Patterico's Pontifications

9/30/2022

Weekend Open Thread

Filed under: General — Dana @ 9:12 am



[guest post by Dana]

Let’s go!

First news item

Amplifying the outraged voice of freedom fighters in Iran:

After President Raisi condemned the West at the United Nations General Assembly last week, President Biden offered a brief and weak comment about the protests taking place in Iran:

“Today we stand with the brave citizens and the brave women of Iran who right now are demonstrating to secure their basic rights.”

And yet, although President Biden said that we stand with the Iranian protesters, the State Department extended entry visas to the Iranian president, and at least one Iranian guard member to enter the U.S.

One way for the U.S. to keep attention fixed on the protests is to amplify the voices of the protesters:

The challenge for Biden is to help the protesters without allowing the regime to portray them as American stooges. The most useful thing the US can do is amplify the voices of the protesters and help them evade the regime’s blackouts, the better to communicate with each other and coordinate their protests.

Suggestions include allowing satellite equipment to be sent to Iran while lifting international sanctions. Also this:

[T]he State Department should also use every opportunity to draw attention to the protests and encourage American allies to do likewise. Every statement relating to the negotiations over the revival of the Iran nuclear deal should be accompanied with a strong reiteration of solidarity with the protesters and an equally forceful denunciation of the crackdown.

Finally, the White House must become more involved:

[T]he White House should make it clear that any Iranian official linked to abuses against protesters will be subject to sanctions under the Global Magnitsky Act. Here, too, the Biden administration has made a good start, with Secretary of State Antony Blinken announcing sanctions against the “morality police.”

Meanwhile, while it’s difficult to get an accurate count of protesters killed and arrested, an estimated 83 protesters have been killed by security forces, and a reported 3,000 protesters are currently detained.

Iranian-in-exile, human rights worker and journalist Masih Alinejad, who currently lives in an FBI safehouse after several recent kidnapping plots with the goal of taking her back to Iran to face consequences were uncovered by the FBI, addressed politicians in the West for appealing to the Iranian government on behalf of protesters:

Second news item

A humiliated President Putin announces annexation:

Russian President Vladimir Putin proclaimed the biggest annexation of territory in postwar Europe on Friday, claiming control over swaths of Ukraine in defiance of international law and in spite of his forces facing another significant battlefield setback.

The Russian leader repeated his threat of nuclear war, suggesting he would be prepared to use his vast arsenal to defend the four partially occupied regions of his neighbor’s south and east. It was a dramatic escalation in the seven-month conflict, which has seen Putin respond to heavy losses by calling up hundreds of thousands of reservists while intensifying his confrontation with the West.

Heh:

The ceremony at the Kremlin came hours after shelling killed 25 people in Ukraine’s southern region of Zaporizhzhia.

“I want to say this to the Kyiv regime and its masters in the West: People living in Lugansk, Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia are becoming our citizens forever,” Putin said.

Immediately after Putin’s announcement, President Biden slapped new sanctions on Russia, which include:

Department of Treasury sanctioned 14 international suppliers for supporting Russia’s military supply chains. Treasury is also sanctioning 278 members of Russia’s legislature for enabling Russia’s attempt at annexation. The State Department is imposing visa restrictions on Russian national Ochur-Suge Mongush for torturing a Ukrainian prisoner of war. The Department of State is also imposing visa restrictions on another 910 individuals, including members of the Russian military, Belarusian military officials and proxies acting in Russia-held portions of Ukraine. The Department of Commerce is also adding 57 entities to the Entity List for violating U.S. export controls.

Meanwhile, President Zelensky announced that Ukraine has signed and submitted a hoped-for fast-tracked application to NATO, and said that “Ukraine will not hold any negotiations with Russia as long as Putin is the president of the Russian Federation. We will negotiate with the new president”.

Alexander Baunov provides an interesting analysis of Putin’s speech today:

Putin’s speech on the occasion of the annexation of four Ukrainian regions by Russia was a rather tedious enumeration of myths and legends about an ancient and imaginary West. But there were three aspects worthy of attention from a practical point of view.

“The Nord Stream gas pipelines were blown up by the USA.” The practical consequences are that Russia is now “entitled” to respond in kind, Russia is not responsible for stopping energy supplies to Europe, & Gazprom may not have to pay for missed deliveries.

The appeal to Ukraine to immediately cease hostilities, withdraw its troops from the new “Russian” territories and sit down at the negotiating table.

Since all four annexed regions are only partially controlled by Russian troops, this is an announcement that conventional warfare will continue unless the Russian ultimatum is followed. The same ultimatum was issued on the eve of Russia’s invasion in February.

“The US, without any military necessity, dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki and ‘set a precedent, by the way.’”

Guess who the precedent is for? The implication is that Russia is better than the US, it won’t drop atomic bombs without military necessity—but what if such a need arises? It’s practically an announcement of things to come.

This says it all:

And finally, here is the NATO Secretary of General making it very clear that the four illegally annexed regions and Crimea are all Ukraine, as well as pledging NATO support:

Third news item

It’s unclear why they did this??:

At the center of the change are borrowers who took out federal student loans many years ago, both Perkins loans and Federal Family Education Loans. FFEL loans, issued and managed by private banks but guaranteed by the federal government, were once the mainstay of the federal student loan program until the FFEL program ended in 2010.

Today, according to federal data, more than 4 million borrowers still have commercially-held FFEL loans. Until Thursday, the department’s own website advised these borrowers that they could consolidate these loans into federal Direct Loans and thereby qualify for relief under Biden’s debt cancellation program.

On Thursday, though, the department quietly changed that language. The guidance now says, “As of Sept. 29, 2022, borrowers with federal student loans not held by ED cannot obtain one-time debt relief by consolidating those loans into Direct Loans.”

It’s a real puzzle… Progressive lawmakers were caught off guard and not happy with the announcement.

Fourth news item

Ginni Thomas told the Jan. 6 Committee that she believes the 2020 election was stolen, but also said that she didn’t discuss it with her husband:

“Regarding the 2020 election, I did not speak with him at all about the details of my volunteer campaign activities,” Thomas said under oath in her opening statement obtained by CNN. “And I did not speak with him at all about the details of my post-election activities, which were minimal, in any event. I am certain I never spoke with him about any of the legal challenges to the 2020 election, as I was not involved with those challenges in any way.”

Fifth news item

Unimagineable:

Fort Myers Beach, which sits on a 7-mile-long island along the Gulf of Mexico, saw “total devastation, catastrophic,” Fort Myers Beach Town Councilman Dan Allers said Friday. “Those are words that come to mind when you see what you see.”

He also said that pictures show the damage but don’t “show the magnitude of exactly what it is.”

“I’d say 90% of the island is pretty much gone,” Allers said. “Unless you have a high-rise condo or a newer concrete home that is built to the same standards today, your house is pretty much gone.”

Allers told CNN that many people in the town struggled to get to higher ground amid the storm surge.

“I’ve heard stories of people getting in freezers and floating the freezers to another home… and being rescued by higher homes,” Allers said.

Sixth news item

Apple exec keeps it classy:

One of Apple’s top executives is leaving the tech giant after he was filmed making a crass joke about how he “fondles big-breasted women” for a living. Tony Blevins, Apple’s vice president of procurement, made the *wacky comment when he was approached by Daniel Mac, a creator whose shtick is asking people in luxury vehicles how they make their money. “I have rich cars, play golf and fondle big-breasted women,” Blevins said in the video as he got out of his Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren. “But I take weekends and holidays off. Also, if you’re interested, I got a hell of a dental plan.”

Seventh news item

Navalny opines on the war and the end game in a strongly worded and insight op-ed. Read the whole thing!:

What does a desirable and realistic end to the criminal war unleashed by Vladimir Putin against Ukrainelook like?

If we examine the primary things said by Western leaders on this score, the bottom line remains: Russia (Putin) must not win this war. Ukraine must remain an independent democratic state capable of defending itself.

This is correct, but it is a tactic. The strategy should be to ensure that Russia and its government naturally, without coercion, do not want to start wars and do not find them attractive. This is undoubtedly possible. Right now the urge for aggression is coming from a minority in Russian society.

[…]

In my opinion, the problem with the West’s current tactics lies not just in the vagueness of their aim, but in the fact that they ignore the question: What does Russia look like after the tactical goals have been achieved? Even if success is achieved, where is the guarantee that the world will not find itself confronting an even more aggressive regime, tormented by resentment and imperial ideas that have little to do with reality? With a sanctions-stricken but still big economy in a state of permanent military mobilization? And with nuclear weapons that guarantee impunity for all manner of international provocations and adventures?

[…]

War is a relentless stream of crucial, urgent decisions influenced by constantly shifting factors. Therefore, while I commend European leaders for their ongoing success in supporting Ukraine, I urge them not to lose sight of the fundamental causes of war. The threat to peace and stability in Europe is aggressive imperial authoritarianism, endlessly inflicted by Russia upon itself. Postwar Russia, like post-Putin Russia, will be doomed to become belligerent and Putinist again. This is inevitable as long as the current form of the country’s development is maintained. Only a parliamentary republic can prevent this. It is the first step toward transforming Russia into a good neighbor that helps to solve problems rather than create them.

Have a great weekend.

–Dana

556 Responses to “Weekend Open Thread”

  1. Hello.

    Dana (1225fc)

  2. Sixth news item: More tech executives behaving badly:

    A former eBay Inc. executive at the center of a harassment campaign against two bloggers was sentenced in a Massachusetts federal court Thursday to four years and nine months in prison, authorities said.

    The former executive, James Baugh, pleaded guilty in April to participating in a series of attacks on the bloggers, David and Ina Steiner. The Steiners ran a niche e-commerce blog (EcommerceBytes) that eBay executives perceived as critical of the company, according to court documents.
    ………
    Mr. Baugh was part of a team of security officials who in 2020 were charged with taking part in a weekslong harassment campaign that included threatening emails and tweets, fake posts on Craigslist and the mysterious deliveries against the Steiners, prosecutors said.
    ……..
    ……..Mr. Baugh and his co-workers escalated their tactics from messages to stalking and more sinister threats. The Steiners believed suspicious vehicles were tailing them near their home in the Boston suburb of Natick. They received mysterious packages, like a box of live cockroaches, a bloody pig mask and a book about surviving a spouse’s death.
    ……..
    One of the security officials, David Harville, on Thursday was sentenced to two years in prison. The other former eBay employees involved—Philip Cooke, Brian Gilbert, Stephanie Popp, Veronica Zea and Stephanie Stockwell—previously pleaded guilty for their roles in a conspiracy to cyberstalk. Mr. Cooke was sentenced last year to 18 months in prison. Mr. Gilbert, Ms. Popp, Ms. Zea and Ms. Stockwell haven’t yet been sentenced.
    ##########

    Rip Murdock (d2a2a8)

  3. Genesis selling itself for more than a pound:

    ………(Phil Collins) and his Genesis bandmates have agreed to sell a bundle of their music rights to Concord Music Group Inc., according to the company.

    The megadeal—valued at over $300 million, according to people familiar with the transaction—includes the publishing copyrights and a mix of recorded music income streams and masters of Mr. Collins, Mike Rutherford and Tony Banks‘ individual careers and work as the progressive rock group Genesis.
    ……..
    The deal puts Mr. Collins, 71 years old, among other musical greats from Bob Dylan to Bruce Springsteen who in recent years have cashed in on their life’s work for multimillion-dollar sums. Mr. Dylan’s songwriting catalog fetched nearly $400 million and Mr. Springsteen’s recorded music and songwriting went for over $500 million, according to people familiar with those deals.

    …….Mr. Gabriel’s music interests aren’t included in the deal……..
    …….

    The best Genesis albums are those with Peter Gabriel.

    Rip Murdock (d2a2a8)

  4. Biden should withdraw all our diplomatic personnel from Russia, and advise all other Americans to leave as well; declare all Russian diplomatic personnel in the United States persona non grata, and revoke all other temporary visas granted to Russians in the United States; and then we can see what Putin makes of that “message”. Brinkmanship.

    nk (b9023d)

  5. First News Item:

    Iran Crisis Update: September 28, 2022 (ISW)
    ……..
    Key Takeaways:

    Circumstantial evidence suggests that Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei is at least temporarily unable to perform his normal duties.

    Regime power centers are behaving as if succession is either imminent or underway.

    The ongoing Mahsa Amini protests may be challenging the regime’s capability and willingness to crack down but do not appear close to collapsing the regime.

    The IRGC may assess that anti-regime Kurdish militants operating around the Iran-Iraq-Turkey border are arming and stoking the protests.

    The IRGC conducted a large-scale attack into Iraqi Kurdistan on September 28, killing one American.

    ……..

    The regime has violently suppressed protests and sustained casualties among its security forces in recent days.
    ……..
    Iranian reporting and statements from senior judiciary and security officials suggest that the regime fears losing its capability to crack down on ongoing unrest.
    ……..
    Some hardline officials have sympathized with Mahsa Amini’s death—and subsequent demonstrations—and called on the regime to heed their demands.
    ……..
    The IRGC has conducted large-scale artillery, drone, and missile attacks against anti-regime Kurdish militias in Iraqi Kurdistan since September 24.
    ……..
    US forces downed an Iranian Mohajer-6 drone that the US assessed posed a threat to US personnel.
    ……..

    Related:

    Iran Crisis Update: September 29, 2022

    Rip Murdock (d2a2a8)

  6. Biden should withdraw all our diplomatic personnel from Russia, and advise all other Americans to leave as well….

    Security Alert for U.S. Citizens in Russia 9/27/22

    A skeleton staff will probably remain for the time being, absent a total break of relations. The embassy staff has been forcibly reduced by tit for tat expulsions ordered by the Russian government.

    Rip Murdock (d2a2a8)

  7. Sorry about the missing formatting. Should be:

    Biden should withdraw all our diplomatic personnel from Russia, and advise all other Americans to leave as well….


    ……

    Rip Murdock (d2a2a8)

  8. There has been a Do Not Travel Advisory for Russia since August 15th.

    Rip Murdock (d2a2a8)

  9. We need to make China choose. You can trade with Russia, or you can trade with us. All Chinese imports are contraband until they make up their minds.

    Kevin M (eeb9e9)

  10. Maybe there’s a better diplomatic way to get the same result.

    Kevin M (eeb9e9)

  11. Biden should withdraw all our diplomatic personnel from Russia, and advise all other Americans to leave as well; declare all Russian diplomatic personnel in the United States persona non grata, and revoke all other temporary visas granted to Russians in the United States; and then we can see what Putin makes of that “message”.

    Good idea. I mentioned to Jim Miller yesterday that there several op-eds in the WSJ and NYT that ran at the beginning of the invasion that suggested that the U.S. grant visas to Russians who refused to fight and wanted to defect. I think your suggestion, particularly at this time, would definitely send a necessary message of a certain kind to Putin. Btw, two days ago, the United States advised all American personnel in Russia to get out asap because commercial flights out may be curtailed:

    Commercial flight options are extremely limited at present and are often unavailable on short notice. Overland routes by car and bus are still open. If you wish to depart Russia, you should make independent arrangements as soon as possible. The U.S. Embassy has severe limitations on its ability to assist U.S. citizens, and conditions, including transportation options, may suddenly become even more limited.

    U.S. citizens should not travel to Russia and those residing or travelling in Russia should depart Russia immediately while limited commercial travel options remain.

    Dana (1225fc)

  12. @4: “Jaw-jaw is better than war-war.”

    Kevin M (eeb9e9)

  13. We need to make China choose. You can trade with Russia, or you can trade with us.

    Or they can dump our Treasury debt and stop buying any more.

    Rip Murdock (d2a2a8)

  14. For DCSCA, there’s this plan

    Kevin M (eeb9e9)

  15. Or they can dump our Treasury debt and stop buying any more.

    Someone will buy it. The dollar is king. Haven’t you heard?

    Kevin M (eeb9e9)

  16. China can invest in their allies’ bonds. North Korea, Zimbabwe, etc

    Kevin M (eeb9e9)

  17. RIP CBS News legend Bill Plante (84).

    Plante was a CBS News White House correspondent for 35 years during the administrations of Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama and covered the State Department during the administration of George H.W. Bush. …..
    ………
    Plante reported on the Vietnam War on four separate tours in 1964, 1967, 1971-1972 and 1975, earning two awards for his work. He was one of four CBS News correspondents to win an Emmy Award in 1972 for a five-part series broadcast on the “CBS Evening News with Walter Cronkite” in December 1971. He also won an Overseas Press Club Award for “Best Radio Spot News Reporting from Abroad” as part of the CBS News team covering the fall of Vietnam and Cambodia.

    Plante joined CBS News in New York as a reporter/assignment editor in June 1964. He covered the civil rights movement, and interviewed Dr. Martin Luther King on his historic march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, in March 1965.
    ……..
    Plante was named a CBS News correspondent in 1966 and assigned to the Chicago bureau, where he remained for 10 years, covering such stories as the Chicago riots of 1966, campus unrest at Ohio University, the United Auto Workers strike in 1970, and the disappearance of Jimmy Hoffa in 1975. His three-part investigation of the U.S.-Soviet wheat deal in 1972 on “The CBS Evening News with Walter Cronkite” won him an Emmy Award.
    ……
    He began his political reporting in 1968, reporting on the California Primary, the Republican National Convention and the presidential campaigns of Hubert Humphrey and Richard Nixon.
    ……….

    Rip Murdock (d2a2a8)

  18. Added to the post: Alexander Baunov’s analysis of Putin’s speech today.

    Dana (1225fc)

  19. Putin: The US, without any military necessity, dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki

    Nuts.

    Kevin M (eeb9e9)

  20. Putin is, of course, going to use this annexation to declare that Ukraine is invading the Sovi … um Russia, and so all acts by Russia are self-defense.

    Break relations. Suspend Russia from the Security Council. Deny them all diplomatic immunity. Close all air routes. Confiscate all their assets and divide them up among all Russians living abroad as of 1/1/2024.

    Kevin M (eeb9e9)

  21. @14. Randolph Scott and John Wayne are dead. And Clint Eastwood, now 92, is too damn old. Hell EVERYbody is too damn old. ‘Course Joe could send Beau. Hey, Jackie, is Beau there in the crowd with you? Where’s Beau and Jackie?! Stand up and take a bow, kids!

    DCSCA (3e78dd)

  22. CBS’s Bill Plante was a fine reporter and a classy journalist. One of the more forgotten assignments he had was the live remote he did w/t studio bound Cronkite reporting from Central Park– amidst excited Americans and rain showers- the evening of July 20, 1969- as Neil Armstrong prepared to step on the moon. He handled the crowd with memorable aplomb- and it’s preserved on tape for history.

    DCSCA (3e78dd)

  23. The dollar is king. Haven’t you heard?

    Meh. 1922- a hundred years ago- the global reserve currency was the British pound sterling t’was ‘king.’

    DCSCA (3e78dd)

  24. This demented moron Biden inspires so much confidence. Watching him is sad and painful.

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  25. Biden just declared another $13 billion will go to Ukraine; declares pipeline attack was ‘deliberate act of sabotage.’ Are you awarding the SEAL team medals in public or will it be a private ceremony? Will Beau attend? Ask Jackie.

    DCSCA (3e78dd)

  26. @24.

    “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. I’m going to stand up to him; he’s a bully. Vladimir Putin doesn’t want me to be President. He doesn’t want me to be our nominee. If you’re wondering why — it’s because I’m the only person in this field who’s ever gone toe-to-toe with him.” Squinty McStumblebum, 2019

    Stand up? You can barely shuffle on level ground and hardly walk up stairs.

    IDIOT.

    DCSCA (3e78dd)

  27. Biden should withdraw all our diplomatic personnel from Russia, and advise all other Americans to leave as well; declare all Russian diplomatic personnel in the United States persona non grata, and revoke all other temporary visas granted to Russians in the United States; and then we can see what Putin makes of that “message”. Brinkmanship.

    You musta missed out on the lessons from the Cuban Missile Crisis. Always give your adversary an out.

    DCSCA (3e78dd)

  28. This demented moron Biden inspires so much confidence. Watching him is sad and painful.

    That’s an insult to the truly sad and painful souls in the world.

    This jackass is the Peter Principle on display to the world. He’s an incompetent, incontinent idiot.

    DCSCA (3e78dd)

  29. DCSCA,

    Putin is the idiot who keeps pushing more chips on the table every time he gets beat, and loses the farm on a pair of deuces. Even if Biden can’t remember the guy’s name — he can still beat him. Because Putin’s a one trick pony and his one trick has become known.

    Appalled (03f53c)

  30. @29.

    Today:

    US sanctions Russia over Ukraine annexations, which Biden says have ‘no legitimacy’

    https://www.foxbusiness.com/politics/us-sanctions-russia-ukraine-annexations-biden-says-have-no-legitimacy

    In March:

    Biden Admits That Sanctions Don’t Work and They Make Us Poorer

    https://www.investmentwatchblog.com/biden-admits-that-sanctions-dont-work-and-they-make-us-poorer/

    Joe’s not playing with full deck- Putin is; he can walk upstairs and doesn’t call out to dead people, too.

    Joe’s not just an idiot. He’s a goddamned idiot.

    DCSCA (3e78dd)

  31. > “And I did not speak with him at all about the details of my post-election activities, which were minimal, in any event.

    I find this improbable. I assume that unless there are specific agreements around it most spouses discuss the details of their activities with each other.

    > I am certain I never spoke with him about any of the legal challenges to the 2020 election, as I was not involved with those challenges in any way.”

    *This* I believe, and assume it’s the case for any lawyer or judge.

    aphrael (4c4719)

  32. > which sits on a 7-mile-long island along the Gulf of Mexico

    Can we please not rebuild and abandon the land to the sea? I’m all for helping the people who lost their homes and businesses rebuild homes and businesses, but it’s *insane* to do it where the city was.

    aphrael (4c4719)

  33. @32. Can we please not rebuild and abandon the land to the sea?

    Depends. If your life investment is there, you may feel differently. Living on barrier island properties is precarious as is. The folks had a place on the Jersey Shore for 35 years and as insurance issues, environmental matters and populations growth encroached, laws were passed forcing new homes to be built on pilings. homes lost to storms rebuilt w/them as well– and land lost to storm erosion not rep[laced w/fill to replenish- beyond what the US Corps of Engineers & USCG deemed essential for maintaining existing properties and minimized effects of natural erosion.

    DCSCA (3e78dd)

  34. > If your life investment is there, you may feel differently.

    I’m aware. It *sucks* to have to move away from where your life is. But at the same time, it makes no sense for us societally to continually reinvest in rebuilding in places that are this vulnerable. At some point we have to say it isn’t worth it.

    I have similar feelings about some of the places California rebuilds after fire.

    aphrael (4c4719)

  35. @34. If only it was that easy; the ripple down the economic chain for states w/property laden barrier islands is massive. I’m mostly familiar w/NJ’s coastal issues [just getting permits to sink pilingas and build a dock took many months] but it is quite the cash cow to mess with for South Jersey alone; a similar problem for Joe’s Delaware, NC, SC, Texas, etc. And businesses and property owners invested and pay for living there- as their insurance rates show. Insurers can make a move by no longer insuring properties in risk areas- but the Feds may cover as an alternative; and the Federal government can cease maintaining beaches and back bays and let them return to the natural effects of the elements. The barrier islands formed naturally and it has really only been over the past 70-90 years that heavy building has occurred on them. But lest you forget, places like Texas [Houston for example] built a great deal of housing on natural flood plains; and Florida is little more than a marshy peninsula- extremely vulnerable to even the slightest rise in ocean levels. The issues in California are equally problematic- not just w/fires but w/cliff collapse along an unstable coastline. Some rain, a quake or two- and property -as well as the properties on them– tumble into the Pacific.

    DCSCA (3e78dd)

  36. > built a great deal of housing on natural flood plains; and Florida is little more than a marshy peninsula

    Yes. And the net effect of global warming and sea level rise will be that we either abandon those spaces or put an increasingly-large-over-time percentage of our GDP into maintaining them.

    > w/cliff collapse along an unstable coastline

    sure, and we shouldn’t be doing that, either.

    aphrael (4c4719)

  37. I was this many days old when I learned that pop star Lizzo plays the flute. In the future I might learn the name of one of her songs.

    I’m still trying to figure out why her playing a flute that was given to James Madison 200 years ago is source for outrage and humiliation. From the clip I saw she handled it respectfully and give the Library of Congress some publicity.

    This may be the dumbest culture war incident since yokels gave themselves nerve damage by taking sheep de-wormer to prevent Covid. But I like this one better since no one was physically harmed. I felt bad for the yokels who got sick on that stuff.

    https://www.fox5dc.com/news/watch-lizzo-plays-former-president-james-madisons-crystal-flute-and-twerks

    https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/columnist/2022/09/29/lizzo-flute-james-madison-racist-history-huppke/8125708001/

    Time123 (f28c06)

  38. Wow would l ever like to fix the typo’s in that last comment.

    Time123 (f28c06)

  39. @32, Federal gov should buy the land and just keep it. We’re not equipped as a society to tell people impacted by that type of inevitable tragedy to suck it up. Making it federal land would save money in the long run.

    Time123 (f28c06)

  40. #37 The problem is that she is afican-american, heavy, and in spandex while handling the flute and playing it quite well. That combination triggers some of the MAGA brethern. Too often, “culture war” is an excuse for “having an opportnity to be a total jerk”. Works that way for the woke-sters too.

    Appalled (b57919)

  41. Old Blevins – what a tiresome fellow.

    felipe (484255)

  42. Putin’s Navy…..

    Rip Murdock (d2a2a8)

  43. SAD!

    Aspirational expert in foreign affairs Roger Waters has written an open letter to Vladimir Putin in light of Russia’s war on Ukraine. But rather than asking the Russian president to withdraw, the former Pink Floyd member has instead asked Putin to promise that he won’t “overrun the whole of Europe.”

    “Firstly, would you like to see an end to this war?,” Waters wrote to Putin on Facebook. “If you were to reply and say, ‘Yes please.’ That would immediately make things a lot easier. If you were to come out and say, ‘Also the Russian Federation has no further territorial interest beyond the security of the Russian speaking populations of The Crimea, Donetsk and Lubansk.’ That would help too. I say this because, I know some people who think you want to overrun the whole of Europe, starting with Poland and the rest of the Baltic states. If you do, f**k you, and we might as well all stop playing the desperately dangerous game of nuclear chicken that the hawks on both sides of the Atlantic seem so comfortable with, and have at it.”

    The musician went on: “The problem is, I have kids and grandkids, and so do most of my brothers and sisters all over the world and none of us would relish that outcome. So, please Mr Putin indulge me, and make us that assurance.”

    Waters’ letter to Putin arrives on the heels of news that he’d no longer be performing the two concerts he had scheduled in Krakow, Poland, on his “This Is Not a Drill Tour.” Though a representative for the venue said Waters’ management “decided to withdraw…without giving any reason” (via NBC News), it’s safe to assume the cancelations are due to the backlash Waters has received over questionable statements he’s made at Ukraine’s expense, especially considering Krakow officials might name Waters a persona non grata.
    …….

    Rip Murdock (d2a2a8)

  44. The Lizzo thing may be the stupidest social media controversy i’ve ever encountered.

    aphrael (21f392)

  45. > Federal gov should buy the land and just keep it. We’re not equipped as a society to tell people impacted by that type of inevitable tragedy to suck it up. Making it federal land would save money in the long run.

    This is a good idea. We’re *never* going to refuse emergency funding after a hurricane or fire or flood, nor should we — so we should intervene to get ahead of the problem.

    aphrael (21f392)

  46. I’m also totally in favor of the people out on the internet reminding everyone that one of the first things DeSantis did when he was in the House was vote against hurricane aid. At the very least he owes the people of New York an apology.

    aphrael (21f392)

  47. I’ve just added excerpts from Navalny’s smart op-ed in today’s Washington Post. Read the whole thing.

    Dana (1225fc)

  48. Aphrael, It’s amazingly silly. I understand how the professionally outraged need to jump on it. Gotta get those clicks. But the people who aren’t getting paid to be angry still being angry sort of confuses me.

    Time123 (f28c06)

  49. https://www.newser.com/story/326087/zelensky-ukraine-is-submitting-accelerated-nato-application.html

    Ukraine’s president says his country is submitting an “accelerated” application to join the NATO military alliance. President Volodymyr Zelensky’s statement Friday came shortly after Russian President Vladimir Putin signed treaties to annex occupied areas of Ukraine that he warned Russia would protect using “all available means,” the AP reports. Zelensky said “we are taking our decisive step by signing Ukraine’s application for accelerated accession to NATO.” The Ukrainian leader’s NATO application adds another layer of complexity to the seven-month old conflict that rapidly escalated following Putin’s announcement of annexing parts of Ukraine.

    Zelensky is seeking the same fast-track procedure as Sweden and Finland, which applied to join NATO months after Russia invaded Ukraine, the Hill reports. “De facto, we have already proven compatibility with alliance standards. They are real for Ukraine—real on the battlefield and in all aspects of our interaction,” Zelensky said on his Telegram channel, per Axios. “We trust each other, we help each other, and we protect each other. This is the alliance.” Zelensky also repeated his pledge to retake all Ukrainian territory now held by Russia, which he said “feels our power.” He said Ukraine is ready for dialogue with Moscow, but “with another president of Russia.”

    Sammy Finkelman (1d215a)

  50. That didn’t take long (and good thing he got paid in advance):

    After attorney Christopher Kise accepted $3 million to represent Donald Trump in the FBI’s investigation of government documents stored at Mar-a-Lago, the veteran litigator argued that Trump should adopt a new strategy.

    Turn down the temperature with the Department of Justice, Kise — a former Florida solicitor general — counseled his famously combative client, people familiar with the deliberations said.
    ……..
    A Wednesday night court filing from Trump’s team was combative, with defense lawyers questioning the Justice Department’s truthfulness and motives. Kise, whose name was listed alongside other lawyers’ in previous filings over the past four weeks, did not sign that one — an absence that underscored the division among the lawyers. He remains part of the team and will continue assisting Trump in dealing with some of his other legal problems, said the people familiar with the conversations, who like others interviewed for this article spoke on the condition of anonymity to reveal private talks. But on the Mar-a-Lago issue, he is likely to have a less public role.
    ………
    The approach could leave the former president on a collision course with the Justice Department, as he relies on a legal trust that includes three attorneys facing their own potential legal risks. The first, Christina Bobb, has told other Trump allies that she is willing to be interviewed by the Justice Department about her role in responding to the subpoena, according to people familiar with the conversations. Another, M. Evan Corcoran, has been counseled by colleagues to hire a criminal defense lawyer because of his response to the subpoena, people familiar with those conversations said, but so far has insisted that is not necessary. The third, longtime Trump adviser Boris Epshteyn, saw his phone taken as part of the Justice Department’s probe of Trump’s fake elector scheme, and appeared before a Georgia grand jury Thursday.
    ……..
    Continuing to attack the Justice Department and the FBI, (Kise) argued, was likely to cause federal authorities to be more aggressive. Kise has suggested to other Trump advisers that the best solution would be to try to find an “off-ramp” with the Justice Department before a possible indictment or trial; he has said he thinks Trump can avoid criminal charges.
    ……..
    Kise’s influence on Trump’s team can be seen by comparing some of the court filings lodged by the team. ……
    ……..
    Kise was added to the team in part because Bobb and Corcoran were considered legally vulnerable on a different front. Together, they told the Justice Department that Corcoran had led a diligent review of Mar-a-Lago documents to respond to the May subpoena and had identified and handed over all classified records at the former president’s club.
    ……..
    ……..Bobb signed a document swearing that she had been told that “a diligent search” was conducted of boxes of records shipped from the White House to Florida when Trump left office. The signed document said the file folder being handed over contained “all documents that are responsive to the subpoena.” Corcoran, the people said, then told the visiting federal officials that he had been advised that all of the records that were shipped to the club from the White House had been placed in the storage room — nowhere else — and that all available boxes had been searched in response to the subpoena.
    ……..

    Rip Murdock (d2a2a8)

  51. Good summary of Putin’s speech here.

    Time123 (f28c06)

  52. Stunning images of the DART mission impact event from the Hubble and Webb space telescopes.

    Click here for a cute Google animation of the impact.

    Rip Murdock (d2a2a8)

  53. I keep reading that Babe Ruth hit 60 home runs in 155 games. I thought the season then was 154 games. Why did the Yankees play 155 games in 1927? Was there a one game playoff to break a tie? And did they count that last game as part of the regular season? What number game did Babe Ruth hit #60?)

    Anyway it took 61 years for Roger Maris to hit 61 home runs. (although the first two years they played in Baltimore and were known as the Baltimore Orioles) They were called the Americans or the Highlanders from1903 and didn’t become known as the New York Yankees until 1913.

    And it took another `61 years for Aaron Judge to hit 61 home runs.

    Unlike Roger Maris, who hit number 61 in the 162nd and last game of the 1961 season, Aaron Judge hit his in game 155.

    And he could go on to hit, 62, 63 or 64or more…

    Sammy Finkelman (1d215a)

  54. I used to think when I was in low grades that Roger’s name was Roger Amaris, or was confused and thought Amaris more likely than Maris.

    Even now Maris seems like something is left out…

    Sammy Finkelman (1d215a)

  55. A website for getting information on the hurricane is https://www.floridadisaster.org

    Sammy Finkelman (1d215a)

  56. Submarine Spy Couple Enters Guilty Plea, Again
    ………
    Under the new deal with prosecutors, Jonathan Toebbe, 43, a former Navy nuclear engineer, could serve 27 years or longer in a federal prison. Diana Toebbe, 46, his wife and a former teacher at an Annapolis, Md., private school, could serve more than a dozen years.

    The new deals are significantly longer than their original plea agreements, which would have had Mr. Toebbe likely serving about a dozen years and Ms. Toebbe serving three years or less, in federal custody. Judge Gina M. Groh of the Federal District Court for the Northern District of West Virginia in August rejected the original deal between the prosecutors and the Toebbes.
    …….
    …….In August, Judge Groh said Diana Toebbe’s agreement was outside the federal sentencing guidelines, which set stiff prison terms for the mishandling of restricted data covering nuclear energy.
    …….
    Prosecutors have not revealed in court the name of the country to which the Toebbes tried to sell nuclear secrets. But people briefed on the investigation have identified that country as Brazil. ……
    ……..
    On Tuesday, Jarod Douglas, a federal prosecutor, emphasized a fact that first emerged in August — none of the information that the Toebbes took was classified at the top-secret level. All of it was classified at the confidential level, a step below secret. Had the information been more highly classified, federal guidelines would suggest a longer prison sentence.
    ……..
    …….If Judge Groh accepts the agreement, Mr. Toebbe would likely face between nearly 22 years to slightly more than 27 years in prison. She could also hand out a longer sentence, however, including life in prison.
    …….

    Related:

    ……….
    Federal authorities said Jareh Sebastian Dalke, 30, of Colorado Springs, Colorado, used an encrypted email account to transmit excerpts of three classified documents and one document in its entirety to an undercover FBI agent, believing the agent to be a representative of the foreign government.

    Among the records, officials said, was an assessment of “sensitive U.S. defense capabilities.”
    ……..
    Dalke, who briefly served as an information systems security designer, said in his contacts with the undercover agent that he sought the position because he “questioned our role in damage to the world in the past and by mixture of curiosity for secrets and a desire to cause change.”
    ……..
    Dalke, who could face the death penalty if convicted, is charged with three violations of the Espionage Act, which makes it a crime to transmit or attempt to transmit defense information to a foreign nation knowing the material could be used against the United States or to the advantage of a foreign nation.
    ###########

    Rip Murdock (d2a2a8)

  57. The Lizzo thing may be the stupidest social media controversy i’ve ever encountered.

    I’m going to add that, while there is no doubt that it is indeed at stupid controversy, it’s also instructive. We can clearly see from reactions on the far-right that there is anger about what happened. I think it’s mostly due to the fact that an black woman played a highly valued instrument owned by a Founding Father and former president. But along with some great irony that a black woman played a prized instrument that belonged to a slave owner, it was also one in a long line of coming-full-circle moments in our country. And hasn’t that sort of been the goal all along – that we come full circle on the ugliest parts of our history, whether in small or large ways? As Allahpundit observed:

    To a certain type of right-winger, the spectacle of a black woman treating one of James Madison’s heirlooms as a stage prop is a deliberate racial humiliation of “conquered” whites by their nonwhite “conquerors.” And when you strip away the inflammatory alt-right framing, there’s a grain of truth in that: It wasn’t lost on observers…that Lizzo getting to play a priceless instrument owned by a slaveholder was a demonstration of racial progress, a political act in a small sense. Although if you found yourself bothered enough by that to deem it an affront or “humiliation,” you should maybe take some time and think about why.

    Dana (1225fc)

  58. “President Biden’s unlawful political play puts the self-wrought college-loan debt on the backs of millions of hardworking Americans who are struggling to pay their utility bills and home loans in the midst of Biden’s inflation,” Ms. Rutledge said in a statement on Thursday. “

    Now, in any other context they willacknoledge that the poorest people do not may much in taxes (except for Social Security taxes)

    Sammy Finkelman (1d215a)

  59. Dana, thank you for posting that. It helps make sense of some of the outrage, even if it is sort of a racist way for the offended to look at things.

    Time123 (f28c06)

  60. What if We’re Already Fighting the Third World War with Russia?

    Throughout seven awful months of war in Ukraine, President Joe Biden has held to a steadfast line when it comes to the Russian invasion: his goal is to help Ukraine win while also insuring that victory does not trigger a Third World War. But as Russian forces have experienced U.S.-aided battlefield setbacks in recent days, Putin has reacted by ratcheting up the pressure. ……

    …….[Y]et Donald Trump and the growing faction of pro-Putin cheerleaders in the conservative media—Tucker Carlson, I’m thinking of you—are demanding still more concessions to Russia in response to Putin’s escalating threats. The other night, Carlson, citing no evidence, blamed the United States for somehow playing a role in attacks on the Nord Stream gas pipelines. Charlie Kirk, one of the most outrageous of the junior Trumpists, speculated that it was “a potential midterm election operation” and that U.S. intelligence agencies should be considered “guilty until proven innocent”—an appalling smear gleefully parroted on Russian state TV. The ex-President—who during his time in office did so much to weaken nato and undermine American allies while also praising Putin—even offered himself up as a mediator. On Wednesday, in a post on Truth Social, his Orwellian-named social-media platform, he insisted, “get a negotiated deal done NOW.”

    Which, of course, is exactly what Putin wants Trump to say. ……..

    Russia’s leader, (Alexander Vershbow, who served as the U.S. Ambassador to Russia from 2001 to 2005) added, hopes that “he can weaken the Alliance consensus and scare the West into scaling back its military support for Kyiv for fear of precipitating Russian use of nuclear weapons to defend the ‘homeland.’ ……

    It seems clear that negotiating now would be an extraordinary concession in and of itself to Putin’s barbarism and willingness to threaten nuclear conflict. Yet it’s not just Trumpists who have been calling with more urgency for a negotiated peace ever since Putin vowed, in early September, to “make use of all weapons systems available to us” and warned, “This is not a bluff.”

    Or is it? …….
    ……..
    Again and again, Putin has profited from the application of military force to achieve otherwise unattainable political gains. He came to power by promoting war in the separatist Russian province of Chechnya. He sent Russian troops to Georgia and Syria and, in 2014, to Ukraine. Each time, there were endless rounds of speculation in Western capitals about how to create an “exit ramp” that would finally entice Putin to end his incursion. Putin just kept barrelling down the highway.

    …….As the Moscow Times put it, in a fascinating piece of reporting from inside the Kremlin, “Putin always chooses escalation.”
    …….
    ……. (Fiona Hill) told me she believes there’s an element of self-delusion to much of the current commentary about the possibility of Washington and the West continuing to back Ukraine while avoiding conflict with Putin—who, after all, launched his war against Ukraine not in February but eight years ago when he invaded the country and illegally annexed the Crimean Peninsula. As far as Hill is concerned, we are already fighting in the Third World War, whether we acknowledge it or not. “We’ve been in this for a long time, and we’ve failed to recognize it,” she said.
    ……..
    There is also the matter of Putin getting the West wrong. ……
    ……..

    Rip Murdock (d2a2a8)

  61. The VEEP boasts of our alliance w/North Korea; the POTUS talks to the dead; the stock market tanks to 28,750, Putin’s tanks roll on; the Idiot In Chief literally gives $13 billion of your money to one of the most corrupt countries in Europe while desperate U.S. citizen founder in Florida, the Carolinas and Puerto Rico.

    But no mean tweets!

    Sleep well America.

    DCSCA (6c7e3b)

  62. You negotiate when an agreement is in sight, and then it doesn’t take to long. There is no benefit to negotiation for the sake of negotiation. In fact, it’s counterproductive (if you place much importance on it)

    Sammy Finkelman (1d215a)

  63. Navalny thinks a presidential system (with fixed terms, and no need for constant backing by a large group of people) is conducive to autocracy.

    Sammy Finkelman (1d215a)

  64. I agree that if Lizzo wasn’t an overweight black woman and had been attired in a more conventional outfit while playing the flute, there would be fewer hissy fits about it. Also, as a classically trained flutist, she knew what she was doing with the instrument. You can listen to her play here.

    Dana (1225fc)

  65. He think Ukraine has a problem because it has the same system.

    Sammy Finkelman (1d215a)

  66. Wasn’t James Madison’s flute probably played some of his slaves??

    African Americans used to be pretty well known for flute playing until the rot in Wilmington North Carolina in 1898, in the aftermath of which southern Jim Crow whites trued to wipe the very memory of their flute playing.

    Sammy Finkelman (1d215a)

  67. @Time123 and @Dana:
    Never understood the bruhaha over Lizzy.

    That was an excellent performance.

    I think the outrage would’ve been justified if it was a publicity stunt of someone who was an amateur flute musician. But, Lizzy had a great performance imo.

    whembly (b770f8)

  68. Acquitted:

    A military judge today acquitted a young sailor accused by the Navy of setting a 2020 fire that ultimately destroyed an amphibious warship as it neared completion of a major modernization and overhaul.

    Capt. Derek Butler’s findings – not guilty of arson and of hazarding a vessel – puts an end to a two-year ordeal for Seaman Recruit Ryan Sawyer Mays. As a 19-year-old deck seaman, he was fingered by a shipmate who claimed he saw Mays near where the fire began in the former USS Bonhomme Richard’s (LHD-6) lower vehicle deck.
    ……..
    Defense attorneys had argued that there was more than enough reasonable doubt in the Navy’s prosecution to find him not guilty of the charges. They said he’s consistently pressed his innocence and questioned whether it was arson that started the blaze or just an accidental fire sparked by faulty vehicles or lithium-ion batteries that were stored in the area, which sailors and contractors working on the ship had used as a junkyard.
    …….
    Defense attorneys grilled investigators and government experts in fire forensics and engineering over their conclusions and argued the investigation failed to present any specific, strong physical and forensic evidence that Mays was in the deck at the time and had set the fire.

    Investigators, (Lt. Cmdr. Jordi Torres, the lead defense attorney) said, did not pursue possible links to two other recent fires – a burned mattress aboard amphibious assault ship USS Essex (LHD-2), berthed at Pier 8, the afternoon the fire broke out aboard Bonhomme Richard and, a few weeks earlier, a small fire aboard BHR in a cup in an engineering space.
    ……..

    Rip Murdock (d2a2a8)

  69. Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 9/30/2022 @ 10:39 am

    Suspend Russia from the Security Council. Deny them all diplomatic immunity. Close all air routes.

    That’s not possible but you could form a new organization that excluded Russia and China and some others, like I think John McCain once bruited about.

    Confiscate all their assets and divide them up among all Russians living abroad as of 1/1/2024.

    Who don’t take other citizenship?

    I think you could declare that all debts contracted by Russia after a certain date will not need to be repaid, and all money paid for goods will not be counted as paid.(That last would reduce the price Russia gets for oil and gas to at most one third of the price)

    Sammy Finkelman (1d215a)

  70. https://som.yale.edu/story/2022/over-1000-companies-have-curtailed-operations-russia-some-remain

    The list of firms- both in the U.S., in NATO nations and non-NATO “allies” STILL doing business w/Russia- be it full bore or in a curtailed fashion, remains startling– and keeps all reactive, bogus, Biden bluster all the more windbag senatorial in nature, void of any proactive leadership content and more embarrassing blather from a boob who is hard-wired for the last century, surrounded by weaning piglets who lack the experience or gravitas to go head to head with seasoned world leaders- and were hired to check boxes rather than for competence. Ask Jackie.

    DCSCA (efcb98)

  71. The constant talk in the US Press by Biden about “Putin threatening to us Nukes” and NATO retaliating, is rather disturbing. what is the purpose of it? The same message can be sent behind the scenes and directly between leaders.

    And what is NATO aka Biden’s exit strategy for this war. As it stands now, the plan seems to be: (1) Putin withdraws from the Ukraine and leaves office OR (2) endless war.

    rcocean (7e8262)

  72. My two favorites in this week’s collection of Politico cartoons are Breen’s, which is subtle and Tom Tomorrow’s, which is not. (That may be the first time I’ve linked to one of his cartoons.)

    Jim Miller (85fd03)

  73. Who came up with the concept of “exit strategy”? It’s a BS term. A war ends when it ends. Did I mention that “exit strategy” is a BS term?

    nk (d76da1)

  74. > Putin withdraws from the Ukraine

    That’s somewhat the only acceptable exit strategy, right there.

    The world has too many Munich analogies, but this is a Munich analogy.

    aphrael (4c4719)

  75. ……(1) Putin withdraws from the Ukraine and leaves office OR (2) endless war.

    Or (3) Putin is toppled in a Kremlin putsch, which was the norm during the USSR days. Few if any USSR leaders left voluntarily.

    Rip Murdock (d2a2a8)

  76. The body count keeps growing and growing:
    ……..
    Pavel Pchelnikov, 52, was the director of communications at Digital Logistics, a subsidiary of Russian Railways.

    His body was found at 6.30 a.m. local time on Wednesday on the balcony of his apartment in central Moscow, local newspaper Moskovsky Komsomolets reported.
    …….
    …..[T]he website Top Cargo 200, which uses open source intelligence to track and publicize the deaths of senior Russian officers in their war in Ukraine, said Pchelnikov had been killed by a gunshot.

    Top Cargo 200 said that Digital Logistics was reportedly being blamed for failing to protect the infrastructure of the Russian Railway network from hackers based in Ukraine, leading to delays in critical supplies getting to Russian troops.
    …….

    Rip Murdock (d2a2a8)

  77. This would be funny in a toddler, but is distressing in a supposed adult:

    It’s one of those Trump controversies that you might have somehow forgotten, due to the volume of such flaps.

    The Wall Street Journal reported in May 2019 that the military had worked to obscure the USS John S. McCain ahead of President Donald Trump’s visit to a neighboring ship in Japan. It was a decision that apparently stemmed from Trump’s feuds with the decorated war hero and late senator, who was added as a namesake for the ship initially named for his father and grandfather. But the senator had died just nine months prior, rendering the effort particularly bizarre.

    The Navy did what it could to keep the loser from seeing that name. I guess they feared that the little boy might throw a tantrum.

    Jim Miller (85fd03)

  78. Trump is a toddler, in essence. And one of the frustrating things about Trumpism is that it’s leading many people to argue, and perhaps to believe, that behaving like a toddler is *preferable* to behaving like an adult.

    aphrael (4c4719)

  79. I think preventing Russia from conquering its neighbors, demonstrating that the US will oppose wars of conquest, and weaning a hostile authoritarian leader is in our interests. So long as we’re just providing weapons I support the policy.

    Not saying I want us troops fighting in Ukraine.

    Time123 (178599)

  80. Time123, in the world where Putin uses tactical nukes in Ukraine, how should the US respond?

    aphrael (4c4719)

  81. I wouldn’t say preferable, aphrael 79, but acceptable. That is even more disturbing to me. The former is about acting in a way that impresses your supporters. The latter is acting in a way that society condones. At this point, society accepts Trump and his imitators’/supporters’ behavior.

    DRJ (12d455)

  82. @79. Let’s ask Jackie.

    “Jackie, are you here? Where’s Jackie? She must not be here.” – Squinty McOuijaboard

    She’s lunching with Queen Elizabeth II and Beau, Joe; the soup is getting cold, too, but they’ve saved you a seat. Ice cream for dessert!

    DCSCA (f582af)

  83. The constant talk in the US Press by Biden about “Putin threatening to us Nukes” and NATO retaliating, is rather disturbing. what is the purpose of it? The same message can be sent behind the scenes and directly between leaders.

    Yep.

    We’re not dealing with diplo-pros w/seasoned backchannel links nor savvy reporters these days, who seek camera face time for career advance rather than cultivating sources. The the box checking in the media and the government has cut deep and burned a lot of bridges. It’s amateur hour. Hell, several years ago when another forgotten ‘crisis’ befell the Bush administration, the lovely and talented Dana Perino, then Dubya’s press babelette, was asked about the seriousness of the situation by a reporter who compared it to the Cuban Missile Crisis and Perino’s stunningly ignorant response was, ‘What Cuban Missile Crisis?’ Gobsmacking. And she was schooled in the moment.

    These clowns now would do well to review earlier scenarios managed by pros who know an essential element of the de-escalation strategy is to always give your adversary an out rather than champion humiliation.

    DCSCA (f582af)

  84. Who came up with the concept of “exit strategy”? It’s a BS term.

    BS? See 60 years ago for details and learn something; for starters, it’s why you aren’t glowing in the dark today.

    DCSCA (f582af)

  85. Special ISW Report: Assessing Putin’s Implicit Nuclear Threats After Annexation
    ……..
    Putin is attempting to force Kyiv to the negotiating table by annexing Russian-occupied territory and threatening nuclear use. He is following the trajectory that ISW forecasted he might on May 13. As ISW wrote at the time:

    “A Russian annexation would seek to present Kyiv with a fait accompli that precludes negotiations on territorial boundaries even for a ceasefire by asserting that Russia will not discuss the status of (illegally annexed through military conquest) Russian territory—the argument the Kremlin has used regarding Crimea since 2014.”

    Predictably, Putin demanded that Ukraine return to negotiations in his September 30 speech announcing annexation and precluded any discussion of returning illegally annexed Ukrainian territory to Kyiv’s control:…….

    Putin’s call for negotiations and implicit nuclear threats are aimed at both Ukraine and the West; he likely incorrectly assesses that his nuclear brinksmanship will lead the United States and its allies to pressure Ukraine to negotiate. ……..

    ………Putin’s stated red lines for nuclear weapon use have already been crossed in this war several times over without any Russian nuclear escalation. Reported Ukrainian cross-border raids into Belgorod Oblast and strikes against Russian-occupied Crimea could arguably meet the stated Russian nuclear use threshold of “aggression against the Russian Federation with the use of conventional weapons when the very existence of the state is in jeopardy.”……..

    Putin has set in motion two major means short of nuclear use through which he will try to achieve his objectives: partial mobilization to replace Russian losses, and wintertime energy pressures on Europe to deter European support. …… He is unlikely to succeed (on either count)……

    Putin would likely need to use multiple tactical nuclear weapons in Ukraine to achieve his desired operational effect—freezing the front lines and halting Ukrainian counteroffensives. But the operational effect would need to outweigh the potentially very high costs of possible NATO retaliation. …….Putin is therefore far more likely to use nuclear weapons to change the operational environment, if he uses them at all. We assess Putin has two main tactical nuclear weapon use options: striking key Ukrainian ground lines of communication nodes and command centers to paralyze Ukrainian offensive operations, and/or striking major Ukrainian force concentrations near the line of contact. A single nuclear weapon would not be decisive against either of these target sets. ……

    Russian nuclear use would therefore be a massive gamble for limited gains that would not achieve Putin’s stated war aims. At best, Russian nuclear use would freeze the front lines in their current positions and enable the Kremlin to preserve its currently occupied territory in Ukraine. ……. Russian military doctrine calls for the Russian Armed Forces to be able to effectively fight on a nuclear battlefield, and the “correct” doctrinal use of tactical nuclear weapons would involve tactical nuclear strikes to punch holes in Ukrainian lines, enabling Russian mechanized units to conduct an immediate attack through the targeted area and drive deep into Ukrainian rear areas…….
    ………..

    Rip Murdock (d2a2a8)

  86. I think preventing Russia from conquering its neighbors, demonstrating that the US will oppose wars of conquest, and weaning a hostile authoritarian leader is in our interests. So long as we’re just providing weapons I support the policy.

    This is a European problem to manage and finance. The largest/powerful military in Europe is France. This is not an American problem to deal with; Florida, the Carolinas and Puerto Rico are.

    DCSCA (f582af)

  87. @86. Why thank you, Jack.

    “I can no longer sit back and allow Communist infiltration, Communist indoctrination, Communist subversion and the international Communist conspiracy to sap and impurify all of our precious bodily fluids.” – Brig. General Jack D. Ripper [Sterling Hayden] ‘Dr. Strangelove’ 1964

    DCSCA (f582af)

  88. @75. Not gonna happen. Kissinger projected how this is all going to eventually settle out. The exit strategy is some form of partition. And you know who’ll move in to rebuild the rubble? Halliburton, subsidiary contractors of same and any Euro infrastructure firms just waiting for the dust to settle. War is good business.

    DCSCA (f582af)

  89. Trump on McCain:

    “He’s not a war hero. He’s a war hero because he was captured. I like people that weren’t captured.”

    Totally unsurprising and believable that he’d make a stink about the U.S.S. John S. McCain.

    Dana (1225fc)

  90. @ aphrael,

    And one of the frustrating things about Trumpism is that it’s leading many people to argue, and perhaps to believe, that behaving like a toddler is *preferable* to behaving like an adult.

    I believe that ship has sailed. So far, in fact, that acting like Trump is now a litmus test for the MAGA lawmakers and MAGA politicians currently running in the midterms. It’s not only how they garner Trump’s endorsement, but it’s also how they keep the MAGA voters in their camp. Unfortunately, that “toddler” behavior includes throwing tantrums and hissy fits, maintaining indignant anger toward those who oppose you and/or will rig your election, blaming everyone else for everything else, and disseminating false information lying about the 2020 election.

    Dana (1225fc)

  91. I have listened to a lot of people who oppose our support of the Ukrainians against the Russians. I can identify two main groups: The neo-Nazis and the neo-Soviets. The neo-Nazis call our support of Ukraine a “proxy war”. The neo-Soviets call Putin’s invasion a “civil war”.

    nk (d76da1)

  92. Okay, Jim Miller, the Breen one was too subtle for me…were they searching for classified docs and coming up empty? I like the second one, and it reminds me that if Trump believes that he can declassify docs with his mind, then it would stand to reason that he could also classify docs with his mind. Imagine if either of these ridiculous thoughts were true: national security would be one helluva big joke!

    Dana (1225fc)

  93. @90. Thing is, it’s essentially a correct though clearly caustic comment with the bark off.

    Consider what JFK said back in the day when question about his ‘heroism’:

    ‘When John F. Kennedy was asked about what he did to become a hero in the Pacific War in 1943, he responded by saying, “It was involuntary. They sank my boat.”

    https://www.military.com/history/john-f-kennedy-became-wwii-hero-after-swimming-ten-sailors-safety.html#:~:text=When%20John%20F.%20Kennedy%20was%20asked%20about%20what,whether%20or%20not%20the%20Japanese%20sank%20his%20boat.

    DCSCA (f582af)

  94. @92. Your hearing needs checked; it’s covered under Obamacare.

    DCSCA (f582af)

  95. Here’s a little collection of Republicans who are backing Russia – whether by saying the quiet part out loud, or nimbly implying it.

    Dana (1225fc)

  96. Tucker wasn’t shy about it:

    “I think we should probably take the side of Russia, if we have to choose between Russia and Ukraine.”

    Dana (1225fc)

  97. Two new additions to the Russia/Ukraine post (2nd news item).

    Dana (1225fc)

  98. Dana – The Breen cartoon took me a little while to get, too, but then I looked at the outline the dogs were making.

    Jim Miller (85fd03)

  99. Regarding Putin’s comment about our nuclear “precedent”.

    The nuclear attacks at Hiroshima and Nagasaki were so horrific that they created not a precedent but a 77-year taboo. The Kremlin should not be eager to break it.

    If Putin is stupid enough to drop a “tactical” nuke (which would achieve hardly any tactical objectives) or a strategic nuke that will murder an untold number of civilians, I don’t believe we should respond in kind. The more important response will come from the other major nations, especially the Xi regime and India, but the main objective should be to isolate Putin, make him pay an even higher economic price, and arm Ukraine to the teeth.

    I still think it’s unlikely he’ll go that route, and I hope I’m right. He was KGB during the Cold War era, and he’s thoroughly versed in MAD and Article 5 of NATO

    Paul Montagu (753b42)

  100. @96. Consider the source:

    The Republican Accountability Project [formally named Republican Voters Against Trump] was launched in May 2020 by Defending Democracy Together for the 2020 U.S. presidential election cycle. The project was formed to produce a US$10 million advertising campaign focused on 100 testimonials by Republicans, conservatives, moderates, right-leaning independent voters, and former Trump voters explaining why they would not vote for Donald Trump in 2020. By August 2020, they had collected 500 testimonials. On January 29, 2021, it transitioned to the Republican Accountability Project (RAP), which focuses on defending “Republican principles”, and attacking Republicans whom they hold responsible for the 2021 storming of the United States Capitol.

    Organizers included Republican political strategist Sarah Longwell, conservative writer Bill Kristol, GOP strategist Mike Murphy, and former Jeb Bush aide Tim Miller. (Republicans for the Rule of Law is the principal initiative of the conservative, anti-Donald Trump political group Defending Democracy Together, founded by Bill Kristol, Mona Charen, Linda Chavez, Sarah Longwell, and Andy Zwick in 2019.) The project, a 501(c) (social welfare) group, created an advertising campaign to pressure Republican members of Congress to “demand the facts” about the Trump-Ukraine scandal during the impeachment inquiry against Donald Trump.

    These are the same elitist, NeverTrumper ideologues thrown out of favor by the rank and file members of the now populiat GOP. Members who quilled that NeverTrump National Review issue back in the day.

    The Philadelphia Inquirer said the group was “waging guerrilla warfare within the GOP”. Washington Post columnist Jennifer Rubin called the pieces “some of the best pro-Biden ads”.

    So thank these ideological fleas brushed out of the tail that no longer wags the dog for the Hell that is Squinty McStumblebum.

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

    DCSCA (f582af)

  101. That’s not possible but you could form a new organization that excluded Russia and China and some others, like I think John McCain once bruited about.

    Why not? They are NOT an original member. Give their seat to India.

    Kevin M (eeb9e9)

  102. I find this improbable. I assume that unless there are specific agreements around it most spouses discuss the details of their activities with each other.

    As in “For the Love of God, woman, don’t tell me about your political activities!”

    Kevin M (eeb9e9)

  103. I’m aware. It *sucks* to have to move away from where your life is. But at the same time, it makes no sense for us societally to continually reinvest in rebuilding in places that are this vulnerable. At some point we have to say it isn’t worth it.

    Gonna be tough when Newport Beach goes. The peninsula floods during extreme high tide. Add a meter to the sea level and oops. Of course, half of Florida is like that.

    Kevin M (eeb9e9)

  104. Is this the Trump’s Greatest Hits thread?

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  105. Yes. And the net effect of global warming and sea level rise will be that we either abandon those spaces or put an increasingly-large-over-time percentage of our GDP into maintaining them.

    Imagine Holland. Neal Stephenson wrote a book about fighting global warming about 20 years from now (“Termination Shock”). Not his best book, but some interesting viewpoints.

    Kevin M (eeb9e9)

  106. …….In August, Judge Groh said Diana Toebbe’s agreement was outside the federal sentencing guidelines, which set stiff prison terms for the mishandling of restricted data covering nuclear energy.
    …….
    Prosecutors have not revealed in court the name of the country to which the Toebbes tried to sell nuclear secrets. But people briefed on the investigation have identified that country as Brazil. ……

    “Mishandling”

    Kevin M (eeb9e9)

  107. DCSCA (f582af) — 9/30/2022 @ 6:19 pm

    They said the words, DC, caught on tape. It’s irrelevant who compiled it.

    Paul Montagu (753b42)

  108. If Putin is stupid enough to drop a “tactical” nuke (which would achieve hardly any tactical objectives) or a strategic nuke that will murder an untold number of civilians, I don’t believe we should respond in kind. The more important response will come from the other major nations, especially the Xi regime and India, but the main objective should be to isolate Putin, make him pay an even higher economic price, and arm Ukraine to the teeth.

    The worst possible thing would be to respond in kind, as it opens a door that we do not need to open. We should respond, however. Wiping out the Black Sea fleet, then maybe an amphibious landing in Crimea. But maybe you’re right. We create a coalition that includes NATO, India, China and whoever else has the sense to join, then demand Putin’s resignation and delivery for trial.

    Kevin M (eeb9e9)

  109. I’m keeping an open mind on PM Meloni, and I haven’t seen her act in a “fascist” manner as her alarmist left-wing critics allege. It was interesting to see her nail a left-leaning guy like Macron, which is a point in her favor.

    Paul Montagu (753b42)

  110. War gaming… excellent.

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  111. @108. Pfft. Context is everything; at least w/elected officials.

    Entertaining talking TV heads mean little unless you’re an advertiser buying air time and reaching millions with your message to viewers. Only idiots actually listen to talking heads and load up on salt-laden Swanson TV dinners.

    “I gotta be honest with you, I don’t really care what happens to Ukraine one way or the other.” – JD Vance, Senatoral candidate

    God bless him.

    “Remember that Zelenskyy is a thug. Remember that the Ukrainian government is incredibly corrupt and it is incredibly evil and has been pushing woke ideologies.” – Madison Cawthorn

    Who? Bugs Moran??? Yep. Let’s give him $13 billion more and let Florida, Puerto Rico and the Carolinas founder. =sarc=

    “I’m more concerned with the US-Mexico border than the Russia-Ukraine border. Not sorry.” -Matt Gaetz Yep– though traffiking underage girls across the southern border is easier these days thanks to Squinty, right Matt? 😉

    Those ideologues can try but the likes of Kristol, Charen, Murphy and crew are donew. Now they’ll hqve to go get a real job.

    Yep. The old banking adage is ‘pay yourself first.’ Not giving a damn or a dime to corrupt Ukraine is hardly ‘pro-Putin’ but as pro American as it comes. Sell war bonds; make your case for ‘freedom’ about a corrupt Ukraine that won’t even let men between the ages of 18 and 65 leave for starters Piss on them; FLORIDA FIRST!

    DCSCA (f582af)

  112. Thanks, Jim Miller. Now I’m wondering how I didn’t get it in the first place. Too subtle and clever for me, I guess.

    Dana (1225fc)

  113. If Putin is stupid enough to drop a “tactical” nuke (which would achieve hardly any tactical objectives) or a strategic nuke that will murder an untold number of civilians, I don’t believe we should respond in kind. The more important response will come from the other major nations, especially the Xi regime and India, but the main objective should be to isolate Putin, make him pay an even higher economic price, and arm Ukraine to the teeth.

    He’s not stupid. Desperate perhaps, but not stupid. And from a purely strategic POV his annexation was a very clever move given Russian government and nuclear policy — and it has Squinty with NATO in tow again being reactive rather than proactive. Though he did say in February he’d nail the pipeline. [He said it Paul- it’s caught on tape. 😉 ]

    DCSCA (f582af)

  114. The Economist reported on a fascinating study that compares reported GDP to the growth in the brightness of a country’s lights, using satellite measurements, and serves as a measure of country’s accuracy in reporting GDP growth.

    Benito mussolini was a tyrant, but at least he made the trains run on time. Or so the story goes. Dictators are often seen as ruthless but effective. Official gdp figures support this view. Since 2002 average reported economic growth in autocracies has been twice as fast as in democracies.

    But in fact, Mussolini’s trains often ran late—and dictators’ economic stewardship may not be as effective as they claim. New research finds that autocrats greatly overstate their countries’ economic growth.

    In a peer-reviewed article that will be published this month, Luis Martinez, an economist, investigated dictators’ gdp-growth figures. To do so, he first obtained data on the brightness of countries’ lights at night, as measured by satellites, a well-known proxy for gdp. He combined it with data from Freedom House, a think-tank, on countries’ political systems. Assuming that the most democratic countries reported growth figures accurately, he then used the satellite data to estimate if other countries under- or over-stated theirs.

    The data showed that dictators’ reported gdp tended to grow much faster than satellite images of their countries would suggest. This could not be explained by their economies being based on different industries from other countries, or that people there had lower average incomes.

    Curious patterns in the data suggest manipulation as the cause. Mr Martinez found that the mismatch between satellite and gdp data did not appear in dictatorships until they were too rich to receive some types of aid: only showing up when governments would not forfeit money. The irregularities were most prevalent in the parts of gdp figures that are easiest to manipulate such as investment and government spending, and was bigger when these countries’ growth was low compared with others’. And as countries moved towards or away from dictatorship, their numbers grew more or less suspicious.

    Paul Montagu (753b42)

  115. On the cartoon: I just thought “what are the dogs focused on?” and then my attention shifted to the white space. And I’m boasting, because it didn’t take me very long.

    Radegunda (5d8be6)

  116. More on Iran Protests:

    Iran Crisis Update, September 30
    …….
    The ongoing, anti-regime protests occurred in at least 10 Iranian cities in eight provinces and were especially violent in southeastern Sistan and Baluchistan Province on September 30.

    This is a moderate-to-high-confidence assessment. Iranian social media users documented unrest in:
    ……..
    Violent clashes between protestors and Iranian security personnel erupted in Zahedan City, killing a senior provincial IRGC intelligence official.

    Social media users circulated footage purportedly of Iranian security forces firing live ammunition at protestors and flying helicopters around Zahedan. (The Critical Threats Project (CTP) at the American Enterprise Institute) cannot verify the authenticity of this footage or the social media claims that the helicopters included Cobra attack aircraft. A provincial official and Iranian media outlets later corroborated reports of unrest and claimed that unidentified assailants damaged local security infrastructure and killed at least 19 Zahedan residents, one of whom was a senior provincial IRGC intelligence official. An independent cybersecurity watchdog organization announced severe internet disruptions in the vicinity of Zahedan as the regime likely seeks to impede further regional protest coordination and organization.

    The regime reports that it has arrested over a thousand Iranian civilians since protests began on September 16. …….

    Iranian truckers have gone on strike, and their strikes could expand in the coming days.
    ………
    Unverified reports of dissent within the regime are circulating online.

    Persian-language media outlet Zeitoon published a statement allegedly from students and teachers at the Tehran, Mashhad, and Qom seminaries on September 30, condemning Khamenei and the regime crackdown on the ongoing, anti-regime protests………

    A statement appeared on the IRGC-affiliated Fars News Agency website allegedly from its employees on September 30, expressing support for the protests and condemning the regime. The statement claimed that the regime has arrested 23,000 people and that 423 people have died in the protests. The statement also called on the Artesh—Iran’s conventional military—to support the protests. Fars News Agency removed the statement from its website shortly after its publication. It is unclear whether the statement came from its employees or hackers, although Fars News did not claim that its site had been hacked.
    ………
    Armed Forces General Staff Chief Major General Mohammad Bagheri, the most senior military official in Iran, threatened to attack the US on September 30.
    …….
    Solidarity protests against the Iranian regime occurred in Afghanistan, Iraq, Iraqi Kurdistan, and Turkey on September 29-30.
    ………

    Footnotes omitted. Bold headings in original.

    Rip Murdock (288136)

  117. New research finds that autocrats greatly overstate their countries’ economic growth.

    Volkswagens, autobahns, jet fighters, cruise missiles and ballistic rockets aside. 😉

    DCSCA (f582af)

  118. #113 Dana, well, I’d give you a pretty high grade overall, so you shouldn’t let one miss bother you. (And I grew up before the days of grade inflation.)

    Here’s a “grook” from Piet Hein:

    The road to wisdom? — Well, it’s plain
    and simple to express:
    Err
    and err
    and err again
    but less
    and less
    and less.

    Good advice, and I like to think I follow it, occasionally.

    Jim Miller (85fd03)

  119. 119,

    Same here. And thanks!

    Dana (1225fc)

  120. Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, September 30
    ……..
    Ukrainian Counteroffensives-Eastern Ukraine

    Ukrainian forces will likely capture or encircle Lyman within the next 72 hours. Russian forces continued to withdraw from positions around Lyman on September 30 as Ukrainian forces continued to envelop Russian troops in the area. The Donetsk People’s Republic (DNR) officials and Russian war correspondents stated that Russian forces still control Lyman but have withdrawn from their positions in Drobysheve (around 6km northwest of Lyman) and Yampil (about 13km southeast of Lyman). Russian sources claimed that Russian forces still control one road from Lyman to Torske, while Ukrainian forces have cut off the Drobysheve-Torske road in the Stavky area.

    Russian sources also noted the increasing activity of Ukrainian reconnaissance and sabotage groups on the Svatove-Torske highway northeast of Lyman after reportedly crossing the Zherebets River. Geolocated footage also showed Ukrainian artillery striking withdrawing Russian forces near Torske.

    Some Russian milbloggers claimed that Ukrainian forces have crossed the Siverskyi Donets River in Dronivka and are now operating in the forests south of Kreminna. Russian sources uniformly noted that Ukrainian artillery continues to interdict Russian forces’ single remaining egress route on the Kreminna-Torske road.

    Russian sources claimed that Russian forces are bringing additional reserves to reinforce Russian positions near Lyman, but some milbloggers criticized the Russian military command for failing to learn from its mistakes in Kharkiv Oblast. DNR Head Denis Pushilin claimed that Russian forces continued to deploy additional reserves to hold Lyman on September 30. Russian milbloggers also reported that Russian forces deployed elements of the 503rd Guards Motorized Rifle Regiment of the 58th Combined Arms Army near Torske in an effort to break the encirclement in the area, noting that the unit is at least in part composed of newly-mobilized men.

    Other milbloggers noted that elements of the Western and Central Military districts (WMD and CMD) are operating in the Lyman area alongside the Russian proxy republic units. Many milbloggers claimed that the Russian withdrawal from Lyman resembles the chaotic retreat from Balakliya, Kharkiv Oblast, in its poor coordination and lack of artillery support.

    Others stated that the Russian military command did not send necessary reinforcements and are instead firing rockets at Mykolaiv Oblast rather than helping the defense of Lyman. The Russian Ministry of Defense (MoD) only reported striking Ukrainian forces north of Lyman in Ridkodub and did not mention striking Ukrainian forces to the west, east, or south of Lyman.
    ……….
    Ukrainian forces continued to strike Russian military targets in Luhansk Oblast on September 30. Geolocated footage showed the aftermath of Ukrainian reported HIMARS strikes on a television tower and a radio repeater in Starobilsk and at the asphalt plant near Alchevsk that reportedly housed Russian forces.
    ……..

    Paragraph breaks added. Footnotes omitted.

    Rip Murdock (288136)

  121. Here’s a little collection of Republicans who are backing Russia – whether by saying the quiet part out loud, or nimbly implying it.
    Dana (1225fc) — 9/30/2022 @ 5:49 pm

    ridiculous

    most of the quotes have nothing to do with “backing russia”, and it’s a complete misrepresentation to claim otherwise

    is an acknowledgment that the administration cares more about Ukraine’s border than ours a case of “backing russia”?

    or, that ukraine has no strategic value to us and isn’t a member of nato is “backing russia”?

    but that it’s the Republican Accountability Project says it all, a hack organization that is less about backing ukraine than about backing democrats

    JF (98c18a)

  122. Trump’s latest “truth” calls McConnell’s Taiwan-born wife “Coco Chow”?

    Can I get a ruling here? How is that not racist?

    What about McConnell, that he “has a DEATH WISH”?

    Paul Montagu (753b42)

  123. Is this the Trump’s Greatest Hits thread?
    Colonel Haiku (2601c0) — 9/30/2022 @ 6:31 pm

    LOL Trump is the opiate of the commentariat

    JF (638eb8)

  124. Feds seek to fast-track appeal in Trump Mar-a-Lago documents fight
    ……..
    ……..Justice Department officials said the continued blockade on non-classified materials had slowed investigators’ efforts to determine how some of the classified records were transferred to Mar-a-Lago and whether any of them were improperly accessed.

    “The government is … unable to examine records that were commingled with materials bearing classification markings, including records that may shed light on, for example, how the materials bearing classification markings were transferred to Plaintiff’s residence, how they were stored, and who may have accessed them,” DOJ officials, including counterintelligence chief Jay Bratt, wrote in the filing with the Atlanta-based 11th Circuit Court of Appeals. “The records not marked as classified may also constitute evidence of potential [obstruction] and [concealment or removal of government records].”
    ……..
    “Based on the district court’s orders thus far, the government is barred from accessing all of the materials except those with classification markings recovered in August pursuant to a lawful search warrant — and it may continue to be barred from doing so until mid-December or later,” the officials wrote as they asked the appeals court to weigh in promptly on the legal issues, including Trump’s claims of executive privilege.

    “Absent such resolution by this Court, the special master proceedings could result in prolonged litigation, including through seriatim appeals to the district court from reports and recommendations and other rulings issued by the special master,” the prosecutors wrote.
    ……..

    Rip Murdock (288136)

  125. The Wild Ones
    …….
    (Tucker) Carlson didn’t just attend (the funeral for Sonny Barger, head of the Hell’s Angels motorcycle gang). He addressed the crowd of bikers and reportedly became emotional. He paraphrased a letter Sonny Barger had sent to his wife and friends: “’Stand tall, stay loyal, remain free, and always value honor.’ … And I thought to myself, if there is a phrase that sums up more perfectly what I want to be, what I aspire to be, and the kind of man I respect, I can’t think of a phrase that sums it up more perfectly than that.”

    The kind of man he respects did multiple stints in prison, once for plotting to bomb the headquarters of a rival biker gang, and was charged with numerous other crimes, including murder. …….They’re outlaws and they’re not ashamed of it. To the contrary.
    …….
    But I suspect there was a point to his attendance beyond the visceral thrill a member of the privileged class inevitably receives from fraternizing with roughnecks and radicals. (Tom Wolfe fans will have already thought of “Radical Chic,” with Tucker in the Leonard Bernstein role.) The point, I take it, was to associate himself with the spirit of rebellion against social norms that the Angels symbolize in the popular consciousness.
    ……..
    One wonders how long it’ll be before the Angels are hired to provide “security” at CPAC.

    The cardinal virtue of modern conservative populism is spite. Whatever gambit a populist is pursuing, whatever agenda he or she might be advancing, the more it offends the enemy the more likely it is to be received by the right adoringly. ……. That’s more important than thoughtful policy solutions.

    Spite is there, too, in Carlson’s photo op with the Angels. Establishmentarians of either party wouldn’t be caught dead at a rally of outlaw bikers. “Suckers” like me were destined to scold him for his appearance once the photos appeared online, and he knew it. …….
    ……..
    As Trumpism has somewhat but not entirely dislodged the conservatism of Reagan, the right has been left with an identity crisis. …….
    A party that can’t decide what it wants on policy can at least converge on the belief that the libs are bad and that whatever irritates them must have value. So spite has become the glue that holds together an uneasy coalition of classical liberals, nationalists, country clubbers, hawks, and social cons. And it’s no wonder that Trump has become its indispensable figure, as he relishes combat with his political enemies for its own sake…….
    ……..
    Carlson understands that convincing the right to ditch traditional conservatism for illiberalism requires uninstalling a lot of civic and cultural software. Republicans who grew up during the Cold War have fear and loathing of Russia in their political DNA. Republicans have traditionally trended toward interventionism, seeing strength in military power and weakness in Democrats’ hesitancy to use it. Republicans instinctively sympathize with Ukraine as an underdog and a fledgling democracy fighting to oust a colonial power.

    Nationalists will never build the sort of post-liberal authoritarian system they want as long as those beliefs persist, so Carlson has made a mission of challenging them…….
    ………

    Rip Murdock (288136)

  126. 3rd item student loans. You answered the puzzle in your next statement progressives were caught off guard. The battle for control of the democrat party for 2024 is heating up between AOC and the left vs the donor class and corporate establishment with the minorities (mostly older black women in the south) watching the fight for the soul of the democrat party.

    asset (8688a4)

  127. JF (98c18a) — 9/30/2022 @ 8:53 pm

    Is this now-deleted CPAC tweet pro-Russia enough for you? If not, don’t let me stop you from arguing that calling the land annexed by Putin “Ukrainian-occupied territories” is just Matt Schlapp’s way of objecting to the Green New Deal.

    lurker (cd7cd4)

  128. Never foeget- this is the corrupt regime FREE American money is financing:

    Ukraine bans all male citizens ages 18 to 60 from leaving the country

    https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2022/02/25/russia-invasion-ukraine-bans-male-citizens-leaving/6936471001/

    DCSCA (341eaf)

  129. How about DeSantis spending $12 million of Florida’s taxpayers’ money to fly Texas illegals to Massachusetts instead of using it for hurricane relief in Florida?

    nk (2a013e)

  130. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11266921/Law-student-groups-Berkeley-amend-bylaws-develop-Jewish-free-zones.html

    Actual Nazi behavior coming from California’s institutions of indoctrination. But keep ignoring the culture as so many continue to attack Republicans.

    NJRob (eb56c3)

  131. Haiku,

    it’s sad.

    NJRob (eb56c3)

  132. https://www.foxnews.com/politics/fbi-allegedly-engaging-purge-conservative-employees-retaliating-against-whistleblowers-jim-jordan

    he FBI is allegedly engaging in a “purge” of employees with conservative viewpoints and retaliating against whistleblowers who have made protected disclosures to Congress by revoking security clearances, the top Republican on the House Judiciary Committee Rep. Jim Jordan told Fox News Digital.

    Jordan, R-Ohio, said that more than a dozen FBI whistleblowers have come to him and Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee with allegations of misconduct within the FBI.

    Jordan and Republicans have been investigating “serious allegations of abuse and misconduct within the senior leadership of the Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.”

    Jordan, in a letter exclusively obtained by Fox News Digital, and written to FBI executive assistant director of the Human Resources branch Jennifer Moore, the congressman says he has received information of retaliation against FBI employees who have confidentially reported alleged misconduct to Congress.

    While people ignore what our current government is doing to ensure ideological purity.

    NJRob (eb56c3)

  133. JF: “LOL Trump is the opiate of the commentariat”

    My first instinct was to analogize JF to an abused wife who submissively and routinely comes back for more, but then I realized that I was just getting lured into his black hole of incivility. And I want no part of JF’s massive black hole, thank you very much.

    But in its tediousness, JF’s lament did make me wonder not just how we got to a point where so many good people remain enthralled for Trump’s Barnum circus, but what exactly will it take to persuade them back to normalcy. I like AllahNick’s articles because he clinically analyzes dynamics from multiple angles and lets logic drive his conclusions. But he never outlines the long slog back to normalcy.

    Patterico, the Dispatch, and AllahNick are therapeutic. Normal people can get together and agree that they’re not crazy, the emperor is in fact naked, and a lot of Republicans have lost their collective minds. And interlopers will invariably intrude upon therapy to announce their bursting schadenfreude, like a drunk tumbling into an AA meeting. Of course DCCCP and JF won’t pay to do it at TD, and it’s probably why patterico now regularly comments there and not here. Hmmmm, not that I’m blaming him.

    But, the question persists as to what to do. Today’s GOP is just a bumper car careening off of obstacles. No real direction except for collisions. Long-term friend or foe, it doesn’t matter. The object is the exhiliration of collision….and the performative theater of both side’s reaction. Weeeeeeee.

    I suppose the answer remains elections….provided we still decide to have them….and having enough clowns lose or win and beclown themselves. It’s excruciatingly slow, messy, agonizing, frustrating and irritating….but it’s better than violence…I suppose.

    So I now rather analogize JF to an intruder alert system. His reaction indicates that there is still an opposition out there. Dare we call it a counter-rebellion? His prickly irritation means the patient still has a heart beat. And for now, that will have to be enough….

    AJ_Liberty (242c56)

  134. https://www.newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/alex-christy/2022/09/30/pbs-suggests-desantis-republicans-blame-hurricanes

    And then there’s the constant push on the left for using weather as the excuse to control even more of our economy and lives in the name of “climate change.”

    So many would rather talk about nonsense though.

    NJRob (eb56c3)

  135. You must understand that the chief and foremost characteristic of a Trump supporter is projection. The mere thought of Trump sends them to Nirvana, so how could it possibly be otherwise for the rest of us? As undeserving as we might be?

    nk (2a013e)

  136. https://www.express.co.uk/news/politics/1676190/Joe-Biden-pound-plummeted-liz-truss-economic-plan-uk-us-tensions-update

    Biden publicly attacks sovereign nation for engaging in conservative economic policies.

    But keep focusing on the shiny object.

    NJRob (eb56c3)

  137. That was DC’s Saturday edition of blaming the victim and absolving the bully and apologizing for the bully’s evil.

    Paul Montagu (753b42)

  138. You must understand that the chief and foremost characteristic of a Trump supporter is projection. The mere thought of Trump sends them to Nirvana, so how could it possibly be otherwise for the rest of us? As undeserving as we might be?

    Well NK get us someone who has the balls to cut regulations, cut taxes, drill drill drill, expand the military and appoint real judges then…..

    I understand your frustration, Trumps a first class jerk, but his policies were gold

    EPWJ (650a62)

  139. Meh! If I had been President, I would have cut more regulations and more taxes, drilled more, tripled the military, and my judges would have been the envy of Solomon.

    nk (99858d)

  140. And we would not have an illegal alien problem, either, because in a genius move I would have annexed Ontario and Chihuahua and settled all the undocumented there.

    nk (99858d)

  141. The Trump his supporters imagine does not exist. He is a dream in their minds. A projection of their hopes and fears. A cloud of smoke. A balloon covered in glitter.

    nk (99858d)

  142. The indomitable Ms. Young.

    Putin’s “crazy grandpa” rant today concluded with a quote from Ivan Ilyin, a Russian emigre philosopher who was quite literally an ideologue of Russian fascism.

    Paul Montagu (753b42)

  143. Lyman has been reclaimed by the Ukrainian freedom fighters. It was only a matter of time after all the roads out of town were cut off. Slava Ukraini!

    And this is already confirmed also by Russian militant channels (“Whatever promises there were to send us reinforcements never materialized”. So Lyman is in Ukrainian hands.

    Paul Montagu (753b42)

  144. Any comment on Newsome’s shutting down free speech for CA physicians citing alleged ‘Covid misinformation’?

    https://www.msn.com/en-us/health/health-news/critics-denounce-california-bill-punishing-doctors-who-spread-covid-misinformation/ar-AA11zFIj

    Strangely, it’s the ‘misinformation’ that turned out to be mostly true.

    Obudman (a1c23a)

  145. 134… Do better.

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  146. Putin wanted to hold the line in Lyman, a key rail hub, and refused to allow his soldiers to retreat, resulting in an unnecessary 1,000± dead Russians and Russian-friendlies. The thread is informative, especially the map and a comment from a Russian milblogger.

    Paul Montagu (753b42)

  147. The Trump his supporters imagine does not exist. He is a dream in their minds.

    True, but after that clown Reagan, and the meltiest Bushies, Trump fed on the need of the electorate – he could again, but IDK he’s so pissed right now

    EPWJ (650a62)

  148. The long, dark days of the Mariners being out of playoffs are finally over, clinching a wildcard berth, the first post-season in 21 years, via walk-off homerun at our T-Mobile Park.
    It didn’t hurt that, just weeks ago, we locked up budding superstar Julio Rodriguez and #1 starter Luis Castillo to long-term deals.

    Paul Montagu (753b42)

  149. In more ordinary parlance, the DOJ is saying, “C’mon 11th Circuit, you already busted her once for abusing her discretionary powers, and now she’s pulling this? Please, fast-track this appeal and get this hyperpartisan shill out of the picture.”

    Paul Montagu (753b42)

  150. Russian Media Watch:

    Julia Davis
    @JuliaDavisNews
    Meanwhile in Russia: every state TV program is feasting on Tucker Carlson’s accusations that the Biden administration is somehow involved in causing the Nord Stream damage. Military expert loved Tucker’s idea about cutting undersea internet cables & said, “Sure, why not?” Watch:

    8:32 PM · Sep 28, 2022 Twitter Web App

    Julia Davis
    @JuliaDavisNews
    The mood of Russia’s top propagandist, Vladimir Solovyov in this clip can be summed up as “Hello darkness, my old friend.” He demands some victories and complains that people are running away from Russia. He also sighs. A lot.
    Watch:

    11:19 AM · Sep 29, 2022 Twitter Web App

    Rip Murdock (288136)

  151. Bad Timing……

    ……..
    The Kremlin’s decision to call up more than 300,000 soldiers will require new funds to equip, train and pay the new reinforcements, analysts said. It has also spread disruption among Russia’s private businesses, which face a fresh challenge as workers report for duty or flee the country.

    And it is happening as the windfall from soaring energy prices—Russia’s main economic strength—appears to have peaked. Russia’s federal government budget was in deficit last month because of diminished energy revenue. That was before the latest leg down in prices for oil and before Moscow shut down most of its remaining natural-gas flows to Europe.
    ……..
    While there is no evidence of an imminent economic collapse, business owners and investors inside the country reacted with dread to the news of the mobilization. Activists and analysts said Mr. Putin’s order opens the door to a much larger draft. Russia’s stock market, limited mostly to domestic investors, tumbled after the draft announcement.
    ……….
    Russia’s economic problems are partly a boomerang effect of the country’s own policies. High energy prices caused by the war in Ukraine initially created huge revenues for Russia. Around 45% of Russia’s total federal budget revenues came from oil and gas in the first seven months of the year, according to the Institute of International Finance.

    But high energy prices have put a brake on global growth and led to a widespread slowdown in demand for oil. …….
    ……….
    Capital Economics estimates that Russia’s total oil-and-gas export revenues will halve from around $340 billion this year to $170 billion in 2023, a loss equivalent to more than twice Russia’s defense budget last year.
    ………
    “Mobilization is the sword of Damocles now hanging over all Russian households,” said Janis Kluge, an expert on Russia at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs. “This will hurt the optimism of the average Russian consumer.”

    The anxiety has triggered a run for the Russian borders by thousands of fighting-age men, adding to an already sizable brain drain wave earlier in the year.
    ………..

    The mobilization is a double whammy to the Russian economy because you are taking working age men out of the jobs market and essentially putting them on the government dole (Russian conscripts do get paid after all), increasing government spending. With all the other economic problems, wages (and prices) will be increasing due to all those men pulled out of the job market. Sad!

    Related:

    Oil Prices Plummet As Dollar Soars And Global Recession Fears Grow
    ……..
    The price of international benchmark Brent crude slipped below $85 a barrel for the first time since January on Monday morning.
    Brent futures for November slipped more than 1.5% to around $84.51 during early trading, recovering $85.34 at 9.44 a.m. London time.

    West Texas Intermediate (WTI), the U.S. benchmark, dropped as low as $77.22 a barrel early Monday morning—its lowest level since early January—though it recovered and was trading at $78.57 (at) 4:52 a.m. Eastern time.
    ………..

    Rip Murdock (288136)

  152. Not good selling points…….

    Russia’s “Army 2022” arms expo took place again this year, and unlike previous years, hardly anyone noticed. ……
    ………..
    Arms sales to foreign countries are a much needed source of national income. Russia reported $14.6 billion in arms sales in 2021. That’s nothing compared to the $138.2 billion in arms sales the United States reported during the same time period, but defense makes up about the same percentage of exports for both countries. India, China, Algeria, Egypt, and Vietnam are the top consumers of Russian weapons. This year, according to Defense News, Russia made $9 billion in arms sales at the expo, and its forecasted arms sales for 2022 will likely only hit $10.9 billion.

    The Ukraine war has likely undercut Moscow’s arms sales. Russian tanks, ships, and armored vehicles have been regularly exploding on television screens worldwide for months, making them unattractive goods……..
    ……….
    The problem with Russian weapons is that they consistently finish in second place, bested by newer, better, and typically Western-made military equipment. In the Gulf War, U.S. and coalition forces smashed the Soviet-equipped Iraqi Army with few losses of their own. …….
    ………..
    Meanwhile, another arms show was going on at the same time as Army 2022. Ukraine sent a number of captured Russian weapons on a tour of Eastern European cities, especially those that contributed military aid after the invasion, as a thank you for the support and to drum up future aid. The wrecked Russian tanks, artillery, and armored vehicles—their dark green paint burned off by fire and steel hides oxidized to a bright burnt orange—are virtually a before-and-after to the same vehicles on display at Russia’s expo.
    ……….

    Rip Murdock (288136)

  153. “But keep focusing on the shiny object.”

    Hating on Biden is fine, though in the extreme it transforms him into a Machiavellian cartoon rather than a man and a party hamstrung generally by bad guiding assumptions. He is far from evil and he is not busily tearing down institutions and norms for giggles. But that’s Step #1. The real work is Step #2, replacing him with a better individual…..not just a different Machiavellian cartoon.

    The supposedly healthy GOP is SO healthy that most MAGA members can’t imagine another nominee…say with fewer pending criminal investigations, fewer impeachments, fewer intentional trolls, and fewer election steal attempts. Oh, they’ll proudly hold out DeSantis but he’s the poor-man’s mini-me Trump, with at best one measly potential criminal investigation. DeSantis still needs time to become the leader of the party of “law and order”. We need someone who will do and say what we’re thinking….there’s only one of those.

    Now EPWJ ticks off the case for Trump. Much like Reagan except for the fact that Reagan’s accomplishments have survived the test of time. Tax rates did not return to the 70-90% levels, the countries freed from the Soviet Union are still largely free, and the U.S. still has the baddest military and is one of the best places to invest. Trump couldn’t get a lousy wall built, couldn’t keep the Congress, and couldn’t beat a guy past his prime stuck in his basement, and then soiled everything with a tantrum insurrection. His Court is more an accident than anything that required actual political skill and planning. Regulatory legislation is even farther away from being a reality. We prefer to be ruled than governed….a sad change.

    There’s something wrong with Trump and his cast of characters. They don’t want rules, norms, and institutions. They want lavish military parades and the military going off and collecting election boxes….sort of like in those Ukraine provinces. How about you do better….

    AJ_Liberty (242c56)

  154. To those who are upset and complaining/sneering about certain topics not being talked about: This is an open thread, bring up any subject that interests you. So talk about it. Link to it as well. You are free to do so at any time. However, there is no guarantee that others will find it as compelling as you. Them’s the breaks.

    But let’s be very clear: The fact that others may not want to engage is not necessarily a bright, shiny object or we can’t be bothered response. Personally, the silly, smart-ass bright shiny object type digs are off-putting because I know from the get-go that an honest discussion is not going to happen. Instead, it will be little more than regurgitating partisan talking points. But, if you are so convinced of your position on an issue that concerns you, try stimulating discussion with something other than a hyper-partisan premise or put down of those who aren’t taking what is obviously partisan bait. Use logic, persuasive argument, and sound reasoning to present your point of view, and then see what happens.

    Dana (1225fc)

  155. …a lot of Republicans have lost their collective minds

    … said Rocky to Barry.

    Welcome to 1964.

    DCSCA (38f2c4)

  156. Russian Forces Are Withdrawing From Key Ukrainian City in Fresh Setback
    ……..
    The Russian Ministry of Defense wrote on the Telegram messaging platform that troops had been pulled out of Lyman “in connection with the creation of a threat of encirclement” by Ukrainian forces, which have pushed east of the Oskil River this week into the Donetsk region.

    The Ukrainian Ministry of Defense posted a video online of troops putting up a Ukrainian flag in the city. “Ukrainian Air Assault Forces are entering Lyman, Donetsk region. #UAarmy has and will always have the decisive vote in today’s and any future ‘referendums,’” it wrote, in reference to staged public votes that occupation authorities held last month to justify incorporating Donetsk into Russia.
    ……..
    The swift loss of Lyman undermines Mr. Putin’s claims over occupied Ukrainian territory. Ukrainian and Western officials have condemned the declared annexations. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, meanwhile, said on Friday that he would not negotiate with Russia until a new president had taken power.
    ……..
    An adviser to Mr. Zelensky, Mykhailo Podolyak, told an Italian publication that Ukraine would only negotiate with the Kremlin once Russian troops had left Ukrainian territory, including Crimea, which Russia seized in 2014.
    ……..
    In addition, the British Ministry of Defense said on Saturday that Russian forces were likely dealing with munitions shortages, particularly longer-range precision missiles…….

    “Russia is expending strategically valuable military assets in attempts to achieve tactical advantage and in the process is killing civilians it now claims are its own citizens,” the ministry wrote on Twitter.
    ………

    The retreat from Lyman means either Putin isn’t the strategic genius he thinks he is, or his generals have decided to disobey his orders not to withdraw from the battlefield. Either way it’s another humiliation.

    Rip Murdock (288136)

  157. … just how we got to a point where so many good people remain enthralled for Trump’s Barnum circus…

    This is how…. and “you” lapped it up like a kitten devouring a saucer of cream:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vYeNuISN4Dc

    Trump is a Reagan creation;

    He is “you.”

    DCSCA (38f2c4)

  158. ow EPWJ ticks off the case for Trump. Much like Reagan except for the fact that Reagan’s accomplishments have survived the test of time. Tax rates did not return to the 70-90% levels, the countries freed from the Soviet Union are still largely free, and the U.S. still has the baddest military and is one of the best places to invest. Trump couldn’t get a lousy wall built, couldn’t keep the Congress, and couldn’t beat a guy past his prime stuck in his basement, and then soiled everything with a tantrum insurrection. His Court is more an accident than anything that required actual political skill and planning. Regulatory legislation is even farther away from being a reality. We prefer to be ruled than governed….a sad change.

    Reagan had no accomplishments – the tax reform was a Republican Senate initiative – Reagan raised taxes the biggest increase in world history – sure we got rid of some mythical 60% brackets but he signed into place an unlimited ability of social security to tax ans spend, before it was tightly regulated. He wrecked the airline industry, he cancelled and outlawed commercial ship building (we went from the number one producer of steel and ships to less than sweden overnight)

    He opened too many acres to offshore drilling collapsing the oil industry for almost a decade. He appointed total disasters as judges, and it was the Pope, and Poland and East Germany that brought down the wall – the USSR was fading since the late 70’s

    EPWJ (650a62)

  159. @123. Read up on the history of Coco Chanel, Paul.

    DCSCA (38f2c4)

  160. More on Iran Protests:

    We should send Jimmy Carter to talk to the Mullahs.

    Kevin M (eeb9e9)

  161. It’s the “Chow” that’s racist, DC, not the “Coco”, but thank you for the backdoor insult.

    Paul Montagu (753b42)

  162. The Trump his supporters imagine does not exist. He is a dream in their minds. A projection of their hopes and fears. A cloud of smoke. A balloon covered in glitter.

    They see the banana, but get the peel.

    Kevin M (eeb9e9)

  163. “the tax reform was a Republican Senate initiative – Reagan raised taxes the biggest increase in world history”

    So Reagan alone raised taxes and the Senate cut them? Got it. Ludicrous.

    “the Pope, and Poland and East Germany that brought down the wall”

    I hope you’re able to feed yourself today.

    “Trump is a Reagan creation;”

    You too.

    AJ_Liberty (242c56)

  164. In more ordinary parlance, the DOJ is saying, “C’mon 11th Circuit, you already busted her once for abusing her discretionary powers, and now she’s pulling this? Please, fast-track this appeal and get this hyperpartisan shill out of the picture.”

    Cannon is probably a better, more honest judge than the Hawaiian judge(es) who kept blocking Trump’s actions. The 11th Circuit is surely faster at knocking this stuff down than the 9th Circuit ever was for the Hawaii crap.

    Kevin M (eeb9e9)

  165. Reagan had no accomplishments – the tax reform was a Republican Senate initiative – Reagan raised taxes the biggest increase in world history – sure we got rid of some mythical 60% brackets but he signed into place an unlimited ability of social security to tax ans spend, before it was tightly regulated. He wrecked the airline industry, he cancelled and outlawed commercial ship building (we went from the number one producer of steel and ships to less than sweden overnight)

    Every word in this, except “sweden” is wrong, and Sweden should be capitalized.

    Kevin M (eeb9e9)

  166. “Effects of This Tax Cut to Individuals and Businesses
    The tax cut was so huge that it hugely increased the national debt and blew up budget deficits. As a result, with Reagan’s signature, Congress had to undo the tax cut by increasing tax rates from 1982 through 1987 for economic recovery. Shortly after, George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton had to do the same in 1990 and 1993, respectively. It has been learned from this tax history that tax cuts are extremely challenging to sustain and often implies future massive increase in taxes.”

    EPWJ (650a62)

  167. Dana,

    Now do NeverTrump and their constant digs at those who won’t go down the well of only bashing conservatives who don’t turn their back on their beliefs, i.e. God, family and counrtry. See how quickly many have ran from their previous pro-life positions now that it actually matters. See how they attack stalwarts like Cruz and DeSantis while boosting frauds like French and Kristol.

    So have them come again when you want to speak honestly and fairly. But try to do it without calling people racist or cult members.

    NJRob (abde56)

  168. Jimmy Carter pushed the Airline Deregulation Act of 1978 which freed air travel pricing from regulation and specified that the CAB would eventually be disestablished.

    The top tax rate in 1980 was 70%, not 60%, and Reagan tried to bring it down to 28% in one go. The Senate phased in in over a couple of years. Later, they raised it back up in a deal with Reagan for matching spending cuts that never happened. Bob Dole — GOP Senate leader — led the Social Security “reform” that raise FICA taxes (and tripled them on the self-employed) and narrowed the spending to core needs. Before then, SS monies for dependents were more loosely spent.

    Reagan’s actions on Russia were mostly economic. He and Shultz started an “insane arms race” that forced the USSR to spend all its hard currency to keep up, while the US simply borrowed. This, and the Afghan War (ably stoked by US arms to the rebels) broke them. Reagan and Gorbachev set the stage for the Cold War’s end at Reykjavik, with Reagan offering a peaceful end if the USSR would do a couple of things (which Gorbachev did). Events took it further, but to say that Reagan had nothing to do with it is like saying Churchill had nothing to do with Hitler’s end.

    Kevin M (eeb9e9)

  169. Kevin

    Its a fact not fiction that Reagan was a horrible President – one of the worst – He rarely vetoed anything nor in his 2nd term he was too ill to run the country. He was much better than Carter or Clinton but compared to Ike, Nixon or Trump – he sucked

    EPWJ (650a62)

  170. Is this now-deleted CPAC tweet pro-Russia enough for you? If not, don’t let me stop you from arguing that calling the land annexed by Putin “Ukrainian-occupied territories” is just Matt Schlapp’s way of objecting to the Green New Deal.
    lurker (cd7cd4) — 10/1/2022 @ 12:19 am

    whaddabout….

    and, we already know that anyone who objects to getting militarily involved and wasting $50b+ on a non-nato country with microscopic strategic interests to the US is a modern day Lindbergh

    your comment is to be read in that context

    (or perhaps ukraine is a modern day archduke Ferdinand — pick your favorite world war)

    maybe if putin fails to “de-nazify” ukraine, you might succeed here so keep trying. Great minds do think alike

    JF (9a7bee)

  171. @170, thanks Kevin for the good synopsis….Reagan was certainly not perfect…but let’s do justice to history

    AJ_Liberty (242c56)

  172. Now do NeverTrump and their constant digs…

    Dana’s point is that this is an open thread, so you can do that yourself. I’d rather read that than your whining about what you feel she left out.

    Paul Montagu (753b42)

  173. @163. Pfft. Paul; tilting at windmills and shiny objects; Elaine Chao/Elaine Chow…

    Donald Trump & ‘Covfefe’ Tweet: What Did He Mean?

    Most people think he originally meant to write “press coverage,” and covfefe was a typo/spelling error.

    https://heavy.com/news/2017/05/trump-covfefe-tweet-definition-dictionary-what-does-mean-donald-typo/

    You wanna probe for racism, Paul? Let’s have a ruling on these knuckleheaded gems; but first, let’s ask Jackie:

    “Jackie, are you here? Where’s Jackie? She must not be here.” – Squinty McOuijaboard

    She’s having lunch w/your KKK Klansman chum Robert Byrd, Joey…

    ————-

    “You cannot go to a 7-Eleven or a Dunkin’ Donuts unless you have a slight Indian accent.” – Joe Biden

    “[Obama is] the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean.” -Joe Biden

    “They are used to being experimented on—the Tuskegee Airmen and others…” – Joe Biden

    “They’re saying, ‘Jeez, the reason I was able to stay sequestered in my home is because some Black woman was able to stack the grocery shelf…” – Joe Biden

    “I tell you if you have a problem figuring out whether you’re for me or Trump, then you ain’t black…” – Joe Biden

    “Poor kids are just as bright and talented as white kids… Wealthy kids, black kids, Asian kids.” – Joe Biden

    “We’ve got to recognize that the kid wearing a hoodie may very well be the next poet laureate and not a gangbanger…” -Joe Biden

    “I was in a caucus with James O. Eastland… He never called me boy. He always called me son.” – Joe Biden

    “Unchain Wall Street! They’re gonna put y’all back in chains.” – Joe Biden

    This ‘ruler’ is not only a plagiarist but a racist.

    https://www.foxnews.com/politics/bidens-history-of-controversial-racial-comments

    https://www.heritage.org/progressivism/commentary/bidens-history-getting-away-racist-remarks

    DCSCA (4fa0be)

  174. The Reagan Wreckage

    “I hope it is not just me who thinks the Ronald Reagan Legacy Project is going too far. This group has taken upon itself the ambitious task of naming at least one notable landmark in every state for the ailing former president. But that’s not all. No, they want more. Much more. They also want one notable landmark in every county in the country too. Advocates are already pressing for a Reagan Memorial on the Mall. Can’t the man die first?

    In the eyes of Republicans of course Reagan is their hero. Consequently he must be our hero too. One reason he perhaps looms so large in the imagination of Republicans is that really there weren’t that many great Republican presidents, so beggars can’t be choosers. It is unlikely any Republican president will ever match Lincoln’s legacy. But since Lincoln, the pickings for Republicans have been slim. The Great Depression occurred on Hoover’s watch. (Hoover and Jimmy Carter have a lot in common: presidents who were in power in troubled times that were largely beyond their control, but who managed to excel as leaders and statesmen more after they left office than when they were in it.) Eisenhower is the best of the bunch since Lincoln; he knew how to balance a budget and run a country. Nixon of course, was the biggest embarrassment of all time for the Republican Party. Ford was a transition president. One term presidents don’t qualify as legacy material, as Bush I found out although he was one of the better ones.

    Clearly the current Bush is running hard to meet and exceed the Reagan legacy and, unfortunately, he is doing a great job. He’s created deficits far larger than Reagan achieved, and Reagan created deficits on a magnitude never seen before.

    I wonder if the people supporting this project were asleep during the 1980s. I certainly wasn’t. I was a newly minted civil servant. Although I had no exposure before the bizarre workings of government, things quickly went beyond comical to ludicrous. I worked at the Defense Mapping Agency at the time and remember being just astounded by the amount of money being thrown at our agency. When it came to defense spending, Star Wars was just the tip of the iceberg . We literally couldn’t find enough places to spend the money. Much of it went to create systems way beyond their time to move maps produced on paper to digital maps. I was part of a massive reengineering effort at the time. I remember business trips for hush hush requirements sessions with defense contractors as they tried to automate our enterprise business processes. I’m not sure whatever happened to these systems, or even if they got off the ground. I do know when I left in 1987 they weren’t operational. But there was no let up in the defense money pouring in. I am sure we did our best to prop up the share prices of bloated and wasteful defense contractors. (The Meese Commission, which was charged to look into waste and fraud in federal agencies, gave our agency high marks. This was a source of considerable amusement to us at the time, and another sign that the Reagan Administration had lost touch with reality.)

    The downsizing of the federal work force was another constant started when Reagan took office and has continued ever since. Early in my career I was fortunate in the sense that I was working in the Defense Department, and that put us largely off limits. But by the 1990s, downsizing had hit DoD too. About the time I left the Air Force my office was being looked at to be A-76’ed (referring here to Circular A-76, otherwise known as the “let’s fire feds and replace them with overpaid contractors” Executive Order.)

    We seem to have forgotten just what a wreck Reagan made of the government. Defense money was squandered for bombers costing billions of dollars and for laser satellite systems that were supposed to shoot down enemy missiles from space (but never did). The Savings and Loan fiasco also happened on the Reagan watch. In an attempt to make banks compete, the Reagan Administration let S&L’s invest in all sort of murky investments that caused S&L’s and banks to fail all across the country. The U.S. taxpayers bailed out these mistakes to the tune of over $100B.

    And then there were the cast of bizarre characters populating the top ranks of government. As one example, we had Anne Burford Gorsuch, at the EPA, whose idea of improving the environment was to decimate the agency, and who set the sterling example of chain smoking in her office. And of course who can forget Energy Secretary James Watt, who showed his sterling political skills by saying he had the perfect staff because “I have a black, a woman, two Jews and a cripple”.

    Meanwhile, we had Reagan involving the CIA and our military in all sorts of banana republics. We invaded Grenada because a few Marxists were running around. We funded what amounted to government terrorists in a civil war in El Salvador that killed and terrorized thousand of people for more than a decade. We did similar operations in places like Guatemala and Costa Rica. Reagan approved a brilliant strategy of providing “freedom fighters” in Afghanistan with shoulder-launched Stinger missiles. These same freedom fighters, of course, are today’s Taliban and many of the weapons we supplied are now being turned against our forces. Reagan also cozied up to Saddam Hussein and sent no less than current Secretary of Defense Don Rumsfeld to Baghdad to make nice and to offer U.S. military aid. And then there was the plainly illegal but under the table shenanigans that Oliver North directed from his office at the National Security Council in the White House. Lets also not forget the hundreds of marines killed by a terrorist bombing in Lebanon for which Reagan assumed “full responsibility” but naturally didn’t pay a political price.

    Arguably Reagan did change the shape of government. Before he took office most of us thought of the government as an institution by and for the people. Reagan portrayed the government as a somewhat evil institution not to be trusted. His “legacy” continues today to portray the government this way. He embraced supply side economics that led to the largest deficits in the history of our country, during either peace or war.

    Is this the stuff of legacy? Apparently. Because here in Washington the Reagan Legacy Project has been very busy. First National Airport was renamed to Ronald Reagan National Airport. Those of us who remember Reagan were very puzzled by this. He hated Washington and couldn’t wait to get away from it for extended vacations in California. Why name an airport after him next to a city he loathed? But there was also the Ronald Reagan Building at Federal Triangle, which has the dubious honor of being the most expensive federal building every constructed, busting its budget numerous times (all that marble gets expensive!) The Reagan Building may well be a fitting landmark to the man. As a president who gave us the largest deficits of all time, it is fitting to name the most costly and badly managed federal construction project after him.

    Will Ronald Reagan make it on Mount Rushmore? Rest assured the Reagan Legacy Project is working hard on this endeavor too. But also be confident of this: history will judge Reagan as a lesser president, not a great president. Naming so many things after him and putting him on Mount Rushmore won’t change the facts. He was a nice guy but a disaster of a president. Fifty years from now his name will only evoke snickers.”

    https://www.occams-razor.info/2003/11/12/the_reagan_wrec/#.YziLXtjMK00

    DCSCA (4fa0be)

  175. Now do NeverTrump and their constant digs at those who won’t go down the well of only bashing conservatives who don’t turn their back on their beliefs, i.e. God, family and counrtry./

    If I am reading this correctly – and please correct me if I’m not – it appears that you assume that those who are NeverTrump (maybe including those who don’t call themselves that but have left the GOP or are still in the party but loath the Trump/MAGA takeover) have, by default, turned their back on their beliefs (God, family, country). As if NeverTrump couldn’t possibly still be for God, family, country. If this is what you are saying, then what an arrogant and presumptuous assumption to make about people. You’re not God. You don’t know what people may or may not have turned their backs on unless they specifically tell you. You are playing God when you presume to assert that they have turned their backs on God, family, and country, as if being NeverTrump means just that.

    See how quickly many have ran from their previous pro-life positions now that it actually matters. See how they attack stalwarts like Cruz and DeSantis while boosting frauds like French and Kristol.

    I don’t know if you read the abortion thread this past week, but I put my cards on the table and explained the thought process behind my stance on abortion. And I’m glad I have solidified in my mind more clearly because it does actually matter now. I hope more people think the issue through more thoughtfully and with more seasoning in life. The goal for me is to be at peace in my soul, down to the bone, with my views, and hope that God isn’t offended by them. It’s incredible that you accuse people of running away because they took the time to think through their views and may have arrived at a place adjacent to yours. You see it as a weakness, as a betrayal, as a turning one’s back on what is noble and right. Who made you God?

    Ted Cruz has given us plenty to criticize him over. DeSantis is another gasbag but with executive experience. You see, while I may share some of their views, that doesn’t mean I have to like or respect them, nor even vote for them. Again, you insulting David French as a fraud, reveals more about you than anything else.

    So have them come again when you want to speak honestly and fairly. But try to do it without calling people racist or cult members.

    It’s ironic that you who have insulted people who don’t think the way you do (see above for insult references) are upset about racist or a cult member insults (which I don’t think I’ve accused you of).

    However, I do believe Trumpism is a cult. And I believe Trump is the cult leader. I do believe that a large swath of MAGA believers are racist. Anyone can pull of up photographic and text evidence to support the claim.

    Finally, let me ask you a question: If you support Trump and esteem him by giving him your vote, does that signify that you agree with, or at least tacitly support his racist tendencies, his dishonesty, his avarice, his corruption, his amorality?

    Dana (1225fc)

  176. Nice whatabout, DC. Well done.

    Paul Montagu (753b42)

  177. Russia to give troops who surrender 10 years in prison unless they are able to flee captivity

    Russian President Vladimir Putin signed legislation that amends Russia’s criminal code to impose a 10-year person sentence on any service member who voluntarily surrenders to Ukrainian forces.

    …….., “It’s an impossible decision that Russian men face today – either you die on the battlefield or you rot in prison” (said Rebekah Koffler, a former DIA intelligence officer to Fox News Digital).
    …….
    Putin extended university and vocational college students a draft deferment to pursue their studies in addition to the criminal code amendment, though only students who are pursuing a secondary education for the first time will be eligible for the deferment.

    ………(M)any young Russian men will still be subject to the country’s military draft, a move Koffler said could have disastrous consequences as the country battles a “demographic crisis.” Russia currently has a fertility rate of 1.5, Koffler pointed out, well below the replacement rate of 2.1 that allows a country to maintain population levels.
    ………

    I wonder if the 10-year penalty applies to all soldiers when senior officers surrender entire combat units, or only to individual soldiers just walking away. Sad!

    Rip Murdock (288136)

  178. Well said, Dana.

    Paul Montagu (753b42)

  179. @178. Facts are stubborn things.

    DCSCA (0306f5)

  180. Now EPWJ ticks off the case for Trump. ….

    Some of the hardest-hitting cases against Trump have been made by people who chose to work in his administration. They aren’t leftists, nor Deep State hacks who just wanted to undermine him from within. But they saw up close that he is really not wiser, saner, better informed, more honest and honorable, less aggressively self-centered than he gives every appearance of being. On the contrary, “It’s worse than you know” has been a common theme coming from inside.

    I’ve heard multiple former insiders say that Trump himself had little if anything to do with what are touted as his major achievements. At crucial times, it was more likely to be Mike Pence who carried the ball forward. Some former insiders have said that things had the best chance of going well if Trump didn’t get involved at all.

    I’ve read narratives meant to show some aspect of the Trump presidency in a positive light, but Trump himself is largely absent; it isn’t clear what he actually did, if anything, to accomplish what’s being showcased.

    This is hardly surprising, given Trump’s well-known lack of interest in studying anything, his belief that his native instincts are superior to anyone else’s knowledge, his frequent displays of ignorance and idiocy when he speaks publicly about issues, and all the indications that he saw the rallies where he was revered like a demigod as the heart of the presidential office.

    Then there are the reports that administration officials were starting to whisper about the 25th Amendment as early as the summer of 2017.

    But Trumpites want us to believe that Trump possesses some extraordinary genius for leadership and an exceptionally deep patriotism that outweigh his pathological narcissism, congenital mendacity, contempt for ethical rules and laws that get in the way of his desires, and willingness to use fraud and intimidation to become more like the dictators-for-life that he openly admires and envies.

    Trumpites are getting in the way of elevating a sane, competent, reasonably honest and honorable alternative to the Democrats — not just for the presidency but at other levels too. They are making the GOP toxic to many people who have generally voted R in the past.

    Radegunda (3ae21a)

  181. you insulting David French as a fraud, reveals more about you than anything else.

    Everyone who points out the ways that Donald Trump violates their own long-hold principles is called a “fraud” by the people who decided to make Trump their moral North Star. Maybe some of those MAGA people are, deep down, uneasy about all the moral compromises they’ve made in order to hold Trump perpetually above criticism. Or maybe they don’t realize that the world of normality looks fraudulent to people who are in a cult.

    Radegunda (3ae21a)

  182. Liz Truss giving it the British good and hard:

    ……..
    A surprise tax cut by the new British government just over a week ago sparked investor concern about the country’s fiscal credibility and crashed both the pound and the market for U.K. government bonds, known as gilts.

    Superlatives are a dime a dozen in market reporting, but the ructions in the past week were truly extraordinary. As well as giant swings in the pound, the longest-dated gilts, which mature in 50 years, lost a third of their value in four days. They then leapt in value by more than a quarter in a day after emergency bond-buying by the Bank of England designed to prevent a cycle of forced selling by pension funds. For context, the previous biggest move down over four days had been half as big, and the biggest daily gain was 15%, both when pandemic lockdowns shut the economy.
    ………
    The trigger was the government’s surprise unfunded tax cut, to the tune of about 1.8% of GDP a year, with the well-off benefiting the most. In the grand scheme of things it isn’t that much. But the cut had such a big effect because of the broader background of soaring interest rates, high debt, dire communications and the erosion of the country’s institutional credibility. …….

    Interest rates are up almost everywhere, which has investors on edge. Borrowing to stimulate the economy when inflation is in double digits and the central bank is raising rates to try to slow things down puts monetary and fiscal policy at loggerheads, and means the Bank of England has to do even more. ……..
    ……..
    In Britain debt was already due to leap due to the expected £150 billion-or-so ($140 billion) subsidy of energy costs for households and businesses, from a base of 95% of GDP last year. ……..

    Making the debt situation worse is the fact that Britain’s having to borrow from foreigners……the more it has to borrow, the lower the currency has to go, or the higher the interest rate has to go, or, this past week, both, to attract overseas lenders.
    ……….
    Ms. Truss had spent much of the summer attacking the U.K. treasury’s orthodox approach to economics—an approach that had reassured bond markets, but that she blamed for Britain’s sluggish growth of the past decade. The head of the treasury was ousted as one of the government’s first acts, a highly unusual move in Britain’s nonpartisan civil service.
    ………
    Other countries struggle with some or all of these issues. But no other major economy has been so cavalier about what the markets want, and the U.K. gives other leaders an object lesson in why they should be careful. Britain may be the canary, but its wobble is a warning to other countries to treat the bond markets better.
    …………

    Related:

    Worst rail disruption of year as workers walk out

    Royal Mail workers to hold 19 days of strike action

    Rip Murdock (288136)

  183. However, I do believe Trumpism is a cult. And I believe Trump is the cult leader.

    Nah.

    He may have a core base – just as the Goldwater/Reagan wing had– or any elected politician in office- but he’s no more a cultist than P.T. Barnum or any number of characters portrayed by W.C. Fields. OTOH, Reagan has a cult following for sure. But what Trump succeeded in doing was carrying the populist flag to a victory-and I firmly believe it was accidental; he was likely as surprised at defeating the establishment ideological weenies in the primaries and HRC in the general as was the rest of the country and the ideologue elitists who turned a deaf ear and blind eye to the rising rage of American populism. And it was only by the EC tally he won; HRC rec’d more of the popular vote.

    Carrying the populist flag forward to a win should tell you a lot; the cauldron of discontent has been a simmering to a boil for nearly 40 years. They’ve tasted a victory now, too. Indies and voters fed up, in the dwindling numbers of both major parties, are fueling it– and have had it with stupid neocon wars, a shrinking middle class, wasted billions to lost causes, checking boxes, incompetence, life-long bureaucrats safe in their gigs avoiding accountability for incompetence— while jobs, careers and factories sent overseas sacrificed on the altar of globalism and so on and so on.

    This wave of populism isn’t going away any time soon, either. But eventually, one of the younger, major party candidates will clear out the old, entrenched guard and channel the anger to their advantage; tap it, absorb the changes and implement them– and the fires beneath the cauldron will subside for a time. But as it stands now, even after Trump, someone else will pick up the populist flag and move it forward. They’ve tasted a victory, purged the ideologues and made change happen– and want more. More power to them– it is long overdue.

    DCSCA (0306f5)

  184. The Trump his supporters imagine does not exist. He is a dream in their minds. A projection of their hopes and fears. A cloud of smoke. A balloon covered in glitter.

    Well said, nk.

    Dana (1225fc)

  185. Or maybe they don’t realize that the world of normality looks fraudulent to people who are in a cult.

    The Ultimate Cult:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vYeNuISN4Dc

    Reaganoptics, Reaganaurics, Reaganomics.

    DCSCA (0306f5)

  186. The Trump his supporters imagine does not exist. He is a dream in their minds. A projection of their hopes and fears. A cloud of smoke. A balloon covered in glitter.

    A shadow projected on a screen…

    Ronald Reagan.

    DCSCA (0306f5)

  187. Some of the hardest-hitting cases against Trump have been made by people who chose to work in his administration.

    Resume padders. Sucks when government weevils used to shuffling paper work for a boss who will actually wants to kick some ass and fire you for poor performance and incompetence.

    DCSCA (0306f5)

  188. Dana (1225fc) — 10/1/2022 @ 12:52 pm

    LOL Trump, DeSantis, Noem, Haley, Cruz, Paul, Youngkin are actual people with names

    the cultists and racists that would back any of them, should they win the nomination, seems to be in the range of 74 million strong

    the folks in your corner can’t seem to name anyone, and can’t even hold a house seat in wyoming, but yeah we’re the ones fixated on a cloud of smoke

    too funny

    JF (9a7bee)

  189. It’s ironically funny that DCSCA sees Reagan as a failure and post-Apollo NASA as a success.

    Kevin M (eeb9e9)

  190. Texas Man Sentenced to 52 Months in Prison For Assaulting Law Enforcement Officers During Jan. 6 Capitol Breach
    ……….
    Lucas Denney, 45, of Mansfield, Texas, was sentenced in the District of Columbia.

    According to court documents, for weeks leading to Jan. 6, 2021, Denney, a former military police officer and the self-declared President of the Patriot Boys of North Texas, a 3%ers-identifying militia group, gathered protective gear and weapons and recruited others to join his group and travel with him to Washington. In one message on social media, posted Jan. 1, 2021, he wrote, I’m so pumped brother. I can’t wait to be in the middle of it on the front line on the 6th.” Later, on Jan. 4, 2021, Denney expressed his expectation for “civil war,” claiming “Ww3 isn’t too far away though.”

    On Jan. 6, Denney was outfitted in tactical gear. Soon after illegally entering the grounds, at approximately 1:30 p.m., Denney repeatedly confronted police officers protecting the Capitol. At the west side of the Capitol, he fought with officers at metal barricades, punching one of them in the face shield, sprayed what appeared to be a chemical irritant at officers on two occasions, grabbed and shoved an officer, and joined another rioter in launching what appeared to be a large tube towards a line of officers.

    He attempted to disarm an officer by grabbing the officer’s crowd-control spray, then swung a pole at the officer. By approximately 3:12 p.m., Denney had moved to the Lower West Terrace, where a mob of rioters was engaged in a confrontation with police officers. He entered the tunnel leading into the Capitol Building, pushing a riot shield into and on top of a line of officers attempting to secure the area.

    Denney also participated in “heave-ho” efforts to advance into the building. At one point, on the steps leading up to the Capitol Building, he swung his arm and fist at an officer who other rioters had pulled out of the tunnel, pulling the officer further down the stairs.

    ………He pleaded guilty on March 17, 2022, to an indictment charging him with assaulting resisting, or impeding officers using a dangerous weapon. Following his prison term, he will be placed on three years of supervised release. He also must pay restitution in an amount to be determined later by the Court.
    ………..
    In the 20 months since Jan. 6, 2021, more than 870 individuals have been arrested in nearly all 50 states for crimes related to the breach of the U.S. Capitol, including over 265 individuals charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement. The investigation remains ongoing.
    ………

    Paragraph breaks added.

    Rip Murdock (288136)

  191. Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 10/1/2022 @ 1:28 pm</blockquote

    Talk about failure to launch.

    Rip Murdock (288136)

  192. Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 10/1/2022 @ 1:28 pm

    Talk about failure to launch.

    Rip Murdock (288136)

  193. aphrael– follow up to earlier comments; see what I mean:

    Amtrak suspends San Diego-Los Angeles service due to shifting ground

    ‘Metrolink and Amtrak have suspended train services linking San Diego to Los Angeles – along with the rest of the US – because ground underneath a stretch of seaside track in southern California has shifted, according to officials.

    The San Diego Union-Tribune reported Friday that service has been suspended indefinitely in the community of San Clemente, on the border of Orange and San Diego counties. The move comes after a recent ocean surge associated with Tropical Storm Kay caused high tides and waves that shifted the coastal tracks. The tracks serve as the only viable link that connects San Diego with LA and the rest of the country, the San Diego Union-Tribune reports. The tracks are part of the 351-mile Los Angeles-San Diego-San Luis Obispo Rail Corridor, also known as the Lossan Corridor, which serves as the US’s second busiest intercity passenger rail corridor.

    Last year, the community faced a similar problem, and officials shut the tracks down for two weeks. Workers brought in additional boulders to help shore up the coastline, which has been eroding amid the ongoing global climate crisis. The Orange County Transportation Authority, which owns the tracks, planned to hold a special meeting Monday to discuss potential solutions.

    “The emergency plan will likely involve driving large ground anchors into the bottom of the slope next to the track to prevent movement,” OCTA spokesperson Eric Carpenter told the San Diego Union-Tribune. Metrolink said service will remain suspended “until we have confirmation from the experts the slope movement has stopped”.

    “Unfortunately, continued movement to the right of way in the San Clemente area is forcing Metrolink to suspend Orange County Line and Inland Empire-Orange County Line service south of the Laguna Niguel/Mission Viejo Station beginning Friday and until further notice,” Metrolink said in a statement on Thursday.

    It added: “Working with geologists, geotechnical engineers, and surveyors, we have determined to ensure passenger safety service suspension is necessary. Until we have confirmation from the experts the slope movement has stopped, we will not resume Metrolink service.”

    In an email to the San Diego Union-Tribune, Metrolink spokesperson Scott Johnson said that the company has placed over 20,000 tons of rock and boulders along the tracks to secure the right of way.

    Amtrak released a similar statement, saying, “This is a temporary track closure in San Clemente that will allow crews to repair and strengthen areas near the tracks – a team of geologists and engineers noticed a need for repairs after recent storms. “We plan to run modified service while repairs are made.” That may take several weeks, Amtrak’s statement added.

    Amtrak also said it is working to provide train service through a partner with connecting bus service to cover the route. According to Amtrak, train service between Oceanside and San Diego will resume next week with a bus bridge connecting Oceanside and Irvine.

    Amtrak’s Pacific Surfliner trains have an annual ridership of nearly 3 million passengers while Coaster and Metrolink commuter trains see up to 5 million riders each year, according to the Orange County Transportation Authority.’

    So this means even more road congestion on the 5 & 405– and gas locally here hit $7.20/gal., for Shell regular.

    Memo to Amtrak Joe:

    ‘We’re all out of corn flakes. F.U.’ – Oscar Madison [Walter Matthau] ‘The Odd Couple’ 1968

    DCSCA (0306f5)

  194. I hope more people think the issue through more thoughtfully and with more seasoning in life.

    Indeed. I had not realized just how much I disliked the hardline no-abortions-never-ever position until a few states enacted it. I think that it is just as horrendous to force a woman to bear a child at the risk of her life, health or (in the case of rape) willingness to sacrifice for the child as it is to casually kill a fetus that could otherwise survive.

    I also find it risible that people would deny women birth control options, when the worst possible birth control option (abortion) will always be available, if only by mail order.

    I am aghast that state officials would prevent women from getting proper treatment for a miscarriage, on the theory that “it was probably an illegal abortion” (and would deny medical treatment as punishment in that case).

    All of this could be described as “social conservatives behaving badly” as if they were sent in from Central Casting by the Hollywood liberals.

    I can think of nothing more likely to result in a liberal national abortion policy than the overreach we are seeing in some states and the widespread revulsion that is not at all hard to stoke.

    Kevin M (eeb9e9)

  195. Trump supporter from Oklahoma pleads guilty to illegally going inside US Capitol

    ………
    Levi Roy Gable, 37, of Chouteau, faces up to one year in prison and a $100,000 fine. His sentencing was set for Jan. 10 in federal court in Washington, D.C.

    “Are you pleading guilty because you are guilty?” U.S. District Judge Jia M. Cobb asked him during a hearing held by video.

    “Yes, your honor,” he replied.
    ……….
    “I was among the first people to make our way into the US Capitol Building,” he purportedly posted on Facebook, according to the FBI.

    “Those in the building first were there in protest of Vice President Mike Pence’s statement that he would not stand with the American people and challenge the results of 2020’s stolen presidential election.
    ……….
    In the statement of his offense, Gable acknowledged that he traveled by plane from Oklahoma to Washington, D.C., on Jan. 5, 2021, to protest the certification.

    He acknowledged that he attended the “Stop the Steal” rally on Jan. 6, 2021, and then marched with other protesters to the Capitol.

    He entered the Capitol at approximately 2:19 p.m. through the Senate Wing Door after windows on both sides of the door had been smashed. according to the statement. ……..

    “Gable, together with others, remained inside the Capitol at various locations … until approximately 2:53 p.m.,” according to the statement. He “falsely denied having entered the Capitol” during a law enforcement interview on Jan. 21, 2021.
    ……….

    Ratted out by a frat brother.

    Rip Murdock (288136)

  196. Shorter: Ugly winners are soon losers.

    Kevin M (eeb9e9)

  197. Link to post 197.

    Rip Murdock (288136)

  198. It’s ironically funny that DCSCA sees Reagan as a failure and post-Apollo NASA as a success.

    Now there’s a desperate non-sequeteur.

    Reagan’s Rodents pushed the civilian agency, NASA, to privatize a la beancounting 101 (like the USPS) and the Reagan foolishness of such policy pressures eventually killed seven astronauts, lost a $5 billion shuttle and crippled American access to space for both civilian and military purposes for several years. [Newtie even wanted to close it down.]

    Yep. Funny. But the shuttles got flying for years after Reagan dying.

    DCSCA (0306f5)

  199. If you support Trump and esteem him by giving him your vote, does that signify that you agree with, or at least tacitly support his racist tendencie

    Many of them, like Trump himself, don’t see those tendencies as “racist.” This isn’t because they aren’t racist, it’s because they haven’t a frigging clue how to behave.

    Kevin M (eeb9e9)

  200. Russia to give troops who surrender 10 years in prison unless they are able to flee captivity

    Stalin killed them, so maybe this is a new liberalism in Russia.

    Kevin M (eeb9e9)

  201. This isn’t because they aren’t racist, it’s because they haven’t a frigging clue how to behave.

    ROFLMAOPIP

    Tail tries to tell dog how to walk.

    Film at 11.

    DCSCA (0306f5)

  202. DCSCA — that train line has a real problem, because it’s sandwiched between *a marine base* and *the ocean*, and the ocean is eating it. Normally you’d just move it inland and maybe tunnel under a mountain or two, but Pendleton is in the way.

    aphrael (4c4719)

  203. I hope more people think the issue through more thoughtfully and with more seasoning in life.

    Abortion is the crabgrass in the backyard of a house on fire.

    The arc of history for the Republic has been to expand rights. Freedom of choice is what matters– the option to or not to; to choose. Rescinding any right, adding layers of complexity and difficulty as well, only makes the next right to tumble just a little easier.

    DCSCA (0306f5)

  204. Desatan’s rethugliKKKans strike again in floriduh. RethugliKKKan controlled Lee county floriduh refused to order evacuation orders while other counties around them did. When on tuesday they were finally shamed into ordering evacuation it was too late. At last count lee county has the highest death count of any county in floriduh. Yahoo news

    asset (a51536)

  205. @204. Yeah, and problem elements of it are north of Pendleton as well– anything along those crumbling coasts are at risk. They’ve still got issues w/t de-ccomissioned nuke plant there as well– and the rail line runs right by it.

    DCSCA (0306f5)

  206. locally here hit $7.20/gal., for Shell regular.

    Outside of CA, regular is about $3 – $3.50. Now, you might claim this is just in the oil patch, not in the big city, but gas is UNDER $3 at some stations in Brooklyn.

    You got some great government there in California.

    Kevin M (eeb9e9)

  207. @208. Distribution issues as well; pipelines and so forth. No argument- CA sucks.

    DCSCA (0306f5)

  208. Dana and others, could you please repost the instructions for blocking particular commenters? There are some folks whose posts I would like to read, but I have to wade through some unpleasant and sadly predictable ones to get there. I guess I would like to make such people invisible/inaudible to me.

    Simon Jester (c8876d)

  209. But don’t take my word for it, Californians.

    https://www.gasbuddy.com/home

    Kevin M (eeb9e9)

  210. The Best Way to Combat Putin’s Nuclear Threats
    Vladimir Putin has again threatened to use nuclear weapons to protect Russia and its people. In his remarks Friday, he extended that nuclear deterrence over the 15% of Ukraine’s territory that Russia annexed after sham referendums that ended on Wednesday. That even includes some lands already liberated by the Ukrainian army. Mr. Putin’s threats constitute an offensive use of nuclear weapons, imperial expansion through nuclear threats. He must be stopped, but how?
    ………
    Given the poor performance of the Russian military so far, direct American involvement would be catastrophic for Mr. Putin’s forces. But the threat may not be sufficiently credible to deter Mr. Putin from using nuclear weapons in Ukraine.
    ………
    Mr. Putin may not fear a military setback inflicted by the U.S. as much as the West thinks he should. In fact, he may welcome an American retaliatory strike against Russian targets because it would strengthen his domestic support. …….
    ………
    ………(I)t would be more credible instead to threaten Moscow with a massive Ukrainian response with Western-supplied conventional weapons on Russia soil. This could mean arming Ukraine with long-range missiles, such as Army Tactical Missile Systems, capable of striking targets in Russia; airplanes, such as F-16s, that could help establish air dominance; and superior land capabilities, such as M1 tanks. The U.S. could put conditions on the use of some of these weapons, such as only using them in the case of a Russia tactical nuclear attack.
    ……..
    …….. Ukraine isn’t suicidal and is likely to escalate by striking targets inside Russia only if it is attacked first. Authorities in Kyiv can calculate on their own the costs of escalation, perhaps even better than distant friends or allies for whom nuclear deterrence is a theoretical game.
    ………

    The problem with this proposal is that it would take weeks if not months after a Putin nuclear strike to train Ukrainians to use Western aircraft or tanks.

    It’s also a canard to argue that had not Ukraine given up the Russian nuclear weapons on its territory the war with Russia could have been avoided. Ukraine did not have command and control over the missiles or warheads, they were tightly centralized by Moscow.

    Of course, the deal that was made to trade the nuclear material for Russian security guarantees proved to be a lie, which is why no one trusts the Russians to keep the peace.

    Rip Murdock (288136)

  211. @209: It’s not “distribution” unless that includes “non-tariff barriers.” It is ILLEGAL to import gasoline into California from any other place due to speical formulation requirements.

    It’s a sick collusion between Big Oil and Big Green.

    Kevin M (eeb9e9)

  212. @210 I thought it was the liberals who were supposed to be the sensitive snowflakes who needed to block and censor unpleasantness. Am I wrong?

    asset (a51536)

  213. @213: I’m reminded of that bit from “Dune” where each great family had nukes, but the agreement was that any family which used them would be expunged by all the others. Perhaps that is the way forward: a global MAD — all protect all.

    We should probably do all we can to pry India and China away from Putin, for Russia’s own good.

    Kevin M (eeb9e9)

  214. asset, I’m pretty sure you’re not on the prospective block list. I block 3 people, on the basis of clownishness mostly.

    Kevin M (eeb9e9)

  215. And sometimes they still slip through.

    Kevin M (eeb9e9)

  216. @210 I thought it was the liberals who were supposed to be the sensitive snowflakes who needed to block and censor unpleasantness. Am I wrong?

    Yes, you are absolutely wrong. On all counts.

    Liberals are, by and large, indiscriminate pantywaists who consider the lowest common denominator to be the ideal, and for whom it would be unthinkable to rate the grunting of a pig lower than the Song of Songs.

    Conservatives, on the other hand are persons of sense, sensibility and taste, and don’t want the odor of pig “pffts” around them.

    nk (07a0b7)

  217. It is ILLEGAL to import gasoline into California from any other place due to speical formulation requirements.
    ………
    Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 10/1/2022 @ 2:21 pm

    I don’t know about illegal (unless you have a link), but California does receive crude oil from out of state (as well as foreign sources). The entire West Coast is relatively isolated from the national pipeline network due the distances involved.

    Under normal conditions, California refiners produce enough gasoline to meet demand inside the state. California refineries also export gasoline. When needed, the state typically imports gasoline via marine shipments, which usually take three to four weeks to deliver. The state’s prices must rise to secure these international imports via marine vessel to cover the additional delivery costs.

    Source

    The real problem is the lack of refining capacity. The are only 17, so if a couple have problems prices can spike.

    Rip Murdock (288136)

  218. The drums are pounding

    Ramzan Kadyrov, head of Russia’s region of Chechnya, said on Saturday that Moscow should consider using a low-yield nuclear weapon in Ukraine after a major new defeat on the battlefield.

    As Russia confirmed the loss of its stronghold of Lyman in eastern Ukraine, Kadyrov slammed top commanders for their failings and wrote on Telegram: “In my personal opinion, more drastic measures should be taken, right up to the declaration of martial law in the border areas and the use of low-yield nuclear weapons”.
    ………
    Other top Putin allies, including former president Dmitry Medvedev, have suggested that Russia may need to resort to nuclear weapons, but Kadyrov’s call was the most urgent and explicit.
    ……..
    In his message, Kadyrov described Colonel-General Alexander Lapin, commander of the Russian forces fighting at Lyman, as a “mediocrity”, and suggested that he should be demoted to private and stripped of his medals.

    “Due to a lack of elementary military logistics, today we have abandoned several settlements and a large piece of territory,” he said.
    ………

    Rip Murdock (288136)

  219. Liz Truss getting pounded good and hard:

    ………
    Opinium’s is the latest in a series of polls to show a growing Labour lead after investors baulked at unfunded tax cuts in finance minister Kwasi Kwarteng’s Sept. 23 fiscal statement, forcing the Bank of England to step in to stabilise markets.

    The Opinium poll, based on a survey of 2,000 British adults between Sept. 28 and 30, showed support for Labour had risen to 46%, up by 7 percentage points since the last poll on Aug. 31-Sept. 2, while Conservative support dropped by the same amount to 27%.

    Some 55% of those surveyed disapproved of the job Truss was doing, versus 18% who approved, a negative net approval rating of -37.
    ……….

    I’m sure she would prefer Biden’s numbers.

    Rip Murdock (288136)

  220. @220: I said “gasoline” not oil. California has long had a special formulation for gasoline.

    The California Reformulated Gasoline program set stringent standards for California gasoline that produced cost-effective emission reductions from gasoline-powered vehicles. The CaRFG program was implemented in three phases. Phase 1, which was implemented in 1991, eliminated lead from gasoline and set regulations for deposit control additives and reid vapor pressure (RVP). Phase 2 CaRFG (CaRFG2) set specifications for sulfur, aromatics, oxygen, benzene, T50, T90, Olefins, and RVP and established a Predictive Model. Phase 3 CaRFG (CaRFG3) eliminated methyl tertiary-butyl ether (MTBE) from California gasoline.

    They really don’t like to mention that MTBE was an additive required under earlier parts of the program.

    Rather than use the EPA low-smog formulation, which is used in most major cities, CA has stuck with its own program. ONLY gasoline that meets these specs may be sold. It’s a classic non-tariff barrier. While the crude oil can come from anywhere, only the state’s 4 refineries make this special gas, and they are increasingly unable to meet demand.

    So the price goes up. A bit hard on the secretaries commuting 60 miles to their West LA jobs, but they should be buying electric cars, right?

    Kevin M (eeb9e9)

  221. I see they list 17 refineries, but some of them are very small and some of them are counted several times. Any imported gasoline must still meet CA’s rules, which limits interest.

    Right now the price difference is over $3. It has rarely been less than $1/gallon.

    Kevin M (eeb9e9)

  222. The real problem is the lack of refining capacity. The are only 17, so if a couple have problems prices can spike.

    It’s a terrible problem for anyone who doesn’t own a refinery. Captive market, non-tariff barriers, limited supply locally. Every time the price spikes, the politicians go looking for the culprits. But they never find them for, as Pogo pointed out, they are them.

    Kevin M (eeb9e9)

  223. Ramzan Kadyrov, head of Russia’s region of Chechnya, said on Saturday that Moscow should consider using a low-yield nuclear weapon in Ukraine after a major new defeat on the battlefield.

    I think that Putin should explode a nuke in Chechnya, as an example.

    “See, Ukrainian Nazis, I did this and I LIKE Chechnya! Imagine what will happen to you!”

    Kevin M (eeb9e9)

  224. Putin versus the FSB?

    The prisoner swap between Russia and Ukraine in late September was approved by Russian President Vladimir Putin over the objections of his top security service, the FSB, which had concerns about a public backlash in Russia, according to senior Ukrainian and U.S. officials familiar with the matter.

    The nearly 300-person swap, the largest exchange of prisoners since the war started in February, involved the release of 215 Ukrainians, 55 Russians, a Putin confidant and 10 foreign nationals, including two Americans.

    The FSB didn’t think almost 4-1 was a fair trade. There is speculation that the “confidant” explains why Putin accepted the deal, anyway.

    (Those who helped make the trade happen include Roman Abramovich, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.)

    Jim Miller (85fd03)

  225. Dana, wrt Iran, I forgot about this, that the Iranian theocrats were elected to the UN Commission on the Status of Women, starting their 4-year term last spring. It’s like appointing Chairman Xi to the Committee on the Care and Welfare of Uighers.

    Paul Montagu (753b42)

  226. Thank you for the laugh, nk.

    Kevin M, do you remember this from long ago?

    https://www.imao.us/docs/NukeTheMoon.htm

    Simon Jester (c8876d)

  227. >A bit hard on the secretaries commuting 60 miles to their West LA jobs, but they should be buying electric cars, right?

    We should be building housing in sufficient quantities to make it possible for them to afford to live closer to their jobs than 60 miles.

    aphrael (d9db76)

  228. #223 Kevin – Do you happen to know how the EPA “low-smog” gasoline compares to the required California mix as far as air pollution goes? Better, about the same, worse?

    Jim Miller (85fd03)

  229. Team RDS-_? for now, but one can dream:

    https://www.yahoo.com/news/brian-kemp-says-gop-shouldnt-162116288.html

    urbanleftbehind (11cf10)

  230. There appears to be no real data, at least not any Google can reach. California Reformulated Gasoline is exempted from the EPA requirements for the federal RFG program. Apparently a state certification that it meets federal requirements is all that was necessary. See here for some possible exceptions.

    Kevin M (eeb9e9)

  231. Kevin M, do you remember this from long ago?

    Yes, imao is sorely missed, along with USS Clueless and the like

    Kevin M (eeb9e9)

  232. BTW, nuking the moon was a mainstream proposal at one point. The idea was that people really did not understand how utter fracking terrible the hydrogen bomb was and nuking the moon would make this much clearer. It may have been a Herman Kahn idea.

    Kevin M (eeb9e9)

  233. @214. It’s distribution as well, Kev. Spot pricing for monthly loads to stations keeps rising along w/constricted product availability. Supply chain issues still all over, too. It’s actually ‘driven’ several local indy stations out of business– they can’t afford the loads w/t price spikes and increases; and a few still operating close up toward the end of the month when their tanks run dry. Add to it the ppg tax load in CA and the shift to winter blends and it’s a precarious mess. Any refinery stoppage- fire or mechanical, cause issues fairly fast as well. And Newsom is pushing all things electric- with a grid that strung together with bailing wire and rubber bands that has a history of poor maintenance practices. The slighted weather – heat, rain or wind- knocks it down. This state desperately needs a change in management.

    DCSCA (7e97b2)

  234. #233 Kevin – Thanks. So it is at least possible that Californians are paying more for gasoline — but not getting any cleaner air in return for the higher price.

    Sadly, that wouldn’t surprise me.

    Jim Miller (85fd03)

  235. An exit for Putin? Perhaps we could find a nation that would take him, in return for a bribe. Right now Cuba is asking for our help to recover from Hurricane Ian, so that’s a possibility.

    (The chances that he will need a nation to run to soon are not high, but I think they are growing.)

    Jim Miller (85fd03)

  236. @235.

    Project A119

    Project A119 was a top-secret plan developed in 1958 by the United States Air Force. The aim of the project was to detonate a nuclear bomb on the Moon, which would help in answering some of the mysteries in planetary astronomy and astrogeology. If the explosive device detonated on the surface, and not in a lunar crater, the flash of explosive light would have been faintly visible to people on Earth with their naked eye. This was meant as a show of force resulting in a possible boosting of domestic morale in the capabilities of the United States, a boost that was needed after the Soviet Union took an early lead in the Space Race and was also working on a similar project.

    The project was never carried out, being cancelled after “Air Force officials decided its risks outweighed its benefits”, and because a Moon landing would undoubtedly be a more popular achievement in the eyes of the American and international public alike. If executed, the plan might have led to a potential militarization of space. A similar project by the Soviet Union (Project E-4) also never came to fruition.

    The existence of the US project was revealed in 2000 by a former executive at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Leonard Reiffel, who had led the project in 1958. A young Carl Sagan was part of the team responsible for predicting the effects of a nuclear explosion in vacuum and low gravity and in evaluating the scientific value of the project. The project documents remained secret for nearly 45 years, and despite Reiffel’s revelations, the United States government has never officially recognized its involvement in the study.

    In May 1958, ARF began covertly researching the potential consequences of a nuclear explosion on the Moon. The main objective of the program, which ran under the auspices of the United States Air Force, which had initially proposed it, was to cause a nuclear explosion that would be visible from Earth. It was hoped that such a display would boost the morale of the American people.

    At the time of the project’s conception, newspapers were reporting a rumor that the Soviet Union was planning to detonate a hydrogen bomb on the Moon. According to press reports in late 1957, an anonymous source had divulged to a United States Secret Service agent that the Soviets planned to commemorate the anniversary of the October Revolution by causing a nuclear explosion on the Moon to coincide with a lunar eclipse on 7 November. News reports of the rumored launch included mention of targeting the dark side of the terminator—Project A119 would also consider this boundary as the target for an explosion. It was also reported that a failure to hit the Moon would likely result in the missile returning to Earth.

    A similar idea had been put forward by Edward Teller, the “father of the H-bomb”, who, in February 1957, proposed the detonation of nuclear devices both on and some distance from the lunar surface to analyze the effects of the explosion. A ten-member team led by Leonard Reiffel was assembled at the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago to study the potential visibility of the explosion, benefits to science, and implications for the lunar surface. Among the members of the research team were astronomer Gerard Kuiper, and his doctoral student Carl Sagan. Sagan was responsible for the mathematical projection of the expansion of a dust cloud in space around the Moon, an essential element in determining its visibility from Earth.

    Scientists initially considered using a hydrogen bomb for the project, but the United States Air Force vetoed this idea due to the weight of such a device, as it would be too heavy to be propelled by the missile which would have been used. It was then decided to use a W25 warhead, a small, lightweight warhead with a relatively low 1.7 kiloton yield. By contrast, the Little Boy bomb dropped on the Japanese city of Hiroshima in 1945 had a yield of 13–18 kilotons. The W25 would be carried by a rocket toward the shadowed side of the Moon where it would detonate on impact. The dust cloud resulting from the explosion would be lit by the Sun and therefore visible from Earth. According to Reiffel, the Air Force’s progress in the development of intercontinental ballistic missiles would have made such a launch feasible by 1959.

    The project was canceled by the Air Force in January 1959, seemingly out of fear of the risk to the population if anything went wrong with the launch. Another factor, cited by project leader Leonard Reiffel, were the possible implications of the nuclear fallout which would affect future lunar research projects and colonization. The signing of the Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty in 1963 and the Outer Space Treaty in 1967 prevented future exploration of the concept of detonating a nuclear device on the Moon. By this time, both the United States and the Soviet Union had performed several high-altitude nuclear explosions, including those of Operation Hardtack I, Operation Argus, Operation Fishbowl, and Project K.

    The existence of Project A119 remained largely secret until the mid-1990s, when writer Keay Davidson discovered the story while researching the life of Carl Sagan for a biography. Sagan’s involvement with the project was apparent from his application for an academic scholarship at the University of California, Berkeley’s Miller Institute in 1959. In the application, Sagan gave details of the project research, which Davidson felt constituted a violation of national security.
    [The FBI outta raid his grave.]

    The leak consisted of Sagan revealing the titles of two classified papers from the A119 project—the 1958 paper Possible Contribution of Lunar Nuclear Weapons Detonations to the Solution of Some Problems in Planetary Astronomy, and the 1959 paper Radiological Contamination of the Moon by Nuclear Weapons Detonations. A 1958 paper titled Cosmic Radiation and Lunar Radioactivity, credited to I. Filosofo, was also named by Sagan in a 1961 paper written for the United States National Research Council. These were among the eight reports created by the project, all of which were destroyed in 1987. The resulting biography (Carl Sagan: A Life) was published in 1999. Shortly after, a review published in Nature highlighted the discovery of the leaked information. This led Reiffel to break his anonymity and write a letter to the journal confirming that Sagan’s activity had at the time been considered a breach in the confidentiality of the project. Reiffel took the opportunity to reveal details of the studies, and his statements were widely reported in the media. Reiffel’s public admission of the project was accompanied by his denouncement of the work carried out, with the scientist noting that he was “horrified that such a gesture to sway public opinion was ever considered”.

    As a result of the publicity the correspondence created, a freedom of information request was lodged concerning Project A119. It was only then that A Study of Lunar Research Flights – Volume I was made public, over 40 years after its inception.’

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_A119

    And the cost???

    “Billions and billions…” – Dead Carl Sagan

    DCSCA (7e97b2)

  237. American Prisoners Are Released From Venezuela and Iran
    Seven Americans who had been held captive in Venezuela for years were on their way home Saturday after President Biden agreed to grant clemency to two nephews of Cilia Flores, Venezuela’s first lady, officials said. The men had been sentenced in 2017 to 18 years in prison for conspiring to smuggle cocaine into the United States.

    At the same time, Iran on Saturday released Siamak Namazi, a 51-year-old dual-national Iranian American businessman who had been jailed since 2015, on a temporary furlough and lifted the travel ban on his father, Baquer Namazi, an 85-year-old former official for the United Nations, according to the family’s lawyer.
    ………
    American officials said the two Venezuelans known as the “narco nephews” — Efrain Antonio Campo Flores and Franqui Francisco Flores de Freitas — were flown to a third country on Saturday at the same time that a plane carrying the Americans landed in the same country, which officials would not name.
    ……..
    The release of the Namazis comes as negotiations over returning to a deal to limit Iran’s nuclear capabilities have stalled. American officials have long insisted that prisoner talks are not connected to the talks to revive the 2015 deal.
    ………
    The Americans who had been held in Venezuela included five members of a group known as the “Citgo 6.” They were executives of the Citgo oil refining company who were detained more than four years ago on charges of corruption that their lawyers and American officials said were trumped up. ……..
    …….
    Senator Marco Rubio, Republican of Florida, lashed out at the administration on Twitter.
    ………

    The “narco nephews” served about 5 years out of 18 year sentences.

    Rip Murdock (288136)

  238. Four plead guilty in ballot fraud that canceled a congressional election in NC in 2018

    Four people pleaded guilty this past Monday to misdemeanors for their roles in absentee ballot fraud in rural North Carolina during the 2016 and 2018 elections. Their crimes led to the cancelation of the results of the 2018 election for the 9th Congressional District — which included parts of Fayetteville and Cumberland County.

    Due to the tainted results of the 2018 election, a new election was held in 2019 in the 9th District.

    Superior Court Judge Paul Ridgeway accepted the plea agreements in Wake County court, which resulted in no active prison or jail time. Cases against six other defendants remained pending……

    All 10 defendants, according to indictments handed up in 2019, had a common involvement with Leslie McCrae Dowless Jr., a longtime political operative in rural Bladen County.
    ……..

    Dowless worked in the 2018 congressional race for then-Republican candidate Mark Harris, who appeared to have received the most votes in the general election for the 9th District seat in south-central North Carolina…….

    ……..(A)llegations against Dowless (who has since died) surfaced, and testimony and other information revealed at a State Board of Elections hearing described him running an illegal “ballot harvesting” operation for the 2018 general election in Bladen County. In this operation, according to testimony, Dowless and his helpers collected hundreds of absentee ballots from voters by offering to put them in the mail.

    Some of workers said they were directed to collect blank or incomplete ballots, forge signatures on them and even fill in votes for local candidates. It is generally against the law in North Carolina for anyone other than the voter or a family member to handle someone’s completed ballot.
    …….
    Each of the four originally had been indicted on charges of conspiracy to commit felony obstruction of justice and possessing illegally an absentee ballot that belonged to someone else.
    ………

    Given the non-existent “penalties” in this case (and with the ringleader conveniently dead), there is really no incentive not to this again.

    Rip Murdock (288136)

  239. The new estimate is 21 million lives saved:

    The Office of the U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator and Global Health Diplomacy leads, manages, and oversees the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). Through PEPFAR, the U.S. government has invested nearly $100 billion in the global HIV/AIDS response, the largest commitment by any nation to address a single disease in history, saving 21 million lives, preventing millions of HIV infections, and accelerating progress toward controlling the global HIV/AIDS pandemic in more than 50 countries.

    It makes me proud to be a citizen of a nation that could — and would — save that many lives.

    For the hard-eyed realists: Saving these lives is in the long-term interests of the United States, for two reasons: Many of those lives are in nations who we want as friends. We have less chance of getting a new, and even worse, version of the disease here, if we control it elsewhere.

    (Here’s a recent report from the Bush Center on how we did it. Measurement was key. It’s almost as if the program was established by a Harvard MBA.)

    Jim Miller (85fd03)

  240. Given the non-existent “penalties” in this case (and with the ringleader conveniently dead), there is really no incentive not to this again.

    Or repeat them in ballot=harvesting states.

    Kevin M (211bfb)

  241. Saving lives from AIDS in Africa is difficult. Many cultures have no solid idea of time, and watches are rare, so these anti-viral cocktails that require careful dosing are hard to administer.. Steve Jobs and the iPhone probably saved many of these lives by making time-keeping ubiquitous.

    Kevin M (32224b)

  242. That’s a good report, Jim Miller, and I agree with why your two reasons are viable, but I also think saving lives because we can is an even better reason. Especially in third-world countries.

    Dana (1225fc)

  243. Or repeat them in ballot=harvesting states.

    Kevin M (211bfb) — 10/1/2022 @ 5:57 pm

    Given that ballot collection or “harvesting” is explicitly legal in 36 states (25 allow anyone to deliver ballots; 11 restrict who can); explicitly illegal in one (Alabama), and 13 states have no laws either way, it appears to be a fairly common practice. North Carolina allows “ the voter’s near relative or verifiable legal guardian” to deliver an absentee ballot.

    Rip Murdock (288136)

  244. New Mexico law states that a caregiver or immediate family member (defined by the law) can return a voter’s absentee ballot.

    Rip Murdock (288136)

  245. @192

    Lawyer who threw Molotov cocktail at NYPD car during George Floyd protests says she was drunk and dealing with ‘unprocessed trauma’ at the time, as she asks for reduced sentence

    A New York lawyer who torched an NYPD van with a Molotov cocktail during the George Floyd protests in 2020 begged for sympathy and a lenient sentence by blaming her vandalism on ‘unprocessed trauma’ and alcohol.

    Urooj Rahman, 33, a human rights attorney, along with Colinford Mattis, 35, pleaded guilty to conspiracy charges punishable by no more than five years imprisonment in June over the destruction.

    Federal prosecutors agreed to recommend a prison sentence of 18 to 24 months in return for the plea.

    Rahman is now pushing to have that sentence converted into time served after spending 28 days in a federal jail in Brooklyn before posting $250,000 in bail.

    Rahman and Mattis were initially facing up to life in prison when they were first arrested in 2020, which was then reduced to 10 years in October, 2021 before the plea.

    Initially, Mattis and Rahman were looking at a 40-year mandatory minimum count and life imprisonment when they were arrested in 2020.

    The government’s prosecution plan then shifted to a 10-year sentence with terrorism enhancement, based on an October 2021 Brooklyn federal court hearing where Mattis and Rahman each pleaded guilty to one count of possessing and making a destructive device.

    The pair have spent most of the last two years in home confinement.

    News of the lawyers’ reduced sentences was met with outrage by Patrick J. Lynch, President of the New York City Police Benevolent Association, who said the light sentences will embolden ‘anti-police radicals.’

    ‘The judge must reject this request. There is absolutely no justification for lowballing the sentence for an anti-police terrorist attack,’ Lynch said on Fox News.
    ‘It’s bad enough that these dangerous criminals have been allowed to sit at home for the past two years,’ Lynch said.

    Life imprisonment, then 10 years, now 18 to 24 months for an open and shut case

    next, maybe free for time served at home

    cuz they attacked NYPD cops instead of Capitol cops

    two tiered justice in action

    JF (7db24d)

  246. Texas Man Pleads Guilty to Assaulting Officers With a Dangerous Weapon During Jan. 6 Capitol Breach
    ………
    Daniel Ray Caldwell, 51, of The Colony, Texas, pleaded guilty in the District of Columbia to assaulting, resisting, or impeding officers using a dangerous weapon.

    According to court documents, on Jan. 6, 2021, at approximately 2:05 p.m., Caldwell was among rioters illegally gathered in the Lower West Terrace area of the U.S. Capitol. A line of law enforcement officers was in front of him. Caldwell stepped forward and sprayed the line of officers with a chemical spray.

    He is to be sentenced on Feb. 1, 2023. He faces a statutory maximum of 20 years in prison, as well as potential financial penalties …….
    ………

    Rip Murdock (288136)

  247. Dana (1225fc) — 10/1/2022 @ 11:57 am

    Dana,

    abortion is murder. I accept from a practical standpoint that we need to allow some instances of it because there are too many who find it convenient or pick and choose what they believe. I do know there are horrendous situations that cause you to grieve and the left loves pushing those instances. It’s why difficult cases make bad law. Having a child impregnated should result in the immediate death of the rapist, but the same society that loves abortion dislikes capital punishment.

    I see constant hate directed at those who voted for Trump. There is zero charity given to them. The man hasn’t been in office for almost 2 years, but he is still the target of vitriol. Now those who want to carry forward an agenda favored by his supporters is considered too extreme by those who claimed just a few years ago to be against abortion, wanted to stop illegal aliens, supported voter id, and didn’t want us to engage in never ending wars. Who has changed?

    I’ve mentioned in the past my issues with Trump and I didn’t support him in the primaries. I still don’t want him to run in 2024, but if he’s the nominee I will vote for him over Biden, Harris, Newsom, Clinton or any other lunatic the left selects. And that’s because I’m still involved in the cultural issues facing our nation.

    The leftist agenda is anti-Christ. They’ve stated as much when they removed God from their platform. I don’t believe Trump is a Christian, but he hasn’t attacked us for our beliefs. Can’t say the same about those running the leftist party.

    NJRob (eb56c3)

  248. Life imprisonment, then 10 years, now 18 to 24 months for an open and shut case

    next, maybe free for time served at home

    cuz they attacked NYPD cops instead of Capitol cops

    two tiered justice in action

    JF (7db24d) — 10/1/2022 @ 6:43 pm

    The politicians in DC who are angry about Jan 6th wouldn’t have cared if it was the police that were attacked. We know that from the violence that occurred in the Summer of Love including when the church in DC was attacked and President Trump was forced to relocate to a secure location. It’s only because they feel they were attacked that they are trying to destroy the lives of so many who didn’t commit violence. They want to punish those who so publicly disagreed with them and made them look weak and impotent.

    NJRob (eb56c3)

  249. Ramzan Kadyrov is a Putin puppet installed in Chechnya after two bloody wars initiated by Russia to bring Chechnya under subjugation.

    It was Putin’s Plan A in Ukraine. To occupy Kiev, kill, capture, or chase off Zelensky, and install a puppet government. But the Ukrainians shoved it up Putin’s Spetnaz and Zelensky told the world “I need ammunition, not a ride”.

    Of course the Pomeranian would want to see the wolfhound nuked.

    nk (c6b6de)

  250. We have a racist who is the current VP who wanted to violate federal law to give preferential help to certain groups of people based on the color of their skin. That’s the world where we currently reside.

    NJRob (eb56c3)

  251. First of all, if The Daily Mail ever reports a story accurately it is entirely accidental and because the editor lacked the imagination to create something more lurid.

    Second, in a federal plea, the prosecution’s sentencing recommendation is only a recommendation. It is not binding on the judge. The judge will sentence the bomb-throwers based on the presentence report and the federal sentencing guidelines. Remember Mike Flynn and his sweetheart prosecutors?

    nk (c6b6de)

  252. Blast rocks Russian airbase in Crimea as horrified tourists watch explosion from nearby beach
    ………
    ……… (A)ccording to the Russian-appointed head of occupied Sevastopol, munitions detonated on a military aircraft that overshot the runway at Belbek airport.
    ………
    Crimean governor Mikhail Razvozhaev called the explosion an “extraordinary situation”.

    “According to information from rescuers, during landing the plane skidded off the runway and caught fire.

    “The fire brigade is currently on the scene. Please remain calm.”

    The governor said later: “The aircraft went beyond the runway during landing, and there was a partial explosion of ammunition.
    ………

    Great video and photos at link. Sad!

    Rip Murdock (f192bb)

  253. Five men were arrested on June 17, 1972, while trying to bug the Democratic National Committee’s headquarters at the Watergate, a hotel and office building in Washington, D.C. A day later, Richard Nixon’s White House press secretary Ronald Ziegler famously called the Watergate break-in a “third-rate burglary.”

    More than two years later, on August 8, 1974, that “third-rate burglary” led to Nixon’s resignation.

    The lesson of the Watergate scandal: Sometimes, particularly in our nation’s Capital, these things take time to play out. That brings us to the effort by the Democrat Party, the Deep State, the liberal lapdog media, and Big Tech to steal the 2020 election from Donald Trump in favor of Joe Biden.

    One piece of the 2020 presidential election scandal became clearer this week, with news that a private consortium that reported election “misinformation” to Big Tech platforms during the 2020 election season, in “consultation” with federal agencies, targeted at least 20 news outlets for dissemination of “misinformation.”

    This time, names were named, including Just the News, the primary source of this article.

    In addition to Just the News, Fox News, the New York Post, Washington Examiner, Washington Times, Breitbart, and Epoch Times were identified among the 20 “most prominent domains across election integrity incidents” that were cited in tweets flagged by the Election Integrity Partnership (EIP) and its collaborators.

    NJRob (eb56c3)

  254. This site is much more charitable toward pro-life and Trump supporters. Not so much towards others.

    Rip Murdock (f192bb)

  255. Dana – Of course I think that we should do the right thing to reduce AIDS in poor countries, regardless of whether that helps the US — but I recognize that not everyone is as charitable as we would like.

    And so I added those two reasons for the people who don’t believe in the Golden Rule.

    By the way, I think our diplomats deserve considerable credit for the way they administered PEPFAR. They had to work with governments that lacked resources, and sometimes had serious corruption problems, without being domineering or patronizing.

    They did it well enough so that when Obama came into office, he contemplated changes in PEPFAR — and Archbishop Tutu told him, more or less, that it was working fine, and to leave it alone. Which Obmama mostly did.

    Jim Miller (85fd03)

  256. https://thefederalist.com/2022/09/30/newsom-signs-bill-to-let-california-strip-gender-confused-teens-from-parents-even-when-they-live-in-other-states/

    California Democrat Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a new law Thursday night to strip rights away from parents who protest their children’s blind pursuit of destructive surgeries sold to confused minors as “gender affirmation.”

    Under Senate Bill 107 introduced by San Francisco-area State Sen. Scott Wiener, California will now become a “refuge” for trans-identifying minors who seek irreversible medical treatment for gender dysphoria. The legislation was supposedly aimed at blocking red states from enforcing laws barring extreme treatments for underage victims, and instead invited those minors to seek surgeries in California.

    “In California we believe in equality and acceptance. We believe that no one should be prosecuted or persecuted for getting the care they need — including gender-affirming care,” Newsom said upon signing the bill into law. “Parents know what’s best for their kids, and they should be able to make decisions around the health of their children without fear. We must take a stand for parental choice.”

    Except the bill undermines parental choice by empowering the state to strip custody from those who refuse to support their children’s demand for “gender-affirming care,” a euphemism used to describe something that is neither gender-affirming nor caring. Such procedures could range from puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones to surgeries leaving a child’s genitals permanently altered. The bill extends California’s reach beyond its borders, enabling minors in other states to pursue treatment on the West Coast away from parental oversight.

    Newsom and California declare war on the rest of the nation and the “full faith and credit clause” of the Constitution. They believe your children belong to the government of California.

    Leftism is about destroying society and what God created.

    NJRob (eb56c3)

  257. The judge will sentence the bomb-throwers based on the presentence report and the federal sentencing guidelines.
    nk (c6b6de) — 10/1/2022 @ 7:16 pm

    yeah, the Daily Mail article said that already:

    “U.S. District Judge Brian Cogan said he was not bound by the sentencing recommendations under the new plea deal, but would take it into account when he sentences the two attorneys this fall.”

    JF (7db24d)

  258. https://nypost.com/2022/10/01/fdny-lt-alison-russo-elling-stabbing-brings-defund-politicians-plea/

    A makeshift memorial in the Astoria neighborhood where FDNY Lt. Alison Russo-Elling worked and was killed called to “Defund the Politicians,” as locals Saturday recalled her accused killer as the “crazy” man who wandered aimlessly in the neighborhood.

    A stack of signs left among the flowers and candles on 20th Avenue, where the 61-year-old paramedic was slain Thursday, read “Defund the Politicians Enough is Enough. Justice for Alison.”

    Others left notes at a memorial outside Station 49 on 42nd Street expressing sympathy for the loss and thanking EMTs for their service. One said, “Thank you for what you do for Astoria.”

    Russo-Elling was known as the mother of the station and was described as being full of liveliness.

    NJRob (eb56c3)

  259. https://nypost.com/2022/09/30/persecuting-christians-who-refuse-to-do-work-for-same-sex-weddings-is-nothing-less-than-bigotry/

    Emilee Carpenter is a gifted photographer whose lavish images celebrate all kinds of people — Christian, Jewish, black, white, straight, gay and everything in between. She aims her lens at clients without fear or prejudice — with one notable exception.

    She refuses to take pictures of same-sex weddings. That’s non-negotiable. And it could cost her — big time.

    “I serve everyone, including those who identify as LGBT. But I now face threats of up to $100,000 in fines, a revoked business license and even jail time simply because of my Christian beliefs about marriage,’’ Carpenter, who lives and works near upstate Elmira, said this week.

    “The government shouldn’t banish people from the marketplace because of their faith,’’ she continued. “Free speech is for everyone, not just those who happen to agree with the government.”

    The state of New York would differ.

    Carpenter is in the vortex in which a professional’s deeply held religious belief that holy matrimony is the union of one man and one woman is being attacked as a hate crime.

    NJRob (eb56c3)

  260. Judge Seats Jury in First Oath Keepers Jan. 6 Seditious Conspiracy Trial

    After three days and roughly 120 often-painstaking, in-person interviews with a wide cross-section of Washington, D.C., residents, a jury has been selected in the first seditious conspiracy trial of Oath Keepers leaders and members. …….
    ………
    ……… They are charged with seditious conspiracy, obstruction of an official proceeding of Congress — both of which carry a sentence of up to 20 years in prison — and a variety of other felonies in connection with the Jan. 6 Capitol siege. Opening statements in the case start Monday.

    The jury selection process began with a 15-page, 68-question survey of 150 potential jurors that aimed to determine whether they could be sufficiently fair and impartial to sit in judgment of the high-profile defendants. Mehta agreed to dismiss 29 respondents based on their answers to the written questions alone, leaving 121 jurors to be questioned in-person by the judge, the prosecutors, and the defense attorneys.

    ……… Jurors were asked on the questionnaire if they had attended any political rallies in the past five years, and those that answered in the affirmative were asked if they felt they could fairly judge defendants who had opposing political views.
    ……….
    The pool of 121 was ultimately whittled down to 47 qualified jurors on Thursday afternoon. They were called back into the courtroom, where they were arranged and rearranged in various orders until ultimately only 16 people — 12 jurors and four alternates — were ultimately selected.
    ………

    Rip Murdock (f192bb)

  261. Stewart Rhodes et. al. indictment.

    Rip Murdock (f192bb)

  262. New Mexico law states that a caregiver or immediate family member (defined by the law) can return a voter’s absentee ballot.

    As of 2019 when the Democrats took total control after the “We Hate Trump” midterms. Trumpies should consider just how much of the center detests the man.

    Kevin M (eeb9e9)

  263. Frankly, the Democrats have only their repeated overreach on bending historic balloting norms to blame for the GOP’s disbelief in the results of recent elections.

    Kevin M (eeb9e9)

  264. This site is much more charitable toward pro-life and Trump supporters. Not so much towards others.

    Free Republic? No sh1t?

    Kevin M (eeb9e9)

  265. The man (Trump) hasn’t been in office for almost 2 years, but he is still the target of vitriol.

    The fact is that Trump keeps making news, by his speeches, endorsements, continual denials he lost the 2020 election, and his possible of national security laws. It’s not like he has retired-he’s actively organizing for the 2024 election. If he had disappeared to MAL or Bedminster no one would care.

    If you can’t stand the heat ………

    Rip Murdock (f192bb)

  266. cuz they attacked NYPD cops instead of Capitol cops

    No, because the NY DA is one of the Soros squad.

    Kevin M (eeb9e9)

  267. Free Republic? No sh1t?

    Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 10/1/2022 @ 8:29 pm

    Some posters would be much happier there. Trump criticism is not allowed.

    Rip Murdock (f192bb)

  268. No, because the NY DA is one of the Soros squad.

    Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 10/1/2022 @ 8:31 pm

    It was in Federal court.

    Rip Murdock (f192bb)

  269. Correction to post 270:

    The fact is that Trump keeps making news, by his speeches, endorsements, continual denials he lost the 2020 election, and his possible of violations of national security laws.

    Rip Murdock (f192bb)

  270. those who claimed just a few years ago to be against abortion, wanted to stop illegal aliens, supported voter id, and didn’t want us to engage in never ending wars. Who has changed?

    Gee, I dunno. The GOP also claimed to be for balanced budgets, but even before the pandemic Trump wasn’t even slightly interested. The GOP once talked about free trade, but Trump was actually against that. The GOP put judges on courts to further the Rule of Law. Trump was more interested in the Rule of Trump. We’re now finding out that, at a very basic level, Trump viewed the federal government as a tool to go after his enemies.

    Why are people like Patterico pissed off with Trump? These and otehr things, and his single-handed destruction of the GOP’s best chance at a permanent majority. All subordinated to What Trump Wants (and Wants It Now).

    Kevin M (eeb9e9)

  271. It was in Federal court.

    OK, the USA appointed by Biden. Same difference.

    Kevin M (eeb9e9)

  272. The legislation was supposedly aimed at blocking red states from enforcing laws barring extreme treatments for underage victims, and instead invited those minors to seek surgeries in California.

    Red states should create a crime of “having lived in California.”

    Kevin M (eeb9e9)

  273. When Donald Trump expresses “malice toward none and charity for all” in word and deed, I’m sure he (and his supporters) will receive the same.

    Rip Murdock (f192bb)

  274. Red states should create a crime of “having lived in California.”

    Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 10/1/2022 @ 8:40 pm

    Condemning yourself?

    Rip Murdock (f192bb)

  275. R.I.P. Saturday Night Live, 47

    DCSCA (e919ef)

  276. Under Senate Bill 107 introduced by San Francisco-area State Sen. Scott Wiener,

    No shock at all that bug-chasing degenerate was the one who introduced this.

    Sacramento’s going to have to be considered a hostile entity at the rate it’s going.

    Factory Working Orphan (bce27d)

  277. Condemning yourself?

    1) I’m not in a red state
    2) I wouldn’t be coming from California.
    3) If you have an NRA live membership, it’s a Get Out of Jail Free card.

    Kevin M (eeb9e9)

  278. No shock at all that bug-chasing degenerate was the one who introduced this.

    Thank God for term limits

    Kevin M (eeb9e9)

  279. @248/251 O.J. simpson and john hinckley on the left and young blacks/civil rights killers in the south were open and shut cases too. Any NY lawyer worth their salt would get an all black jury throwing off whites in the jury pool. In the south they did the opposite. Trump jury in NY/DC Guilty. Floriduh innocent or hung jury. Speaking about lawyers tenured penn law professor amy wax is in trouble for saying their are too many asians in this country especially in ivy league collages! Earlier she said derogatory statements about blacks. This is surprising since legacy admissions to ivy league schools came about to keep the number of jews entering schools down in the early twentieth century. The ss st.louis was turned back in 1939 because prejudice people in ameriKKKa thought their were two many jews in this country.

    asset (0289f0)

  280. Kevin M (32224b) — 10/1/2022 @ 6:01 pm

    Saving lives from AIDS in Africa is difficult. Many cultures have no solid idea of time

    That’s not the problem (and anyway I doubt that anything needs to be more precise than morning, afternoon or night.)

    The problem, especially for the prevention pills, is that a lot of women do not control their lives, and, there is, as is to be expected, a stigma to being infected – and while there exists, or could exist, an injectable version that would need to be given very infrequently, once every few months, it is expensive and the governments are probably not ready to buy it or give it away for free.

    https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/27/health/injectable-prep-hiv-africa.html

    For seven years, a daily pill has been available in South Africa to protect people from getting H.I.V. But when Victoria Makhandule, a community health worker, counsels the young women in her township about the medication, they tell her it doesn’t work for them.

    These young women are among the most vulnerable in the world to H.I.V., the virus that causes AIDS, but they say the daily pills, known as PrEP, bring their own challenges. The women may spend an unexpected night away from home and miss a dose, or forget for a day or two. Or their mothers or cousins snoop through their drawers, find the pills and know their business. Or their boyfriends see them taking the drug and get suspicious: Is that really for prevention, or do you have H.I.V.?

    Lots of young women here start PrEP (short for pre-exposure prophylaxis). Few stay on it.

    So when Ms. Makhandule, who volunteers with the Treatment Action Campaign, heard a few years ago that a clinical trial in South Africa was testing PrEP as a shot delivered once every couple of months, she thought: This is the solution we need. It would be private and invisible, and a woman would need to remember it only six times a year.

    The clinical trial found the injectable PrEP to be a huge success, nearly eliminating women’s risk of contracting H.I.V., and to be 88 percent more effective than the daily pill. But there’s still no sign of those injections in Soweto.

    “It will take long because money is always the problem,” said Ms. Makhandule, a veteran of South Africans’ fight for access to H.I.V. medications.

    Sammy Finkelman (b434ee)

  281. 267. possible precaution against fraud organized in the election office is to require that, when ballots are picked up in person and not mailed, the voter list by name and some identifying detail, who can pick up the absentee ballot.

    The Daily News ran a column about a vote fraud that was stopped (most get caught if too many people are involved and there is any organized opposition) in New York in the 1980s.

    https://www.nydailynews.com/opinion/ny-oped-when-an-election-rigging-was-real-20220926-wxrz7lruo5d2jdqshjdnmosrki-story.html

    Democrats’ chances in this year’s midterms depend not only on turning out lots of voters but also on training and sending legions of poll watchers to voting sites and board of elections offices. With GOP election deniers prepared to claim victory regardless of the actual outcome, It’s no longer enough to “trust but verify.” It’s time to head off the worst.

    In 1982, I became a “poll watcher” almost by accident, while reporting for The Village Voice, when I walked into the Brooklyn Board of Elections one morning and saw supporters of state Sen. Vander Beatty “checking” voter registration cards in a Democratic primary election that had just been held for the retiring Rep. Shirley Chisholm’s Bedford-Stuyvesant congressional seat.

    Beatty had just lost, 54-46%, to his far better state Senate colleague, Major Owens. But what I witnessed that morning — long before cell-phone videos and opaque elections technology could have recorded it — paralleled last week’s New York Times’ report that Trump operatives, with “the blessing of” Georgia’s Coffee County elections board, had “scanned all the equipment, imaged all the hard drives and scanned every single ballot” in the 2020 election, as one of them assured Trump lawyer and conspiracy theorist Sidney Powell, who’d hired some of them.

    Back in Brooklyn 40 years ago, Beatty had used anti-racist rhetoric to deflect liberals’ attention from his and the Democratic Party machine’s corruption. He’d been endorsed for election to Congress by The New York Times and by most other elected Democrats in Brooklyn. But I saw his campaign workers forging signatures on voter-registration cards that they were supposedly just checking. His lawyers then submitted those forgeries to a party-machine-selected judge as “evidence” that Owens had rigged the election, and they sued to invalidate Owens’ victory.

    I saw it only because a political operative had called me and said, “Get your butt down to the Board of Elections right now and see what the Beatty people are doing.”

    If I hadn’t done that and reported the scam, Beatty would have won his suit before Brooklyn’s compliant — indeed, complicit — judiciary. Black politics in Chisholm’s district would have taken a bad turn. “Look at it this way,” my tipster said. “[Beatty] is either going to Congress or he’s going to jail.”

    Sammy Finkelman (b434ee)

  282. \The secret to why “bail reform” was bad is that before a lot of defendants were given high bail with the intention that they should not make it, but stay in jail. This legal fiction cost New York in the end.

    Also supervised release isn;t really supervised apparently.\\And they madea half dozen other changes for the worse. Lower the age. Tougher discover rules..

    Sammy Finkelman (b434ee)

  283. We believe that no one should be prosecuted or persecuted for getting the care they need — including gender-affirming care,” Newsom said upon signing the bill into law. “Parents know what’s best for their kids, and they should be able to make decisions around the health of their children without fear. We must take a stand for parental choice.”

    Putin seems to be trying to claim that hem is fighting the war in Ukraine because of this or that this is an indication of how evil NATO is (he accused the west in general of being for this)

    https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2022/09/putin-decries-u-s-satanism-annexes-parts-of-ukraine.html

    Sammy Finkelman (b434ee)

  284. Saturday Night Live in Weekend Update made two references to Biden thinking someone was alive who wasn’t , one of them about Biden being present to the swearing in of his Justice and saying something like (in the joke) Where’s \Ruth. Rth where are you? Come up.

    Sammy Finkelman (b434ee)

  285. SNL will drag its own corpse until either mid January of or May of 2025…why miss the next presidential election e and hitting a milestone (season 50)!

    urbanleftbehind (153056)

  286. That’s not the problem (and anyway I doubt that anything needs to be more precise than morning, afternoon or night.)

    It’s a lot more than that. It’s set by hour, and people use an alarm.

    Your doubts notwithstanding.

    Kevin M (eeb9e9)

  287. Given that Newsom could be a likely 2024 nominee in the event Biden has a major, uh, episode, maybe I should pay more attention, considering this

    On Thursday California governor Gavin Newsom signed SB 107, a bill the Los Angeles Times said “aims to protect transgender youths and their families from bans against gender-affirming care.” Well, that’s one way to put it. Another is that the bill permits to transgender youth who enter California to obtain life-altering medical interventions without their parents’ knowledge or consent.
    […]
    California, for example, still requires parent or guardian approval for body piercing, a far less consequential procedure than the “gender-affirming health care” that it now permits even over parental objection and in defiance of the laws and court orders of other states.

    Creeping state control over parental rights is a big flashing cautionary sign about Newsom.

    Paul Montagu (753b42)

  288. Records From Trump White House Still Missing, National Archives Says
    ………
    In a letter sent to the House Oversight Committee, Debra Steidel Wall, the acting U.S. archivist, said the archives was working to retrieve electronic messages from certain unnamed White House officials who had used personal email and messaging accounts to conduct official business.

    Ms. Wall wrote that the archives would consult the Justice Department about whether to “initiate an action for the recovery of records unlawfully removed.”
    ……..
    Ms. Wall cited an August filing by the Justice Department to recover official email records from the personal account of Peter Navarro, a former Trump adviser. Mr. Navarro is facing charges of contempt of Congress after he refused to comply with a subpoena from the House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.

    In her letter, Ms. Wall declined to say whether former President Donald J. Trump had surrendered all presidential records in his possession.
    ……..

    Rip Murdock (2ad945)

  289. Creeping state control over parental rights is a big flashing cautionary sign about California.

    FIFY

    Kevin M (eeb9e9)

  290. In a letter sent to the House Oversight Committee, Debra Steidel Wall, the acting U.S. archivist, said the archives was working to retrieve electronic messages from certain unnamed White House officials who had used personal email and messaging accounts to conduct official business.

    Hillary’s IT guy and Lois Lerner were not consulted in this inquiry. Vague laws vaguely enforced.

    Kevin M (eeb9e9)

  291. Iran Crisis Update, October 1

    Iranian protesters successfully planned anti-regime demonstrations in at least 21 Iranian cities in 17 provinces on October 1 despite regime censorship.
    ………
    These protests pose a serious and increasing threat to the regime as their grievances resonate across a growing range of Iranians.
    ……..
    Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei remains absent and did not make a public appearance or statement on October 1.
    ……..
    Planned demonstrations in Iraq adopted an anti-Iran tone and expressed solidarity with Iranian protests on October 1.
    ………

    Rip Murdock (2af805)

  292. More good news.
    The Ukrainian freedom fighters are closing in on Kherson, reclaiming Dudchany, and they’re moving toward Kreminna, another strategically important city.
    Kremlin-controlled media are sh-tting their pants and hose.

    Paul Montagu (753b42)

  293. Grinnell College National Poll 9/28/22

    A new Grinnell College National Poll shows that four in five likely voters in the 2022 general election believe the overall health of American democracy is a major factor in determining how they will vote in the upcoming election. …….

    Respondents are split by party affiliation on the importance of other issues. Ninety-four percent of Republicans say the economy is a major factor in how they will vote (versus 60% of Democrats), while 80% of Republicans say what is happening in public schools is also a major factor (versus 63% of Democrats). Meanwhile, 85% of Democrats say abortion is a major factor, while only 53% of Republicans feel the same way.
    ……..

    The poll shows a slight lead for Democratic candidates (46% to 42%) among likely voters in a sample ballot for a U.S. House of Representatives seat. There is a sizeable gender gap……
    ………
    Among likely voters, Democrats lead Republicans when it comes to things people can do to be politically active. Forty-six percent of Democrats say they have helped or intend to help others register to vote (versus 28% of Republicans), 47% of Democrats have contacted or will contact an elected official about an issue of interest (versus 41% of Republicans), 40% of Democrats have donated money to some sort of political campaign (versus 33% of Republicans), 35% of Democrats have attended or will attend a rally (versus 18% of Republicans) and 27% of Democrats have volunteered for a candidate or issue (versus 16% of Republicans).
    ………
    Sixty-four percent of Americans have confidence that votes in the upcoming election will be counted as intended – a number that has risen over the past 18 months (53% in the March 2021 Grinnell College National Poll).

    The rise has been greatest among Republicans – up 17 points since March 2021.
    #########

    Top lines and cross tabs.

    Rip Murdock (2ad945)

  294. Question 2 from the Grinnell College poll top lines is interesting…….

    Rip Murdock (2ad945)

  295. It’s really interesting to see the actual questions and responses, then to see what the reporter chooses to bring forth.

    Kevin M (eeb9e9)

  296. DeSantis, who opposed Hurricane Sandy relief, now desperate for Biden’s aid as Ian ravages Florida

    On his second day in Congress, Ron DeSantis voted against a federal relief package for New York and New Jersey in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, but almost a decade later, the Florida governor’s response to Hurricane Ian hitting his home state is much different.

    DeSantis asked President Biden on Wednesday to approve a major disaster declaration for 67 counties impacted by Hurricane Ian and to cover 100% of the costs of debris removal and emergency protective measures for the first 60 days after the hurricane. The House passed a bill providing $9.7 billion in flood insurance aid for Hurricane Sandy victims. DeSantis joined the 67 Republicans who voted against the measure.

    “I sympathize with the victims of Hurricane Sandy and believe that those who purchased flood insurance should have their claims paid. At the same time, allowing the program to increase its debt by another $9.7 billion with no plan to offset the spending with cuts elsewhere is not fiscally responsible,” DeSantis said in a statement.

    https://www.salon.com/2022/09/30/desantis-opposed-hurricane-sandy-relief-now-desperate-for-bidens-aid-as-ian-ravages-florida/

    GOP hypocrisy: When DeSantis sought the very relief post-Ian he denied Hurricane Sandy victims

    https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2022/9/29/2125979/-DeSantis-is-happy-to-receive-emergency-aid-that-he-callously-voted-to-deny-Hurricane-Sandy-victims

    And lest you forget… Governor Ron DeSantis Helps Raise $1.76 Million for Ukraine Relief Efforts in Partnership with Barrett-Jackson at Palm Beach

    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2022/04/governor-ron-desantis-helps-raise-1-76-million-ukraine-relief-efforts-partnership-barrett-jackson-palm-beach/

    So “piss on America’s Sandy victims in the Northeast, help Ukraine, MY Florida and MY political career”– eh, DeShamis??? Just another ‘Little Marco’ in work; an Everglades sauteed swamp creature w/a short fuse and penchant for mimicking – if not plagerizing- another’s act.

    A bum.

    Trump/Haley 2024

    DCSCA (7d8080)

  297. The “hurricane sandy” bill was larded up with pork that had nothing to do with alleged relief.

    But DCSCA forgot to mention that.

    NJRob (dc1e44)

  298. @302. Pfft. They all are; see Ukraine’s freebees for details. So you’re living in Mosquitoburg, New Jersey with black mold growing in your kitchen for weeks, salt water killing your yard and a cabin cruiser from Seaside Heights lodged in your Toms River living room… and you whine about pork.

    DCSCA (ff278b)

  299. Well, I guess if the title of the bill is woke, who cares what’s in it, eh?

    Kevin M (eeb9e9)

  300. DCSCA,

    THEY WERE all insured in Jersey. Millions of dollars over book value. They didnt need any aid. The damage was light than most hurricanes

    EPWJ (d001bc)

  301. @305. Bull. Don’t tell me what I know; family/friends lived/managed/dealt w/properties- private homes and businesses- along the Jersey Shore for four decades.

    DeSantis was, is and will always be a short-fused swamp creatured, bum.

    Trump/Haley 2024.

    DCSCA (aac8df)

  302. https://citizenfreepress.com/breaking/peter-strzok-termination-letter-released-and-its-awesome/

    But somehow people were falling over themselves throwing money at him

    steveg (7b52e3)

  303. DCSCA (aac8df) — 10/2/2022 @ 3:50 pm

    Classic, you going back seven years to blame the victim and absolve Putin’s evil.

    Paul Montagu (753b42)

  304. @309. Corrupt is corrupt is corrupt. Capone, Nitty, Moran… and America’s tax dollars are financing these crooks. Here’s the deal: Kickback Big Guy and his punk kid, Hunter can tell ‘ya- let’em ask ask Jackie:

    “Jackie, are you here? Where’s Jackie? She must not be here.” – Squinty McOuijaboard

    DCSCA (6fb12f)

  305. Russian Media Watch:

    Russian media shows chilling footage of mushroom clouds ‘in anticipation of nuclear conflict’ amid calls for Putin to ‘take drastic measures’ to win in Ukraine
    ……..
    Sinister footage aired by NTV highlighted nuclear explosions and the ‘Armageddon’ aftermath.

    The slavish channel is owned by the media wing of Gazprom, the Kremlin-obedient energy giant which is now starving the West of Russian gas for the coming winter.

    The sequence was titled: ‘In anticipation of nuclear conflict – how weapons of mass destruction have become part of the geopolitical game.’
    ………
    The TV sequence blamed the West for too much talk of nuclear war, when it is Putin’s acolytes and propagandists – plus the Kremlin leader himself – who are constantly floating the threat of atomic apocalypse.

    The message appeared to be that the West should cave in to Putin’s demands on Ukraine and the threat of nuclear war would diminish.

    ‘We’re in a situation in which superiority in resources and conventional weaponry is on the side of the West,’ said Vasily Kashin, a military and political analyst at the Higher School of Economics in Moscow.

    ‘Russia’s power is based on its nuclear arsenal.’
    ……..

    Rip Murdock (dee8eb)

  306. Trump/Bubba 2023 and thereafter

    Kevin M (eeb9e9)

  307. But DCSCA forgot to mention that.

    Nah. He didn’t forget. And he’s going to defend not mentioning it.

    Kevin M (eeb9e9)

  308. Note to self: Push the filter button.

    Kevin M (eeb9e9)

  309. The slavish channel is owned by the media wing of Gazprom

    Dear Russia: Last time you lost there were no trials. Be different next time.

    Kevin M (eeb9e9)

  310. DeSantis’ mission to transport Venezuelan migrants from Texas to Martha’s Vineyard was so secretive that the Florida governor wasn’t briefed on the operation. Plausible deniability, I guess.

    Instead, someone in DeSantis’ crew must have enlisted Perla Huerta, “a former combat medic and counterintelligence agent, was discharged last month after two decades in the U.S. Army that included several deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan, according to military records.”

    Ms. Huerta’s job was to fool Venezuela migrants into taking a plane ride, apparently from a Migrant Resource Center in San Antonio. It also looked like this wasn’t intended to be a one-off.

    In the case of the flights to Martha’s Vineyard, Florida state records show that an airline charter company, Vertol Systems, was paid $615,000 on Sept. 8 and $950,000 less than two weeks later. The first payment was for “project 1” and the second payment for “projects two and three.” So far, Florida officials have acknowledged only the initial flights and have not spoken of plans for others.

    My opinion about the whole operation hasn’t changed. He shouldn’t recruited them from Texas, and he shouldn’t have used Venezuelans for his PR stunt.

    Paul Montagu (753b42)

  311. DCSCA
    Bull, first do you have friends? I doubt it
    2nd – NJ law requires heavy property insurance – its literally the wealthiest place in America, those piece of crap Jersey 2 dollar buildings were insured for tens of millions

    3rd very little damage

    4th Fema doesnt give you money they lend it to you, then they bill you years later for big bucks, they even charge you for the bottled water, tent rent, etc.

    EPWJ (650a62)

  312. Trump’s ‘Death Wish’ Rhetoric
    ………
    Mr. Trump let loose another tirade against the GOP Senate leader on Friday. “Is McConnell approving all of these Trillions of Dollars worth of Democrat sponsored Bills, without even the slightest bit of negotiation, because he hates Donald J. Trump, and he knows I am strongly opposed to them, or is he doing it because he believes in the Fake and Highly Destructive Green New Deal, and is willing to take the Country down with him?” Mr. Trump wrote on Truth Social.

    “In any event, either reason is unacceptable. He has a DEATH WISH. Must immediately seek help and advise from his China loving wife, Coco Chow!” he added.
    ………
    ………(T)he “death wish” rhetoric is ugly even by Mr. Trump’s standards and deserves to be condemned. Mr. Trump’s apologists claim he merely meant Mr. McConnell has a political death wish, but that isn’t what he wrote. It’s all too easy to imagine some fanatic taking Mr. Trump seriously and literally, and attempting to kill Mr. McConnell. Many supporters took Mr. Trump’s rhetoric about former Vice President Mike Pence all too seriously on Jan. 6.
    ……..
    Five weeks from Election Day, Mr. Trump could be working and spending money to elect a GOP Congress, or to help his home state of Florida recover from Hurricane Ian. Instead he’s attacking Mr. McConnell and his wife as part of a personal political vendetta, and putting every Republican candidate on the spot to respond to questions about the Trump rant. Mr. Trump always puts himself first, and with this rhetoric he may put others at genuine risk of harm.
    #########

    Rip Murdock (dee8eb)

  313. The damage was light than most hurricanes

    Mainly because it WASN’T a hurricane when it hit New Jersey and New York. Rather it was a “post-tropical cyclone” with gale-force winds.

    Kevin M (eeb9e9)

  314. Instead he’s attacking Mr. McConnell and his wife as part of a personal political vendetta, and putting every Republican candidate on the spot to respond to questions about the Trump rant.

    Case in point.

    Rip Murdock (dee8eb)

  315. AP has a detailed report on ten torture sites in one town, Izyum, and of course the Russian fascist invaders were brutal as hell.

    Russian torture in Izium was arbitrary, widespread and absolutely routine for both civilians and soldiers throughout the city, an Associated Press investigation has found. While torture was also evident in Bucha, that devastated Kyiv suburb was only occupied for a month. Izium served as a hub for Russian soldiers for nearly seven months, during which they established torture sites everywhere.

    The Russians “heavily mined” two other mass graves. The article should be read fully to capture the breadth of Putin’s barbarity. This only covers one town, and there are countless others under occupation. There’s no reason to believe the rashists operated others differently.

    Paul Montagu (753b42)

  316. Gavin Newsom’s Gas Price Premium

    Cash-strapped Americans have received relief from falling gas prices in recent weeks, but not Californians. The average gas price in the Golden State this week surged to $6.29 a gallon—$2.50 more than the national average—and the reasons are worth distilling since Gov. Gavin Newsom wants to export the state’s energy policies nationwide.

    California gas prices have long been higher than the national average owing to hefty fuel taxes and climate regulations, but the difference now is the largest in at least two decades. Taxes add about 66 cents to the price of a gallon, about twice as much on average as other states. California’s cap-and-trade program and low-carbon fuel standard add roughly another 46 cents a gallon.

    These climate regulations are causing refineries to shut down or convert to producing biofuels that are more profitable because of rich government subsidies. California lost 12% of refining capacity between 2017 and 2021 and is set to lose another 8% by the end of next year. Yet refineries outside of the state can’t produce its supposedly greener fuel blend.

    Read the whole thing … it gets worse

    Kevin M (eeb9e9)

  317. EPWJ,

    the shorelines experienced major damage due to the storm surge.

    The rest of NJ was mostly fine.

    I lived through it unlike DCSCA.

    The bill was a pork monstrosity that Christie sold his soul for.

    NJRob (eb56c3)

  318. My father dealt with this current mess. The storm was disastrous. Massive amounts of property damage miles inland due to the wind and rain that had nothing to do with the storm surge. Nature’s fury is truly magnificent and well beyond what people claim they can control.

    NJRob (eb56c3)

  319. @323. Family/friends lived on LBI in Beach Have Park, bayfront for decades, NJ; the infrastructure was wrecked and the islansd all but unhabitable for well over 6 months; insulation, siding, electrical grid– gas mains — salt water wrecked… you don’t know what you’re bloviating about; neighbors denied access to the island for ages; the damage much deeper and worse than the ol’ ’62 storm– which split the frigging island in half up in Harvey Cedars– where my negighbor’s boss was killed due to it. Sandy survivors– especially the year round residents- chiefly retirees- were forced to live in trailers in Manahawkin and surroundings. And the summer businesses were flooded, destroyed– and many never reopened. But I’ll pass along your quaint BS to my college frat bro- now a retired NJ judge- in Toms River, who dealt with all the crap and legalities in his neigborhood up the coast, that floated in from Seaside Heights.

    DCSCA (6fb12f)

  320. @317. Pfft. You don’t know what you outgassing about– but will pass it along to the LBI and Toms River folks. They’ll get a chuckle. Ignorance is bliss– stay happy!

    DCSCA (6fb12f)

  321. Putin Has Left the World No Other Option But Regime Change
    ………
    It has been clear because Putin’s actions and rhetoric demonstrate day in and day out that Ukraine can never be secure as long as he remains in office. It has been clear because none of Russia’s neighbors can be secure with a megalomaniacal lunatic next door who speaks of Russian empire and constantly threatens to rewrite the borders of sovereign states.

    It has been clear because the world can’t be stable as long as the man who controls the planet’s largest stockpile of nuclear weapons is one whose power is unchecked at home, who shows such contempt for both international law and human decency, and whose ambitions are so untethered to reality.

    Justice also requires that Putin leave office. He is a serial war criminal, one of the worst the world has seen in the modern era. ……..
    ……….
    No one could listen to Putin’s rambling Friday rant and draw any conclusion other than the fact that the longer Putin remains in office, the greater the damage he will do.
    ………
    ……… Biden’s seemingly spontaneous comments on crucial issues of international policy to which he has devoted decades of study—whether they concern Putin or Taiwan—are not gaffes. They instead are expressions of common sense, acknowledgements of reality that diplomats may wish were unspoken, that cannot be the “official” policy of the U.S., but that are signs that the president understands clearly the reality on the ground and U.S. interests.

    That is good because tiptoeing around the threat posed by Putin, hoping that accommodating him would lead to moderation in his behavior certainly has not worked. Indeed with every respectful, restrained response to Putin’s aggression or abuses, we have only seen an escalation of his offenses.

    The “measured” responses to his aggression of the Bush or the Obama years did not work. Nor did the slavering obsequiousness of former President Donald Trump. Indeed, the ostpolitik of Angela Merkel and the vacillations of French President Emmanuel Macron and other European leaders have actually aided and empowered Putin.

    No doubt Putin’s allies—like the talking heads at Fox News, the leaders of the MAGA caucus on Capitol Hill, and Putinistas across Europe—will warn that to even speak of the need to remove Putin from office will provoke him, perhaps even lead him to unleash nuclear weapons in Ukraine or against the West. How do we know that? Because that was the response to Biden’s moment of public honesty and realism on this issue.
    ………..
    Accepting the reality that Putin must go is just common sense at this point. Recognizing that reality, we should embrace policies that encourage the conditions that will make it come to pass. We should also prepare for the consequences of such a change and make sure to send Moscow the message that Russia’s neighbors and the community of nations welcome a more responsible Russia—while also making clear that we are ready to defend ourselves against one that makes the mistake of continuing (or making worse) Putin’s policies.
    ………..

    Rip Murdock (dee8eb)

  322. @317. Ignorance is bliss so you must be one helluva happy fella:

    Long Beach Island officials shocked at extent of damage from Hurricane Sandy

    ‘LONG BEACH — Long Beach Island sustained enormous and widespread damage during Hurricane Sandy, the scope of which was revealed for the first time today as awe-struck officials pondered the seemingly enormous task of rebuilding.

    The storm ripped houses from foundations, covered some roads in waist-high sand and sent the ocean raging all the way to the bay on this popular Ocean County vacation destination know to locals as LBI. The first floors of hundreds of beach houses, designed to break away in a major storm surge, did just that. Trees were uprooted, some older houses snapped in half and boats were moved hundreds of feet, deposited in the middle of roads.

    “You go back and look at images of ’62,” said Long Beach Township Mayor Joe Mancini, [we knew him- Mancini was a family friend and a real estate broker there as well] referring to another devastating storm. “Now we’re living it.”

    The cost of rebuilding is staggering: It will take at least $700 million to remake this 18-mile strip of land, an estimate that could certainly surpass $1 billion as more is learned, Mancini said as he surveyed the damage on the southern tip of the narrow barrier island. He figures it will cost $200 million just to get the sand off the roads and back on the beach.

    There, in communities like Holgate, the destruction was most evident. As National Guard soldiers in humvees navigated around fallen power lines and debris, bulldozers and bucket loaders tried to clear away the sand that covers more than a mile of Bay Avenue and every side street that connects with it. The sand was piled into mounds 15 feet high to what seemed like little effect. It buried cars and surrounded the few buildings that weren’t shredded by the raging water. Some areas were inaccessible without four-wheel drive.’

    https://www.nj.com/news/2012/10/lbi_hurricane_sandy_damage.html

    BTW, there were still rusting hulks along the ICW from the March, ’62 storm well into the 90’s.

    DCSCA (6fb12f)

  323. @317. Sandy devastation: A first look at Long Beach Island

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

    EPWJ: tagged and bagged.

    DCSCA (6fb12f)

  324. BREAKING: Biden is suing the State of Arizona to stop them from checking citizenship status before allowing people to register to vote.

    There are conservatives who voted for this.

    Obudman (a1c23a)

  325. @331. Absolutely unearthly. And what does Jackie have to say to Joe about this…

    ““Jackie, are you here? Where’s Jackie? She must not be here.” – Squinty McOuijaboard

    DCSCA (6fb12f)

  326. @319. Pffffft. Another ignorance is bliss but such a happy fella….

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

    “You really are a funny guy!” – Henry Hill [Ray Liotta] ‘Goodfellas’ 1990

    DCSCA (6fb12f)

  327. ‘Biden’s seemingly spontaneous comments on crucial issues of international policy to which he has devoted decades of study—whether they concern Putin or Taiwan—are not gaffes.’

    Gaffes? Guffaws! ‘Biden’ and ‘study’ in the same sentence is in the realm of the supernatural.

    Ask Jackie; he would.

    DCSCA (6fb12f)

  328. BREAKING: Biden is suing the State of Arizona to stop them from checking citizenship status before allowing people to register to vote.

    The ignominy!
    The outrage!
    The truth!

    nk (fb4e2d)

  329. It is beyond easy to audit a small county with a high Hispanic population (or Norwegian if there are a lot of those in your state) and compare voters to census and other data. In California, one would audit Imperial County with a lot of seasonal farm workers and the like in a county adjacent to Mexico. If it isn’t happening there, it isn’t happening. I’m sure there is a similar choice in Arizona.

    But really, all the sound and fury was for raising campaign donations, just like the Democrats raised it for decades over the mythical threat to overturn Roe (and it still didn’t help, did it?).

    Kevin M (eeb9e9)

  330. Rip, I’ve been saying for weeks now that if Putin’s that effing crazy, someone needs to K.I.L.L. him.

    Kevin M (eeb9e9)

  331. Not only should people have to prove they are citizens, they should have to prove they are 18 or older. None of this wink and a nod about “they look old enough”! No sir! They should produce a notarized copy of their birth certificate. I’d also want to see their social security card, their draft card, their library card and two major credit cards.

    I’d ask for a literacy test and $10 but people tell me they don’t allow that any more.

    Kevin M (eeb9e9)

  332. Supremes back at work Monday.

    Wetlands case Monday, Alabama redistricting Tuesday.

    Kevin M (eeb9e9)

  333. It’s really interesting to see the actual questions and responses, then to see what the reporter chooses to bring forth.

    Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 10/2/2022 @ 1:00 pm

    The actual questions/responses are always available when I link to a survey’s top lines and cross tabs, which is for most of the polls I post.

    Rip Murdock (dee8eb)

  334. Supremes back at work Monday.

    And working hard looking for the leaker like OJ be lookin’ for the real killer.

    DCSCA (37bfae)

  335. @327. If you’re gonna call the game you best know the players– or get back to peddling popcorn in the stands:

    Putin Has Left the World No Other Option But Regime Change

    He means financial world, of course. Rothkopf is a Democrat.

    In 1993, he joined the Clinton administration as Deputy Under Secretary of Commerce for International Trade Policy and Development. Rothkopf later served as Acting U.S. Under Secretary of Commerce for International Trade, directing the 2,400 employees of the International Trade Administration including the U.S. Commercial Service, the International Economic Policy Bureau, the Bureau of Import Administration, and the Bureau of Trade Development.

    He left government service and became managing director of Kissinger Associates, the international advisory firm founded and chaired by former U.S. Secretary of State Henry A. Kissinger.

    The firm was founded in 1982 by Henry Kissinger. In 1999 Mack McLarty joined Kissinger to open Kissinger McLarty Associates, the firm’s office on Eighteenth and Pennsylvania streets in Washington, D.C. McLarty was White House Chief of Staff under Bill Clinton. Kissinger McLarty is a corporate member of the Council of the Americas, the New York-based business organization established by David Rockefeller in 1965. As of January 2008, the two firms have separated and McLarty Associates, headed by Mack McLarty, is an independent firm based in Washington.

    Kissinger Associates is located in River House on Park Avenue at Fifty-first Street, in a building also occupied by Peter Peterson’s Blackstone Group. It was established in July 1982 after loans had been secured from Goldman Sachs and a consortium of three other banks. These loans were repaid in two years; by 1987 annual revenues had reached $5 million.

    Kissinger Associates doesn’t disclose its clients under U.S. lobbying laws. The firm once threatened to sue Congress to resist a subpoena for its client list. It has in the past advised American Express, Anheuser-Busch, Coca-Cola, Daewoo, Midland Bank, H. J. Heinz, ITT Corporation, LM Ericsson, Fiat, and Volvo. But the firm does belong to the U.S.–Russia Business Council, a trade group that includes ExxonMobil, JPMorgan Chase, and Pfizer.

    So his opinions and commentary are financially motivated. Putin is costing their clients $.

    DCSCA (37bfae)

  336. @292 for what its worth newsome say he wont run for president in 2024 he says the recall election scared him.

    asset (e5f3fc)

  337. Supremes are on borrowed time as abortion ruling came to late for candidates running in 2022 primaries. In 2024 the left will be able to finance and field candidates who will fight the supreme court or do even more.

    asset (e5f3fc)

  338. In 2024 the left will be able to finance and field candidates who will fight the supreme court or do even more.

    That’s what the GOP said in 1964, as Goldwater took on the Warren Court.

    Kevin M (eeb9e9)

  339. So obudman is correct and the left wing spin is that the feds dont require ptoof of citizenship so nobstate can require it.

    Thanks nk for the left wing spin.

    NJRob (eb56c3)

  340. @292 for what its worth newsome say he wont run for president in 2024 he says the recall election scared him.

    asset (e5f3fc) — 10/3/2022 @ 1:40 am

    Newsom is fully a creature of the DNC; if they tell him to run, he’ll run, whether he actually wants to do so or not.

    Factory Working Orphan (bce27d)

  341. Then don’t use Motor Voter. You can’t eat your federal pork and have it too, said the Supreme Court in 2013. Pay for your own voter registration and you can ask them to show you their tattoos. (Provided you do it for the voters for the most numerous chamber of the state legislature, too.)

    Cheap political stunt pulled by pudding-brained election deniers.

    nk (804314)

  342. Live! From the Land of Ward Politics!

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  343. And I’ll tell you who else is pissed off about the Arizona law. Trump, that’s who. Because it does not require proof of Soviet-bloc citizenship.

    nk (804314)

  344. If you must throw potato, throw it hard.

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  345. @348

    Then don’t use Motor Voter. You can’t eat your federal pork and have it too, said the Supreme Court in 2013.

    nk (804314) — 10/3/2022 @ 5:32 am

    Mind elaborating on this as to why you think this is legally problematic?

    whembly (b770f8)

  346. https://www.frontpagemag.com/ny-judge-rules-polygamy-on-same-level-as-couple-relationships/

    Leftist judge rules Supreme Court recognized polygamy.

    NJRob (3a15ab)

  347. Cheap political stunt pulled by pudding-brained election deniers.

    I have to say that Trump has brought new currency life to the term “bloody-minded.”

    Kevin M (eeb9e9)

  348. Mind elaborating on this as to why you think this is legally problematic?

    Beats me. I don’t consider it worth looking up (as far as I’m concerned if Arizona does not like our federal system it can rejoin Mexico’s) but as best as I recall that was the basis for the Supreme Court decision in 2013. That the states could not amend the federal Motor Voter law.

    nk (91fe5f)

  349. 354… as we’ve witnessed. Here’s to hoping they all find some peace, given their struggles with mental health.

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  350. Alito on SCOTUS critics: ‘Questioning our integrity crosses an important line’

    https://edition.cnn.com/2022/09/29/politics/alito-supreme-court-kagan-roberts/index.html

    Yeah; the bottom line, leaker.

    DCSCA (b38dfa)

  351. Scores of Venezuelan migrants in New York City are hopping on vans to head down to Florida for Hurricane Ian clean-up, they told The Post.

    The migrants had scant information about whom they would be working for, but they still piled into vans in Queens that they said were headed to the Sunshine State over the weekend.

    “They want us for hurricane cleanup, we’d get paid $15 an hour, overtime and $15 for food daily, I think,” said Javier Moreno, 37, noting that a woman named Camila “from an organization” approached him with a flier.

    https://nypost.com/2022/10/02/nyc-migrants-pile-into-vans-they-say-are-headed-to-florida-for-hurricane-ian-cleanup/

    lol. lmao.

    Davethulhu (204c9e)

  352. https://www.frontpagemag.com/ny-judge-rules-polygamy-on-same-level-as-couple-relationships/

    Leftist judge rules Supreme Court recognized polygamy.

    NJRob (3a15ab) — 10/3/2022 @ 8:03 am

    Not quite true, the case is based on New York rent control law and whether a polyamorous relationship (the practice of engaging in multiple romantic relationships, with the consent of all the people involved) is covered by the law’s noneviction provisions. The court ruled that polyamorous relationships are entitled to the same sort of legal protection given to two-person relationships, and required that a hearing be held to determine if the three individuals had such a relationship. The eviction court did not say the Supreme Court recognized polygamy.

    Polygamy involves marriage among several different partners and is still illegal.

    Rip Murdock (d2a2a8)

  353. RIP Sacheen Littlefeather (75). Native American Apache activist who on behalf of Marlon Brando refused his best actor award at the 1973 Oscars for The Godfather. She was booed off-stage for her speech decrying the portrayal of Native Americans in the film industry, thereby proving her point.

    The actor John Wayne was so unsettled that a show producer, Marty Pasetta, said security guards had to restrain him so that he would not storm the stage.

    Rip Murdock (d2a2a8)

  354. @359, shocking that Rob was (again) misrepresenting the facts about something that outraged him.

    Time123 (4ec7a0)

  355. https://www.nber.org/system/files/working_papers/w30512/w30512.pdf

    Interesting study on the impact of party affiliation on excess death during covid.

    TL:DR

    Republicans experienced higher rates of excess death in OH and FL after the vaccine came out.

    Which doesn’t seem like an unreasonable outcome, even if it’s an unfortunate one.

    Time123 (4ec7a0)

  356. Even more shocking that a New York eviction court judge would not automatically believe a landlord (can you say “Trump”?) trying to break rent control on an apartment on the basis that the tenants are engaging in free love. The hippies!

    nk (f82a5f)

  357. @359, shocking that Rob was (again) misrepresenting the facts about something that outraged him.

    Time123 (4ec7a0) — 10/3/2022 @ 10:07 am

    I decided to be charitable, since he feels oppressed.

    Rip Murdock (d2a2a8)

  358. @362, not sure that study is all the shocking since both states are trending Republican for some time now. (particularly Florida as it’s a retiree destination).

    whembly (b770f8)

  359. #360

    The John Wayne story has been persuasively debunked.

    https://selfstyledsiren.substack.com/p/john-wayne-and-the-six-security-men

    Appalled (229764)

  360. DCSCA,

    THEY WERE all insured in Jersey. Including your imaginary friends. Very little damage. Out of 3.2 million homes only 22k suffrered enough damage that insurance wrote them off

    From your imaginary work in Uvalde to many other fantastical claims. Youre inner walter middy is showing

    EPWJ (5d3039)

  361. “Our study has several limitations. First, our mortality data, while detailed and recent, only includes approximately 80% of deaths in the US. However, excess death patterns in our data are similar to those in other reliable sources. Second, because we did not have information on an individual’s vaccination status, analyses of the association between vaccination rates and excess deaths relied on county-level vaccination rates. Third, our study is based on data from the only states where we could obtain voter registration information (Florida and Ohio); hence, our results may not generalize to other states.”

    Colonel Haiku (7236ca)

  362. I started to watch the CNN special on the Dobbs decision last night. It would have been more interesting if they would have focused on the legal arguments and not just the politics. There is a valid legal argument for reversal. There is also a valid political argument to have accepted the Dobb’s regulations but to not have reversed Roe. There undoubtedly will be blowback in some states, especially where there might have been legislative over-reach. If you believe your side is correct, then win the Senate decisively and pass federal legislation. There’s nothing awful about insisting that democracy work rather than having robed elites deciding tough questions with little true guidance from the Constitution, precedent, or the common law. Change minds. Make arguments. Stop whining that you’re not getting your way.

    AJ_Liberty (5f05c3)

  363. More vote fraud! RethugliKKKan party chairman of alabama caught making and using phony id to vote. (DU) Hope Neil Young will remember southern man don’t need him around to vote!

    asset (0d8d7c)

  364. More vote fraud! RethugliKKKan party chairman of alabama caught making and using phony id to vote. (DU) Hope Neil Young will remember southern man don’t need him around to vote!

    asset (0d8d7c)

  365. El Paso’s ‘hypocritical’ Democrats are working with the White House to quietly bus THOUSANDS of migrants north using federal money – but unlike Govs. Abbott, Ducey and DeSantis they tout it as a ‘humanitarian’ mission

    While the Republican governors of Texas and Arizona – Greg Abbott and Doug Ducey – have made headlines sending migrants to liberal northern cities to spotlight the crisis on the southern frontier, El Paso is doing much the same, just without the fanfare.

    For some, El Paso’s migrant-busing policy showcases how Democrat-led administrations are downplaying the crisis on America’s border, speedily processing thousands of arrivals each day at a warehouse in the desert and packing them out on buses north.

    It also opens up the administration of President Joe Biden to accusations of hypocrisy – for criticizing the migrant-busing policies of Abbott and Ducey while cooperating when liberal El Paso does much the same, albeit under a different label.

    ‘The hypocrisy on display right now by Democrats and coastal elites is a thing to behold,’ said R.J. Hauman, an analyst at the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), a policy group.

    ‘Transporting illegal aliens into American communities is either perfectly fine or inhumane. It just depends who sends them and where they go.’

    JF (775fa3)

  366. Rip and Time both being dishonest as to the decision. Yes the word polygamy wasn’t used. They used a synonym since polygamy is still illegal till the next step down the slippery slope. For historical context see “civil union.”

    The decision took a situation that only applies to married partners and applied it to a trio. A rose by any other name…

    “In sum, the problem with Braschi and Obergefell is that they recognize only two-person relationships. Those decisions, while revolutionary, still adhered to the majoritarian, societal view that only two people can have a family-like relationship; that only people who are “committed” in a way defined by certain traditional factors qualify for protection from “one of the harshest decrees known to the law—eviction from one’s home.”

    Those decisions, however, open the door for consideration of other relational constructs; and, perhaps, the time has arrived. As Justice John Roberts foretold in his Obergefell dissent:

    “Although the majority randomly inserts the adjective ‘two’ in various places, it offers no reason at all why the two-person element of the core definition of marriage may be preserved while the man-woman element may not.

    NJRob (bad3a2)

  367. Liz Truss thrown under the bus by her own Chancellor of the Exchequer.

    Rip Murdock (d2a2a8)

  368. https://www.fightforthefuture.org/Authors-For-Libraries

    ….We urge all who are engaged in the work of getting books into the hands of readers to act in the interests of all authors, including the long-marginalized, midlist, and emerging authors whom librarians have championed for decades. We write to ask that all publishers, distributors, and trade associations:

    Enshrine the right of libraries to permanently own and preserve books, and to purchase these permanent copies on reasonable terms, regardless of format. Many libraries would prefer to own and preserve digital editions, as they have always done with print books, but these days publishers rarely offer them the option. Instead, when libraries have access to ebooks at all, the prices libraries pay to rent ebooks are often likened to extortion….

    Sammy Finkelman (1d215a)

  369. Rip and Time both being dishonest as to the decision. …..

    This NY eviction court decision will not lead to the legalization of polygamy, which is against the law in every state and by the federal government (upheld by the Supreme Court in Reynolds v. United States (1878)). Given the conservative nature of the current Supreme Court, it is highly unlikely polygamy will ever be legalized, so the fear that this one eviction case involving a polyamorist relationship will not doom Western civilization or the nuclear family. As long as all of adults consent to the arrangement, I don’t see what the problem is.

    Of course, most polygamous “marriages” are never discovered anyway because no one requests a second marriage license from the government.

    Rip Murdock (d2a2a8)

  370. AJ_Liberty (5f05c3) — 10/3/2022 @ 12:07 pm

    . It would have been more interesting if they would have focused on the legal arguments and not just the politics. There is a valid legal argument for reversal.

    The whole thrust of the Democratic Party talking points on abortion is that there is not — or maybe no legal arguments on either side.

    There is also a valid political argument to have accepted the Dobb’s regulations but to not have reversed Roe.

    That’s kind of a mixed legal and political argument.

    Any policy with regard to stare decisis is political.

    Sammy Finkelman (1d215a)

  371. Rethugs getting desperate in lee county floriduh for not ordering evacuation until it was too late. Just like uvalde not my fault! We did every thing right! We weren’t late everyone else was too early!

    asset (0d8d7c)

  372. I started to watch the CNN special on the Dobbs decision last night. It would have been more interesting if they would have focused on the legal arguments and not just the politics. ……

    AJ_Liberty (5f05c3) — 10/3/2022 @ 12:07 pm

    In the short term the time for legal arguments has passed. It’s all about implementing Dobbs to the political advantage within each individual state through at least 2024. I doubt that there is a viable legal argument against Dobbs, under stare decisis, the federal courts are obligated to follow Supreme Court rulings.

    Rip Murdock (d2a2a8)

  373. And there is very little chance that either party will have a veto-proof majority in Congress to overrule Dobbs (any federal law would be constitutionally suspect to begin with).

    Rip Murdock (d2a2a8)

  374. Re; Joe Biden and Congresswoman Jackie Walorski.

    Henry Kissinger once was going to say something that would have involved Saudi Arabia’ King Feisal being still alive — he caught himself and had to substitute other thoughts This was in 1974, You’d have to be paying very careful attention to notice he was going to say something and then had to change it. King Feisal was no longer king.

    That in the context of that event, Joe Biden would think – at first – that Jackie Walorski should be there is not unusual, but the thing is he never caught himself.

    He had authorized a condolence statement, had flags set to half mast for two days, made a condolence call, signed a bill renaming a post office after her, and was going to meet with the family two days after that event.

    He maybe could take Prevagen

    https://prevagen.com

    Or lithium , which is good not only for bipolar syndrome, but anything where there is a reduction is a certain kind of brain cell, like Alzheimer’s or Huntington’s chorea.

    https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34119602/#:~:text=Abstract,amnestic%20MCI%20and%20Alzheimer%27s%20disease.

    Lithium for Alzheimer’s has been talked about for more than 15 years, but there’s no money in it for any pharmaceutical company to do a clinical trial so it can be approved. Lithium can’t be patented.

    There’s an argument for high drug prices, but if price controls stop progress, then there are all sorts of other possible treatments that are not going anywhere, unless the non-patentable therapy gets tweaked and combined with some patentable that is mostly or entirely irrelevant.

    Lithium for Huntington’s Disease:

    https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3574462/#:~:text=Lithium%20has%20been%20used%20to,account%20for%20its%20neuroprotective%20effects.

    You probably never heard of this because it can’t be advertised.

    Sammy Finkelman (1d215a)

  375. One possible surprise upset in a United States race is the one in Washington State.

    Patty Murray has coasted for 5 terms (or 4 re-elections) since 1992 when she was elected in the “Year of the Woman.”

    Sammy Finkelman (1d215a)

  376. A movie was made with the idea of getting prizes. But the “Woke” people came out against it and the producer apologized.

    https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/25/us/sundance-jihad-rehab-meg-smaker.html

    Sundance Liked Her Documentary on Terrorism, Until Muslim Critics Didn’t
    The film festival gave Meg Smaker’s “Jihad Rehab” a coveted spot in its 2022 lineup, but apologized after an outcry over her race and her approach.
    ….

    Assia Boundaoui, a filmmaker, critiqued it for Documentary magazine.

    “To see my language and the homelands of folks in my community used as backdrops for white savior tendencies is nauseating,” she wrote. “The talk is all empathy, but the energy is Indiana Jones.”

    She called on festivals to allow Muslims to create “films that concern themselves not with war, but with life.”

    The very thought that some Muslims might be “converted” to a religious belief that they should kill people was not to be breathed…

    Some reviewers thought some conservatives might not like it because it implied that someone might be cured of terrorism, but that was not who organized against it and got the producer to apologize and the movie cancelled..

    It was Muslims who took the position that Abigail Disney, came from the wrong background to make a movie about this, and basically, even if they didn’t say so, that anything about Muslims being bad was no good. Characterized essentially as that it hurt their feelings.

    Being led out of a more American cult is still OK, though. Probably even if it’s Scientology.

    Sammy Finkelman (1d215a)

  377. Re; Bail law. yesterday on Marcia’s Kramer’s local WCBS interview show, former Governor David Paterson noted that the ability of NY judges to consider dangerousness was removed in 1971, when the state legislature and the Governor (Nelson Rockefeller) were Republicans.

    What had of course been going on was that judges did consider dangerousness or recidivism and set bail with the intention of it not being met.

    When high bail is met, usually the person is being represented by lawyers, and has family who pretty much get them to stop. Or they are rich enough not to be committing street crimes or stealing from strangers for the money.

    Even if bail is met by ponying u 10% to a bail bondsman high bail limits repeating the offense..

    Sammy Finkelman (1d215a)

  378. On a Columbo show shown Sat night on Cizi TV Ukraine was referred to “the Ukraine.”

    Sammy Finkelman (1d215a)

  379. It’s been raining, lightly or moderatl=ely since late last week.

    Sammy Finkelman (1d215a)

  380. On a Columbo show shown Sat night on Cizi TV Ukraine was referred to “the Ukraine.”

    Of course, that show is like 30-50 years old (depending if the episode was the original NBC or later ABC run).

    Rip Murdock (d2a2a8)

  381. @367. EPWJ: tagged and bagged.

    You poor, sad soul; stop embarrassing yourself.

    DCSCA (739f70)

  382. @386. It’s the region moniker.

    DCSCA (739f70)

  383. Little Marco doesn’t know if he is coming going……

    Apparently he does- as long as it isn’t his job:

    New Orlando Sentinel report details Marco Rubio failing to show up for work

    Florida Democratic Party Executive Director Marcus L. Dixon released the following statement on a new report that found Marco Rubio is yet again failing to show up and do the job Floridians are paying him to do:

    “Marco Rubio’s repeated failures to show up for work leave Florida without a voice on critical issues, including important national security concerns, and they’re an insult to the hardworking people who pay his salary. If Marco Rubio had any other job, he would be immediately fired, and next November Floridians will see to it that he loses his job.”
    Rubio has missed over a dozen recent hearings about protecting senior citizens, helping small businesses, and vital issues of national security, including the nomination of an ambassador to China. The recent news is part of Rubio’s long history of failing to show up for his job. During his failed presidential campaign, Rubio skipped critical national security briefings for fundraisers, earning the worst attendance record of any sitting Senator at the time.

    https://www.charlottedems.com/new-orlando-sentinel-report-about-marco-rubio-failing-to-show-up-for-work/

    And in the last term…

    Rand Paul: Marco Rubio ought to show up for Senate votes

    https://edition.cnn.com/2015/10/29/politics/rand-paul-marco-rubio-senate-filibuster/index.html

    DCSCA (739f70)

  384. Rob, you continue to misrepresent the eviction courts ruling as flowing from the SC decision. It didn’t. It’s based on NYC law.

    Time123 (2de50c)

  385. “Queen B*tch David French Calls The Blaze To Try to Get a Reporter Fired for Making Fun of Him
    Plus: Avenging the Wrong This Simpering Sissy Did to Julie Kelly, Once and For All…”

    http://ace.mu.nu/archives/401217.php#401217

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  386. @394. France is relevant; French is irrelevant.

    DCSCA (e39499)

  387. Trump suing CNN for definition of character…….

    ……..
    “Beyond simply highlighting any negative information about [Trump] and ignoring all positive information about him, CNN has sought to use its massive influence— purportedly as a ‘trusted’ news source—to defame [Trump] in the minds of its viewers and readers for the purpose of defeating him politically, culminating in CNN claiming credit for ‘[getting] Trump out’ in the 2020 presidential election,” the filing claims.
    ……..
    The lawsuit claims that defamatory labels of “racist,” “Russian lackey,” “insurrectionist,” and ultimately “Hitler” are routinely and “repeatedly” applied by the network’s “allegedly ‘reputable’ newscasters” to Trump and that such voices do not assert those labels as” hyperbolic nor opinion,” but as facts, “with purported factual support.”
    ……..
    The filing goes on to make a novel argument: that U.S. Supreme Court-crafted defamation standards, which are quite exacting and hard to meet for public figures, are met in this case, but shouldn’t apply.

    “Even though the actual malice standard is met here, in circumstances like these, the judicially-created policy of the ‘actual malice’ standard should not apply because ‘ideological homogeneity in the media—or in the channels of information distribution—risks repressing certain ideas from the public consciousness just as surely as if access were restricted by the government,’” the lawsuit argues. “Suits like these do not throttle the First Amendment, they vindicate the First Amendment’s marketplace of ideas.”
    ……..
    The lawsuit contains additional times CNN has compared Trump to Hitler, including an August 2019 segment by then-host Brian Stelter, a March 2019 broadcast with the headline “Top House Democrats Compare Trump’s rise to Hitler’s,” and a December 2019 Anderson Cooper interview with recording artist Linda Ronstadt wherein she compares “America under the leadership of President Donald Trump and Germany under the leadership of Adolf Hitler.”

    “No matter how lovely a voice she may have, Ronstadt is a singer, not a historian,” the filing says. “The interview is merely a pretext to repeat CNN’s message under the guise of real ‘reporting.’ More problematic is the use of celebrities to propagate CNN’s message.”
    ………

    This lawsuit will probably end up just like his RICO lawsuit against Hillary Clinton, Democratic National Committee, James Comey, Lisa Page, Peter Strzok, etc. That is, it won’t get passed a motion to dismiss. SAD!

    Rip Murdock (d2a2a8)

  388. US Money Committed to Ukraine Has Already Exceeded Cost of First 5 Years Afghan War

    In the roughly four months since Russia invaded Ukraine, the United States spent more money keeping Russia at bay than it did in the first five years of the Afghan conflict.

    Overall, the United States has promised at least $54 billion in spending related to the war, some to support NATO nations, part to support Ukraine through “tradition channels” and other funding to support U.S. military in Europe, according to Fox News. Direct military-related spending on the Ukraine war has reached $8 billion

    According to ForeignAssistance.gov, through 2006 the United States spent $7.4 billion in the first five years of its fight against the Taliban. The peak year for costs was 2011 when the U.S. spent $11.4 billion in its 20-year war that ended with the debacle of the evacuation from Kabul last summer. – https://www.westernjournal.com/us-money-committed-ukraine-already-exceeded-cost-first-5-years-afghan-war/

    Initial estimates of Ian storm damage costs to Americans in Florida: $100 billion.

    Storm. The. Castle.

    DCSCA (e39499)

  389. Ukraine tank breakthrough in south towards Kherson

    Ukrainian troops have broken through Russian positions on the Dnieper river north-east of Kherson, a strategic Russian-held city in southern Ukraine.

    The advance was reported by the Russian military and Russian-installed officials in the region. There is heavy Russian defensive fire, they say.
    ……..
    Russia’s proxy forces in Luhansk said Ukrainian troops had pushed a few kilometres into the Luhansk region. Reports suggest that the Ukrainians are moving towards the Russian-held towns of Kremenna and Svatove in Luhansk.

    In the south, Vladimir Saldo, the Russian-installed leader in Kherson, said Ukrainian forces had broken through near Dudchany, a town on the Dnieper about 30km (20 miles) south of the previous front line. The river is called Dnipro by Ukrainians.

    ………Some Russian reports say the Ukrainians have now taken Dudchany.

    A Russian defence ministry spokesman, Igor Konashenkov, said “numerically superior” Ukrainian tanks had “driven a deep wedge” south of Zolota Balka, a village that marked the previous front line on the Dnieper. He claimed the Russians had killed about 130 Ukrainian troops in that fighting.
    ……….

    Peremoha Ukrayini!

    Rip Murdock (dee8eb)

  390. Pro life candidate hershall walker like dubya says No exceptions even for rape and incest. Well one exception when he got his girl friend pregnant like dubya did. Daily beast has the details.

    asset (823f8f)

  391. “Queen B*tch David French Calls The Blaze To Try to Get a Reporter Fired for Making Fun of Him

    Plus: Avenging the Wrong This Simpering Sissy Did to Julie Kelly, Once and For All…”

    http://ace.mu.nu/archives/401217.php#401217

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0) — 10/3/2022 @ 5:51 pm

    French has receipts for his allegations. (The lies Kelly told about French’s wife are vile and contemptible.) Ace and Kelly have none for theirs. Believe what you want. I believe French.

    lurker (cd7cd4)

  392. Colonel Haiku (2601c0) — 10/3/2022 @ 5:51 pm

    French calls Kelly’s tweet a lie, and so does French’s wife.
    I believe the French couple over a dishonest Trumpist hack like Ms. Kelly. Other readers here can judge for themselves.

    Paul Montagu (753b42)

  393. Amid the many appeals the Supreme Court declined to hear today was another case in which an armed homeowner was shot and killed on his own property by police after they went to the wrong house. Cops got qualified immunity

    https://twitter.com/lawrencehurley/status/1577039660676747285

    Details in the tweet.

    The second amendment doesn’t exist.

    Davethulhu (204c9e)

  394. I am puzzled by what Haiku thinks is important.

    Somebody in the fever swamps comes up with a despicable lie about his wife and gets it printed in a fever swamp website. The pearls are clutched over a (false) accusation that he tried to get the “reporter” who perpetrated the lie fired. Honestly, whats the terrible behavior here? And why is David French so important that his behavior must become the stuff of fever swamp frolic?

    Love to know if there is a serious explanation Haiku could offer. Because I don’t understand the point, other than the joy of being evil.

    Appalled (bb128c)

  395. “ Either way, the ‘damage’ done by those walking through the Capitol on January 6, 2021 pales in comparison to the arranged and encouraged riots which covered the entire country in the summer of 2020. Outrage enflamed by professionals, both in the media and political class. It spawned an entire industry. And it destroyed businesses, murdered people, destroyed entire sections of cities and neighborhoods. Backed, marketed, kept up by the Democrats and their media divisions. Coincidentally, the very same people perpetrating this theater on us now.

    One of these things- January 6 or the George Floyd Riots- are empirically far worse than the other. By an order of magnitude. The entire Outrage over January 6 is just so much theater. Never in my life have I seen so many politicos with a history of denigrating our country and it’s citizens, suddenly finding their patriotism come alive when they know they can play it up to alter not just one- but two elections if possible.

    This is theater. A real insurrection would be felt by all and it would not require a constant debate on the nuances of walking through the Capitol and what it really meant. There is nothing nuanced about an actual insurrection, just as there is nothing nuanced about what took place in the summer of 2020, and the visible remains scattered in cities across our country.

    That there is so much fear of a person even saying out loud that they have doubts about the outcome of the 2020 election tells me all I need to know. They protest too much. Well beyond the actual incident.”

    —- Temujin

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  396. French will continue to enjoy his Drag Queen hours and other “blessings of Liberty”.

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  397. Regarding Herschel, the story of him–at 47 years old–paying for a girl’s abortion will likely ding him, but not a lot, IMO, because his shiddy character is already factored in.
    But, to me, the video of the son railing on his lying dad is way worse.

    Paul Montagu (753b42)

  398. Another word for those “walking through the Capitol” is rioters.

    Paul Montagu (753b42)

  399. 407… dehydrated horse reporting for doody…

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  400. From Victor Davis Hanson…

    “At home, the Biden Administration inexplicably destroyed the southern border, as if civilized nations of the past never needed such boundaries.

    Utter chaos followed. Three million migrants have poured into the United States. While some cross over clandestinely, others clear border stations without an adequate audit, and largely without skills, high-school diplomas, or capital.

    The streets of our cities are anarchical – and by intent.

    Defunding the police, emptying the jails, and destroying the criminal justice system unleashed a wave of criminals. It is now open season on the weak and innocent.

    America is racing backwards into the 19th-century Wild West. Predators maim, kill, and rob with impunity. Felons correctly conclude that bankrupt postmodern “critical legal theory” will ensure them exemption from punishment.

    Few Americans know anything about agriculture, except to expect limitless supplies of inexpensive, safe, and nutritious food at their beck and call.

    But that entitlement for 330 million hungry mouths requires massive water projects, and new dams and reservoirs. Farmers rely on steady supplies of fertilizer, fuels, and chemicals. Take away that support – as green nihilists are attempting – and millions will soon go hungry, as they have since the dawn of civilization.

    Perhaps nearly a million homeless now live on the streets of America. Our major cities have turned medieval with their open sewers, garbage-strewn sidewalks, and violent vagrants.“

    https://townhall.com/columnists/victordavishanson/2022/10/02/the-thinnest-veneer-of-civilization-n2613861

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  401. Is applauding yourself ill-mannered? Yes:

    Yes, self-aggrandizement is rampant, and not just on social media.

    Miss Manners knows that it is commonplace to declare that it is important to love oneself. But that does not make public displays of that affection palatable to others.

    (It took me longer than it should have to realize that many fans of the loser like his bad manners.)

    Jim Miller (85fd03)

  402. #399 – Will pro-death extremists now flock to support Walker? If they are consistent, they will.

    Jim Miller (85fd03)

  403. We all know how VDH has failed in recent years, but it is cruel — and a possible violation of copyright laws — to display his decline at such length. It’s like laughing and pointing at an old lady when she stumbles.

    Jim Miller (85fd03)

  404. Rob, you continue to misrepresent the eviction courts ruling as flowing from the SC decision. It didn’t. It’s based on NYC law.

    Time123 (2de50c) — 10/3/2022 @ 3:57 pm

    No it isn’t. It’s an unlawful change to the law done by a judge who cites the examples done by the Supreme Court. Just keep pretending otherwise.

    NJRob (eb56c3)

  405. French has receipts for his allegations. (The lies Kelly told about French’s wife are vile and contemptible.) Ace and Kelly have none for theirs. Believe what you want. I believe French.

    lurker (cd7cd4) — 10/3/2022 @ 10:12 pm

    Of course you do. French loves to say it’s conservative to elect leftists and turn his back on Republican candidates. It’s the only way to win.

    NJRob (eb56c3)

  406. Haiku,

    it is amazing how many so called conservatives keep saying don’t support the more conservative candidate running for office, isn’t it?

    NJRob (eb56c3)

  407. https://twitter.com/realchrisrufo/status/1577029634042253313

    The American Medical Association is demanding to allow the mutilation of children and if anyone speaks out against such evil behavior they must be censored and punished.

    NJRob (eb56c3)

  408. https://hotair.com/david-strom/2022/10/04/doctors-against-dissent-trans-edition-n500664

    The American Academy of Physicians, the American Medical Association, and the Children’s Hospital Association are now asking the Justice Department to sic the FBI on critics of transgender sterilization and mutilation of children.

    If you are an ally of the Left, you can call on the US Justice Department and the FBI to go after your critics and shut them up. Preferably by putting them in jail, but censorship and intimidation might work as well.

    The National School Boards Association followed this playbook, and while the Justice Department and the FBI took some real backlash for labeling angry parents domestic terrorists. They also managed to chill a lot of parental speech. It turns out that nobody likes being under FBI investigation. As Lavrentiy Beria, head of Joseph Stalin’s secret police in the Soviet Union said, “Show me the man, and I’ll show you the crime.”

    Nobody wants to be on the wrong end of a Secret Police.

    More on the AMA violating the Hippocratic oath and destroying children in the name of their 30 pieces of silver.

    NJRob (eb56c3)

  409. 415… it’s their “principles”, Rob. Civilization crumbling all around them and they reveal who they are/have always been.

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  410. RIP Loretta Lynn (90).

    Rip Murdock (dee8eb)

  411. Lynn outlived most of her fans. A country music legend.

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  412. 412… my… aren’t you something.

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  413. Another word for those “walking through the Capitol” is rioters.

    Paul Montagu (753b42) — 10/4/2022 @ 7:29 am

    Or seditionists. Oh wait….

    Rip Murdock (d2a2a8)

  414. Rob, you continue to misrepresent the eviction courts ruling as flowing from the SC decision. It didn’t. It’s based on NYC law.

    Time123 (2de50c) — 10/3/2022 @ 3:57 pm

    No it isn’t. It’s an unlawful change to the law done by a judge who cites the examples done by the Supreme Court. Just keep pretending otherwise.

    NJRob (eb56c3) — 10/4/2022 @ 7:59 am

    Again, the NY court decision involves polyamorous relationships (in the context of NY eviction law), which are legal, not polygamy or polyandry, which are not. The New York anti-polygamy law (enacted as a prohibition against bigamy) was not declared unconstitutional, and it is unlikely in the extreme that the current Alito Court majority would allow that to happen. It is a complete overreading of the decision.

    Rip Murdock (d2a2a8)

  415. ‘I’m Only Here for the Violence’: Oath Keepers Member’s Patch Is Prosecutor’s Symbol of Group’s Threat Before and After Jan. 6 as Trial Begins

    Opening statements in the trial of five members of the Oath Keepers group charged with seditious conspiracy in the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol began Monday morning, with federal prosecutors previewing evidence that they say will show months of planning on the part of the defendants, and efforts to delete incriminating evidence afterwards.
    …….
    (Stewart) Rhodes, Jessica Watkins, Kenneth Harrelson, Thomas Caldwell, and Kelly Meggs are charged with plotting to stop Congress from certifying Joe Biden‘s win in the 2020 presidential election and keeping Donald Trump in power. They are accused, along with four other co-defendants set to be tried in November, of conspiring to travel to Washington, D.C. ahead of Trump’s so-called “Stop the Steal” rally, and preparing a “Quick Reaction Force” standing at the ready to bring a cache of weapons allegedly stored in a Virginia to the Capitol. Members of the group could be seen allegedly approaching the Capitol using a “stack formation” to force its way through the crowd.
    ……..
    “The defendants seized upon the opportunity to disrupt Congress,” (Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey Nestler) said. “If Congress could not meet, Congress could not declare a winner.”

    When the defendants “descended upon D.C.” the defendants attacked not just the government, not just Congress, but the country itself, Nestler added.
    ……..
    “You will hear evidence that they had more than one reason” for being in Washington, Nestler said, nodding to the expected argument from the defense that the Oath Keepers had no unlawful purpose that day. He acknowledged that it was certainly legal to be at Trump’s so-called “Stop the Steal” rally, and that even if the claims of providing security for VIPs were “a little suspect” because the group was neither licensed nor paid to do so, “even being bad security guards isn’t itself illegal.”

    A legal purpose, however, doesn’t excuse “unlawful intent” on the part of the defendants, the prosecutor said.

    Nestler also said that Rhodes used the Insurrection Act as “legal cover” for his plan, and that his reference to the Insurrection Act — which Rhodes publicly asked Trump to invoke several times — was simply “legal cover” for Rhodes’ conspiracy.

    …….Nestler included statements from defendants that appeared to show a tendency and inclination toward violence. He showed the jury pictures of patches, for example, that the prosecution alleges were affixed to a vest or backpack that Meggs was wearing that day.

    “I don’t believe in anything,” the patch says. “I’m only here for the violence.”
    ………
    “My only regret is we should have had rifles,” Rhodes could be heard saying on the recording, implying that if he and the Oath Keepers members had been armed, Congress would not have certified Biden’s electoral win.
    ……..
    Harrelson’s lawyer (Brad) Geyer, however, made his displeasure clear when Nestler showed one video that purported to show defendants inside the Capitol building, repeatedly shouting the word “traitors.”

    Geyer, who has previously filed motions suggesting that “suspicious actors” are responsible for the violence at the Capitol that day, was seen shaking his head repeatedly as the video played.

    Rhodes attorney Phillip Linder was the first of the defense lawyers to present opening statements. He framed the case as an amalgamation of weighty issues, including the First Amendment’s free speech guarantees, attorney-client privilege issues, the transition of presidential power, and whether Trump did actually invoke the Insurrection Act.
    ……..
    “They’re not a violent group,” Linder said after the course correction, describing Rhodes as “extremely patriotic” and a “constitutional expert” who is facing criminal charges only because of his “good faith” reliance on the Insurrection Act.
    ……..

    Rip Murdock (d2a2a8)

  416. Here in WA State, Tiffany Smiley is the Republican challenger to perennial lightweight Patty Murray, and Smiley is down by 8.6% on average, which isn’t bad appears out of reach.
    Ordinarily, Ms. Smiley would be the easy choice but she scrubbed the election denials from her website and refused to acknowledge that Biden is the legitimately elected US president.
    Unless she changes her tune, my write-in protest vote goes to Slade Gorton, the last Washington State Republican who served in the Senate, losing to Maria Cantwell in 2000.
    For those say who I’m betraying my party for not voting for Smiley, no, my party is betraying me for nominating a candidate who stands against our democracy. Country over party.

    Paul Montagu (753b42)

  417. Again, the NY court decision involves polyamorous relationships (in the context of NY eviction law), which are legal, not polygamy or polyandry, which are not. The New York anti-polygamy law (enacted as a prohibition against bigamy) was not declared unconstitutional, and it is unlikely in the extreme that the current Alito Court majority would allow that to happen. It is a complete overreading of the decision.

    Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 10/4/2022 @ 9:10 am

    Nonsense. The NY existing law only permits 2 people and those 2 people need a recognized status by the state. This lying judge just ignored the law to permit polygamy by another name.

    No different than the bigot judge in California did to overturn the law banning homosexual marriage.

    Just another crack in the wall to destroy civilization.

    NJRob (ecac7a)

  418. Just another crack in the wall to destroy civilization.

    NJRob (ecac7a) — 10/4/2022 @ 10:03 am

    I’m sure we’ll survive a NY eviction court judge.

    Do you favor banning polyamorous relationships?

    Rip Murdock (d2a2a8)

  419. Country over party…

    Pfft… weeping crockodile tears by the hypocrite RINO who backs shoveling billions of FREE American tax dollars to the most corrupt regime in Europe that forbids the freedom for men between the ages of 18 and 60 from leaving the nation as Floridians founder in storm wreckage.

    https://nypost.com/2022/02/25/ukraine-men-ordered-to-stay-and-fight-russia-as-others-flee/

    DCSCA (4c363e)

  420. #414&415

    So you don’t like French supporting Democrats. Understood and even understandable. However

    Why is making horrible insinuations about his wife reasonable political discourse? Why is clutching pearls that French may have “tried to get the reporter fired” for having made such dragged his wife thrugh the mud worthy of national notice?

    Do you guys just enjoy being foul? Is it important to intimidate RINOs?

    Please explain. Because the charges have nothing to do with electing Republicans or supporting Republicans, do they?

    Appalled (a68863)

  421. Death by a thousand cuts, Rob. These people don’t care how long it takes, just that it ends.

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  422. 386. 388.

    I write:

    On a Columbo show shown Sat night on Cizi TV Ukraine was referred to “the Ukraine.”

    * Cozi TV

    Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 10/3/2022 @ 2:49 pm

    Of course, that show is like 30-50 years old (depending if the episode was the original NBC or later ABC run).

    It’ the one with Dick Van Dyke. looking old (but he wasn’t at the time) as a photographer who murders his English wife, from 1974.

    https://columbophile.com/tag/dick-van-dyke

    https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0071348

    There are some mild implausabilities , like how, at the end, can Columbo be so sure at the end that he will reach for the camera that took the picture of his kidnapped wife – picking the correct one out of 12 or so – without Colombo doing a thing to try to get him to grab the camera (besides displaying a reverse picture to prove him guilty (it really was closer to 10 am but he’d moved the clock ahead when he photographed her before killing her.)

    It’s a nice surprise to the viewer but sometimes they are surprising the viewer rather than the characters.

    This episode also has Columbo at a food pantry where he is mistaken for a bum, and then the nun thinks he is undercover.

    And it was predictable the drunk would forget the next day what he had seen – they didn’t know that would happen? I was thinking here’s something they overlooked – but they didn’t. That(that that happened) was a bit of realism that you might not expect in a movie. Anyway they got his statement that night before he went to sleep – Colombo later pretended the statement was still good as evidence.

    But the implausabilities here nowhere compare to those in shows like the Equalizer (which I saw Sunday night) Implausabilities not only in the background but in what is possibilities. Deep fakes are not so good – for one the speed of talking may vary in the different splices.

    Sammy Finkelman (1d215a)

  423. OPEC set to cut production in order to boost prices. How much the U.S> produces doesn’t matter so much. (they are cutting production because of the recession

    Everyone knows there is going to be severe recession except the Federal Reserve Board.

    Sammy Finkelman (1d215a)

  424. Appalled,

    His wife has brought up her status as a victim to repeatedly rail against republican candidates for office and against Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination. She tries to wear her victimization as a shield and as a badge of authority. Do you think that prevents her from criticism or mockery?

    French is a dirtbag that claims to support free speech, but goes through back channels to ruin people for speech he doesn’t support. He’s a cancer on society.

    NJRob (ecac7a)

  425. As I was saying, Putin held those referendums just in time.

    https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2022/oct/04/russia-ukraine-war-live-updates-ukrainians-break-through-russian-defences-in-south-advance-rapidly-in-east

    Putin knew he was going to pull back his forces.

    Sammy Finkelman (1d215a)

  426. https://www.politico.com/news/2022/10/03/desantis-federal-relief-cash-fund-priorities-00060020

    Gov. Ron DeSantis has been a persistent critic of President Joe Biden on nearly every policy front as he moves toward a likely potential 2024 presidential bid. But the Florida Republican likes one thing about the president: his wallet.

    Over the past two years, DeSantis’ administration received billions of dollars in emergency federal aid during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, money that the governor used to fund his top priorities and pet projects.

    Florida is now poised to benefit from billions of dollars in additional federal assistance to grapple with the devastating damage left by Hurricane Ian, which could bring a staggering $40 billion of insured losses.

    “Ironically, while DeSantis has attacked Biden, he’s benefited from his administration,” said Florida Democratic state Rep. Anna Eskamani, a frequent critic of the governor.

    This is how leftists think. Our hard earned dollars belong to them. They just allow us to keep a portion of our money.

    NJRob (ecac7a)

  427. Apparently Hershel Walker paid for a woman to have an abortion a few years ago.

    https://www.thedailybeast.com/pro-life-herschel-walker-paid-for-girlfriends-abortion-georgia-senate

    I doubt this will have much (if any) impact on the race. Democrats are generally pro-choice so this won’t make them more likely to show up to vote.

    The GOP mostly doesn’t care about the moral character of its candidates or the principles they espouse so I expect they’ll default to “this is bad but we need to win the election” and support him anyway.

    Maybe I’m being unfair in my assumptions about the moral bankruptcy of MAGA and social conservatives. If so please point me at the examples so I can retract my statement.

    Time123 (936713)

  428. NJRob #433,

    I dug a little more into this and get a sense of what happened here. I see a husband reacting to his wife being attacked in print for what anyone except an extreme partisan would call a sexual assault. It’s probable that the twitter person who did this did not know, at the time, that the incident happened when she was 12. An apology, when she figured that out, would have ended things.

    Did French try to use his influence (with the Blaze?? — are you kidding??) to get her booted from the paper? He says not. I don’t care. In his shoes I would have done what I could to get her canned, particularly because the woman, to the best of my knowledge, never apologized.

    Why the twitter woman would decide to paint herself as a victim a few years later (rather than just let the thing lapse in silence) is beyond me. A little sense of shame would be nice.

    I don’t get the obsession with French among the MAGA crowd. Like DCSCA would happily point out, he’s irrelevant. Which suggests to me that the point is simple cruelty and a warning to others who defy the MAGA beast. Is there another explanation?

    Appalled (814283)

  429. NJRob is right. Monogamy predates Christianity in Western Civilization.

    The only True Blue Patriotic Conservative American polyamory is shtupping a stripper when the Dior Dalmatian is pregnant and then suing her (the stripper, not the wife) for a refund of the hush money.

    nk (282728)

  430. French has receipts for his allegations. (The lies Kelly told about French’s wife are vile and contemptible.) Ace and Kelly have none for theirs. Believe what you want. I believe French.

    lurker (cd7cd4) — 10/3/2022 @ 10:12 pm

    Of course you do. French loves to say it’s conservative to elect leftists and turn his back on Republican candidates. It’s the only way to win.

    NJRob (eb56c3) — 10/4/2022 @ 8:00 am

    As I explained and showed, my assessment is evidence based. As you demonstrate, yours is tribal. Quelle surprise.

    lurker (cd7cd4)

  431. 232. If the Fed does as promised, given their premises, which are wrong.. But the exchange rate of the Dollar is getting very strong and so some people apparently think the Fed may reverse course sooner than they previously expected.

    Sammy Finkelman (19edaf)

  432. #437 The cruelty was definitely the point in these incidents:

    In 2016, French and his wife and family were the subject of online attacks when he criticized then-presidential candidate Donald Trump and the alt-right. French was bombarded with hateful tweets, including an image of his daughter in a gas chamber.

    That’s their adopted daughter from Ethiopia. Who was 7 years old at the time.

    (Here’s a link to the interview for NJRobb.)

    Jim Miller (85fd03)

  433. Correction: “NJRob”

    Jim Miller (85fd03)

  434. Jim,

    now do the Bush daughters, Barron Trump or countless other kids who are thrust into the limelight by mean people. You won’t because you cannot use them as a shield to distract from French’s despicable actions to try and get someone fired.

    NJRob (eb56c3)

  435. 441… h/t the Temptations

    People swinging bats, people grabbing gats
    Why, because of the color of the hats
    Run, run, run don’t forget to hide
    An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth
    Vote for me or you’ll hang from a tree
    Rap on, Biden, rap on
    Well, the only person talking about love thy brother ain’t no preacher
    And it seems nobody’s interested in learning, even teacher
    Segregation, extermination, demonstration, integration
    Aggravation, examination, humiliation to our nation
    Blog of confusion
    Oh yeah, that’s what the blog is today
    Woo, hey, hey

    The trill of shills is in a terrible rut
    Young folks walking round with their heads up their butts
    The cities ablaze in the summer time
    And oh, the beat goes on
    Evolution, revolution, gun control, “it’s in the hole!”
    Shooting rockets in the sky, kids wonder “what am I?”
    Democrats say more taxes will solve everything
    NeverTrump yanks on
    So, it’s such a blur, that I must confess
    Where the world’s headed, anyone’s guess
    Oh, great ooga-booga, can’t you hear me talking to ya
    Just a blog of confusion
    Oh yeah, that’s what the blog is today
    Woo, hey

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  436. French has shared he believes that Drag Queen Hours for school-aged kids are a “blessing of liberty”.

    All I need to know about him.

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  437. @445. Oooh La-la; does he claim creation of the French kiss, too? 😉

    DCSCA (2d06cf)

  438. His wife has brought up her status as a victim to repeatedly rail against republican candidates for office and against Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination.

    That’s a gross distortion, bordering on dishonest. He has a more complete answer to the smears here.

    Paul Montagu (753b42)

  439. Florida contractors are recruiting illegal immigrants from NY for hurricane clean up. 😂 https://nypost.com/2022/10/02/nyc-migrants-pile-into-vans-they-say-are-headed-to-florida-for-hurricane-ian-cleanup/

    Time123 (5ec3a9)

  440. Jim, you’re wasting you breath. Rob is long past caring about anything like a man defending his minor daughter & wife from lies and personal insults.

    Time123 (5ec3a9)

  441. Is Truss Toast?

    ………
    Within days of taking office and unveiling her plan, her government was embroiled in chaos as the pound plunged and the Bank of England had to intervene to stop U.K. pension funds from collapsing amid investor fears over the health of the country’s finances. Former Tory leader William Hague called it a terrible start to a premiership.

    A lone bright spot for the British leader this week has been U.K. financial markets, which have stabilized after she and Chancellor of the Exchequer Kwasi Kwarteng dropped the top tax-rate cut, vowed to ensure fiscal responsibility and agreed to have a prompt independent budget appraisal of their plans. On Tuesday, the pound strengthened again, up 0.64% to 1.14 a dollar. Government borrowing costs also fell again, with the yield on the benchmark 10-year government bond, or gilt, down 0.13 percentage points to 3.835%.

    The upheaval, however, has come at a cost, damaging the Tories’ image as a steady pair of hands for the economy. Polls show the Conservatives have slumped to record lows against the opposition Labour Party in the wake of the economic plan.
    ………
    ……(At the annual Conservative Party Conference) many privately expressed amazement at the chaos that has engulfed Downing Street in the past three weeks. They either criticized the tax policy or criticized Ms. Truss for ditching it. Most of all they criticized how she communicated the plan.
    …….
    When asked on Tuesday if the Conservative Party was united behind Ms. Truss, one of her cabinet ministers simply grimaced. Ms. Truss was pressed in an interview on television on whether she trusted her chancellor of the Exchequer. She refused to say she did. Conservative party elders warned Ms. Truss earlier this week to scrap her cut to the 45% tax rate, which kicks in at earnings over £150,000 a year, because her lawmakers wouldn’t vote it through Parliament.
    ……..
    Without the support of lawmakers or the broader British public, however, she faces an uphill battle selling big changes to the Conservative manifesto that was voted for in 2019—including more spending to help poorer areas of the country left behind by globalization.
    ……..
    Nadine Dorries, a former Tory cabinet member who supported Ms. Truss’s campaign to be leader, turned on the prime minister earlier this week, saying Ms. Truss had no mandate to force through the changes she wanted and should call an election.
    ……..
    Economists argue that Ms. Truss’s stimulus plan will simply trigger the Bank of England to aggressively raise rates to cool rampant inflation, inflicting pain on already struggling households and businesses. ……..
    ……..

    Related:

    Liz Truss’s Chances of Standing Down This Year Up Sharply, Odds Show

    Rip Murdock (d2a2a8)

  442. If the the fight for a Senate majority comes down to Ohio, and if Vance loses by a razor-thin margin, going by the study referenced here, an argument could be made that he lost because too many unvaccinated Republican Ohioans died from Covid and were thus unable to put him over the top.
    Vaccinations could have electoral consequences.

    Paul Montagu (753b42)

  443. NJRob (eb56c3) — 10/4/2022 @ 8:00 am

    Here’s French’s answer to the despicable smears you’re tacitly defending. It’s comprehensive and it’s devastating. I recommend you read it.

    (Just noticed Paul linked to the same post. So consider it two recommendations.)

    lurker (cd7cd4)

  444. French has shared he believes that Drag Queen Hours for school-aged kids are a “blessing of liberty”.

    All I need to know about him.

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0) — 10/4/2022 @ 3:44 pm

    Another lie. If you’re interested in the truth, see the post Paul and I linked above.

    Never mind. I don’t want to make it too hard for you. Here’s the link again.

    lurker (cd7cd4)

  445. Lurker,

    well, either French is lying, or he says so much warbly crap, fence sitting, dip toe in water – that he can’t read a room (called all of America) or forgets what he spews

    Here he is LIVE in person being the human weasel that he is

    praising child rapists and groomers enablers cause “liberty”

    https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/viewpoint-neutrality-protects-drag-queens-and-millions-american-christians/

    AOS is a crap weasel, and attacks on his wife are horrible and uncalled for.

    EPWJ (650a62)

  446. That’s BS. Nowhere does he praise child rapists and groomers. You should point to the quote or withdraw the accusation.

    lurker (cd7cd4)

  447. sure he does, he’s an attention whore and he trolled America to get it.

    He needs to retract the lies he told, especially against Beck and Twitchy

    EPWJ (650a62)

  448. sure he does, he’s an attention hound and he trolled America to get it.

    He needs to retract the lies he told, especially against Beck and Twitchy

    EPWJ (650a62)

  449. Projection is the chief characteristic of Trump and his cult. French’s wife investigated and reported on evangelical pedophile camps. So, of course, the Trump pedo network turns and accuses French of the things that it has been doing. Anybody for pizza?

    nk (0cd826)

  450. “There’s this idea that victory is the natural state of affairs and defeat is the intolerable intrusion. What I’ve been trying to tell people is that none of this stuff is fixed. There is not necessarily an arc to history, and you don’t have to surrender first principles to fight over stuff that you care about. The day is not lost in any way, shape, or form. And, oh, by the way, you can’t define victory as the exclusion of your enemies from the public square. There are going to be Drag Queen Story Hours. They’re going to happen. And, by the way, the fact that a person can get a room in a library and hold a Drag Queen Story Hour and get people to come? That’s one of the blessings of liberty.”

    https://www.newyorker.com/news/the-political-scene/david-french-sohrab-ahmari-and-the-battle-for-the-future-of-conservatism

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  451. nk,

    Have a link? French loved the attention, thats how he gets paid – you work to the bone for what you got in life- he was given every thing. lies about being a war veteran and hid administrative bronze star (all rear force majors and up were given one) he is just like Trump – not worth your time

    EPWJ (650a62)

  452. Goddamn it, enough of this tit-for-tat crap. THIS IS HOW WARS GET STSRTED. Where are the adults in this government?

    S. Korea missile accident panics public on edge over North

    SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — A South Korean ballistic missile malfunctioned and crashed into the ground during a live-fire drill with the United States, panicking confused residents of a coastal city already uneasy over increasingly provocative weapons tests by rival North Korea. The military said the test was meant to be a show of strength by South Korea and the United States, following North Korea’s firing just hours earlier of a nuclear-capable ballistic missile that crossed over Japan. – AP.com

    DCSCA (aea2e1)

  453. Tony Bobulinski is very credible and has surfaced again, as he says nothing has been done about the laptop evidence against the Biden Crime Family.

    Don’t hold your breath, though.

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  454. An informative interview with him on Carlson’s show. It’s all on the DOJ/FBI now.

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  455. Tip of the cap to the Soviet Union; 65 years ago today, October 4, 1957, w/their successful launch of Sputnik 1. The birth of the Space Age changed life on Earth.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bHCeLvy5z-I

    DCSCA (aea2e1)

  456. Survivors, ex-employees say Kanakuk Christian camp ‘ministered’ to its sexual predators

    One link of many. Google *nancy french pedophile camps* for more.

    nk (76acca)

  457. praising child rapists and groomers enablers

    Your own link shows no such thing. Maybe you should check your prejudice.

    Paul Montagu (753b42)

  458. It was viewpoint bias that kept religious groups out of college campus buildings, and it was those First Amendment issues that French actually litigated against and won, because they’re accorded the blessings of liberty. Here’s the part of the link Haiku left out.

    French, who spent years as a litigator, replied that he had never understood what Ahmari wanted the government to do about Drag Queen Story Hour—which tenets of local control or free speech he would have the Trump Administration set aside. The same First Amendment principle that allows drag queens to read to children in public libraries had also allowed Christian groups to flourish, French said, by permitting them to organize in universities and other public spaces. “So you would undermine viewpoint neutrality in First Amendment jurisprudence?” French asked. “Yeah, I would,” Ahmari said. French raised his arms in exasperation. “That’s a disaster, y’all!”

    The way I understand the First Amendment, with a couple exceptions, people have the right to express points of view that Ahmari and French strongly disagree with, but Ahmari doesn’t want to be bothered with going along with the Bill of Rights. He wants viewpoint censorship, to shut down speech he doesn’t like, and he and his tribe want to be arbiter.
    Somewhere along the line the, Trump right and the gutter right mistook civility for being a pushover.

    Paul Montagu (753b42)

  459. “Somewhere along the line the, Trump right and the gutter right mistook civility for being a pushover.“

    French said the words, denials posted here in the thread are BS.

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  460. Well, yeah, French said them, and you mischaracterized the meaning. I’m really coming around to his idea that there is a gutter right.

    Paul Montagu (753b42)

  461. Did I now. He said the words. And it’s clear that it’s still difficult to find an honest lefty in the Seattle area.

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  462. Sohrab Amari? That guy? Good grief!

    He should have stayed in Iran. He would have made a good religious police officer. (And he cannot even go back anymore, because he would be beheaded for apostasy, having gone from Shia to atheism to Catholicism.)

    Using him against David French? Seriously? I don’t think so. Troll-la-la-la-la is the song I hear.

    nk (76acca)

  463. “We face a darkening political future, potentially greater loss of life, and a degree of polarization that makes 2016 look like a time of unity,” he [French] wrote after the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville.

    Boy, did he have his finger on the pulse of the nation… /sarc

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  464. Tony Bobulinski is very credible and has surfaced again, as he says nothing has been done about the laptop evidence against the Biden Crime Family.

    Don’t hold your breath, though.

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0) — 10/4/2022 @ 6:20 pm

    I look forward to his testimony under oath.

    Don’t hold your breath, though.

    Rip Murdock (dee8eb)

  465. He said the words.

    Yes, he said words, and these words are assembled into sentences that convey a meaning, a meaning you distorted. But hey, I’m sure the tribe appreciates your contributions.

    Paul Montagu (753b42)

  466. Paul

    He’s greatly misrepresented – and he’s not the only one by aby means – his role in Iraq which – was administrative – has been twisted by some – and in his presence – who he didnt correct – and the embarrassment of getting bronze stars which were meant for valor in combat – but were given to all majors who served more than 14 days in the green zone.

    I would not die on this hill, he’s not worthy of you

    EPWJ (650a62)

  467. 472… fully documented and the FBI has it all. What was shared on the program appeared to be obvious wrongdoing… names, dollar amounts, specific actions committed to and then taken. TB did say the FBI had spoken to him in October of 2020 and indicated they would be taking some action and would soon be hearing back from them. He stated there had been no contact since then. Or interest from MSM. What a shock.

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  468. Colonel Haiku (2601c0) — 10/4/2022 @ 8:47 pm

    He said he said. When Bobulinski says whatever he has to say in public under oath during an open Congressional hearing or a public trial rather than Tucker’s show it would be more believable.

    Don’t hold your breath, though.

    Rip Murdock (dee8eb)

  469. fully documented and the FBI has it all.

    I hope he kept copies.

    Rip Murdock (dee8eb)

  470. He’s greatly misrepresented – and he’s not the only one by aby means – his role in Iraq

    Bullsh-t.

    Paul Montagu (753b42)

  471. And, oh, by the way, you can’t define victory as the exclusion of your enemies from the public square. There are going to be Drag Queen Story Hours. They’re going to happen. And, by the way, the fact that a person can get a room in a library and hold a Drag Queen Story Hour and get people to come? That’s one of the blessings of liberty.” […]

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0) — 10/4/2022 @ 6:03 pm

    That’s right, he said the right of anyone, including people you disagree with, e.g., Drag Queen Story tellers, to hold forth in a public library is a blessing of liberty. You claimed he said the Drag Queen Story Hour itself, not the right to hold it, is the blessing of liberty. He did no such thing, and you’re smart enough to know the difference.

    lurker (cd7cd4)

  472. I know Haiku is smart enough, lurker.
    There’s a lot of overlap these days between the Putin Wing, the Fascist Wing, the Gutter Wing, the Ahmari Wing, the Trumpist Wing, the Tribal Wing, the Populist Wing and the Christian Nationalist Wing of the GOP.
    There’s no room for the traditional conservatives who were cool with Ronald Reagan, Martin Friedman and Jack Kemp. I suppose it’s why Patterico and Beldar comment at The Dispatch.

    Paul Montagu (753b42)

  473. There’s a lot of overlap these days between the Putin Wing, the Fascist Wing, the Gutter Wing, the Ahmari Wing, the Trumpist Wing, the Tribal Wing, the Populist Wing and the Christian Nationalist Wing of the GOP.

    I suspect the Venn Diagram of all those groups is pretty much a circle.

    lurker (cd7cd4)

  474. There’s no room for the traditional conservatives who were cool with Ronald Reagan, Martin Friedman and Jack Kemp.

    And long overdue; what goes around comes around: welcome to 1964.

    DCSCA (126afe)

  475. Sean hannity to herschel walker ;but she has a receipt from the abortion clinic and a $700 check you sent her in a signed abortion card! Herschel walker Sean I send a lot of women I get pregnant checks. I got 4 kids by 4 different women that I know about.

    asset (62beb5)

  476. @484. You Got To Be A Football Hero To Get Along With The Beautiful Girls!

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LicB8xovxsc&t=2s

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b0reywtH5Cw

    DCSCA (126afe)

  477. ^for 483

    DCSCA (126afe)

  478. lurker: “I don’t get the obsession with French among the MAGA crowd. Like DCSCA would happily point out, he’s irrelevant. Which suggests to me that the point is simple cruelty and a warning to others who defy the MAGA beast.”

    French calls out Trump and advocates for a more civil politics. Much of the internet snipes are dedicated to the opposite. They’ve learned from Trump that lies, nastiness, and cruelty are acceptable and the new normal. Good conservatives used to understand concepts like honor, truth, and civilty. Some here chose poorly in 2015, aligned with Trump, and are now forever rationalizing that decision by attacking the critics. It’s a whole subculture. People here know what French said and what happened to his wife. They choose to be dishonest because they’re anonymous, there’s zero penalty for promoting garbage, and it’s tribalism uber alles.

    Paul: “There’s no room for the traditional conservatives who were cool with Ronald Reagan, Martin Friedman and Jack Kemp.”

    I think you meant Milton. The reality is that the Republican Party is no longer a party that talks policy and an actual agenda. Trump could be out stumping for any number of political objectives, but what is he instead focused on? Himself. Even the one policy that is ever present, the border, is not approached soberly with a concrete legislative plan. Political stunts now substitute for conservative solutions. There’s not even the pretense of building a broader consensus and hashing out compromises. Once you give up on the principle and value of compromise, the American experiment is on life support. The foolish here don’t understand what replaces it when it dies….

    AJ_Liberty (242c56)

  479. I know Haiku is smart enough, lurker.

    No, he is not. Only enough to know that other people will not descend to his gutter when he flings obscenities.

    Like Trump. And like this Ahmari character. Who spewed his bile on French, confident that French would not tell him: “Take that Shia back to Iran. This is America, and we don’t have Ayatollahs and morality police. We have Thomas Jefferson and the First Amendment.”

    nk (211aa4)

  480. DCSCA,

    The only similarity to Nelson Rockefeller and Donald Trump is that they inherited a lot of money. Trump is more a return to the politics of Nixon (or Spiro Agnew) than he is to the TR, LaFolette, Wilkie, Dewey, Rockefeller tradition that you mourn.

    Appalled (03f53c)

  481. Helping finance the Ukrainian resistance IS expensive. BUT, for $80B…about 1/10 the pentagon budget…..if someone promised that the Russian army would be gutted, there would be a mass exodus of men from Russia to avoid forced conscription, that Putin would see real opposition in the streets, and that there might be a 5% chance that Putin is forced from power, would the keen strategist spend the money?

    2,000 tanks destroyed, nearing 20,000 Russian dead and 80,000 casualties, logistic disarray, energy gambit spent, Ukrainians fighting for their country and to control their fate, Finland and Sweden joining NATO, unambiguous message sent to China about naked aggression…..things could still go south, but only the naive would miss the geopolitical significance….

    AJ_Liberty (242c56)

  482. AJ, they view Putin as being part of their Tribe. So opposing him, even if it’s in US interests, is bad. Simple as that.

    Time123 (5ec3a9)

  483. C’mon, you people. You shouldn’t allow one person to dominate your thoughts, conversations, dreams (I suspect)… you aren’t that weak-minded. Even mr. windy sponge-brained-sh*ts pants.

    You are stronger than that.

    You can do it.

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  484. My GOP: Come for the exercise of raw power, stay for the cruelty. Policy is whatever comes out of Trump’s mouth, so shut up and fall in line.

    AJ, my only excuse on Friedman is that I was on glass 3# of a tasty grenache.

    Paul Montagu (753b42)

  485. AJ, they view Putin as being part of their Tribe. So opposing him, even if it’s in US interests, is bad. Simple as that.

    And they would also need to admit to themselves that Putin was juicing their Orange for four years while the Orange was lighting candles to him.

    nk (211aa4)

  486. “view Putin as being part of their Tribe”

    Yeah, it’s a weird fascination with authoritarianism…..and using force to get what you want. Trump has incubated this. But it’s still really bizarre that people don’t see Putin as a villain who wants to see America weakened and torn apart by internal strife. AllahNick writes about this internal GOP tension at TD. The GOP is lost in the desert. This is what happens when character and honesty is eschewed and the rabble get their carnival barker…..

    AJ_Liberty (242c56)

  487. “my only excuse on Friedman is that I was on glass 3# of a tasty grenache.”

    Haaa! In these times, good for you. I had to actually look up Martin Friedman to see if I was completely missing someone. Apparently he’s the guitarist for Megadeath. Maybe that can work too….

    AJ_Liberty (242c56)

  488. AJ_Liberty (242c56) — 10/5/2022 @ 7:12 am

    putin is certainly a villain, but to prove we really believe this we have to cheerlead wasting tens of billions of $$, tens of thousands of deaths, devastation, and risk escalation to aid a country that has virtually zero strategic value

    isn’t it a little embarrassing that trump fixation makes you think like this?

    JF (1db79c)

  489. JF, Did you not see AJ’s previous comment that laid out the strategic importance of what’s happening in Ukraine? Or did you just not understand it? Check out 489.

    Time123 (715640)

  490. @AJ 494, I think part of it is that Authoritarianism is the only way left to achieve many of their aims. For instance even if the SC overturns Obergefell many large and prestigious institutions (Colleges, large companies, etc) will just go back to “civil unions”. It will impact gay families in a many ways, but much of society is so far past opposing homosexuality that few GOP leaders are even talking about ending gay marriage. An authoritarian freed of the constraints elector politics could take strong action.

    Might even be able to use the government to fight ‘the war on Christmas’ and make clerks at Home Depot stop saying “Happy Hollidays” in a way elected officials bound by the first amendment cannot.

    Time123 (715640)

  491. PP… come for the wild imagination, stay for the thinking that apes DNC talking points.

    Colonel Haiku (7236ca)

  492. @436 Time123

    Apparently Hershel Walker paid for a woman to have an abortion a few years ago.

    https://www.thedailybeast.com/pro-life-herschel-walker-paid-for-girlfriends-abortion-georgia-senate

    I doubt this will have much (if any) impact on the race. Democrats are generally pro-choice so this won’t make them more likely to show up to vote.

    The GOP mostly doesn’t care about the moral character of its candidates or the principles they espouse so I expect they’ll default to “this is bad but we need to win the election” and support him anyway.

    Maybe I’m being unfair in my assumptions about the moral bankruptcy of MAGA and social conservatives. If so please point me at the examples so I can retract my statement.

    Time123 (936713) — 10/4/2022 @ 12:13 pm

    Yes, you’re being unfair, appallingly so.

    1) This is an October surprise perpetuated by an extremely partisan rag, so please don’t assume everything is 100% accurate.

    2) Walker vehemently denies it. The “story” is fair game journalistically, but we must be aware what time it is as well.

    3) Furthermore, there’s nothing in that story that directly links Walker to an abortion. What they have are circumstantial evidence that is compiled to advance a narrative. That’s it.

    4) “The GOP mostly doesn’t care about the moral character of its candidates” is really appalling, especially in this Walker context, and I’ll tell you why:
    Let’s stipulate that yes, Walker did pay someone to have an abortion. He’s campaigning as a pro-life candidate. In the pro-life movement, you have to give grace to folks who have done/supported abortions to allow them to change their minds to eventually move and support the pro-life movement. Much of the pro-life movement are spearheaded by former abortion supporters.

    Perfect example coming: Donald F’n Trump. Whatever you think of the man, and whatever you believed him or not during 2016 election campaign as a “pro-life” candidate, Trump ended up being the most pro-life President in our lifetime.

    Whatever Walker’s past support for Abortion and/or if this story is true that he paid for an abortion decades ago… he’s campaigning to be a pro-life senator.

    We votes can, and should, be able to separate a candidate’s past from how a candidate would perform in office. In fact, I’d argue EVERY voters has done this to some degree or another.

    Furthermore, if you are the kind of voters who’s turned off by someone who support abortions, whether currently or historically, you’d still would probably rather vote for “Pro-life campaigning” Walker and take the chance, over the obvious radical-abortion supporting Warnock.

    whembly (b770f8)

  493. Alec Baldwin is taking another shot at the movie “Rust”.

    ‘Rust’ Movie Productions Reaches Settlement With Halyna Hutchins Estate; Filming To Resume In January, Matthew Hutchins To Executive Produce

    I’m pretty sure it is just to spite Trump. Isn’t it a little embarrassing that trump fixation makes him think like this?

    nk (211aa4)

  494. @496, So your policy would have been to NOT allow Ukrainians to defend themselves and simply allow Russia to take over control of the country? There would still have been deaths, mainly Ukrainian, destruction, and the effective Russian border would then have been reset at Poland. This would then have resulted in an inevitable NATO response of deploying more troops to dissuade further aggression. You would still be committing more US tax dollars, and you would have lost the buffer of an EU-friendly (NATO interested), western leaning country. It would have likely also resulted in Finland and Sweden still looking for accelerated entry into NATO, and increased security concerns in the Baltic countries. Nothing would have been learned about the Russian army…since it would not have been tested…to dissuade Putin from further adventurism. Putin would have gained political support in his country and his notion of reviving Soviet imperialism (while thumbing his nose at the EU) bolstered. In the end, penny wise, pound foolish.

    The increased risk of a nuclear attack is palpable, except when you game out what happens after the first strike. It’s a no-win scenario for Russia and there would be immense pressure from its military (and the Oligarchs)…who would pay the immediate and total cost….to overthrow Putin. I would even doubt that the military would allow the escalation. A nuclear attack on Ukraine creates fallout with unpredictable effects. It can blow over a NATO country or it could blow over Russia itself. You irradiate the very prize you’re trying to steal, and create even more sympathy for Ukraine and more antipathy for Russia. Oligarchs lose money and lose even greater access to the west. Unlike religious extremists, I don’t buy Russians going down in flames for Putin’s ego. The current mass migration suggests otherwise.

    Putin wants NATO to collapse. He wants the US to become isolationist and internally rip itself apart. He loves political forces in the US that promote all of that. He wants a weak US military industrial base. He wants our institutions to crumble and for democracy to fail (he laughs at the current Right’s simmering war with the FBI and Justice Dept). He wants authoritarianism to flourish. We have an interest in opposing all of that and to see authoritarianism fail…decisively. We want the Russian military to flounder and break. We want Ukrainians fighting for Ukraine. We want the world siding against naked aggression and standing up for signed treaties and agreements. There is a battle of geopolitical philosophies at stake. Giving in to evil never delivers less evil…

    AJ_Liberty (5f05c3)

  495. @437 Appalled

    I don’t get the obsession with French among the MAGA crowd. Like DCSCA would happily point out, he’s irrelevant. Which suggests to me that the point is simple cruelty and a warning to others who defy the MAGA beast. Is there another explanation?

    Appalled (814283) — 10/4/2022 @ 12:36 pm

    FWIW, I like David French and much of the things he writes I usually nod along as I read. I simply disagree a lot of his NeverTrump articles.

    However…I get this “obsession”.

    It’s not really because of his #NeverTrump stance (although, I’m sure it exacerbated it).

    His disconnect from the right started long before Trump descended from that escalator at Trump Plaza.

    He comes off as this high and mighty person, who writes articles supporting his various stances on things such that…if you don’t support his rationale, then you’re not a good “x”.

    “X” being a “good Christian”, or “American”, or whatever the red meat of the day.

    What we should recognize, though among other things, is that French is an anti-populist and I think much of his points makes more sense when you know where he’s coming from.

    In regards to this spat between the Frenches and this “maga” journalist Kelly: I see no angels here, as both are wrong and wrongly escalated when both could’ve understood that this whole thing was a simple misunderstanding.

    whembly (b770f8)

  496. The Trump Mar-a-Lago Lawsuit
    ……..
    Trump’s argument to the Supreme Court is that the 11th Circuit “lacked jurisdiction to review, much less stay, an interlocutory order of the District Court providing for the Special Master to review materials seized from President Trump’s home.”
    ……..
    Here’s why that argument will fail. It is true that a district court’s appointment of a special master is an “interlocutory order” that is unappealable while the case is ongoing. But Judge Cannon’s Order did more than just authorize the appointment of a special master; it also explicitly enjoined the Government from taking certain actions. And 28 U.S.C.§ 1292(a)(1) specifically gives the courts of appeals jurisdiction over interlocutory orders granting injunctions. As the 11th Circuit put it:
    ……..
    The DOJ appeal wasn’t challenging the appointment of the special master, nor was it challenging any of the district court’s orders directed to the special master concerning the scope and conduct of his review; rather, it was challenging those parts of Judge Cannon’s Order that were directed specifically to them – the government—orders which just happen to be included in the same document in which she appointed the special master. And it assuredly had jurisdiction to hear an interlocutory challenge to those.
    ……..

    Rip Murdock (d2a2a8)

  497. I know Haiku is smart enough, lurker.

    No, he is not. Only enough to know that other people will not descend to his gutter when he flings obscenities.

    Like Trump. And like this Ahmari character. Who spewed his bile on French, confident that French would not tell him: “Take that Shia back to Iran. This is America, and we don’t have Ayatollahs and morality police. We have Thomas Jefferson and the First Amendment.”

    nk (211aa4) — 10/5/2022 @ 4:20 am

    Amhari is also converted to Catholic and there’s an increasingly restive strain within the evangelical right that seeks to take back conservative think tankism and the courts from the Kaffolicks and the J…

    urbanleftbehind (ba1f92)

  498. whembly, yes, it’s an October surprise, but Walker’s denials are overcome by the documentation. Also, there’s a lot more about Walker’s shiddy character than just an abortion story, but a shiddy character like Trump nevertheless endorsed him and my party went along and looked the other way. Anyone who knows anything about Walker knows that he’s a ticking character time bomb.

    I suspect that the lady who Walker paid off will appear on CNN or MSNBC and fill out the rest of the details. This still may not backfire on Walker and the GOP, but if they don’t reclaim the majority, Trump will again be known as the guy who went to Georgia and sabotaged a Republican Senate, just like he did in 2020/2021.

    Paul Montagu (753b42)

  499. @488. You still don’t get what’s going on. All the better for populists. Your homework assignment- discover what High Priest Buckley mused when The Big Dick got the nom nod in ’68 after LBJ was run off the ranch. And Nixon?:

    “What America needs are leaders to match the greatness of her people.” -The Big Dick, August, 1968

    That went well. =sarc=

    DCSCA (9c8ed3)

  500. @506

    whembly, yes, it’s an October surprise, but Walker’s denials are overcome by the documentation. Also, there’s a lot more about Walker’s shiddy character than just an abortion story, but a shiddy character like Trump nevertheless endorsed him and my party went along and looked the other way. Anyone who knows anything about Walker knows that he’s a ticking character time bomb.

    I suspect that the lady who Walker paid off will appear on CNN or MSNBC and fill out the rest of the details. This still may not backfire on Walker and the GOP, but if they don’t reclaim the majority, Trump will again be known as the guy who went to Georgia and sabotaged a Republican Senate, just like he did in 2020/2021.

    Paul Montagu (753b42) — 10/5/2022 @ 10:21 am

    Let’s clarify here:
    • She provided “a” receipt with no verification & admits there is no documentation connecting it to Walker
    • She says she has a check made out by Walker for a different amount on a different day
    • She has an undated get well card with no abortion reference

    Furthermore, in the actual story the woman says she’s doing this because she is a pro-abortion activist who wants to keep Walker from winning. Like she literally admits this.

    There’s nothing there that could be described as a receipt for Walker paying for an abortion. Which, the DailyBeast literally claimed they had. Like they actually advertised this story as:

    “WE HAVE THE RECEIPT!”

    No… no they don’t.

    whembly (b770f8)

  501. “They [Biden Administration] know that, by repressing oil production, they’re making these resources scarce and expensive. That’s how they want it. They think high prices will force people to buy costly electric cars. But they know that their position of effectively rationing energy is highly unpopular.

    It would have been easy for Biden to make up for loss of Russian oil imports through expanded domestic drilling. Instead he lifted sanctions on Venezuela, begged the Saudis, and, now, threatened OPEC members. It’s as insane and as dangerous to American security as it looks.

    —- Michael Shellenberger

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  502. whembly (b770f8) — 10/5/2022 @ 10:33 am

    The story has been circulating for months. It’s not a new allegation, and it fits in with his four children by four different women suddenly being revealed. Trump and Walker are made for each other.

    Rip Murdock (d2a2a8)

  503. 508… sounds like shid-for-brains thinking/evidence all the way around.

    Perhaps more honest to call it evidense.

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  504. Dana has written a post on the HW story.

    Rip Murdock (d2a2a8)

  505. @508, that’s not very convincing. You undoubtedly agree that (1) the two WERE in fact dating, (2) the woman did in fact have an abortion during the time they dated, (3) that Walker did give her a check for more than the cost of the abortion proximate to the time of the abortion, and (4) that no rational person would include reference to the abortion in a “get well” card. Walker’s not on trial. What would a reasonable person conclude from these details? Does Walker’s previous conduct make it more or less probable that he got the woman pregnant?

    AJ_Liberty (5f05c3)

  506. BTW, it’s no secret that I want the Ukrainians to reclaim all their occupied territories from Putin, but they’re not above reproach if they commit war crimes or assassinate civilians, like what likely occurred with Dugin’s daughter.
    They’ve also targeted other pro-Russian civilian officials. Not good. I get the sentiment, the wanting to take out traitors, but still not good. Stick to military targets, please.
    Also, this my no means implies an equivalency between the Ukraine and Putin, because there isn’t one.

    Paul Montagu (753b42)

  507. So fetterman, who was never that bright, had a stroke. He’s been trying to avoid situations where the impact of the stroke will make him look bad….and Oz is still not projected to win.

    Amazing how bad the GOP primary is at picking candidates that can easily win key races.

    Time123 (5ec3a9)

  508. Fetterman is toast.

    Interesting read…

    The Uncivil Civility of David French

    “ Debates are about making points, yes, but they’re also about comportment. The exchange between Sohrab Ahmari and David French, which took place at the Catholic University of America last Thursday, centered on just this point. It was a debate about debates—namely, “How do we best engage with our opponents on the Left?”

    As it happens, we had ringside seats to watch these two men duke it out about the role of Christians, conservatives, and the state. I must admit, I was completely unprepared. I was expecting wholly different men than those who went to the ropes…”

    https://www.crisismagazine.com/2019/the-uncivil-civility-of-david-french

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  509. JF, Did you not see AJ’s previous comment that laid out the strategic importance of what’s happening in Ukraine? Or did you just not understand it? Check out 489.
    Time123 (715640) — 10/5/2022 @ 8:37 am

    i had read it already

    obviously, only putin fanboys who hate America would disagree with any of it

    JF (54e182)

  510. Even more shocking that a New York eviction court judge would not automatically believe a landlord (can you say “Trump”?) trying to break rent control on an apartment on the basis that the tenants are engaging in free love. The hippies!

    The point is that this process can and will be abused, to chain custody of the apartment through numerous successive relationships. It’s bad enough in the binary case, this just makes it easier.

    And as far as polygamy is concerned, a lot of polygamy advocates just bookmarked this case for eventual reference.

    Kevin M (eeb9e9)

  511. I doubt that there is a viable legal argument against Dobbs, under stare decisis, the federal courts are obligated to follow Supreme Court rulings.

    State courts will discern much the same thing as Roe in their state constitutions. Unless the Supreme Court or Congress is going to declare that fetal life is protected, those state constitution-based lies will stand.

    Kevin M (eeb9e9)

  512. Country over party.

    Looks more like a Party of One.

    Kevin M (eeb9e9)

  513. There’s a lot of overlap these days between the Putin Wing, the Fascist Wing, the Gutter Wing, the Ahmari Wing, the Trumpist Wing, the Tribal Wing, the Populist Wing and the Christian Nationalist Wing of the GOP.

    Luckily we have the Purer-that-Driven-Snow Wing to keep us all straight. And “tribe” can mean a lot of things.

    In actuality, the opposition is the Anti-Trump Wing, the Ship Jobs to Asia Wing, the Elite Wing, the Bluenose Wing, the Rich Wing, the Open Borders Wing, the Gun Control Wing, the Preserve the Thrifty Working Class Wing, the Other Fascist Wing and the Dow is Everything Wing.

    Kevin M (eeb9e9)

  514. The story has been circulating for months. It’s not a new allegation, and it fits in with his four children by four different women suddenly being revealed

    Do you have a point? That’s he’s a typical late 20th century black male?

    Kevin M (eeb9e9)

  515. The persistent attacks on David French remind me of this story:

    Aristides was a member of a family of moderate fortune; his father’s name was Lysimachus. Of his early life, it is only told that he became a follower of the statesman Cleisthenes and sided with the aristocratic party in Athenian politics. He first came to notice as strategos in command of his native tribe Antiochis at the Battle of Marathon, and it was no doubt in consequence of the distinction which he then achieved that he was elected archon eponymos for the ensuing year (489–488). Pursuing a conservative policy to maintain Athens as a land power, he was one of the chief opponents of the naval policy proposed by Themistocles.[2]

    According to Plutarch, the rivalry between Aristides and Themistocles began in their youth. The conflict between the two leaders ended in the ostracism of Aristides at a date variously given between 485 and 482. It is said that, on this occasion, an illiterate voter who did not recognise Aristides approached the statesman and requested that he write the name of Aristides on his voting shard to ostracize him. The latter asked if Aristides had wronged him. “No,” was the reply, “and I do not even know him, but it irritates me to hear him everywhere called ‘the Just’.”[2] Aristides then wrote his own name on the ballot.

    (Links omitted.)

    French’s consistent principles may annoy those who admire the loser, who has none.

    Jim Miller (85fd03)

  516. The LA Times reports on the high price of gas in CA, but nowhere in the article do they mention that it’s double the price people pay in other metro areas.

    It’s almost as if they were told not to, the way they tiptoe around it.

    Kevin M (eeb9e9)

  517. The Uncivil Civility of David French […]

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0) — 10/5/2022 @ 12:16 pm

    Before asking us to consider your next attack on French, how about maybe taking responsibility for your last one, which was demonstrably false?

    lurker (cd7cd4)

  518. The story has been circulating for months. It’s not a new allegation, and it fits in with his four children by four different women suddenly being revealed

    Do you have a point? That’s he’s a typical late 20th century black male?

    Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 10/5/2022 @ 12:50 pm

    No, that it not just an October Surprise story, it’s only a surprise to those outside of Georgia.

    Rip Murdock (d2a2a8)

  519. It’s mostly a surprise to people who are unaware of current black culture, such as it is.

    Kevin M (eeb9e9)

  520. SCOTUSblog: Court agrees to hear nine new cases, including challenge to tech companies’ immunity under Section 230

    The question now before the court is whether Section 230 protects internet platforms when their algorithms target users and recommend someone else’s content. The case was filed by the family of an American woman killed in a Paris bistro in an ISIS attack in 2015. They brought their lawsuit under the Antiterrorism Act, arguing that Google (which owns YouTube) aided ISIS’s recruitment through YouTube videos – specifically, recommending ISIS videos to users through its algorithms.

    Kevin M (eeb9e9)

  521. 525… take the gerbil out of your pocket – his “condo” – and return to the link that includes the description of the “blessings of Liberty”… read slowly and drink deeply of the gerbil tears.

    Colonel Haiku (1b6504)

  522. “It’s almost as if they were told not to, the way they tiptoe around it.”

    As if they needed to be told. You are a funny man, Kevin!

    Colonel Haiku (7236ca)

  523. @528. the question before the court: WHERE’S THE LEAKER?

    Until that is run to ground, it is a meaningless bunch of berobed bureaucrats more and more Americans have every right to ignore.

    DCSCA (67c56e)

  524. After the Saudis just rammed it hard up his butt today, Putin keeps pissing in his Ovaltine and Ukraine keeps picking his pocket of our money, Joey said this today in Florida– surely plagiarized off a grave marker where Beau is buried– and is the #1 candidate for the quote to be etched on his own tombstone

    “Nobody fvcks with a Biden.”

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P7y5UsBCtvk

    DCSCA (67c56e)

  525. 525… take the gerbil out of your pocket – his “condo” – and return to the link that includes the description of the “blessings of Liberty”… read slowly and drink deeply of the gerbil tears.

    Colonel Haiku (1b6504) — 10/5/2022 @ 4:37 pm

    I’ve read it. You’ve read it. But what the hey, let’s look at it again:

    And, oh, by the way, you can’t define victory as the exclusion of your enemies from the public square. There are going to be Drag Queen Story Hours. They’re going to happen. And, by the way, the fact that a person can get a room in a library and hold a Drag Queen Story Hour and get people to come? That’s one of the blessings of liberty

    As anyone with elementary reading comprehension skills can tell you, he was calling the right to express unpopular opinions a blessing of liberty. It’s unambiguous and beyond dispute. You said he called Drag Queen Story Hours a blessing of liberty. That’s false, also beyond dispute. So please tell us, are you sticking to a story you know is BS, or are your perceptions and judgment so blinded by bias that we shouldn’t take you seriously?

    lurker (cd7cd4)

  526. Bugger off, lad.

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  527. Sad.

    lurker (cd7cd4)

  528. Bobby Wagner should get NFL Player of the Week for tackling this yahoo running across the field during Monday Night Football, and now the yahoo is filing charges for a perfect form tackle.

    Paul Montagu (753b42)

  529. Paul Montagu (753b42) — 10/5/2022 @ 7:32 pm

    much like the border jumpers suing DeSantis

    JF (cc6522)

  530. Bobby Wagner should get NFL Player of the Week for tackling this yahoo running across the field during Monday Night Football, and now the yahoo is filing charges for a perfect form tackle.

    Bobby Wagner had no right, duty, or legal justification to do that.

    nk (637a58)

  531. Perhaps the NFL should place a warning signs to protect against legal jeopardy:

    !WARNING!
    TO AVOID SERIOUS
    INJURY OR DEATH

    Improvised running on the field NOT recommended
    Do NOT carry oval-shaped, leathery objects into the Tatum Zone

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  532. Model it on the wonderful work done re:step ladders…

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  533. More evidence for the truth of the second part of this brief summary: Following Trump can be bad for your wealth, your health, and even your freedom.

    A new study published this week by the National Bureau of Economic Research found the gap between Democrats and Republicans dying from Covid-19 increased significantly after the vaccines became widely available.
    . . .
    “Both groups experienced a similar large spike in excess deaths in the winter of 2020-2021. However, in the summer of 2021 — after vaccines were widely available — the Republican excess death rate rose to nearly double that of Democrats, and this gap widened further in the winter of 2021,” they concluded.

    It is odd that some Republicans should have shunned vaccines and other common-sense ways to avoid COVID, considering that Trump coudld take some credit for the vaccines, but they did. Many seem to have reasoned that if the “regime” was for vaccines, then they should be against them.

    (Few noticed that they were following RFK, Jr., which would be funny if it weren’t for all the lives lost.)

    Jim Miller (85fd03)

  534. #538 nk – He’s a great middle linebacker, so we shouldn’t be surprised when he tackles someone on a football field.

    Jim Miller (85fd03)

  535. “Biden has been president for less than two years, and look how things have changed: Gas prices, crime, war, inflation — pretty much everything has gotten worse. It’s not like there was no warning given.”

    https://instapundit.com/546379/

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  536. Bobby Wagner had no right, duty, or legal justification to do that.

    The ref didn’t throw a flag. No foul.

    Paul Montagu (753b42)

  537. I hadn’t seen that the streaker was carrying some burning thing when I wrote that.

    nk (cdf6dd)

  538. And one would think that an animal rights activist would know better than to get between two bands of gorillas fighting over a coconut.

    nk (cdf6dd)

  539. https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMc2209306

    Protective Effect of Previous SARS-CoV-2 Infection against Omicron BA.4 and BA.5 Subvariants

    [Note: In Qatar. As of about May, 2022. And there’s anew variant coming along. Not clear if it will spread much]

    ….The effectiveness of pre-omicron infection against symptomatic BA.4 or BA.5 reinfection was 35.5% (95% confidence interval [CI], 12.1 to 52.7); the effectiveness against any BA.4 or BA.5 reinfection regardless of the presence of symptoms was 27.7% (95% CI, 19.3 to 35.2) (Table 1). The effectiveness of post-omicron infection against symptomatic BA.4 or BA.5 reinfection was 76.2% (95% CI, 66.4 to 83.1); the effectiveness against any BA.4 or BA.5 reinfection was 78.0% (95% CI, 75.0 to 80.7).

    In the analysis of the effectiveness of previous infection in which we assumed that all diagnosed infections were BA.4 or BA.5, we found results that were similar to those of the main analysis. … Analyses that were categorized according to vaccination status also confirmed the study results but suggested that effectiveness could be slightly higher among vaccinated persons. [Note: All vaccines were against a pre-Omicron variant] Limitations of the study design are discussed in Section S1.

    Protection from a previous SARS-CoV-2 infection against BA.4 or BA.5 reinfection was modest when the previous infection had been caused by a pre-omicron variant but strong when it had been caused by a post-omicron subvariant (including BA.1 or BA.2). Protection of a previous infection against reinfection with a BA.4 or BA.5 subvariant was lower than that against reinfection with a BA.1 or BA.2 subvariant3-5 because of more waning of immune protection over time and a greater capacity for immune-system evasion with the BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants.

    Sammy Finkelman (1d215a)

  540. What this WA Post piece tells me is that Hunter Biden could well be indicted after the midterms.

    Federal agents investigating President Biden’s son Hunter have gathered what they believe is sufficient evidence to charge him with tax crimes and a false statement related to a gun purchase, according to people familiar with the case. The next step is for the U.S. Attorney in Delaware, a Trump administration holdover, to decide on whether to file such charges, these people said.

    An ex-president should not be above the law, and nor should the son of a sitting president. Here’s what I said last August…

    Unless trading in on a family name (like what Ivanka with trademarking her name with the ChiComs) is a crime, I don’t know what “criminal elements” you’re talking about.
    Far as I can tell, Hunter’s crimes involve his “tax affairs”, which are under FBI investigation but we don’t know any specifics, and he lied about possessing a firearm. Regarding the “Burisma ordeal”, I’ve seen no illegalities, with Hunter or Joe.

    Paul Montagu (753b42)

  541. Hunter lied about not having used drugs on a form he needed to filll out to purchase a firearm. Giuliani tslked about that,

    Sammy Finkelman (02a146)

  542. WABC 770 AM keeps talking about celebrating its 100th anniversary since they started broadcasting October 1, 1921.

    It’s 101 years now.

    Sammy Finkelman (1d215a)

  543. October 5 is the 75th anniversary of the first time a president gave an address on television (Truman in 1947, when television was rare but possible and raadio still dominated – the transition took place from 1948 to 1952, except for soap operas which continued on radio till about 1959)

    http://eyesofageneration.com/october-5-1947-first-live-television-speech-from-the-white-houseon-this-day

    Also October 6 is the anniversary of the premiere of the Jazz Singer in 1927 – the first talkie – or semi-talkie.

    https://www.wired.com/2010/10/1006warner-bros-premieres-jazz-singer

    And 49 years since the Yom Kippur war.

    Sammy Finkelman (1d215a)

  544. Ms. Ham has an amazing piece on why she was put in the cooler at CNN. Turns out she was a casualty of the Toobin Missile Crisis…

    I suppose some might reasonably conclude that critiquing CNN’s coverage in a factual and calm tweet, or arguing with Kaczynski, could have spurred some disciplinary action, as it violates the rule against “shooting inside the tent” among colleagues. But it turns out that didn’t do me in. Rather, I’m told, “when it got to the comments about Jeffrey Toobin…everyone wanted a bit of a breather.”

    Well, everyone but me, who had no idea there was a breather in effect. I was never informed of my punishment until it was rescinded recently by new management. No one called me or my representation about it. There was no announcement of a suspension, or notification of in-house disciplinary action, which I would have preferred, even welcomed by comparison to serving a secret sentence.

    In case you’re wondering, as I did, how my punishment for tweeting about Toobin compares to Toobin’s suspension for his offense, I can tell you. He was off air for eight months; I was off for seven. One month was the difference between punishment for jacking off at work versus commenting on the inadvisability of jacking off at work.

    Paul Montagu (753b42)

  545. A couple weeks ago, I mentioned a video from last May of Trump people loading eight boxes of documents onto his private jet, destined from Palm Beach to Bedminster. I don’t know if that or something else raised suspicions, but

    A top Justice Department official told former President Donald J. Trump’s lawyers in recent weeks that the department believed he had not returned all the documents he took when he left the White House, according to two people briefed on the matter.

    The outreach from the official, Jay I. Bratt, who leads the department’s counterintelligence operations, is the most concrete indication yet that investigators remain skeptical that Mr. Trump has been fully cooperative in their efforts to recover documents the former president was supposed to have turned over to the National Archives at the end of his term.

    It is not clear what steps the Justice Department might take to retrieve any material it thinks Mr. Trump still holds.

    Yes, I’m speculating, but I have no doubt that Trump is still obstructing, and he’s practically daring DOJ to get another search warrant and get the rest of the documents he stole. I doubt Garland has the stones to go back to that well, and I’m guessing Trump is counting on that, but what do you do with a spoiled child who won’t stop breaking the law and who keeps messing with more classified files?

    Paul Montagu (753b42)

  546. Navalny:

    The strategy should be to ensure that Russia and its government naturally, without coercion, do not want to start wars and do not find them attractive. This is undoubtedly possible. Right now the urge for aggression is coming from a minority in Russian society.

    The problem with that is the fear that Vladimir Putin will use nuclear weapons to prevent his downfall, if he thinks it will help.

    One thing that happens is that people delude themselves with other possibilities, like some negotiated agreement.

    The closest thing you could et with negotiations is like what Israell has with Hamas.

    Sammy Finkelman (63a266)


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