSCA (f4c5e5) — 4/18/2021 @ 4:53 pm

     
     

213. While you’re in the mood to call off wars, how about putting an end to the insane War on Drugs?

     Hunter would agree.

     DCSCA (f4c5e5) — 4/18/2021 @ 4:54 pm

     
     

214. I googled the subject of long comments on blogs. This is from goinswriter.com. Have no idea who he is but this is exactly how I feel about it.

     “The Long-Winded

     This person writes really, really long comments. 200 words is a long blog comment. 500 words is beyond long. 1000 words or more is epic. But you occasionally get those.

     Generally, these comments are from people who are new to the blogging world and don’t know about the unspoken rule that comments should be short and sweet (50 words is pushing the comment length limit).”

     Blame Jeff Goins and Jeremy Myers if you don’t agree. This week, I am just the messenger. I know, I know, you will still blame me.

     But just to make you happy, my comment is going to come in at over 100 words!

     noel (9fead1) — 4/18/2021 @ 5:00 pm

     
     

215. I’m reposting this, so I can link it from time to time as needed. I lost the previous link.

     A news reporter is sent to interview a man who just celebrated his 100th birthday. Inevitably, the reporter asks the inevitable question.

     “To what do you attribute your longevity?” he asks.

     “I never argue with idiots”, replies the old man.

     “That can’t possibly be the reason”, says the reporter.

     “You’re right”, says the old man.

     nk (1d9030) — 4/18/2021 @ 5:32 pm

     
     

216. https://justthenews.com/politics-policy/elections/major-black-leaders-come-out-support-voter-id-slam-totally-oblivious

     Acoalition of black leaders on Friday came out strongly in support of voter ID laws, arguing that most black voters feel the same way and rebuking what they said was the “oblivious” and “opportunistic” denial of those opinions by progressive leaders.

     The coalition — which includes U.S. Rep. Burgess Owens, former Florida Lt. Gov. Jennifer Carroll, former Texas state Rep. James Earl Wright, and former mayor of Cincinnati and U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Commission on Human Rights Ken Blackwell — declares at RealClearPolitics that “liberal orthodoxy” dictates that “all Blacks think alike, and all Blacks support Black Lives Matter, and all Blacks oppose the recently enacted Georgia Election Integrity Act,” one that in part mandates voter ID at the polls.

     Yet the writers note that a recent Rasmussen Reports poll “found that 69% of Blacks and 82% of nonwhite minorities support voter ID,” while another recent poll “found that a full two-thirds of Blacks in Georgia support voter ID.”

     “The data seems clear: A majority of Black Americans support voter ID laws,” they argue. Yet, they claim, “opportunistic activists like Stacey Abrams pretend the entire Black community stands behind them and the radical Democrat Party,” crafting a narrative in which black people “are either opposed to voter ID or, even more offensively, that Blacks are incapable of obtaining IDs.”

     I truly wonder what those who think people can’t find a way to get ID really think of certain groups of Americans.

     NJRob (eb56c3) — 4/18/2021 @ 6:33 pm

     
     

217. Generally, these comments are from people who are new to the blogging world and don’t know about the unspoken rule that comments should be short and sweet (50 words is pushing the comment length limit).”

     My bad y’all.

     Dustin (4237e0) — 4/18/2021 @ 6:38 pm

     
     

218. I am certain that a lot of important people read this blog. People in the media. Politicians. They may wish to read comments for reactions or other perspectives. They do not have time to read comments that take five or ten minutes to digest. Most regular folks won’t take the time to read them either. I don’t believe they will keep scrolling past a lot of them to find more pithy comments either.

     That’s just my opinion. You don’t have to agree.

     noel (9fead1) — 4/18/2021 @ 6:41 pm

     
     

219. noel,

     I don’t get why you don’t just skip over the long comments. You can eyeball them, and move on. It’s easy.

     If other people want to read long comments, fine. If they don’t, fine. Live, and let live. As long as one is not personally insulting another commenter, it’s all good.

     Remember, it’s just a blog. It’s not a treatise, nor a declaration, nor a document that renders anyone’s life in the balance.

     Plus, it’s annoying me that you are picking on my posts to repeatedly hammer your point. If you are unhappy with the blog/comments, please email our host. Email addy on the side bar.

     Dana (fd537d) — 4/18/2021 @ 6:56 pm

     
     

220. Well Dana, I had no intention of commenting today. One of your guests referred to me personally, so I am responding. And second, why are you so sensitive about this? Please. Ask yourself that question. All of you.

     Secondly, you are missing my main point. I know how to skip long comments. My point is that I believe it is harmful to the blog for the comments to exceed rational norms. One of your guests has already used over 4,000 words on this thread and you are irritated with ME for pointing it out?

     OK. I will leave. The problem is… so will a lot of your visitors. Unfortunately.

     noel (9fead1) — 4/18/2021 @ 7:03 pm

     
     

221. Matthew McConaughey may be a viable candidate for Texas governor; poll shows actor ahead of Abbott
     Matthew McConaughey commands more support to be Texas’ next governor than incumbent Greg Abbott, according to a poll released Sunday by The Dallas Morning News and the University of Texas at Tyler.
     …….
     If he were to take the plunge and run for governor, the poll found, 45% of Texas registered voters would vote for McConaughey, 33% would vote for Abbott and 22% would vote for someone else.

     McConaughey’s double-digit lead over the two-term Republican incumbent is significant. The poll, conducted April 6-13, surveyed 1,126 registered voters and has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 2.92 percentage points.

     But 56% of Republican voters said they’d vote for Abbott, compared with only 30% for McConaughey.

     While Democrats broke 66% to 8% for McConaughey, and independents 44% to 28%, more than twice as many Democratic primary voters — 51% — said they wanted a progressive candidate for governor than wanted a centrist — 25%.

     That could pose a problem. McConaughey, who has criticized both major parties, has suggested he’s more of a moderate.
     …….
     Alright, Alright, Alright!

     Rip Murdock (46eeea) — 4/18/2021 @ 7:20 pm

     
     

222. Moderate is to Democrat as Bisexual is to Gay.

     Kevin M (ab1c11) — 4/18/2021 @ 8:34 pm

     
     

223. I see there is no continuation of Gawain’s Ghost story this weekend. I hope he didn’t refrain because of criticism of lengthy blog posts.

     I wish the person making the criticism hadn’t appointed himself blog regulator. Is it because he feared that a discreet e-mail to Patterico might not result in any action?

     norcal (01e272) — 4/18/2021 @ 11:37 pm

     
     

224. The GOP has come up with a plan to give the government the power to punish Tech companies they think are being mean to them. There are some good rules in here about transparency. But I read proposals like this one:

     Remove liability protection under Section 230 for content moderation decisions made by Big Tech companies that discriminate based on political affiliation or viewpoint.

     and I get concerned, do we really need to mandate that Twitter allow neo-nazi?

     https://republicans-energycommerce.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/2021.04.15-Big-Tech-Memo-Staff-Legislative-Concepts.pdf

     Time123 (457a1d) — 4/19/2021 @ 5:02 am

     
     

225. 204. norcal (01e272) — 4/18/2021 @ 3:28 pm

     They can also be of unknown potency, and adulterated with harmful substances (again, thanks to it being a black market).

     Several important things contributed to the death rate from opioid overdoses:

     1) Cutting off access to high quality opioid prescription drugs after people had become addicted to them.

     2) Not making addiction a legitimate grounds for prescribing them. (this goes way back)

     3) Requiring entry into a program for being prescribed a substitute.

     4) Not enough spaces in the programs.

     5) When the program is detoxification, the person who went through rehab not recognizing that what was before an inadequate dose was not a fatal dose.

     There Might be an extremely dangerous cure for opioid addiction. It is legal in Mexico and some other places. It can kill about 10% of the people taking it through heart failure although it is possible to watch and to substitute something else. It causes hallucinations. But in one third or more of the people who go through it, it completely gets rid of the desire to take opioids.

     https://time.com/5951772/ibogaine-drug-treatment-addiction

     Probably not the way to go.
     otion

     Sammy Finkelman (51cd0c) — 4/19/2021 @ 11:21 am

     
     

226. Joe Biden is going to give the equivalent of a State of the Union message to Congress next Wednesday, April 28, 2021.

     Sammy Finkelman (51cd0c) — 4/19/2021 @ 12:57 pm

     
     

227. I don;t understand how because heparin sometimes causes blood clotting, that means not to use it on these blood clots. It’s a false syllogism. Unless they think the Astra Zeneca and Johnson and Johnson vaccine really had nothing to do with the blood clots.

     Sammy Finkelman (51cd0c) — 4/19/2021 @ 1:00 pm

     
     

228. The D.C. chief medical examiner has ruled that Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick suffered two strokes and died of natural causes the day after he took part in defending the Capitol during the Jan. 6 riots, The Washington Post reported on Monday.

     Last month, two men were arrested and charged with assaulting Sicknick. They each face nine counts related to the Capitol attack, including the assault of Sicknick and two other federal agents with a chemical irritant.

     Medical examiner Francisco J. Diaz, in an interview with the Post, said that Sicknick’s autopsy did not find any evidence that the 42-year-old officer suffered an allergic reaction to the chemical substance, which Diaz said would have caused Sicknick’s throat to seize.

     Diaz also said there were no indications of internal or external injuries.

     https://www.google.com/amp/s/thehill.com/homenews/senate/549067-sicknick-had-two-strokes-died-of-natural-causes-after-capitol-riot%3famp

     Imagine that.

     BuDuh (bebb7f) — 4/19/2021 @ 1:37 pm

     
     

229. Flashback:

     Brian Sicknick, the U.S. Capitol Police officer who was fatally injured during the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol complex, has been given the rare distinction of lying in honor in the building’s Rotunda.

     https://www.npr.org/2021/02/02/963336791/brian-sicknick-capitol-police-officer-slain-in-riot-will-lie-in-honor-in-rotunda

     “Slain in riot!” is part of the title, “fatally injured” is in the text. Completely false. I find it hard to believe that those who used Sicknick as propaganda had no clue that his death was not a slaying but, rather, it was natural causes.

     BuDuh (bebb7f) — 4/19/2021 @ 1:49 pm

     
     

230. I suppose you could have a question as to whether the two strokes were completely coincidental. High blood pressure maybe can cause it – also Covid can. (although the risk is not too large)

     https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/10.1161/STROKEAHA.120.031786

     Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) may increase the risk of acute ischemic stroke1 similar to the increased risk of 3.2-fold to 7.8-fold seen within the first 3 days after other respiratory tract infections.2,3

     In a review of literature in April 2020,4 the proportion of patients with COVID-19 who have acute ischemic stroke was estimated to be 4.9% (95% CI, no continuity correction, 2.8%–8.7%)5 during initial hospitalization.

     Using similar assumptions, an estimated 182 485 and 269 383 patients who have COVID-19 will also have ischemic stroke considering 9 988 254 patients had COVID-19 in the world on June 27, 2020,4 and an estimated 21% to 31% of patients with COVID-19 required hospitalization.6

     In case anybody missed it, they did have the second police officer killed (by the Farrakhan admirer) lay in state in the Rotunda.

     Sammy Finkelman (51cd0c) — 4/19/2021 @ 1:51 pm

     
     

231. There Might be an extremely dangerous cure for opioid addiction.

     Running down a chicago alley with a gun at night?

     Dustin (4237e0) — 4/19/2021 @ 2:28 pm

     
     

232. Imagine that.

     BuDuh (bebb7f) — 4/19/2021 @ 1:37 pm

     It says the capitol riots “played a role in his condition.” So yeah, imagine that. The president is a cop-killer as far as I’m concerned.

     Dustin (4237e0) — 4/19/2021 @ 2:42 pm

     
     

233. It says the capitol riots “played a role in his condition.”

     I was unable to find that quote in the link I provided.

     BuDuh (bebb7f) — 4/19/2021 @ 3:00 pm

     
     

234. It says the capitol riots “played a role in his condition.”

     I was unable to find that quote in the link I provided.

     It’s in the WaPo article:

     The medical examiner noted Sicknick was among the officers who engaged the Capitol mob and said “all that transpired played a role in his condition.”

     Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 4/19/2021 @ 3:11 pm

     
     

235. Thanks, Rip. I don’t have a subscription to the WaPo. Is there a more complete quote? Sadly I cannot trust the WaPo when they slice and dice portions of their interviews.

     Maybe the actual medical report will be released.

     BuDuh (bebb7f) — 4/19/2021 @ 3:15 pm

     
     

236. I wonder how an “all that transpired” statement would be used in a George Floyd report?

     BuDuh (bebb7f) — 4/19/2021 @ 3:17 pm

     
     

237. Twenty-six years ago today.

     Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 4/19/2021 @ 3:19 pm

     
     

238. Is there a more complete quote?

     No.

     Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 4/19/2021 @ 3:22 pm

     
     

239. The WaPo article suggests that it will be hard to pursue murder charges in the case.

     Kevin M (ab1c11) — 4/19/2021 @ 3:24 pm

     
     

240. There Might be an extremely dangerous cure for opioid addiction.

     There is actually one that works for many.

     Kevin M (ab1c11) — 4/19/2021 @ 3:30 pm

     
     

241. Kevin M (ab1c11) — 4/19/2021 @ 3:24 pm

     The WaPo article suggests that it will be hard to pursue murder charges in the case.

     And against whom?

     Not even against the organizers of the riot. It was not clearly causal.

     Sammy Finkelman (51cd0c) — 4/19/2021 @ 3:45 pm

     
     

242. @234: is this Big Lie or Bigger Lie, or Little Big Lie?

     JF (e1156d) — 4/19/2021 @ 4:01 pm

     
     

243. @228. Meanwhile, as seen in the graphic videos, unarmed Ashli Babbitt was murdered by a Capitol cop. The stunned anguish on her face [as seen in the unedited footage of PBS’s Frontline] as her life drained out of her– is haunting. Yet, the nameless, bastard cop who killed her will not charged nor held accountable by The Royalists who employ him.

     DCSCA (f4c5e5) — 4/19/2021 @ 4:14 pm

     
     

244. dcsca, she shouldn’t have read so much russian BS. That cop helped save our country from brainwashed suckers. Fight of his life, and he met the moment.

     Dustin (4237e0) — 4/19/2021 @ 4:28 pm

     
     

245. @244.That cop helped save our country from brainwashed suckers.

     Bullsh!t. She was murdered by the Royalists. Ashli is dead; Nancy’s podium lives.

     End of story.

     DCSCA (f4c5e5) — 4/19/2021 @ 4:33 pm

     
     

246. Meanwhile, as seen in the graphic videos, unarmed Ashli Babbitt was murdered by a Capitol cop.

     Yeah, just because she tried to enter a secured area that and been arranged for the legislators to exit the building, how was she to know the 10 feet of baracades and the repeated warning to stay back meant that she couldn’t enter!

     If you watched the impeachment trial, you’d know that this was a secured area and that deadly force was authorized if anyone encroached. Sadly, there is no sound from the recording, or you’d her the repeated warnings she ignored.

     Kevin M (ab1c11) — 4/19/2021 @ 4:46 pm

     
     

247. Again, play stupid games, win stupid prizes.

     Kevin M (ab1c11) — 4/19/2021 @ 4:46 pm

     
     

248. That cop is a hero and they should rename Washington DC after him.

     Dustin (4237e0) — 4/19/2021 @ 4:47 pm

     
     

249. @246. Plenty of sound on the Frontline unedited video– including her anguished cry as the murder cop’s bullet slmmed into her body.

     Makin excuses for a murder cop is indeed a stupid game. The prize: Ashli gets a tombstone; Nany gets a podium. That bastard Royalist Capitol cop should be prosecuted for murder.

     End of story.

     @248. It’s built on a swamp.

     DCSCA (f4c5e5) — 4/19/2021 @ 4:57 pm

     
     

250. the cop’s bullet SLAMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMED into her defenseless body of innocence, trying to deliver girl scout cookies to orphaned veterans on the other side of the library of congress

     Dustin (4237e0) — 4/19/2021 @ 5:13 pm

     
     

251. 🎻 < if this is hard to see it's a violin of diminuative size

     Dustin (4237e0) — 4/19/2021 @ 5:13 pm

     
     

252. @250. Actually, it did- you can see and hear it, Dustin.

     DCSCA (f4c5e5) — 4/19/2021 @ 5:38 pm

     
     

253. yeah it sounds so sad

     Dustin (4237e0) — 4/19/2021 @ 5:57 pm

     
     

254. Air Force veteran. What do they teach them about storming fortifications? Now, if she’d been a Marine ….

     nk (1d9030) — 4/19/2021 @ 6:04 pm

     
     

255. RIP Walter Mondale (93).

     Rip Murdock (46eeea) — 4/19/2021 @ 6:13 pm

     
     

256. Ashli, as an AF veteran, should’ve known better than to try and enter a secure area. MPs Do Not Play if you are in the wrong place or if you are there in the wrong way.

     Nic (896fdf) — 4/19/2021 @ 6:29 pm

     
     

257. The tragedy is not the what. It’s the why. For a worthless orange New York sewer rat.

     nk (1d9030) — 4/19/2021 @ 6:33 pm

     
     

258. R.I.P. Walter Mondale

     Icy (6abb50) — 4/19/2021 @ 6:34 pm

     
     

259. It is sad of course. I guess I see it differently. It amazes me that all those nuts ransacked the capitol and it didn’t lead to dozens of deaths or a protracted hostage event. We got extremely lucky and the cops (obviously not the latest and greatest, but more pedestrian men and women totally set up to fail) had the fight of their lives on 1/6 and I think we should be proud of them.

     DCSCA: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7wfYIMyS_dI&ab_channel=enyatv HTH

     Dustin (4237e0) — 4/19/2021 @ 6:36 pm

     
     

260. Hey Icy,

     Good to see you.

     norcal (01e272) — 4/19/2021 @ 6:37 pm

     
     

261. I’m always lurking…

     Icy (6abb50) — 4/19/2021 @ 7:27 pm

     
     

262. @259.It is sad of course. I guess I see it differently.

     No doubt 18th century Redcoats at Lexington and Concord would agree w/you.

     But then, both sides were armed. Ashli wasn’t.

     DCSCA (f4c5e5) — 4/19/2021 @ 7:29 pm

     
     

263. “They were all fairly well-to-do people, retired merchants, an’ retired Army people, an’ there was a fair sprinklin’ of old maids. They had a little meeting place off the Bayswater-road, where they used to meet three times a week an’ discuss the horrible condition of the world. They never tried to make it any better, an’ they got depressed if it looked so.”

     nk (1d9030) — 4/19/2021 @ 7:39 pm

     
     

264. What? It’s an open thread, ain’ it?

     nk (1d9030) — 4/19/2021 @ 7:39 pm

     
     

265. Ashes to ashes, dust to moondust: indiffrent to Mondale’s passing.

     Still, Reagan/Bush; Mondale/Ferraro; Michael Jackson, George Steinbrenner, Billy Martin, Ed Koch, Leona Helmsley… the 80s are dead.

     Trump lives.

     DCSCA (f4c5e5) — 4/19/2021 @ 7:40 pm

     
     

266. RIP Walter Mondale (93).

     Proof that youth and inexperience can only carry you so far.

     Dave (1bb933) — 4/19/2021 @ 10:26 pm

     
     

267. The NYT had a story the other day that convalescent fluid is being abandoned by many – so much so that not as much as could be is being collected,

     On the grounds it does little or nothing to help.

     The problem is it;s been approved only for patients in the worst condition (like too many new cures are tried – but here the risks are known)

     I would say also that, penicillin when it was first used, it is not used in a large enough dose.

     Sammy Finkelman (51cd0c) — 4/20/2021 @ 3:50 am

     
     

268. 259. Dustin (4237e0) — 4/19/2021 @ 6:36 pm 259.

     It amazes me that all those nuts ransacked the capitol and it didn’t lead to dozens of deaths or a protracted hostage event.

     I was not surprised. The police wanted to avoid that.

     And also the planners of the assault but that was because they didn’t expect to overthrow the government or considered that a long, long, shot. They didn’t want life imprisonment or the death penalty.

     Sammy Finkelman (51cd0c) — 4/20/2021 @ 3:55 am

     
     

269. From elsewgere: “Chauvin may still be guilty of murder at some level (most likely manslaughter)
     But I strongly doubt he intended to murder Floyd”

     He’s not charged with intention to murder. Judging from what I read in the New York Post, the three possibilities, from least serous to most are:

     1) Second-degree manslaughter: Negligence creating an unreasonable risk of death.

     2) Third-degree murder: Depraved indifference. Considering that he ignored a report that Floyd’s pulse had stopped, it almost goes without saying.

     3) Second degree murder: Unintentionally causing death but intentionally committing a felony. The felony would be assault. I think that probably means that his attempt to transport George Floyd would have some point have changed from a a part of a legal arrest to an illegal assault.

     Floyd did some more than pass a counterfeit 20 dollar bill. He had also refused to give the store clerk a real $20 bill after the store clerk came out of the store and went to the car he was in and told him it was counterfeit.

     That’s when they called the police. Because of what happened this is now xonsidered a big mistake.

     Sammy Finkelman (51cd0c) — 4/20/2021 @ 9:30 am

     
     

270. Where’s Waldo?!

     Find the straight, white, Anglo-Saxon-protestant-male anchorman at CNN:

     https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_CNN_personnel

     DCSCA (f4c5e5) — 4/20/2021 @ 1:09 pm

     
     

271. I dugg some of you post as I thought they were handy very useful

     modern digital (19103b) — 5/13/2021 @ 10:34 am