Weekend Open Thread – Oh No! Not Him Again! Edition
[guest post by JVW]
Dana is once again on a super-secret Patterico’s Pontifications mission (can’t divulge too much, but don’t be surprised if a certain very tense situation in Bora Bora ends up quietly disappearing from the news in the next few days). So once again you are treated to the B Squad. So, without further ado, let’s get into the Junior Varsity Writing edition of our weekend open thread.
Res I – Dialing Back the Woke Grandstanding at the AAAS
The Wall Street Journal reports on a letter that Harvard Psychology Professor Steven Pinker sent in response to a solicitation from the American Association for the Advancement of Science for a donation earmarked for efforts to “support and uplift science to inform and spur action on climate change.” Prof. Pinker objects that the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the publishers of Science magazine, have done more to discredit the progressive consensus on global climate change among politicians than they have to promote it. Specifically, he chides the organization for hewing to the academic left’s narrow worldview on controversial matters and refusing to acknowledge where that worldview is shortsighted or even wrong. He calls out three specific areas in which he believes that “Science magazine appears to have adopted wokeism as its official editorial policy and the only kind of opinion that may be expressed in the magazine”: the magazine’s stated belief that a lack of black physics professors and students is a manifestation of “white supremacy”; the magazine’s condemnation of prominent academics and journalists who won’t knuckle-under to transgenderism ideology; and the magazine’s kowtowing to anti-nuke sentiment among leftist faculty by refusing to consider nuclear power as a legitimate answer to our dependence upon fossil fuels. Read his explantation of each of the three points: it’s worth the few minutes of your time.
So The WSJ finds it to be very curious timing that just two days after Pinker’s letter was posted online, an article by Paul Voosen appeared in the magazine which suggested that maybe — just maybe — the models that the climate change crew uses to predict future rises in worldwide temperatures might not always be entire accurate. Last year, the British journal Nature also published a piece warning readers not to put complete faith in the temperature models. Between the two, there emerges a flickering of hope that The Scientific CommunityTM is beginning to realize that fealty to science needs to come before fealty to today’s trendy progressive obsessions.
Res II – What Will Smith Hath Wrought
Note: Please keep in mind that this post is being written by guest blogger JVW, not the eponymous host of this site.
On Tuesday night at the Hollywood Bowl, a member of the audience jumped on stage and tackled comedian Dave Chappelle in the middle of his performance. Chappelle as we have discussed before, has courted the ire of various crybully communities by refusing to exempt them from his ridicule. As of right now, we do not know the motivation of the assailant, who was arrested at the scene but not before he had the ever-lovin’ snot beaten out of him by Chappelle’s security detail, but following the Chris Rock-Will Smith fracas at the Academy Awards it’s understandable that comedians are a bit skittish about being physically confronted by the audience. (Rock was on-hand backstage at the Hollywood Bowl and emerged from the wings to ask, “Was that Will Smith?”)
Yesterday the Los Angeles Times reported that the office of District Attorney George Gascón will not bring felony charges against the assailant, 23-year old Isaiah Lee of Los Angeles, even though Mr. Lee was in possession of (but apparently not brandishing) a replica gun which concealed a knife blade. Police and the Bowl are instead trying to figure out how he managed to smuggle that curious weapon into the venue and how he managed to emerge from the audience onto the stage. The Los Angeles City Attorney’s office could still file misdemeanor charges in the case. Left unasked is if Mr. Gascón’s office would have taken this violation a bit more seriously had the comedian himself been a member of the LGBTQ community or had been someone who spouted all of the proper views of the times.
Res III – Joe Biden Wrecks His Relationships with the Senators Whom He Needs the Most
Last fall as the Build Back Better fiasco limped its way to a sad but completely unsurprising legislative death, we chronicled the many ways in which President Biden, aided and abetted by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, botched the diplomatic outreach to Senators Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Krysten Sinema of Arizona, the two Democrats who were the most reluctant to sign on to further cash-dumps in the name of recovery. We know that Senator Schumer spent the past summer lying about Senator Manchin’s alleged refusal to name a top-line maximum dollar value that he would support for a stimulus bill, but now it appears that President Biden threw Senator Sinema under the bus among her party’s caucus by divulging to them what she had told him in confidence was the most that she was willing to support. This tidbit from a forthcoming book was reported by The Dispatch (subscription required), and here is how Business Insider summarized it:
Sen. Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona almost walked out on President Joe Biden in the Oval Office during a tense exchange over the scope of his economic agenda, according to a forthcoming book from a pair of New York Times reporters.
[. . .]
According to authors Jonathan Martin and Alexander Burns, Biden strenuously sought to reconcile tensions between his party’s centrist and progressive wings last summer around the size and scope of his domestic agenda. Progressives were pushing to go big on new social and climate programs while moderates tried restraining their ambitions and had fiscal concerns.
During a meeting with Democratic moderates, Biden revealed that Sinema had set her Build Back Better spending limit at $1.1 trillion — roughly one-third less than Sen. Joe Manchin’s $1.5 trillion price tag.
Sinema appeared “visibly angry” at Biden for revealing details from their personal talks, Burns and Martin write. Biden aides had “feared that if Sinema drew a public red line at $1.1 trillion—a miserly sum by liberal standards—then the party would erupt in open war.”
The authors wrote: “‘Mr. President,” she said, ‘that was a private conversation.’ Sinema began to stand up. She asked Biden: ‘Do you want me to leave?'”
Way to go, Brandon.
Res IV – Déjà Vu on the J&J Vaccine
The FDA has one again placed limits on the Johnson & Johnson COVID vaccine, citing the increased risk of life-threatening blood clots as compared to the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines. This is a redux of the agency’s April 2021 temporary halt on distribution of the J&J vaccine for the same reason, a decision which was rescinded ten-days later. Almost exactly one year ago as I was floundering through compiling a Weekend Open Thread, I included an item which wondered if the government’s abrupt pause and reversal had inadvertently strengthened the case for vaccine skepticism. Here we go again?
Res V – Why the Hell Are We Crowing about the Strategic Help We’re Providing Ukraine?
Rich Lowry has pointed out a couple of instances in which U.S. government officials bewilderingly are taking credit for helping the Ukrainian military fight Russian troops. On Wednesday the New York Times reported that “senior American officials” were claiming that U.S. intelligence had provided information on Russian troop movements which had helped Ukrainians to reportedly kill a dozen Russian generals ever since Vladimir Putin launched the invasion. Then just last night, Mr. Lowry flagged this second item from the NYT in which “U.S. officials” — likely the same damn ones — brag how we provided Ukraine with the intelligence which led to the sinking of the Moskva last month.
Look, if we’re going to enter the war as a belligerent then let’s go ahead and enter the war as a belligerent. If we’re going to commit all kinds of awesome skullduggery against Boris & Natasha then let’s keep it entirely under wraps, just like the cool spies in the movies do. But this policy of claiming that we are not participating in the fight while leaking details to news outlets friendly to the Biden Administration isn’t going to fool Vladimir Putin, it’s probably not going to placate those who want us to avoid direct engagement, and it’s certainly not going to satisfy those who believe we ought to be doing more on behalf of Ukraine. As usual, we seem to pick the most bumbling way imaginable to throw around our considerable weight.
Res VI – In Case You Have Forgotten
We still have American citizens stuck in refugee camps and even in Afghanistan, and no matter what the unctuous liar Jen Psaki or any of the other grossly-overmatched time-servers in the Biden Administration try to tell you, the United States government is not doing a bang-up job of facilitating their exit from those hell-holes:
Two American citizens who were trapped overseas after rescuing their families from Taliban-controlled Afghanistan have returned home to the U.S. after nearly seven months in a United Arab Emirates refugee compound they both described as prison-like.
Both Bilal Ahmad, 28, and another man who asked to be identified by his nickname, Ace, were frustrated by how long it took U.S. officials to process their families’ cases and to give them permission to enter the country. National Review profiled both of their cases in January.
Ahmad, who started working with the U.S. military as a teenager in 2009 and moved to the U.S. in 2014, arrived home with his wife and 5-year-old son late last week. Ahmad already knew in January that he had lost his IT job, and he suspected he’d also lost his New York City apartment.
He and his family are now living in an apartment in the Columbus, Ohio, area, he said.
[. . .]
Both Ahmad and Ace expected they would fly home in a matter of weeks, and technically, both men could have. But their wives, and Ahmad’s son, could not because their travel documents hadn’t been approved. Neither man was willing to leave them in the compound alone.
Ace said his wife was attacked by a man in the compound. He said he called the compound’s police, but “they didn’t care.” He said there were a lot of “wild people” there.
No, it’s not as if President Biden or anyone in his administration wants them to suffer in these camps or remain hidden fearing for their lives somewhere in Afghanistan, but he certainly won’t prod the sclerotic State Department or Homeland Security Department to kick it into high gear and cut the bureaucratic entanglements and entropy in order to get them safely home.
Res VII – School Which Failed in Obvious Diversity Hire Being Dinged for Not Enough Diversity
Catching up with our old friend Nikole Hannah-Jones, author of the putrid 1619 Project. Here’s a report from some journal which appears to exist solely to agitate for more diversity hires in academia:
The Accrediting Council on Education in Journalism and Mass Communications (ACEJMC) recently voted to downgrade the University of North Carolina (UNC) at Chapel Hill’s Hussman School of Journalism and Media to “provisional accreditation” status, according to an email written by Interim Dean Heidi Hennink-Kaminski to school faculty.
The change is due to the ACEJMC’s concerns regarding diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) at the school, especially in the wake of journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones turning down a tenured position because of administrative controversy surrounding her hiring. In 2021, Hannah-Jones was hired as the Knight Chair in Race and Investigative Journalism but was originally only offered a five-year contract instead of tenure by the UNC Board of Trustees. Despite later receiving a tenure offer, Hannah-Jones decided to take the same position at Howard University instead. The ACEJMC determined that this high-profile incident was evidence of significant DEI issues within the school that warranted reevaluation of its accreditation.
“[T]he UNC Hussman School is dealing with an existential crisis both internally and externally,” the ACEJMC wrote. “The [Hannah-Jones] controversy… exposed long-standing problems. Many stem from inconsistencies in executing the goals in the 2016 Diversity and Inclusion Action Plan.”
You know what would solve this problem? Close up the whole damn journalism school. It’s virtually impossible to argue in this day and age that graduate studies in journalism are of any benefit to anybody other than the academics whose jobs are funded by it.
Res Aliam
Dana oftentimes includes lovely art work, if not one of her breathtaking photographs then a piece of classical art which meets with the approval of her discerning eye. I lack the grace and refinement that she has in abundance, but here is the sort of art that I like:
Cassius Marcellus Coolidge (1844-1934) was born and raised in rural New York State. Mostly self-trained in art, he founded a local newspaper and did illustrations for it before embarking upon creating the sort of whimsical photo backdrops that people poke their heads into at carnivals and state fairs. At the turn of the century, he began work on a series of sixteen oil paintings for use in calendars distributed by the Brown & Bigelow advertising firm showing dogs participating in various human activities, mostly playing poker. The painting above, titled “His Station and Four Aces” and my favorite work of his, is the only one in which the dogs are depicted dressed entirely in human clothing.
Have a great weekend, everyone.
– JVW
And we’re off!
JVW (020d31) — 5/6/2022 @ 1:21 pmThe Washington Post, to their credit, has numbers on abortion, including these:
“Most women who have abortions already have children, and most are in their 20s. The number of teenagers who have abortions declined over the past decade; they now account for less than 9 percent. Black women accounted for 38 percent of abortions, followed by White women at 33 percent and Hispanic women at 21 percent.”
source:https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2022/05/04/abortion-numbers-us-roe-opinion/
(As I have mentioned before, Jesse Jackson was pro-life, early in his career.)
Jim Miller (406a93) — 5/6/2022 @ 1:51 pmAn ironic thought: Catholic Democratic politicians often say they are personally opposed to abortion, but would not impose their views on the public, by law. Example: the elder Cuomo.
Jim Miller (406a93) — 5/6/2022 @ 2:02 pmIt occurs to me that Trump is the opposite, personally in favor of abortion, at least for women he might impregnate, but willing to please Republican activists by backing justices who would reverse Roe v. Wade.
(My apologies for starting with this subject, since it almost never produces useful discussions on line. But I thought those numbers important, and there is another set of numbers in that Post article. The abortion rate almost doubled after Roe, and has been declining ever since 1980. It is now almost exactly where it was in 1973. I don’t know what conclusions to draw from that.)
Love those paintings! It was not even a year between a similar painting being “lost” and my marriage dissolved.
There’s word that the Chappelle assailant is a Trump rapper, but it’s just as well he could be a FBI poo stirrer, as could have been the sniper in DC a few weekends ago (the shooter had a portrait of Dr. Yakub, a NOI mythical figure coopted by the 4chan crowd). He might have righteous beef against Netflix but shouldn’t have bum rushed Chappelle.
https://nypost.com/2022/05/04/alleged-dave-chappelle-attacker-isaiah-lee-is-a-rapper/
urbanleftbehind (27e6a7) — 5/6/2022 @ 2:05 pmBiden’s speech at the White House correspondents Dinner It came first
Sammy Finkelman (02a146) — 5/6/2022 @ 2:08 pm: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_LRi-v8lTW4
and was immediately followed by:
Trevor Noah’s topical comedy routine:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_fpxCuorKjA
Trevor Noah does a very good voice imitation of both Trump and Obama for a few sentences each.
More and more, Americans are making love, not war. In 2015, Pew Research estimated that 6.9 percent of Americans were multi-racial, and that 10 percent of babies were. (I assume both numbers are higher now, but didn’t see any more recent work by Pew in the side bar.)
Jim Miller (406a93) — 5/6/2022 @ 2:10 pmsource: https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2015/06/11/multiracial-in-america/
From the book “Do No Harm” by Stewart Justman page 24: (Ivan R. Dee, Chicago 2008)
Sammy Finkelman (02a146) — 5/6/2022 @ 2:19 pm” Thirty years ago [circa 1978] it was discovered that a cluster of male pseudo-hermaphrodites in the Dominican Republic – men born with ambiguous genitalia, and as children resembling girls – inherit a deficiency in an enzyme governing the conversion of testosterone into a more potent form. As adults they have an undeveloped prostate– and are also exempt from prostate cancer, placing them among the few of whom it can truly be said that the disease has been ruled out…”
He goes on to talk about finesteride given experimentally in 1986, and later as atreatment for an enlarged prostate.
It seems like you can automatcally correct (with promptings) spelling errors = sometimes – but a lot here is worse.
Sammy Finkelman (02a146) — 5/6/2022 @ 2:20 pmIt’s unseasonably cold. Probably caused by wildfires in New Mexico and the Ukraine war.
Sammy Finkelman (02a146) — 5/6/2022 @ 2:21 pmrepublican andrew wilhite wins republican primary in indiana from jail after confessing to killing his wife! Traditional republican family values.
asset (468422) — 5/6/2022 @ 2:29 pmFor Sammy Finkelman (and perhaps others), this follow-up: Sammy had mentioned that science fiction writer Isaac Asimov had described how a crowded earth would end individual homes in his novel, “Caves of Steel”, first published in 1953. So I got out my copy, and found these relevant numbers:
Jim Miller (406a93) — 5/6/2022 @ 2:35 pm“Efficiency had been forced on earth with increasing population. Two billion people, three billion, even five billion could be supported by the planet by the progressive lowering of the standard of living, When the population reaches eight billion, however, semi-starvation becomes too much like the real thing.”
And so, a change in culture had occurred, as Asimov goes on to explain:
“Efficiency implied bigness.
. . .
Think of the inefficiency of a hundred thousand houses for a hundred thousand families as compared with a hundred-thousand unit Section; a book-film collection in each house as compared with a Section concentrate; indpenedent video for each family as compared with video piping systems.
For that matter, take the simple folly of endless duplication of kitchens and bathrooms as compared with the thoroughly efficient showers and dining rooms made possible by City culture.”
Earth’s population is quite close to 8 billion now and, predicted to hit 10 billion. As you know, obesity is a serious problem in many advanced nations, including our own, and the standard of living is far higher than it has ever been.
Asimov was not alone in predicting starvation; so did Robert Heinlein, and later Larry Niven thought that people would have to have licenses to have babies.
(I haven’t seen any estimates of how many people the earth could feed with current technology.)
Two blank lines to get one in the actual comment?
Sammy Finkelman (02a146) — 5/6/2022 @ 2:40 pmWhat happened here
It would appear that there are some funky things happening with the comments bar. Is anyone else not seeing the HTML tags at the top? I have to enter them manually.
JVW (020d31) — 5/6/2022 @ 2:42 pmJVW – What I see is bold, italic, unnumbered list, numbered list, and a chain link thing. I haven’t tried any of them out.
Jim Miller (406a93) — 5/6/2022 @ 2:58 pmAnd what I am typing now looks to be about 14 points in size, though it shrinks when posted.
My apologies for starting with this subject, since it almost never produces useful discussions on line.
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 5/6/2022 @ 3:00 pmYes, injecting Trump into a discussion of abortion ruins the potential for agreement.
I see that the LA City Attorney has charged Chappelle’s attacker with a misdemeanor. I think that’s right. I also think that the “felony” has been watered down considerably. It used to be something that was beyond the pale; a capital crime or one needing a long prison term. Now, lying to the cops is a felony rather than the basic human right the Good Lord intended.
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 5/6/2022 @ 3:03 pmrepublican andrew wilhite wins republican primary in indiana from jail after confessing to killing his wife! Traditional republican family values.
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 5/6/2022 @ 3:08 pmIn a vote-for-3 race, with 3 candidates, it is unsurprising that all candidates will win. Not sure they even need 1 vote.
https://www.indystar.com/story/news/2022/05/05/andrew-wilhoite-accused-killing-wife-clinton-township-indiana-primary-winner/9659893002/
All new vaccines will be mRNA vaccines. Next up RSV.
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 5/6/2022 @ 3:12 pmI believe that the officials blabbing about how we help Ukraine are self-aggrandizing fools trying to impress someone. Probably a lot of cute undercover reporters in the bars frequented by Team Biden.
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 5/6/2022 @ 3:15 pmthe United States government is not doing a bang-up job of facilitating their exit from those hell-holes
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 5/6/2022 @ 3:21 pmProbably all those resources are being consumed at the Texas border.
I believe that the officials blabbing about how we help Ukraine are self-aggrandizing fools trying to impress someone. Probably a lot of cute undercover reporters in the bars frequented by Team Biden.
It’s so great having “the adults in the room” back in charge, “the seasoned Washington hands.”
JVW (020d31) — 5/6/2022 @ 3:23 pmtrump would have supported russia.
asset (468422) — 5/6/2022 @ 4:03 pmDo you remember the anonymous anti-Trump op-ed in the NYT from a “senior administration official” who turned to be some kind of telephone receptionist? Don’t believe anything you read or hear from the #Fake News Media.
nk (6b506d) — 5/6/2022 @ 4:08 pmIt’s Friday. So where’s the leaker, Roberts??!!
DCSCA (14a4cc) — 5/6/2022 @ 4:14 pm“All right. All right. Who did it? Whooo DID IT???!!!” – Captain Morton [James Cagney] ‘Mister Roberts’ 1955
@13. Yep. Odd functions for sure.
DCSCA (14a4cc) — 5/6/2022 @ 4:17 pm@13. Yep. Odd functions for sure.
DCSCA (14a4cc) — 5/6/2022 @ 4:18 pmIt’s like the Supreme Court leak. An ethical media (there’s an oxymoron for you) would not have published it. Neither would they be blabbing about what military intelligence (that’s two) we’re giving to Ukraine.
nk (6b506d) — 5/6/2022 @ 4:36 pm@26. When a patriot leaks Biden’s medical records, watch what happens.
DCSCA (14a4cc) — 5/6/2022 @ 4:40 pmDana is once again on a super-secret Patterico’s Pontifications mission (can’t divulge too much, but don’t be surprised if a certain very tense situation in Bora Bora ends up quietly disappearing from the news in the next few days).
lurker (cd7cd4) — 5/6/2022 @ 4:41 pmNice try. Obviously one of you had to pilot the Patterico Oligarch Yacht into open waters before it got seized to pay for the Jewish Nazis’ war against defenseless Russia.
It’s so great having “the adults in the room” back in charge, “the seasoned Washington hands.”
lurker (cd7cd4) — 5/6/2022 @ 4:46 pmlesser evil ≠ competent
@26. All for it; sunshine is a great disinfectant; a proxy war by any other name is still war. Publishing the Pentagon Papers helped end the misguided and secretive war policies of a lying government. And Congress hasn’t declared any war nor has POTUS asked for one to be declared… he just keeps asking for billions to fund Moran and Capone and charges it to the credit card financed by borrowed $ from China. Sell war bonds, Joey.
DCSCA (14a4cc) — 5/6/2022 @ 4:49 pmAn ethical media (there’s an oxymoron for you) would not have published it.
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 5/6/2022 @ 5:00 pmDo you suppose that Sotomayor tried the NYT and WaPo first?
I wondered about that, Kevin.
nk (6b506d) — 5/6/2022 @ 5:06 pmThey renamed Columbus Day to Indigenous People’s Day. When is Mother’s Day going to be renamed “Birthing Person’s Day”?
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 5/6/2022 @ 5:08 pmGriffin: “Is this turning into a proxy war?”
“It’s not,”[ Secretary of Defense] Austin responded. “This is clearly Ukraine’s fight and Ukraine’s neighbors and allies and partners are stepping up to make sure that they have what they need in order to be successful.”
Jennifer Griffin Asks Lloyd Austin About Ukraine ‘Proxy War’ (mediaite.com)
prox·y war
[ˈpräksē wô(ə)r]
NOUN
proxy war (noun) · proxy wars (plural noun) Definition:
a war instigated by a major power which does not itself become involved.
U.S. is fighting a proxy war in Ukraine, Chuck Todd says (yahoo.com)
U.S. is fighting a proxy war in Ukraine, Chuck Todd says.- Meet The Press, NBC News, May 1, 2022
White House press secretary Jen Psaki bluntly declared “this is not a proxy war.” “This is a war between Russia and Ukraine.’ May 2, 2022
Except it is, Peppermint Patty.
DCSCA (14a4cc) — 5/6/2022 @ 5:20 pm@34. Considering the day of the week assigned to it, let’s really piss off feminists and name it:
DCSCA (14a4cc) — 5/6/2022 @ 5:23 pm‘Sonday.’
😉
lesser evil ≠ competent
Right, but that’s not how the media and the Washington establishment portrayed it back in fall of 2020, is it? They promised us we would be getting a bunch of “seasoned pros” who could hit the ground running and wouldn’t flounder around in the first couple of years the way the previous Administration had. So much for that empty promise.
JVW (020d31) — 5/6/2022 @ 6:13 pmJohn Deere is doing their part:
Jim Miller (406a93) — 5/6/2022 @ 6:38 pm“The theft took place in the city of Melitopol in southeastern Ukraine, about 700 kilometers from kyiv. Russian soldiers stole grain, tractors and harvesting machines to send to Chechnya. According to CNN , the equipment, worth approximately $5 million, was stolen from an Argotek distributor and later moved by Russian transport vehicles more than 800 kilometers away. Upon reaching their destination, the soldiers discovered that the tractors did not start, although it was not a mechanical failure, but a remote deactivation carried out by the manufacturer John Deere .”
source: John Deere Remotely Disables Tractors Stolen in Ukraine by Russian Troops (msn.com)
Excellent.
@37. JVW, “seasoned pros” = “seasoned proses” —-
DCSCA (134aed) — 5/6/2022 @ 6:50 pm“Here’s the deal!”
“No joke!”
“I’m not kidding!”
“Malarkey!”
“This is the United States of America!!!”
#37: On domestic matters Biden has fully lived down to my expectations, but on Putin’s invasion of Ukraine I’ve been pleasantly surprised. He’s marshaled a strong, unified, and apparently effective NATO response, and with selective intel disclosures made a mockery of Putin’s messaging. I shudder to think what Trump would have done. So in that regard, yeah, comparatively Biden’s people have indeed been the adults in the room. The recent indiscriminate blabbing is inexcusable, but in the overall scheme of handling the Russia/Ukraine conflict, it’s anomalous.
lurker (cd7cd4) — 5/6/2022 @ 6:57 pmTartar raid.
nk (85384f) — 5/6/2022 @ 6:58 pm“I shudder to think what Trump would have done.”
JF (bfc6ab) — 5/6/2022 @ 7:36 pmit’s really left to the imagination, isn’t it
if only this catastrophe had happened under his watch, we’d have some certainty
Yeah, for 230 years, 43* Presidents managed to avoid a rigged election, and when it did happen it had to happen to a stable genius who would have totally cowed Putin by calling him a lyddle’ borscht man and threatening to primary him. Dang it!
nk (85384f) — 5/6/2022 @ 7:50 pm*Grover Cleveland is counted twice.
ResV
steveg (643ea5) — 5/6/2022 @ 10:00 pmI think the leak was about jockeying for funding. The Air Force has carried a big load, figuratively and literally in this Ukraine kerfuffle/WWIII and they want some new toys and prime rib this Christmas
ResIII Will Smith and wroughting
steveg (643ea5) — 5/6/2022 @ 10:14 pmDon’t forget the vigilantism.
I’ve seen videos of looters and thieves plastic wrapped to pole and trees, pants down, in the Ukraine. (one poor ethnic Russian alleged looter was taped to a tree with a Russian flag stuck in his butt) Breakdowns in law and order spawn this. I’m sure that the defund the Police folks would want prison time if law enforcement delivered an old school Darryl Gates era beat down of the stage crasher like the one the Chapelle entourage delivered. That was a prison stomping. Only thing missing was a 280 lbs cholo jumping off the top bunk
New political add on msnbc. Ad shows mother and daughter being stopped at red state border by state trooper asking them if they are crossing state line to get an abortion. He then arrests them.
asset (a2b5c6) — 5/7/2022 @ 1:15 amhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=75XrzfU7D18
mg (8cbc69) — 5/7/2022 @ 2:49 amwho will answer?
From the Bulwark and Charlie Sykes
AJ_Liberty (a36eed) — 5/7/2022 @ 4:44 am“Former President Donald J. Trump asked Mark Esper, his defense secretary, about the possibility of launching missiles into Mexico to “destroy the drug labs” and wipe out the cartels, maintaining that the United States’ involvement in a strike against its southern neighbor could be kept secret, Mr. Esper recounts in his upcoming memoir…..He then concludes: “He is an unprincipled person who, given his self-interest, should not be in the position of public service.””
Sykes laments: “Are we really going to do this again?”
Agreed.
Do you want to read an article,
nk (85384f) — 5/7/2022 @ 6:05 amIn the San Francisco Chronicle,
By two assholes who say,
That babies all good Jews must slay,
Because it’s a religious requirecal?
That whole Esper book excerpt thing is such an own-goal (basically a free Trump 2024 ad with the bros saying “what’s wrong with that”?), how does it’s writer survive the wrath of Slim? Though it’s possible Carlos Slim either doesn’t mind (it’s a warning beacon to get a suck-up cartel fighter to succeed AMLO in summer of 24) or he’s actually willing to court US military involvement in Mexico.
urbanleftbehind (3a7d34) — 5/7/2022 @ 6:21 amI’ll give them credit for using the term “birthing people” and not “breeders”.
nk (85384f) — 5/7/2022 @ 6:21 amTom Nichols has an excellent thread on Russia. The shorter version: They’ve run out of excuses.
Paul Montagu (5de684) — 5/7/2022 @ 6:29 amI like Nichols’s reference to “The Grand Inquisitor”. It is a chapter in The Brothers Karamazov. Dostoyevsky was sentenced to death at one point in his life and his sentence was commuted to four years in Siberia as he stood in front of the firing squad.
nk (85384f) — 5/7/2022 @ 6:43 am45…in Cook County, the beat down of Cappelle’s assailant would be categorized as “mutual combat” with no proceedings initiated whatsoever.
urbanleftbehind (3f0175) — 5/7/2022 @ 7:25 am@50 There isn’t too much of a controversy calling Mexico a narco-terrorist state.
It’s the one time I think the US should wage war against.
The untold lives and money lost against these narco-terrorist surpasses anything that were done that cause the US to engage in the mideast IMO.
Knowing a few native mexicans, they believed most mexicans would welcome that. So that the mexican government can reassert control of their country. (but, what has to happen is the mexican constitution to allow US bases).
It amazes me that the US is so tame against these narco organizations.
whembly (7e0293) — 5/7/2022 @ 8:36 am@40. ‘On domestic matters Biden has fully lived down to my expectations, but on Putin’s invasion of Ukraine I’ve been pleasantly surprised.’
ROFLMAOPIP! Surprise:
“Putin knows, if I am president of the United States, his days of tyranny and trying to intimidate the United States and those in Eastern Europe are over…” -Squinty McStumblebum 2019
DCSCA (741485) — 5/7/2022 @ 9:58 amNew political add on msnbc. Ad shows mother and daughter being stopped at red state border by state trooper asking them if they are crossing state line to get an abortion. He then arrests them.
Utter BS propaganda. The right to travel is inherent in the 14th Amendment, as its underlying assumption. One of the reasons that TX law will fall, unrelated to the question of abortion.
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 5/7/2022 @ 10:31 amIt’s the one time I think the US should wage war against.
Maybe they can hire us.
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 5/7/2022 @ 10:44 amThat babies all good Jews must slay
So, wait, are they saying that Jews kill babies as part of their religion? I thought we were all past that.
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 5/7/2022 @ 10:46 amWe would have almost no illegal drug problem in the United States, were it not for the enormous appetite for illegal drugs by a large minority of Americans.
And, though this may be less obvious to some of us, our neighbors in Mexico, Central America, and parts of South America, would have more life, liberty, and the ability to pursue happiness.
(Fortunately, the many victims of our appetite for illegal drugs there do not seem inclined to kill our drug users, who have caused, indirectly, so much harm in their lands.)
Jim Miller (406a93) — 5/7/2022 @ 12:25 pm#40 When comparing Biden — whom I did not vote for — to his predecessor, we should never forget this testimony from a year ago:
(Links omitted.)
The official death toll from COVID in the US is now over one million; the excess deaths estimates are about 1.1 million. If we had had a president as competent as Biden when COVID hit, we might have avoided as many as half of those deaths. I am sure we could have if we had had a president as competent as Mitt Romney or Mitch Daniels. (If we had done as well as, for example, Canada or Denmark, our death toll would have been about a third of what it has been.)
And for some this is more important: The damage to our economy would have been significantly less if we had had a competent president when COVID hit. Or even a semi-competent one, like Biden.
I agree with lurker that Biden’s actions on Ukraine have been about right, and admit to being surprised by that, too. But I also think we have to give Biden some credit for stopping some of Trump’s stupidity on COVID, at the national level.
Jim Miller (406a93) — 5/7/2022 @ 12:43 pmBiden’s Covid Death Milestone
https://www.wsj.com/articles/bidens-covid-death-milestone-biden-administration-trump-11637708781
“President Biden may not recall what he said during a 2020 campaign debate last fall, but Americans should: “Anyone who is responsible for that many deaths should not remain as President of the United States of America.” At the time the U.S. had recorded 220,000 Covid deaths.
Covid deaths this year have now surpassed the toll in 2020 with 350,000 since Inauguration Day. It would seem that Mr. Biden has done no better than Donald Trump in defeating Covid despite the benefit of vaccines, better therapies, and more clinical experience….”
JF (328ab8) — 5/7/2022 @ 1:15 pm#62 You are right; the WSJ editorial board has really gone downhill since Trump came on the scene.
Imagine not understanding the basics about communicable diseases, that they can grow exponentially, and so are easier to control early in an epidemic!
(Sadly, we must allow for the possibility that the WSJ board was not being entirely candid in that editorial, that they were so partisan that they could not bring themselves to admit the obvious.)
One can understand why Bret Stephens left.
The United Kingdom lost far more people in World War II after Winston Churchill became prime minister. Does that show he was a failure compared to his predecessor, Neville Chamberlain? Of course not.
Jim Miller (406a93) — 5/7/2022 @ 1:45 pmHere’s an account from near the front lines in Ukraine. (Note, for the delicate: The language is not sanitized.)
Morale among the Ukrainian soldiers appears to be very high.
Jim Miller (406a93) — 5/7/2022 @ 2:37 pmOver at du and jpr all the non violence preaching pacifists are blogging that they are now militant john brown warriors for choice! Dred scott II next fugitive slave act (crossing state lines to have an abortion illegal) lincoln douglas debates (2022 election) then harpers ferry and fort sumter. As yogi berra says de ja vue all over again. Moscow mitch mcconnell tells senators don’t talk about roe. That wont save republicans.
asset (2927e6) — 5/7/2022 @ 2:38 pmWould printing the password of Hunter get me in trouble with the keyboard gestapo? asking for a friend.
mg (8cbc69) — 5/7/2022 @ 2:47 pmShouldn’t congress vote on Biden and his spooks being involved in W.W.Three?
mg (8cbc69) — 5/7/2022 @ 2:59 pmWill Mothers Day end sunday for birthers person day?
mg (8cbc69) — 5/7/2022 @ 3:19 pmHoly Crap— Rich Strike strikes it rich— 80 to 1 long shot wins 148th Kentucky Derby. And the frigging horse was an alternate and wasn’t even entered on Friday. Just unreal!
EIGHTY TO ONE ODDS!
DCSCA (36b32c) — 5/7/2022 @ 4:09 pmRich Strike wins 148th Kentucky Derby in stunning 80-1 upset
Longshot Rich Strike won the 148th running of the Kentucky Derby on Saturday at Churchill Downs in Louisville in upset fashion. The horse had 80-1 odds entering the race.
It was jockey Sonny Leon’s first time winning the Derby. The No. 21 horse wasn’t expected to run the race. He was the first alternate after Ethereal Road was scratched Friday morning.
https://nypost.com/2022/05/07/rich-strike-wins-148th-kentucky-derby-in-stunning-80-1-upset/?msclkid=fd27c973ce5a11ec8b13281ca5e8ab9e
Trump Luck is in the air; buy that lottery ticket; run, Donald, run.
DCSCA (36b32c) — 5/7/2022 @ 4:13 pmhttps://www.breitbart.com/politics/2022/05/07/liz-cheney-aided-in-gop-primary-by-ad-agency-linked-to-biden-blm-planned-parenthood/
For some reason I don’t think they’d do the same for Trump or DeSantis. Now why “assist” Liz?
NJRob (492c14) — 5/7/2022 @ 4:40 pmThat wont save republicans.
Maybe not, but snot-nosed hooligans acting out just might.
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 5/7/2022 @ 5:07 pmImagine not understanding the basics about communicable diseases, that they can grow exponentially, and so are easier to control early in an epidemic!
Perhaps, but BIDEN is the one who should have known that and not set himself up for obvious comparisons. You know what else makes a communicable disease easy to control? Vaccines! Which Trump did not have and Biden did.
One doesn’t have to be a Trumpbot to note that Biden has done a crappy job on COVID. That doesn’t mean that Trump did a good one. It means that the guy who made the test of Presidential qualifications “doing a good job on COVID” has failed his own test.
You have to be a Bidenbot to dispute that, too.
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 5/7/2022 @ 5:12 pmWe would have almost no illegal drug problem in the United States, were it not for the stubborn insistence of government apparatchiks to continue this insane drug war.
You want more freedom here and in those lands to the South? Decriminalize the drugs, then treat bad behavior by drug users as bad behavior. Unfortunately, our petty justice system is overcome by ineffective punishment or no punishment. Even if you can prove who took that package off your stoop, the cops don’t have the time. And if they had the time, no one will prosecute.
I favor the return of the stocks and the lash. Punishment that have effect. Drive drunk? Spend a day in the stocks while MADD berates you, then get 5 lashes in the public square.
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 5/7/2022 @ 5:21 pmKevin – As often happens, I’m not sure we disagree. I did not, and will not, defend Biden’s campaign claims on COVID (or many other subjects). I do think he has corrected some of Trump’s errors on COVID, for example setting a much better personal example, rather than being super-spreader, as Trump was.
And, in comment 61, I described Biden as “semi-competent”, as opposed to Trump, who I think it fair to describe as “anti-competent” on COVID. How would you rate Biden? How would you compare him to Trump, on COVID?
Jim Miller (406a93) — 5/7/2022 @ 5:32 pmThanks Biden voters
NJRob (eb56c3) — 5/7/2022 @ 5:42 pmhttps://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2022/may/1/bar-association-threatens-judge-not-recommended-ra/
The Bar Association has become a wholly owned subsidiary of the radical left.
NJRob (eb56c3) — 5/7/2022 @ 5:44 pm@75: It is hard to tell. Biden has indeed “set a better example” if only by not putting ketchup on a steak.
But Biden had the vaccine (and the vaccine deniers), he had 9 months of time for hospitals to get a handle on treating COVID patients (e.g. a ventilator is not a good first move), and he had a public that wasa taking at least some precautions.
Trump (and really, most of us) was surprised by the virulence and deadliness of the virus. A lot of people who got COVID in the first month or so died. Lack of preparedness by hospitals and by the public meant that people who might have known to take precautions (e.g. HIV+) didn’t and were blindsided, and that hospitals had to test their pandemic preparedness (and many were unprepared). So, I have to give Trump (and more exactly, his administration) some benefit of the doubt.
And, really, in the end we have the same people in both administrations below the political level, so even though Trump is a fool, there is some commonness of things.
What does this all mean? Neither president did all that well. Sadly, our last election wasn’t exactly Jack Ryan vs Jed Bartlett.
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 5/7/2022 @ 5:56 pmSo, on an earlier thread lurker wrote:
I have a cousin who’s considering NM as a less costly alternative to California. She eliminated Santa Fe as too expensive, and Albuquerque as too dangerous. Whether Albuquerque is in fact dangerous I have my doubts, since I’m pretty sure she got the idea from Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul. (She denies it, but hasn’t produced a persuasive alternative explanation.)
Anyway, where else in NM should she be looking? Her only means are Social Security and a very modest 401(k).
I’m going to assume she’s over 55.
Here is a 55+ apartment community in ABQ, in a perfectly safe area near Rio Rancho (ABQ is a sprawling city that crosses the Rio Grande). It is in walking distance of a regional mall, a Walmart, an Albertson’s, and any number of stores, yet the actual street is not heavily traveled. There a quite a few other places to eat or shop within a mile. A car is helpful as public transport is mostly Uber.
A two bedroom with one or two baths and 900sf is $930/month. Most pets OK.
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 5/7/2022 @ 6:50 pmForgot the link: https://www.gsllacantera.com/albuquerque/la-cantera-senior-apartments/
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 5/7/2022 @ 6:51 pmTest w/’save’ function checked.
DCSCA (ea5522) — 5/7/2022 @ 7:12 pmAs always, on behalf of my fellow 81 million, you’re more than welcome! We didn’t do it for the thanks, so your stirring (and dare I say incessant) expressions of gratitude are an unexpected blessing that warms the cockles of our hearts.
lurker (cd7cd4) — 5/7/2022 @ 7:13 pmMaybe not, but snot-nosed hooligans acting out just might.
Not that I’m claiming to be a spring chicken myself, but our resident “John Browns” will likely act out by refusing to take their Metamucil and throwing their creamed spinach at the nursing home staff.
nk (2ef421) — 5/7/2022 @ 7:29 pmI already knew that about you. You didn’t need to share.
NJRob (eb56c3) — 5/7/2022 @ 7:38 pmlurker likes to put his Joker make up on and hit the town every saturday night
JF (328ab8) — 5/7/2022 @ 7:49 pmSharing is caring, Rob.
lurker (cd7cd4) — 5/7/2022 @ 7:51 pmI’ve known older folks (my 90+ year old relatives) who pitched a major revolt over changes in the oatmeal and the Jello. The oatmeal was changed and then a few days later the management also switched to a different brand of Jello. On a scale from 1-5, it was Pearl Harbor level treachery. So they moved and it probably cost me more than it would have to just buy all you can eat oatmeal and jello for everyone
steveg (e52939) — 5/7/2022 @ 9:50 pm@72/83 it wont just be snot nosed hooligans. Blm/antifa is not the same as 70% of the country that is pro choice. In blue and many purple states law enforcement as well as the state government. Say trump are de santis are campaigning in a state where leadership doesn’t care if you live or die and will be their political hazard to protect you. That goes for supreme court judges as well. These aren’t hooligans. Think of a blue state politician claiming to protect abortion rights in a debate defending trump or de santes from angry protesters saying thats my job while his challenger riles up the crowd with calls of phony! The state and federals are much more powerful and insidious the street hooligans. Look what the state and fed is doing to trump and jan.6 protesters.
asset (8efa34) — 5/7/2022 @ 11:55 pmSome on the right seem to think that this is like I identify transgender stuff or even blm its not. this isn’t just the woke crowd and trying to pander to it. Making a joke out of birthing person maybe funny. Your daughter having to use a coat hanger is not. (try to get a laugh out of that)
asset (8efa34) — 5/8/2022 @ 12:20 amhttps://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2022/05/the_emroeem_demonstrations_where_did_they_get_that_idea.html
mg (8cbc69) — 5/8/2022 @ 3:05 amwhat say you, French kissers?
A thought-provoking piece by French on how Christians should approach our tribal political culture.
https://frenchpress.thedispatch.com/p/a-critique-of-tim-keller-reveals?s=r
A taste
AJ_Liberty (a36eed) — 5/8/2022 @ 7:03 amJim Miller (406a93) — 5/6/2022 @ 2:35 pm
I was thinking only of living inndoord with no windows. I didn’t think about apartments vs houses and I must have completely overlooked the part about communal bathrooms, like old New York city tenement houses.
The world population is now , in 2022, almost 8 billion
From Google:
7.753 billion (2020)
Source: World Bank
None of this has happened:
Well, we do have streaming — instead of cable maybe.
there is the matter of privacy and differences in food.
Just for the quantity needed.
At least 20% more. Twenty percent of whatever it is at any given time. And really higher.
Constantly growing. That’s because we don’t have central planning. We have extra.
Sammy Finkelman (b434ee) — 5/8/2022 @ 7:20 amThis is actually partial birth abortion, and this nearly happened to George Gamow when he was born. in 1904. Bu
But it is no longer medically necessary in any place with reasonably advanced medicine that’s not a total disaster area
There is now forceps and Caesarian sections. Forceps maybe no longer since doctors no longer know how to do it.
There are circumstances where Judaism would require an “abortion” where Catholicism would forbid it. This is the reason some religious Jewish groups are wary of making abortion illegal. They can’t control the exceptions. Unless there was a religious exception.
But most abortions are not allowed. Rabbi J. B Soloveichik permitted it in the case of Tay Sachs.
Sammy Finkelman (b434ee) — 5/8/2022 @ 7:44 amsteveg (e52939) — 5/7/2022 @ 9:50 pm
I have friends with similar stories. I was brought up to eat was was put in front of me and to say “thank you!” Not so with those friends who had it much better and, frankly, were spoiled by their parents.
The only argument that they had, with which I agreed, was that they paid good money to cared for, and were due every perk for which they had paid.
felipe (484255) — 5/8/2022 @ 7:57 amSammy, here’s the source I used, a Wikipedia article:
I agree with you about the at least 20 percent, and mention this posibility, which doesn’t require new technology, but would require immense capital investments: Many more desert,or semi-desert, areas could be irrigated by using desalinated sea water, the water coming from plants powered by solar or nuclear energy, and then pumped wherever needed.
(Arizona Governor Doug Ducey has proposed spending $1 billion for improving Arizon’s water supply, mostly thorugh desalination.)
Jim Miller (406a93) — 5/8/2022 @ 8:40 am@88:
Yeah, yeah, the Revolution is just around the corner. Back in 1968, the Beatles sang:
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 5/8/2022 @ 11:25 amasset, a question:
Suppose there is actually no part of the Constitution that suggests abortion is a Right. Should the Court just claim it is in there anyway?
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 5/8/2022 @ 11:29 amhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mLMp-1NdzR8
DCSCA (dade2e) — 5/8/2022 @ 11:32 amWill the “life begins at fertilization” advocates establish safe havens for unimplanted IVF (in vitro fertilization) embryos, do you think? Adoption services?
nk (804372) — 5/8/2022 @ 11:41 am“On topic.
nk (804372) — 5/8/2022 @ 11:46 amWho churns his butter?
https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/politics/a39918468/alito-draft-opinion-roe-citations/?msclkid=bea2fc8acefd11ec9a057765837920ef
DCSCA (dade2e) — 5/8/2022 @ 11:46 amForceps maybe no longer since doctors no longer know how to do it.
Forceps maybe no longer since it is a truly stupid idea, based more on neo-Victorian squeamishness than anything.
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 5/8/2022 @ 11:46 amnk,
It is possible to support a middle ground on abortion, yet think Roe and Casey are crocks of sh1t.
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 5/8/2022 @ 11:48 amThe extremist group Ruth Sent Us reminds everyone that they aren’t just against restrictions on abortion, they are also virulently anti-Catholic as well. Just in case you wanted to cast these folks in the role of the good guys. And I can’t get over the irony that they’ve named their group after the woman whose selfish insistence upon dying while holding on to her Supreme Court seat instead of retiring when Obama was in the White House and Dems held the Senate is the reason that Roe will likely be overturned.
Twitter, as you might imagine, is just chock-full of stupidity this weekend.
JVW (020d31) — 5/8/2022 @ 11:53 amThe extremist group Ruth Sent Us reminds everyone that they aren’t just against restrictions on abortion, they are also virulently anti-Catholic as well.
Golly. Suurely a ‘witch hunt’ – after all, Galileo be damned, the world doesn’t revolve around them; tey must be on a ‘crusade’ 😉 —
https://listverse.com/2011/06/08/top-10-shameful-moments-in-catholic-history/?msclkid=1ca5c55ccf0011ec999f1aa779b6dff9
DCSCA (dade2e) — 5/8/2022 @ 12:02 pmhttps://www.thetoptens.com/religion/atrocities-committed-name-religion/
DCSCA (dade2e) — 5/8/2022 @ 12:07 pmvirulently anti-Catholic
A long tradition of that in this country, such as James Blaine and the anti-Catholic anti-immigrant GOP in the 1880s. JFK was opposed in many areas of the deep South, not because of his civil-rights record (which was rather poor), but because he was Catholic.
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 5/8/2022 @ 12:11 pmGalileo was considered to have been debunked scientifically at the time, with good reason.
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 5/8/2022 @ 12:12 pmConsidering tomorrow’s Russian military parade, I’ve been reflecting on what we need to do to counter this assh0le.
First, I hope that our attack subs have been playing the “find Ivan” games they used to play in the Cold War, so that if the balloon goes up they can sink all the missile subs before they fire. Second, I note that the costs for implementing Project Thor have come down in the last few years by an order of magnitude (launch costs mostly), to the point that it’s probably cheaper than a new generation of bombers.
In any event, it would be wonderful if the tanks ran out of gas in the parade.
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 5/8/2022 @ 12:20 pm@108. ROFLMAOPIP.
The trial of Galileo Galilei is one of the most infamous and embarrassing moments in Catholic history. It still hasn’t gone away. Galileo seems to have been always at odds with the Catholic Church’s hegemony on all education, even though he was good friends with Pope Urban VIII, and dedicated some of his works to him. But he discovered, via his own pet design for the refracting telescope, that Jupiter has moons, and Jupiter’s moons orbit Jupiter, NOT Earth. Know what that means? Orbits are based on gravity, not mankind’s arrogance. This idea is called heliocentrism, which is, Mr. Sun is at the center of the solar system, and Earth, like everything else nearby, orbits Mr. Sun. Galileo was of the opinion that Nicholas Copernicus was right. The Earth is not the center. The Church didn’t want to hear that. Galileo went to Rome to persuade the Church not to ban Copernicus’s works, and instead of convincing them, the Church officials turned on Galileo and demanded that he desist with his ideas of Heliocentrism. He refused, but did back off for a few years. Urban VIII tried what he dared to help him, but the facts themselves were deemed vehemently heretical, and Galileo was finally brought before an Inquisition (more on those later), and forced under threat of excommunication and torture to “abjure, curse, and detest” heliocentrism. The legend goes that, seated in a chair in a bare room before the table of Inquisitors, Galileo sighed, put his hands behind his back, crossed his fingers and said something to the effect of, “Fine. The Earth does not move around the Sun.” Then, under his breath, he muttered, “E pur si muove,” which is, “And yet it moves.” How much of this is true cannot be ascertained for certain, but at one point he did let his Italian temper get the better of him (after several years of aggravation), when he stood and bellowed, “The Bible tells you how to go to Heaven! It does NOT tell you how the heavens go!” The Catholic Church did not lift its ban on heliocentrical thought until 1758. It was not until 1992, 350 years after his death, that a pope, John Paul II, formally apologized for the Church placing Galileo under house arrest for the last 9 years of his life, and denouncing his discoveries which, ironically, were also incorrect as Galileo taught that the Sun was the center of the universe – not just our solar system. John Paul II’s successor, Benedict XVI, is on record as stating that the Catholic Church’s “verdict against Galileo was rational and just and the revision of this verdict can be justified only on the grounds of what is politically opportune.” Politically, mind you; not factually.’ – source, toptenCatholicshamers
On deck: Joan of Arc.
“Burn baby, burn!” – ‘Disco Inferno’- The Trammps, 1976
DCSCA (dade2e) — 5/8/2022 @ 12:24 pmhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LH-QwK4v0ZI
Catholic Church admits clergy helped Nazi collaborator
https://www.upi.com/Archives/1992/01/06/Catholic-Church-admits-clergy-helped-Nazi-collaborator/6106694674000/?msclkid=c25421a7cf0411ecba631f2fc0b1253f
DCSCA (dade2e) — 5/8/2022 @ 12:28 pmNews items:
Prescient Allahpundit Flashback (12/7/21)
Rip Murdock (b6f09f) — 5/8/2022 @ 12:36 pmConsidering tomorrow’s Russian military parade, I’ve been reflecting on what we need to do to counter this a–hole.
Start by not counting the same tanks and planes circling back through, Jen Psaki style, over and over. 😉
DCSCA (dade2e) — 5/8/2022 @ 12:37 pmLink to Allapundit post.
Rip Murdock (b6f09f) — 5/8/2022 @ 12:37 pm@112. And in a related story: Who was Oliver Cromwell?
Cromwell’s politics were strongly influenced by his religious beliefs. He was a Puritan, which meant he believed that the Bible should be read and studied closely, and that people should spend more time praying and thinking about God. Cromwell wore plain, black clothes and introduced laws to ban popular pastimes, such as bear-baiting, celebrating Christmas and going to the theatre. Puritans believed that entertainment might distract people from their religious duties.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/topics/zk4cwmn/articles/zg6ccmn#:~:text=Cromwell%20wore%20plain%2C%20black%20clothes%20and%20introduced%20laws,bear-baiting%2C%20celebrating%20Christmas%20and%20going%20to%20the%20theatre.?msclkid=8f062e04cf0611ec8187d6acf503a68b
DCSCA (dade2e) — 5/8/2022 @ 12:42 pmCatholic Church admits clergy helped Nazi collaborator
Gosh, DCSCA, next thing is that you will “stun” all of us with the 160-year-old news that some Catholic priests during the Civil War were Confederate sympathizers. Have you ever heard any Catholic try to claim that every single priest is exactly like Bing Crosby in Going My Way?
JVW (020d31) — 5/8/2022 @ 12:47 pm@116. Rest easy; Der Bingle was a Republican. And, God Bless him, one time owner of the Pittsburgh Pirates. 😉
DCSCA (dade2e) — 5/8/2022 @ 12:51 pmThe Ten Most Evil Popes in History
https://www.theinfographicsshow.com/the-ten-most-evil-popes-in-history/?msclkid=868a18eacf0811ecb3bf3d273a5a12a2
DCSCA (dade2e) — 5/8/2022 @ 12:54 pmMcConnell says national abortion ban is ‘possible’ if Roe v. Wade is overturned
Cocaine Mitch doing his usual longterm strategy bit to perfection, thinking into the future where his opponents can only focus on the present. The agonized left is ignoring the fact that Sen. McConnell also reiterated his support for the right of the Senate minority to use the filibuster:
So you know what he is really doing here? He’s sending a shot across the bow of Chuck Schumer, who has vowed to force a Senate vote on abortion rights and who is under great pressure from high-strung abortion supporters to waive the 60-vote filibuster threshold to make it happen. His counterpart is merely pointing out that what goes around comes around, and if the Dems obliterate the filibuster for this vote then the GOP will have no problem obliterating it later for a nationwide abortion ban.
JVW (020d31) — 5/8/2022 @ 12:59 pmHis counterpart is merely pointing out that what goes around comes around, and if the Dems obliterate the filibuster for this vote then the GOP will have no problem obliterating it later for a nationwide abortion ban.
Meh. Then the Turtle can go after his own Kentucky Moonshiners: booze. Oh. Wait. Been there, tried that, eh Mitch? You can’t legislate morality; it’s a transient.
DCSCA (dade2e) — 5/8/2022 @ 1:08 pmJVW (020d31) — 5/8/2022 @ 12:59 pm
But neither of these natonwide abortion bills is constitutional. It’s like the Violence Against Women Act.
Congress can probably legislate about abortion in federal military bases or office buildings, (not sure) and also on Indian reservations.
Sammy Finkelman (02a146) — 5/8/2022 @ 1:18 pmRip Murdock (b6f09f) — 5/8/2022 @ 12:36 pm
Sammy Finkelman (02a146) — 5/8/2022 @ 1:23 pmOn Allahpundit as per #114
Hi Rip.
Thanks for the link.
My personal view is that CA, IL, NY would refuse absolutely to comply with any Federal total ban on abortion, there is no soft method to force those three states to comply and I do not think a GOP majority in Congress will be willing to test the union like that.
I think it is much a more likely hypothetical that a 2/3 Democrat majority in Congress would try to restrict guns to the point where many states and possibly counties in blue states would say GTFO, we will not be doing that.
steveg (de8a13) — 5/8/2022 @ 1:24 pm40. lurker (cd7cd4) — 5/6/2022 @ 6:57 pm
What tipped the balance was his belief in collective action. Here it operated to get the U.S. more involved, not less.
Sammy Finkelman (02a146) — 5/8/2022 @ 1:42 pm123. Both parties’ activists are ignoring the constitution – they don’t even ask themselves if such a law is consistent with it.
Sammy Finkelman (02a146) — 5/8/2022 @ 1:43 pmSammy: “But neither of these natonwide abortion bills is constitutional. It’s like the Violence Against Women Act.”
Well, anything regarding the Commerce Clause will be controversialcontested, especially after Raich and the regulation of what you can grow in your backyard. Sure, Lopez and Morrison require economic activity or some interstate hook, but public abortion is a paid-for service, it’s certainly economic unlike the Violence Against Women Act. Can Congress demonstrate that the practice has a substantial effect on interstate commerce? I suspect it can reasonably argue an increase in interstate travel to obtain abortions…..though it’s not clear how Congress might want to regulate this. I agree with Sammy that pre-1930’s, a local medical procedure would have been considered outside the purview of Congress and looked at as intrastate commerce. Now it’s unclear. I would hesitate to boldly claim something is or is not constitutional….Congress has been getting a strong deference.
AJ_Liberty (a36eed) — 5/8/2022 @ 1:46 pm@110:
Galileo’s ideas about the heliocentric solar system were challenged with a scientific test, which his theory failed. Galileo agreed that it had failed, and was unable to explain the failure.
If the Earth orbited the Sun, and that orbit took one year, then at any point 6 months apart an observation of the fixed stars should have shown a slightly different angle of observation (aka “parallax”). And indeed it should. Think of a triangle with the diameter of the Earth’s orbit as the base and the other two sides connecting to a star. The two sides are not parallel and the two angles at the base should be different.
They weren’t, so far as anyone could measure.
The correct answer is “the stars are so effing far away it is hard to detect”, but at the time no one, including Galileo, could conceive of a universe as vast as we understand it today. So, when asked by the religious authorities whether Galileo’s claims held up, very learned scientists all said “NO!”. Their observations disproved Galileo’s theories. Science, baby!
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 5/8/2022 @ 1:56 pmI think it is much a more likely hypothetical that a 2/3 Democrat majority in Congress would try to restrict guns to the point where many states and possibly counties in blue states would say GTFO, we will not be doing that.
New Mexico passed a “red flag” gun bill in 2020 and 29 out of 33 county sheriffs said they did not intend to enforce the law.
https://www.lcsun-news.com/story/news/2020/02/25/new-mexico-governor-sheriffs-enforce-gun-law-resign/4873496002/
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 5/8/2022 @ 2:12 pmBoth parties’ activists are ignoring the constitution – they don’t even ask themselves if such a law is consistent with it.
The Constitution is silent on abortion. So a law banning abortion nationwide would be just as constitutional as one allowing it nationwide. Going further, to a law requiring abortions, or requiring pregnancy would run afoul of other provisions, such as the 4th Amendment.
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 5/8/2022 @ 2:15 pmBut neither of these natonwide abortion bills is constitutional. It’s like the Violence Against Women Act.
All the more reason why it would be utter folly to nuke the filibuster to pass a federalization of the rules enshrined by Roe.
JVW (020d31) — 5/8/2022 @ 2:23 pmAll the more reason why it would be utter folly to nuke the filibuster to pass a federalization of the rules enshrined by Roe.
That’s not why they’d be doing it.
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 5/8/2022 @ 2:26 pm@130. They’re in ‘Alamo mode’ – [to Ice Cream Joe, that’s pie a la mode]; the stink of panic is all over them; they’re losing on every front; polls show them crumbling every place; they have to try to do something given they run the government, albeit it into the ground. And this is the hill they’ve chosen to die on- “freedom of choice.” Most Americans would prefer that a la carte freedom of choice thingy in their cable TV packages ahead of worries about abortion; it is the crabgrass in the lawn of a house on fire. Chuckie, Nancy, Joey and crew have to show what’s left of their ‘volunteers’ that they’re doing something more than yelling at the clouds and looking for love from non-taxpaying Ukrainian members of the Moran gang warring with Russia’s Capone. Save a fetus, kill a Russian! “We love you, GIVE us more tommy guns, Joe!” Sell war bonds, Squinty.
DCSCA (6fea5d) — 5/8/2022 @ 2:59 pmBondo Barr’s painter Durham has done a superb job of doing nothing. All of this to again get a conviction on lying to the FBI… And that’s all… Out of everything the NGOs and government did. Two charges of lying.
mg (8cbc69) — 5/8/2022 @ 3:00 pmAnd people are thinking victory. Fools
Note: I just want to say what a terrible disappointment Glenn Reynolds has been the last few years.
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 5/8/2022 @ 4:47 pmHey, DCSCA, try to use a few paragraph breaks. What you are posting is quite difficult to read, for those of us that are still trying.
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 5/8/2022 @ 4:51 pmI bet you that condom sales will increase shortly.
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 5/8/2022 @ 4:52 pmHappy Mother’s Day to all the mothers out there. (My apologies for not posting this, earlier.)
Jim Miller (406a93) — 5/8/2022 @ 4:57 pm‘I just want to say what a terrible disappointment Joe Biden has been the last few years.’
FIFY.
DCSCA (6fea5d) — 5/8/2022 @ 5:11 pmGreat, then tires, sealants and washers will be through the roof!
Did anybody buy coal stocks or futures? Coal prices highest in 11 years
urbanleftbehind (58903c) — 5/8/2022 @ 5:13 pmI bought $4.99/gallon regular, urbanleftbehind.
mg (8cbc69) — 5/8/2022 @ 5:18 pmThe way Biden is going, broccoli will be hard to find.
I leave you with this:
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 5/8/2022 @ 5:28 pmI fond a book in the library:
Putin’s Wars: The Rise of Russia’s New Imperialism
by Marcel H. Van Herpen
second edition.
It’s not a new book. It’s from 2015.
Dewey decimal number: 327.47
On Amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/Putins-Wars-Rise-Russias-Imperialism/dp/1442253584/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=putin%27s+wars&qid=1652057050&sr=8-1
Sammy Finkelman (b434ee) — 5/8/2022 @ 5:49 pm@136. I bet you that condom sales will increase shortly.
Starting w/t SCOTUS- and best they check them for leaks, too. 😉
Especially as living, 21st century American populists, particularly young women, are telling them to virtually ‘go screw themselves’ over this abortion thing.
When Catholic Alito desperately reaches back to the 1235 England of the long, long dead- the witch burning days- and gets brilliantly eviscerated in a cold SNL opening instead of Donald Trump– on top of the black-robed bureaucrats incompetence at keeping track of a few pages of paper– they’re literally destroying the last shreds of ‘law and order’ credibility of the institution themselves.
SCOTUS has put themselves in “Dancing Itos” territory. Get Kavanaugh and Thomas a case of Heineken and watch ’em boogie!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QQezL9pLUN4
______
Just Like Samuel Alito, ‘SNL’ Travels Back To 1235 For ‘Moral Clarity’ On Abortion Law
The crew went back to the Middle Ages, where Alito drew his inspiration for his draft opinion gutting Roe v. Wade.
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/snl-abortion-rights-alito-time-travel-benedict-cumberbatch_n_62773b06e4b046ad0d7d0f38?msclkid=8f543b3fcf2e11ecbf57a31b61ba1bb0
Priceless. Does Alito recall the blasphemy of Homer Simpson putting a coupon in the church collection plate?! 😉
DCSCA (6fea5d) — 5/8/2022 @ 5:55 pmA lot of it is backgroouund. Part III has the wars.
It has pre-Putin: Afghanistan Cold War and the first Chechen war.
Chapter 11: The |Mysterious aprtment bombings
Chapter 12: The Second Chechen war
Chapers 13-15 The war with Georgia parts I to |III
Chapter 16: Origin of the war in Ukraine\\Chapeter 17: Russia’s hybrid war in Ukraine.\
He gives 5 predictions of how it might go. He rules out nuumer 1: peace becaue [eace has to be when bpth sides want it.
number 5 is Anschluss scenario – which he says would have to wit until at least the spring of 2015.
It was actually a pretty froze conflict for close to eight years./
Sammy Finkelman (b434ee) — 5/8/2022 @ 5:57 pmlurker (cd7cd4) — 5/6/2022 @ 6:57 pm
It didn’t happen when Trump was president/ It only happened now because Biden’s complete abandonment of Afghanistan caused Putin to miscalculate about what the UNited States would do.
And Trump was always reversing himself.
Sammy Finkelman (b434ee) — 5/8/2022 @ 6:01 pmSCOTUS has put themselves in “Dancing Itos” territory. Get Kavanaugh and Thomas a case of Heineken and watch ’em boogie!
Damn that court for saying the truth! Going on with the Consitution’s New Rights would have been so much easier. Now people are worrying that they really intend to use the Constitution, instead of vox populi, as they decide their cases.
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 5/8/2022 @ 6:09 pmPrediction: Sotomayor will be identified as the leaker and be asked to resign. She will refuse. The Democrats will back her play, and refuse any notion of impeachment. Roberts will knuckle under rather than firing her clerks and staff. Then all the usual suspects will agree and public opinion will decide 60-40 that leaking SC stuff is OK if it’s done for the “right reasons.”
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 5/8/2022 @ 6:17 pm@146. Damn that court for saying the truth!
ROFLMAOPIP. Said Jerry Ford:’Truth is the glue that holds government together.’
It was a lie, of course. As were power ‘truthers’ in the Catholic Church who jailed Galileo; as was the ‘truth’ Keeper of the Faith Dr. Zaius said to Zira and Cornelius and, of course, as ‘The Big Dick’ said to America:
“I am not a crook.” 😉
https://www.rd.com/list/false-facts-everyone-believes/?msclkid=a4e96f46cf3611eca8f88013edb51934
DCSCA (6fea5d) — 5/8/2022 @ 6:36 pmThat’s DCSCA on Truth, folks!
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 5/8/2022 @ 6:37 pmOne dozen long-stemmed roses, with Baby’s-breath, no vase, $19.99
Four chocolate-dipped large fresh strawberries, $6.99
Shop local!
nk (59f0f5) — 5/8/2022 @ 6:40 pmPutin is doing this out of love and how can anyone fight love? Only with love. Trump stood a chance, but Biden no way.
nk (59f0f5) — 5/8/2022 @ 6:45 pmHere’s one of the more creative deaths of Russian executives.
Paul Montagu (5de684) — 5/8/2022 @ 6:46 pmhttps://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2022/05/antifa-attacks-wisconsin-pro-life-office.php
Just a reminder that the disciples of Moloch and Antifa, BIRM, really do want to make you submit to their will and will use violence and intimidation to do so. They must be defeated and put down.
NJRob (eb56c3) — 5/8/2022 @ 7:27 pm@149. The fundamental truth: just because you have a right to do something does not mean you must do it.
So ‘the fuss’ is fueled by, perhaps, “something else”… perhaps this:
6 of the 9 Supreme Court Justices are Catholic — Here’s a Closer Look
The Catholics on the nation’s highest court include Chief Justice John Roberts and Associate Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, Sonia Sotomayor, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett.
https://www.ncregister.com/blog/supreme-court-catholics?msclkid=78632b72cf3d11ecb38dc835f3ec0e66
And the ‘truth’ is, “truths” are dictated by the powers that be- as Galileo found out– as did Billy Mitchell; as did Allan MacDonald; as did Harry Markopolis and others… and in this matter, it may end up rescinding a half-century right over a religion-fueled fit-of-pique and devolve into a reverse litmus test freezing out Catholics named to higher courts for years to come.
https://listverse.com/2018/10/10/10-people-who-were-completely-right-but-were-ignored/?msclkid=080f80c6cf3f11ecb5d4a7683a97d93b
And a hard “truth” is this is a group of government bureaucrats–less than 40 people- who cannot keep track of a few pages of paper yet presume to dictate how 330 million people should live their lives, Kevin.
Bring on the “Dancing Itos!”
DCSCA (6fea5d) — 5/8/2022 @ 7:33 pmAbortion, Clarence Thomas, and the Commerce Clause
……..
…….. Federal restrictions on abortion pose a much greater threat to the pro-choice cause than state ones do, because they cannot be as easily avoided by traveling to another jurisdiction to get an abortion in an area where it is legal. Going abroad to get an abortion is often much more difficult than going to another state.
Should Congress adopt new federal restrictions on abortion, (Professor Michael Dorf) suggests that Justice Clarence Thomas – the most conservative member of the Court – might become the unlikely savior of abortion rights:
………
Rip Murdock (b6f09f) — 5/8/2022 @ 7:44 pm……… Dorf is right to counsel pro-choice groups to raise federalism arguments in future cases challenging federal abortion regulations. If they are not raised, Thomas (and perhaps other justices) will not consider them. In addition, they would be well advised to argue for the overruling of Raich. …….
………
Thomas wrote a forceful dissent in Raich, and would likely be happy to vote to overrule it. But he has also stated that he will not vote to overturn a precedent unless one of the parties to the case asks him to do so. Pro-choice litigants challenging federal abortion regulations should take him up on that invitation. They could potentially end up with a decision in their favor under which four liberal justices vote to strike down a federal abortion regulation on individual rights grounds, while Thomas (and perhaps some other conservative justices) vote to strike down based on federalism considerations.
……….
Here’s one of the more creative deaths of Russian executives.
Well, at least they didn’t treat him with hydroxychloroquine
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 5/8/2022 @ 8:04 pmKevin: “The Constitution is silent on abortion”
As it is silent on sodomy, contraception, and gay marriage….and heck it was pretty silent on women voting until 1920 and the 19A.
But the question becomes, was the 14 amendment and it Privileges or Immunities Clause supposed to be quite so silent? Yes, the Slaughter-House Cases made it so, but were the results correct? Now any good libertarian would argue that natural rights…like the natural right to do business and engage in a trade (decide if and when to become a mother?) were what were being protected by the P or I Clause against the state.
Now don’t get me wrong, would anyone in 1868 claim that gay marriage or abortion rights were possible outcomes of the 14A? Probably not and maybe that ends it from an originalist perspective. But what of simple textualism? Why couldn’t a basic privacy consideration be part of the P or I Clause….that the state should have a darn good reason to intrude upon. Making the P or I Clause nugatory pushed many of what some would call “natural rights” into the awkward home of the Due Process Clause of the 14A. And here we are.
Now I’m not nuts enough to believe that the original and amended constitution were surreptitiously creating a libertarian society where states would just leave us alone to do our thing. Heck many states outlawed cock-fighting, dice, billiards, and all gambling and blue laws surprisingly still exist. Enforcing morality was a police power, but how far is too far and when does regulation realistically intrude upon a person’s reasonable expectation of being left alone? Yes, the fetus represents another real interest, but does the state put its money where this interest lies….like when it rescues a child from an abusive situation and assumes care and the costs? We like our own privacy but also like to wag our finger. A delicate balance….
AJ_Liberty (a36eed) — 5/8/2022 @ 8:11 pmBlue Laws. Example: New Jersey
‘One of the last remaining Sunday closing laws in the United States that covers selling electronics, clothing and furniture is found in Bergen County, New Jersey. The county, part of the New York metropolitan area, has one of the largest concentrations of enclosed retail shopping malls of any county in the nation; five major malls lie within the county. Paramus, where three of the county’s five major malls are located, has even more restrictive blue laws than the county itself, banning all type of work on Sundays except in grocery stores, gas stations, pharmacies, hotels, restaurants, and other entertainment venues.
As recently as 2010, Governor Chris Christie had proposed the repeal of these laws in his State Budget, but many county officials vowed to maintain them, and shortly after, Christie predicted that the repeal would not succeed. Car dealerships are not allowed to be open or do business on Sundays anywhere in the state. In November 2012, Christie issued an executive order to temporarily suspend the blue law due to the effects of Hurricane Sandy. The blue law was suspended on November 11 but was back in effect on November 18.’ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_laws_in_the_United_States?msclkid=c2d53c61cf5811eca5f699c3de9a3b28
[T]he predominant religion in the United States is Protestant, but the predominant religion in New Jersey is… Catholic.
https://www.onlyinyourstate.com/new-jersey/most-religious-counties-nj/?msclkid=6047a6dfcf5911ec982f40fa2a606903
DCSCA (9b6ee5) — 5/8/2022 @ 10:37 pmAJ,
I don’t believe that abortion is in the same category with any of those other things, since abortion has victims. The people who are most adamant that all these things can be connected also refuse to admit that abortion has victims. Just a clump of cells.
But even if you ignore that little detail, marriage is something that predates the Constitution, so you have the 9th along with the 14th recognizing the right of adults to marry. At one point, you had some states banning interracial marriages that were legal in other states, and, much later, you had some states banning gay marriages that were legal in other states.
The 14th Amendment says several things: one, that rights are portable (this leads to incorporation doctrines) and that laws have to apply equally. I think there is actually a stronger case for same-sex marriage than for interracial marriage here (not that I argue against either). A heterosexual woman of one race CAN find a heterosexual man of that race and make a life together. But a gay man is unlikely to find the same kind of relationship with any woman, so he is effectively denied the right to marry where others might simply have to narrow their search.
I cannot understand even a rational basis arguement against contraception. There is a basic privacy right there, and it passes the “privacy to do WHAT” test, in a way that abortion does not.
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 5/8/2022 @ 10:53 pmIn 2020, the state of New Mexico finally repealed the “No alcohol sales Sunday morning” blue law.
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 5/8/2022 @ 10:55 pmOne of the things that Roe did so terribly was to conflate abortion with contraception, privacy and other enumerated and unenumerated rights.
Further, the attempt to preserve this wildly dishonest opinion did continuing damage to all these other rights and privileges, to the point that if Roe falls so many people think that all these other concepts will fall too, as if they were hostages.
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 5/8/2022 @ 11:07 pmOver at du and especially jack pine radicals this moral high ground when they go low we go high non violence B.S. is coming to an end. Finally! The corporate establishment liberals Jan. 6 insurrection bad we must be nice as we walk into the showers B.S. hypocrisy is finally on the wane. Clinton and her running dogs in the media for cheap political gain said that their is nothing wrong with are electoral system and had to leave it to jill stein when they got more votes but lost. Biden won by 43,000 votes in 3 states not by 8 million more votes. Whenever any form of government becomes destructive it is the right of the people to alter or abolish it and institute new government thomas jefferson. I never complained about jan. 6 for cheap political gain like establishment libs or trump russia collusion. 18% of the population in 26 states can no longer thwart the will of 82% of the population living in 24 states. Those who make peaceful change impossible make violent revolution inevitable. JFK. The filibuster rule make this situation even worse as a vestige of slavery and segregation. Biden, schumer and pelosi will be discredited as clinton was in 2016. The dnc convinced black women in the south to play it safe with biden over bernie sanders. With the abortion ruling they will lose what little credibiltiy they have. 2024 democrats will have to run on changing the court by any means necessary and free the slave (anti-abortion) states. If pro choice democrats are prevented from having their votes counted under the guise vote integrity there will be hell to pay as only the most militant democrat leaders will not have been discredited.
asset (b70a36) — 5/8/2022 @ 11:33 pm@Kevin@159 The Catholic argument against contraception (and certain justices may subscribe to this as they are very conservative Catholics) is that certain forms of contraception are actually abortificients. For example, they would argue that continuing the pill after an accidental conception prevents the egg from implanting properly due to a hostile hormonal environment (this is mostly an argument on the more radtrad end of things, but nevertheless…). They would say the morning after pill is an abortifient under the idea that it prevents implantation. And they would say that an IUD is an abortificient as it not just prevents implantation but could disrupt an implantation that already happened.
I do, however, find it odd that so many anti-abortion Catholics neglect the rest of the “seamless garment”.
Nic (896fdf) — 5/8/2022 @ 11:35 pm@161 on msnbc today it was pointed out a bill in the Louisiana leg. banning IUD and other birth control devices has been introduced.
asset (b70a36) — 5/8/2022 @ 11:37 pmThey would say the morning after pill is an abortificient
Well, it is, pretty much by definition, as it prevents the continuation of an active pregnancy.
But in a nation that cannot control crack and heroin, it seems unlikely that states will prevent these drugs from being widely available. Or any contraceptive pill. .And few will try. Nor will they try to get condoms and IUDs off the shelf.
Again, this is due to the way in which Roe was constructed — it wrapped the abortion right in as many other rights as they could think of. More or less taking hostages. Now people are worried that the hostages will go, too.
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 5/9/2022 @ 2:29 amit was pointed out a bill in the Louisiana leg. banning IUD and other birth control devices has been introduced.
And so was a bill to make “pi” equal 7. It won’t pass.
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 5/9/2022 @ 2:30 amI want the Ukraine scrap steel concession. The West keeps sending scrap steel over there disguised as weapons for which to fight Russians.
We should call this the Grand Facade War. The front of the building is mean tweets, fake news and epic posturing. Behind the magnificent frontage lies a construction site port-o-potty that is overflowing, and the the pump truck has missed for over a month.
mg (8cbc69) — 5/9/2022 @ 2:53 amJustin Blackface Brownface Sparkle Sox brought his Stilettos, Leather Pants and warm blankets for spooning with Z. FJB FJT
mg (8cbc69) — 5/9/2022 @ 2:55 amhttps://thelibertydaily.com/cowardly-chief-justice-john-roberts-is-pressuring-conservative-justices-to-save-roe-v-wade-and-kill-more-babies/
mg (8cbc69) — 5/9/2022 @ 3:30 amRepublican baby killing is the new norm.
Baby Killing Riots this summer instead of the George Floyd summer of love.
mg (8cbc69) — 5/9/2022 @ 3:50 am“I don’t believe that abortion is in the same category with any of those other things, since abortion has victims.”
But abortion is unique in that it’s the one case where the state is unable to assume custody and care for the victim. But it’s not just physical possession which is technically limited by viability, the state denies in loco parentis responsibilities in toto. It will not cover pregnancy health care and counseling, delivery expenses, lost wages, or compensation for any infirmities that occur during pregnancy. Which seems on the surface to suggest that the state is conscripting the woman on moral grounds which legally has no good comparisons. If men could get pregnant from sex, would we be having this discussion?
AJ_Liberty (a36eed) — 5/9/2022 @ 4:34 amTrump celebrates in his usual fashion:
He probably didn’t even take Melania out for brunch — assuming she is still willing to be seen with him.
On a more serious point: I think this is more evidence that he fears that courts are closing in on him, bit by bit. He is, for example, already in debt for those 10K a day fines.
And, on a less serious point, if he serves time, he might be able to have a career in rap, where, as I understand it, a willingness to insult nearly everyone is a plus.
(The “stable genius” has apparently not realized that most judges are not mothers.)
Jim Miller (406a93) — 5/9/2022 @ 4:41 amTrump is probably right about those 10K/day fines. A judge may not impose a civil fine for not complying with an impossible order, just because the judge finds the contemnor’s explanation “hard to believe”.
He can impose a criminal fine, for indirect criminal contempt, if it is proven beyond a reasonable doubt that Trump does have the material requested and contumaciously lied to avoid turning it over.
It sounds to me that this New York judge may very well be a “mother”.
nk (7db1cd) — 5/9/2022 @ 5:44 amHe probably didn’t even take Melania out for brunch — assuming she is still willing to be seen with him.
The non-nationalist coalition took the last election; whether shes still a spouse or a friendly ex, Melania may have a political future in her homeland.
urbanleftbehind (b58648) — 5/9/2022 @ 6:09 amYou’re a Jimmy Breslin fan, Jim. Have you read Forsaking All Others?
We’re talking about New York, here. A very corrupt place, where judges literally buy their seats with favors and money to the party.
I am not Trump’s biggest fan, but what we have in the New York witch hunt is, in all relevant aspects, Stalin putting Trotsky on trial.
nk (7db1cd) — 5/9/2022 @ 6:11 amThe non-nationalist coalition took the last election; whether shes still a spouse or a friendly ex, Melania may have a political future in her homeland.
Could she find it on a map? A regular map, with the countries labeled, with dark borders, and in different colors?
nk (7db1cd) — 5/9/2022 @ 6:14 am‘Abortion in Ukraine is legal on request during the first twelve weeks of pregnancy. Between 12 and 28 weeks, abortion is available on a variety of grounds, including medical, social and personal grounds, and for any reason with the approval of a commission of physicians… Zelenskyy stated that abortion should not be banned, that to get an abortion is a personal choice, and that there needs to be less impingement on human freedom.’
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abortion_in_Ukraine?msclkid=61079057cf9d11eca08a801aff3fb1f2
DCSCA (63613c) — 5/9/2022 @ 6:42 amIf men could get pregnant from sex, would we be having this discussion?
Yes. If it was all about men, we would not have child-support laws.
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 5/9/2022 @ 10:27 amIn more detail:
But abortion is unique in that it’s the one case where the state is unable to assume custody and care for the victim.
Hunh? Sure it can. Every state has a foster care system, and there are adoption agencies, public and private, everywhere, along with any number of families seeking to adopt. You may argue that they are badly run, but that is a separate issue.
But it’s not just physical possession which is technically limited by viability, the state denies in loco parentis responsibilities in toto. It will not cover pregnancy health care and counseling, delivery expenses, lost wages, or compensation for any infirmities that occur during pregnancy.
And again, hunh? Medicaid and Obamacare cover maternity costs, as do employee health insurers. Several federal programs and rules cover maternity leave and pay. Are they perfect? Nothing is. B\ut you cannot deny they are there.
Which seems on the surface to suggest that the state is conscripting the woman on moral grounds which legally has no good comparisons.
Leaving aside the idea that people are responsible for their own actions, a concept rapidly disappearing into the rear-view mirror, the idea that “not killing a human fetus” is a moral quirk seems to prove my point about not wanting to admit there are victims.
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 5/9/2022 @ 10:36 amCould she find it on a map? A regular map, with the countries labeled, with dark borders, and in different colors?
I remember a college history test on the history of colonization, where we had to fill in the country/colony names on maps of Africa, 1910 and 1960.
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 5/9/2022 @ 10:40 amHe probably didn’t even take Melania out for brunch — assuming she is still willing to be seen with him.
I hope she renegotiated the prenup during the last few years.
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 5/9/2022 @ 10:44 amWhich is why federal laws are required. The fact is that there are federal laws against sex trafficking, drug smuggling, and across state and federal boundaries lines for “immoral purposes”. Even if federal laws are mostly unsuccessful in preventing these activities, they are statements of our moral values.
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 5/9/2022 @ 10:44 amMiss. governor doesn’t rule out banning contraception if Roe falls
Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves (R) on Sunday refused to rule out the possibility that his state would ban certain forms of contraception, sidestepping questions about what would happen next if Roe v. Wade is overturned.
……
When asked (on CNN’s State of the Union) if Mississippi might next target the use of contraceptives such as the Plan B pill or intrauterine devices, Reeves demurred, saying that was not what the state was focused on “at this time.”
…….
Reeves’s comments come days after Louisiana Republicans advanced a bill that would charge abortion as homicide and grant constitutional rights to a person “from the moment of fertilization.” That language could also restrict the use of emergency contraception and other methods that seek to prevent a fertilized embryo from implanting in the uterus.
On Sunday, Reeves said he thinks “life begins at conception” but repeatedly avoided answering whether he meant at the moment of an egg’s fertilization or when an embryo attaches to the womb.
……..
While Mississippi’s trigger law banning abortion would include exceptions for rape and for the life of the mother, it does not include any exceptions for incest.
Reeves did not respond directly to questions about whether victims of incest should be forced to carry a child to term.
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 5/9/2022 @ 10:49 am………
Now that the election is safely over, Macron returns to form:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/05/09/russia-ukraine-war-news-putin-live-updates/#link-SR6644GXEZHC5A2JAI36ZE4MVE
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 5/9/2022 @ 11:04 amWhich is why federal laws are required.
There is one. Griswold v. Connecticut
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 5/9/2022 @ 11:06 am“Hunh? Sure it can.”
I’m talking about the fetus. So, no, it can’t. Most women who seek abortions don’t want to go through a compelled pregnancy. Foster care is little comfort if you suffer significant medical complications during a pregnancy that you do not want.
“Are they perfect? Nothing is. B\ut you cannot deny they are there?”
I’m not sure you appreciate the stress of having to navigate insurance or assistance, especially when you are lower income. Try waiting tables when you’re seven months pregnant with morning sickness then get back to us.
“the idea that “not killing a human fetus” is a moral quirk seems to prove my point about not wanting to admit there are victims”
You’re making a major medical decision for that woman….or compelling her to seek a less safe black market abortion. You have no hesitation in compelling that and accepting the consequences?
“Leaving aside the idea that people are responsible for their own actions”
Forced child support for the father if the baby is given up for adoption amounts to what exactly? What would be the man-equivalent of having an episiotomy?
AJ_Liberty (ec7f74) — 5/9/2022 @ 11:24 amMy argument is that federal laws are required to ban abortion (and abortifacients) nationwide. Based on the reasoning of the leaked Dobbs opinion, there is no constitutional leg for Griswold and its progeny to stand on. Contraception, like abortion, should be decided by the states. And it was Griswold that created a pseudo “constitutional right of privacy” into SC jurisprudence, with “penumbras”, which has directly led to overturning a state’s right to ban contraception, criminalize sodomy, gay marriage, and abortion, none of which is mentioned in the Constitution.
From Justice Black’s dissent in Griswold:
Footnotes omitted. Paragraph breaks added.
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 5/9/2022 @ 11:26 amOn the contrary, having read the leaked version of the Dobbs decision, Alito takes great pains to separate the two issues. It may be that Alito does not care for Griswold but he made no attempt to say it was wrong. Just that it was different in that it had no victims.
Now, there IS a right to privacy that predates the Constitution, and goes back to feudal times. It fail in the abortion case as “Privacy” is not absolute, and doesn’t cover quite a few crimes, such as rape, murder, assault, theft and more. BUt it does cover sexual relations and (with the force of law) covers the doctor-patient relationship (again within similar limits). Blocking pregnancy is not the same as aborting pregnancy, even to the Catholic Church. Neither is sodomy the same as abortion, even to the Catholic Church.
While all of these things may be an affront to some religions, only abortion rises to the level of something the State has a genuine interest in preventing. The other things are just control-freak items, and all such should be outside the reach of any just state.
If there WERE a national law, it would almost certainly be pro-contraception.
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 5/9/2022 @ 11:49 amI note that Black does not argue against an originalist defense of Griswold, but then he was not presented with one.
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 5/9/2022 @ 11:53 amAssuming the Dobbs decision holds, I look forward to legal challenges to Griswold, Lawrence, and Obergefell. It shouldn’t a question whether there are human victims, the Constitutional order has already been victimized by these decisions.
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 5/9/2022 @ 12:01 pmnk – I’m a fan of Breslin’s novel, “The Gang That Couldn’t Shoot Straight”, but have mixed feelings about the rest of his work. Read a few columns of his, back in the day, but nothing more that I can recall.
By the way, for those who haven’t read it, the book is very funny — as long as the deaths of mobsters don’t bother you.
(Fun fact: I’ve read that Joey Gallo, on whom the book is loosely based, was proud of the notoriety the book and a subsequent movie brought him — in spite of the fact that they depicted him as an incompetent thug.)
Jim Miller (406a93) — 5/9/2022 @ 12:17 pmSpeaking of incomptence, this news story:
. . . reminds me of this cartoon.
Could Trevor Hoey have been thinking of Trump when he drew that? It’s possible.
Jim Miller (406a93) — 5/9/2022 @ 12:26 pmBills have been introduce to ban contraception in idaho, arizona and louisana.
asset (60e6b1) — 5/9/2022 @ 12:34 pmYou know things are going bad for Russia when even their traditional ally of Satan turns on them.
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 5/9/2022 @ 12:43 pmWith friends like these……
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 5/9/2022 @ 12:49 pm191. Jim Miller (406a93) — 5/9/2022 @ 12:17 pm
Jimmy Breslin wrote a biography of Damon Runyon. Copyright 1991.
In it,. he mentioned that Owney Madden was the founder of organized crime in America.
Note: “Retired” gangster Owney Madden was the political boss of Hot Springs Arkansas from about 1935 till he died in 1965 (with an interruption from about 1948 through 1954 or so.)
Sammy Finkelman (02a146) — 5/9/2022 @ 1:32 pmSo, how do people feel about genital mutilation laws? Protected privacy?
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 5/9/2022 @ 1:36 pmBills have been introduce to ban contraception in idaho, arizona and louisiana.
Any member can introduce a bill. Means nothing. There are always crazy bills introduced. All it indicates is that the diversity of though in the legislature is fairly broad.
In California there are bills introduced to tax people for leaving the state.
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 5/9/2022 @ 1:39 pmthe Constitutional order has already been victimized by these decisions.
No the constitutional order has been victimized by Roe using all the other rights as a shield. Pretty much like the bad guy who uses a woman as a shield to keep the cops at bay.
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 5/9/2022 @ 1:42 pm194. Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 5/9/2022 @ 12:43 pm
That’s a good one.
Sammy Finkelman (02a146) — 5/9/2022 @ 1:47 pm194 Rip – Excellent!
Jim Miller (406a93) — 5/9/2022 @ 2:02 pmSatan is just giving Putin a taste of what’s to come.
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 5/9/2022 @ 2:14 pm#181 Kevin wrote: “I hope she [Melania] renegotiated the prenup during the last few years.
Well, according to a recent book, she renegotiated before she moved to the White House.
(Link omitted.)
I’m not sure whether she would now have the leverage to renegotiate it again — but it’s a nice thought.
Jim Miller (406a93) — 5/9/2022 @ 2:16 pmFor some reason, it was predicted by some that Vladimir Putin had agoal of trying to achieve some military victory by May 9.
Then, as the date got closer, it was predicted he would announce some escalation.
https://www.cnbc.com/2022/05/06/putin-could-look-to-declare-victory-in-ukraine-by-may-9-victory-day.html
When the day arrived, nothing of the sort happened.
As everybody should have realized. There was no logic to it, or any real source
Most probably, it was just more Russian disinformation, although I don’t hae anything to show it..
Sammy Finkelman (02a146) — 5/9/2022 @ 2:26 pmMore obvious Russian disinformation:
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10781083/Putin-soon-no-way-nuclear-war-claims-Kremlin-TV-propagandist.html
Sammy Finkelman (02a146) — 5/9/2022 @ 2:43 pmIn the long run, maybe even in the medium run, the Chinese challenge is more serious than Putin’s. And “Emperor’ Xi’s regime is becoming more and more aggressive, even in the West:
This is one of the many reasons I am trying to avoid buying Chinese products, where possible. For example, I will probably buy a minimal laptop soon — and I am trying hard not to purchase one assembled in China. (Suggestions welcome.)
Jim Miller (406a93) — 5/9/2022 @ 2:47 pmPutin will soon have ‘no way back’ from nuclear war to show NATO that Russia is serious about ‘peace and harmony’, claims Kremlin TV propagandist
Kids, don’t disturb Daddy, he’s had a hard day. If he hits you, it will be your fault.
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 5/9/2022 @ 2:53 pmLaptops not made in china might be a good Google search.
Here’s some options: Microsoft, Toshiba, Samsung
https://bestfreereviews.com/best-laptops-not-made-in-china/
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 5/9/2022 @ 3:04 pmPropagandist Alexander Sladkov
nk (2443b8) — 5/9/2022 @ 3:06 pmcannot understand how the Ukrainians can resist “the weight of the Russian state”. A famously Stalinist concept, even if Stalin did not necessarily conceive it, and the modus vivendi of most Russians. The state will always prevail because it is so big and the individual is so small.
1. Should there be a standby AUMF, to take effect if Putin uses a nuke?
1a. Would that be a deterrent?
2. If Putin uses a nuke should the West respond with a nuke?
3. If Putin uses a nuke, should the West respond with conventional force against one or more Russian targets?
4. If Putin uses a nuke, is an AUMF required for Biden to respond?
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 5/9/2022 @ 3:08 pmDEFCON 1, Cocked Pistol, maximum readiness, immediate response. There are four lesser levels.
My sooper-seekrit sources on the internet tell me that the Cuban Missile Crisis was DEFCON 2, Fast Pace, response within six hours.
The protocols appear to be a permanent AUMF for obvious reasons.
nk (2443b8) — 5/9/2022 @ 3:19 pm#208 Kevin – Thanks. I’ve done some of those searches, but that is a better one than I had found so far.
(One point you are probably aware of, but others may not be: I said “assembled” because that is the final step, and determines what country’s name goes on the box. But the parts come from all over.)
I’ve noticed, by the way, that many big companies are hedging their bets, by moving part of their manufacturing outside China. I assume that is intended to reduce risks, including the risk that there may be others besides me who prefer to avoid products from Xi.
In general, I prefer to buy from nations that are friendly and, where possible, democratic.
Jim Miller (406a93) — 5/9/2022 @ 3:43 pmKinzinger introduces AUMF to defend Ukraine if Russia uses chemical, biological, nuclear weapons
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 5/9/2022 @ 4:05 pmNow that’s one protest I can get behind!
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 5/9/2022 @ 4:07 pm2022 Pulitzer Prizes
Public Service-The Washington Post
For its compellingly told and vividly presented account of the assault on Washington on January 6, 2021, providing the public with a thorough and unflinching understanding of one of the nation’s darkest days.
Breaking News Reporting-Staff of the Miami Herald
For its urgent yet sweeping coverage of the collapse of the Champlain Towers South condominium complex, merging clear and compassionate writing with comprehensive news and accountability reporting.
……..
Explanatory Reporting-Staff of Quanta Magazine, New York, N.Y., notably Natalie Wolchover
For coverage that revealed the complexities of building the James Webb Space Telescope, designed to facilitate groundbreaking astronomical and cosmological research.
……..
National Reporting-Staff of The New York Times
For an ambitious project that quantified a disturbing pattern of fatal traffic stops by police, illustrating how hundreds of deaths could have been avoided and how officers typically avoided punishment.
International Reporting-Staff of The New York Times
For courageous and relentless reporting that exposed the vast civilian toll of U.S.-led airstrikes, challenging official accounts of American military engagements in Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan. ……
Feature Writing-Jennifer Senior of The Atlantic
……..
Commentary-Melinda Henneberger of The Kansas City Star
……..
Criticism-Salamishah Tillet, contributing critic at large, The New York Times
……..
Illustrated Reporting and Commentary-Fahmida Azim, Anthony Del Col, Josh Adams and Walt Hickey of Insider, New York, N.Y.
For using graphic reportage and the comics medium to tell a powerful yet intimate story of the Chinese oppression of the Uyghurs, making the issue accessible to a wider public.
Breaking News Photography-Marcus Yam of the Los Angeles Times
For raw and urgent images of the U.S. departure from Afghanistan that capture the human cost of the historic change in the country.
Win McNamee, Drew Angerer, Spencer Platt, Samuel Corum and Jon Cherry of Getty Images
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 5/9/2022 @ 4:33 pmFor comprehensive and consistently riveting photos of the attack on the U.S. Capitol.
……..
Special Awards and Citations-The Journalists of Ukraine
The Pulitzer Board awards a special citation to the journalists of Ukraine for their courage, endurance, and commitment to truthful reporting during Vladimir Putin’s ruthless invasion of their country and his propaganda war in Russia. Despite bombardment, abductions, occupation, and even deaths in their ranks, they have persisted in their effort to provide an accurate picture of a terrible reality, doing honor to Ukraine and to journalists around the world.
……..
2022 Pulitzer Prizes
The Pulitzer Prize board is stocked with the sort of people who represent a broad swath of Americans (no, not really). Of the 19 members of the board, we would appear to have the following:
* at least 9 of them reside or work in New York
* at least 4 of them reside or work in the Washington DC area
* at least 3 of them reside or work in Los Angeles
* at least 9 of them have some sort of affiliation with Columbia University (which houses the Pulitzer Foundation)
* at least 2 of them have some sort of affiliation with Harvard
* at least 2 of them have some sort of affiliation with Yale
* at least 1 of them has some sort of affiliation with Princeton
Of course, as you can imagine, they are fantastically diverse in terms of racial & ethinic background, there are ten men and nine women (at least as far as I know), and I’m sure that they all broadly share the same outlook on political and social topics.
Just in case you were inclined to take these prizes seriously as being open to all.
JVW (020d31) — 5/9/2022 @ 5:04 pmWhat is more interesting to me is how easy it is to predict what stories would win prizes-January 6th, the South Miami condo collapse, and the war in Afghanistan (for the last time). I am surprised that the Uyghur story was recognized.
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 5/9/2022 @ 5:35 pmKinzinger introduces AUMF to defend Ukraine if Russia uses chemical, biological, nuclear weapons
So Kinzinger wants to defend abortionists in Ukraine with Federal funds? Abortion is legal across all Ukraine; Kinzinger Voted ‘yes’ on banning federal health coverage that includes abortion for Americans. Pretzels with your beer, eh, Congresscritter? 😉
DCSCA (6e4cd7) — 5/9/2022 @ 6:01 pmRussian Ambassador Sergei Andreev doused with red paint by protesters in Poland
Dousing a Red with red. Sounds like the makings of a Polish joke. 😉
DCSCA (6e4cd7) — 5/9/2022 @ 6:41 pmJVW – I was mildly, and pleasantly, suprised by this year’s journalism Pulitzers. In some recent years, I have felt that, on the whole, they should be thought of as “penalties”, not prizes. (And considered mischievously writing to the Pulitzer committee and asking them how long the erring journalists would have to pay those penalties. Or, even, when I was in a bad mood, suggesting they rename the prizes after DCSCA’s favorite journalist, Walter Duranty.)
Jim Miller (406a93) — 5/9/2022 @ 7:23 pmMore in the annals of who not to vote for:
https://https-www-mikebonin-com.sendybay.com/w/AdcptHuY60XRggVxrowTYA/6BievlyrgvitacB2amr7Vw/JnJ5cMVFt1XnxVkGHJp8xA
Mike Bonin, the enabler of homelessness, endorses a successor, Erin Darling. Because nothing says failure than more of the same.
There’s worse
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 5/9/2022 @ 7:56 pmthe Cuban Missile Crisis was DEFCON 2
An EWO alert was heard in the Pentagon. The Emergency War Orders had been activated.
Now, here’s the thing: At that point in time the US had overwhelming superiority in missiles, subs and hardware. The Soviet Union would have been destroyed, and we would not. Now, I’m not saying that we wouldn’t have gotten our hair mussed, but no more than a few million, tops.*
The Soviets backed down for this reason, being sane, and did two important things. They fired Khrushchev and they started a massive military buildup while we were burdened down with Vietnam. By 1970 they had parity.
________
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 5/9/2022 @ 8:04 pm*apologies to “Buck” Turgidson.
Jim, a lot of stuff is moving to Vietnam, India and Thailand. In the near future, near-shoring will be the rage. The long supply-line disruption thing has changed a lot of minds.
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 5/9/2022 @ 8:08 pmSo Kinzinger wants to defend abortionists in Ukraine
Intelligence is a measure of how well you can weigh priorities. Not every scores highly there.
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 5/9/2022 @ 8:10 pmsuggesting they rename the prizes after DCSCA’s favorite journalist, Walter Duranty
But read the whole thing. Apparently the current Ukraine disaster is causing the Gray Lady some embarrassment.
https://www.npr.org/2022/05/08/1097097620/new-york-times-pulitzer-ukraine-walter-duranty
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 5/9/2022 @ 8:15 pmThanks for that link about Duranty, Kevin.
The last paragraph is a howler:
Okay, then use the lens from that period. If people knew what he was doing back then, he wouldn’t have received the Pulitzer. Take it back, and stop it with the CYA. Pompous clowns.
norcal (3f02c4) — 5/9/2022 @ 11:30 pmUNM, clinic settle for $1.26M in abortion death
Not the death of the 26-week fetus, of course.
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 5/10/2022 @ 12:22 amI would like to see the upcoming state-wide elections take up the elective abortion law here that apparently allows an elective abortion in week 39.
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 5/10/2022 @ 12:24 am“I think our policies help, not hurt [inflation.]” – Squinty McStumblebum 5/10/22
DCSCA (50dab7) — 5/10/2022 @ 9:26 amI would like to see the upcoming state-wide elections take up the elective abortion law here that apparently allows an elective abortion in week 39.
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 5/10/2022 @ 12:24 am
One of the reasons for my proffered legislative compromise of making abortion legal during the first half of the pregnancy is that once the woman has passed the halfway point she might as well take the pregnancy to term and give the baby up for adoption. Four and a half months are plenty of time to make up one’s mind.
Of course there should be an exception if legitimate health concerns arise past the halfway point.
norcal (3f02c4) — 5/10/2022 @ 11:51 amThe egg
https://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/the-egg-lifes-perfect-invention-about/17191
Sammy Finkelman (02a146) — 5/10/2022 @ 2:23 pmhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NxFkEj7KPC0
Barack Obama’s final White House correspondents’ dinner speech Apr 30, 2016
Sammy Finkelman (02a146) — 5/10/2022 @ 2:37 pmSometimes Colombo episodes are really science fiction.
One had a robot like that in “Lost in Space” and it even gave the robot a boy inventor named Steven Spellberg.
Speech recognition like that was not possible, in 1974, ad even more so the ability to follow complidated instructions – and since when does it need to be so big to run an simulation>
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0071347/reviews
https://www.metv.com/lists/9-details-from-columbo-mind-over-mayhem-that-will-delight-sci-fi-fans
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0071347/trivia/
Sammy Finkelman (02a146) — 5/10/2022 @ 3:19 pmWordle was hard today even though I had a few breaks.
CROWN – C and O but not in the right place
SOCKS – C and K in the right place and O has to be either the first ir the last letter
I am stumped.
Try to check other letters
LUCKY – L U and Y eliminated
AGENT -G and E and both in the word! Now I have all 5 letters.
O, G, E, C and K. But what?
O I guess is better as a last letter.
I am driven to:
GECKO = That’s the word.
Sammy Finkelman (02a146) — 5/10/2022 @ 4:01 pmCalifornia has completely lost the plot. Clearly no one there understands economics or systems. Their idea of putting out a fire is throwing kindling on it.
California Legislative Leader Wants to Spend $10 Billion to Help Families Buy Homes
Note that the median price of a house in the state was $768K, and higher in metro areas. I really don’t see how this produces affordable mortgages, not how it avoids being inflationary. And I suspect the details will have this benefit going to all the usual suspects (e.g. government employees and political favorites).
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 5/11/2022 @ 10:19 amSammy, you should have a set of trial words that have no repeating letters and have increasing Scrabble scores.
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 5/11/2022 @ 10:21 amOne of the reasons for my proffered legislative compromise of making abortion legal during the first half of the pregnancy
Twenty weeks is 1) longer than most first-world countries permit and 2) a horribly restrictive attack on women, according to the Democrat Party.
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 5/11/2022 @ 10:23 am@227: I expect the takeaway is going to be government pressure on UNM to perform abortions after 22 weeks.
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 5/11/2022 @ 10:31 amWill twerk for votes.
mg (8cbc69) — 5/12/2022 @ 3:01 amLiz Cheney
https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2022/05/the_leftwing_insurrection.html
mg (8cbc69) — 5/12/2022 @ 3:15 amand the rinos gathered with the left
https://freebeacon.com/courts/house-dems-insert-poison-pill-into-emergency-bill-to-add-security-for-superme-court-justices/
House leftists desire attacks on the Justices families. Well the families that aren’t leftists who vote for their unconstitutional policy preferences.
NJRob (eb56c3) — 5/12/2022 @ 6:22 amPrediction: Xi will be replaced soon.
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 5/12/2022 @ 3:41 pmthe “poison pill” is also providing security for clerks. i’m not sure why that’s a poison pill, or why it’s even a bad idea under the current circumstances.
aphrael (4c4719) — 5/12/2022 @ 3:47 pmWhy would Republicans object to providing security for the clerks when security to anyone is already subject to “if the Marshal determines such protection is necessary”? If that’s “poison”, the Republicans are licking it off their own backs.
nk (1d5cfe) — 5/12/2022 @ 4:06 pm🍻 Senator Paul
mg (8cbc69) — 5/12/2022 @ 6:10 pm