Weekend Open Thread
[guest post by Dana]
Let’s go!
First news item
I was sorry to hear that legendary singer-songwriter David Crosby passed away yesterday at the age of 81 years. He, along with fellow artists Graham Nash, Stephen Stills, and Neil Young made up the iconic Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young. Crosby and his fellow travelers were a large part of the music collage that wallpapered my teenage years (and adult years too). He was an immensely gifted songwriter and his lyrical harmonies pierced the heart. Crosby seemed somehow eternal. He just kept going: writing, singing, performing, and making albums. You can read a full report on the turbulent life and beautiful music of David Crosby here.
Second news item
In a blow to Kyiv and despite pleading for the Unites States to do so, M1 Abrams battle tanks will not be included in the latest aid package to Ukraine:
The Biden administration has decided against sending tanks to Ukraine for now…
Sabrina Singh, the deputy Pentagon press secretary, told reporters Thursday it “doesn’t make sense” to give Ukraine the tanks at this stage.
“The maintenance and the high cost that it would take to maintain an Abrams, it just doesn’t make sense to provide that to the Ukrainians at this moment,” Singh said.
Unfortunately, this suggests that Germany will now be unwilling to send their Leopard tanks:
In recent days, German officials have indicated they won’t send their Leopard tanks to Ukraine, or allow any other country with the German-made tanks in their inventory to do so, unless the US also agrees to send its M1 Abrams tanks to Kyiv – something the Pentagon has said for months it has no intention of doing given the logistical costs of maintaining them.
“They have us over a barrel,” a senior Biden administration official told CNN Thursday, adding that the Germans are demanding tanks for tanks, and not budging on considering any other offers the US has made to spur Berlin to send the Leopards.
The West’s strategy of moving slowly and doling out weapons to Ukraine bit by bit is misguided because it encourages Putin’s murderous ambitions. It leads him to believe that the West is running out of resources and that he will win a protracted war. We cannot continue to self-deter and we cannot allow ourselves to be duped by a dictator.
We urge the leaders of Western countries…to stop procrastinating and end the policy of small injections of weapons. This should be replaced with a very simple approach: give the country fighting for its freedom and for the peaceful future of Europe whatever it needs to defend its people and bring this conflict to a true resolution as quickly as possible.
Related: Thank God this idiocy was rejected:
Leaders in the Oklahoma Senate pushed back on Friday against a call made by one of their colleagues to prohibit Ukrainian soldiers from training at Fort Sill.
It was announced on Jan. 9 that about 100 Ukrainian troops would be sent to Oklahoma as early as this week to begin training on the Patriot missile defense system at Fort Sill.
…
That drew a negative reaction from state Sen. Nathan Dahm, R-Broken Arrow, who filed a resolution to reject Ukrainian troops in Oklahoma.
“These America Last policies of the current regime should not be tolerated in Oklahoma,” Dahm said in a release. “We saw how recently the Ukrainian military fired a rocket into Poland killing two innocent civilians. We certainly don’t need them practicing here in Oklahoma where our citizens could be under the constant threat of a similar failure.”
…
Colleagues of Dahm in the Senate responded with forceful criticism of the proposal.
“Oklahoma has had partnerships with military forces from partner countries to train and maintain the safety and security of the United States and other allied countries for decades,” they said in a joint statement. “To cut these ties would be akin to jeopardizing our national security. The resolution that was issued does not speak for the vast majority of the Oklahoma Senate, or Oklahomans, who welcome training exercises to defend the lands we love and our neighbors in other countries.”
Third news item
Eight months, 126 formal interviews and a 23-page report later, the Supreme Court said it has failed to discover who leaked a draft of the court’s opinion overturning abortion rights.
…
Investigators conducted 126 formal interviews of 97 employees. They looked into connections between employees and reporters, including those at Politico. They looked at call logs of personal phones. They looked at printer logs. They even did a fingerprint analysis of “an item relevant to the investigation.”
The report goes on to note that as more staff worked from home during the pandemic, security became lax and it was easy to remove documents from the building itself. Also, we don’t know from the report whether the justices or their spouses were questioned with regard to the leak.
UPDATE: According to reports published this afternoon, the justices were interviewed:
Supreme Court Marshal Gail Curley, who led the probe, said in a statement that she “spoke with each of the justices, several on multiple occasions.” The justices “actively cooperated,” Curley said, and after following up on all leads she concluded that neither the justices nor any spouses were implicated.
This:
[I]t is paradoxical that an institution that cloaks itself in secrecy and casts itself above other Washington institutions would be exposed as such a sieve.
The report expresses outright how easily confidential information could have slipped out, whether deliberately or accidentally. About 100 people had access to the draft at the outset, according to the details of the report. Many employees, the report said, “printed out more than one copy.”
Fourth news item
No wonder he’s frustrated. After all, he was expected to announce his bid for re-election right after February’s State of the Union address:
A frustrated President Joe Biden said Thursday there is “no there there” when he was persistently questioned about the discovery of classified documents and official records at his home and former office.
“We found a handful of documents were filed in the wrong place,” Biden said to reporters who questioned him during a tour of the damage from storms in California. “We immediately turned them over to the Archives and the Justice Department.”
Biden said he was “fully cooperating and looking forward to getting this resolved quickly.”
“I think you’re going to find there’s nothing there,” he said. “There’s no there there.”
Fifth news item
Green-lighting system in high school cost taxpayers untold thousands of dollars in Massachusetts:
For nearly a year and a half, a Massachusetts high school has been lit up around the clock because the district can’t turn off the roughly 7,000 lights in the sprawling building.
The lighting system was installed at Minnechaug Regional High School when it was built over a decade ago and was intended to save money and energy. But ever since the software that runs it failed on Aug. 24, 2021, the lights in the Springfield suburbs school have been on continuously, costing taxpayers a small fortune.
…
One of the cost-saving measures the school board insisted on was a “green lighting system” run on software installed by a company called 5th Light to control the lights in the building. The system was designed to save energy — and thus save money — by automatically adjusting the lights as needed.
But in August 2021, staffers at the school noticed that the lights were not dimming in the daytime and burning brightly through the night.
“The lighting system went into default,” said Osborne. “And the default position for the lighting system is for the lights to be on.”
Osborne said they immediately reached out to the original installer of the system only to discover that the company had changed hands several times since the high school was built. When they finally tracked down the current owner of the company, Reflex Lighting, several more weeks went by before the company was able to find somebody familiar with the high school’s lighting system, he said.
The report notes that the necessary parts to fix the problem have arrived, and that an override switch put in so that this can’t happen again.
Sixth news item
Former President Donald Trump and his lawyers must pay almost $1 million in sanctions after filing a “completely frivolous” lawsuit against Hillary Clinton and the Democratic Party. In a Thursday ruling, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida ordered Trump and his lead attorney, Alina Habba of Habba Madaio & Associates, to pay $937,989.39.
The ruling stems from a lawsuit filed by Trump in March 2022. Trump’s suit accused Clinton, the Democratic Party, the Democratic National Committee, former FBI Director James Comey, and a number of others of a racketeering “plot” against him. Clinton and the others had “maliciously conspired to weave a false narrative that their Republican opponent, Donald J. Trump, was colluding with a hostile foreign sovereignty” during the 2016 election, it said.
“This case should never have been brought,” wrote Judge Donald M. Middlebrooks in yesterday’s decision. “Its inadequacy as a legal claim was evident from the start. No reasonable lawyer would have filed it. Intended for a political purpose, none of the counts of the amended complaint stated a cognizable legal claim.”
Seventh news
Former President Donald Trump warned his fellow Republicans on Friday not to “destroy” federal retirement and health benefits as they try to exact spending cuts from President Joe Biden and his Democratic allies in the looming debate over the debt ceiling.
“Under no circumstances should Republicans vote to cut a single penny from Medicare or Social Security,” Trump said in a two-minute video message posted to social media that could test his influence among Republicans who now control the U.S. House of Representatives.
Eighth news item
Actor Alec Baldwin faces involuntary manslaughter charges:
First Judicial District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies and special prosecutor Andrea Reeb have announced two involuntary manslaughter charges will be filed against ‘Rust’ actor and producer Alec Baldwin and the movie’s armor Hannah Gutierrez-Reed.
In a statement issued by the district attorney, Baldwin and Gutierrez-Reed will be “charged in the alternative.” That means a jury would decide not if they were just guilty, but under which definition of involuntary manslaughter they were guilty.
The first charge of involuntary manslaughter must be proved that there was underlying negligence. New Mexico state laws mark this charge of involuntary manslaughter as a fourth-degree felony with up to 18 months in jail and up to a $5,000 fine. The DA says this charge also includes a misdemeanor charge of negligent use of a firearm and could merge together.
Ninth news item
I don’t get why members of Congress would let the George Santos story continue. It diminishes them. It is both a daily insult to the American people and a taunt.
He is a nut but can’t be dismissed as only that. He is also wicked in that he has for decades abused all around him by waging war on reality. He has stolen, from all who had dealings with him, including voters, a sense of what is true. He has lied about every central fact of his life, purloining achievement, stature and sympathy. He then hoodwinked a congressional district on Long Island whose residents are now effectively without a functioning representative. Seeing the chance to replace a longtime Democrat with a Republican, they gave him solid backing on the assumption that surely he’d been vetted by someone. He hadn’t.
…
He shouldn’t be in Congress. We all know this. It’s not good enough to say they’re all con men. Even in Congress there are degrees. This one’s a pro, a menace, a total, not partial, fraud. If he has any qualifications for public office they haven’t emerged. He is a bad example for the young: Cheating works. He is an embarrassment to the old. He is an insult to the institution.
…
Democrats love the George Santos story—more humiliation for the Republicans. Republicans hate it—he may be a bum but he’s our bum. Neither is thinking seriously about it.
Don’t give the world more reasons to laugh at our pretensions of good governance. Don’t give America more reason to disrespect ourselves. If you have to drag George Santos off the floor, do.
Read the whole thing.
Have a great weekend.
–Dana
Hello.
Dana (1225fc) — 1/20/2023 @ 10:37 amSabrina Singh, the deputy Pentagon press secretary, told reporters Thursday it “doesn’t make sense” to give Ukraine the tanks at this stage. “The maintenance and the high cost that it would take to maintain an Abrams, it just doesn’t make sense to provide that to the Ukrainians at this moment,” Singh said.
But it is okay for American taxpayers to foot the bill for buying and maintaining these over priced, bloated land whales????
… and the MIC smiled.
DCSCA (17e29a) — 1/20/2023 @ 10:41 am“Under no circumstances should Republicans vote to cut a single penny from Medicare or Social Security,” Trump said in a two-minute video message posted to social media that could test his influence among Republicans who now control the U.S. House of Representatives.
Damn right. Pay yourself fist– cut off the billions blown on Ukraine before hurting American citizens. This is what ‘pay yourself first’ is all about.
DCSCA (f4c5e5) — 1/20/2023 @ 10:45 amSupreme Court leak update…
Blah, blah, blah gushed the Berobed Bureaucrats with lifetime gigs.
Unacceptable.
It’s a small, closed pool of people: get some professionals in there and find the leaker.
These incompetents deem to dictate w/rulings on how the rest of the land should live– yet can’t keep track of a file full of papers? No way.
Suspend all court ops immediately until the leaker is found. They won’t be missed– they already take four months a year off as is.
DCSCA (17e29a) — 1/20/2023 @ 10:55 amMore German footdragging. They know that the US Abrams tank requires crews that are highly trained and good parts supplies. It was designed for large, set-piece battles against the Warsaw Pact and really is not a good fit for Ukraine. The Leopard, otoh, is a good fit but the Germans are still holding on to their natural gas hopes “after.”
Kevin M (1ea396) — 1/20/2023 @ 11:23 am“Under no circumstances should Republicans vote to cut a single penny from Medicare or Social Security,” Trump said in a two-minute video message posted to social media that could test his influence among Republicans who now control the U.S. House of Representatives.
They certainly should let the Democrats go first on those.
Perhaps mandating a minimum number of oil and gas lease sales would bring in some money AND help with energy inflation. Natural gas prices are up over 300% since Biden took office. It’s not just demand — natural gas prices were 4 times higher ($1.32/therm vs $0.30) last JUNE than in January 2021.
Kevin M (1ea396) — 1/20/2023 @ 11:32 amI think I’ve been saying they should eject Santos since the story broke. Everything Noonan said is spot on. It takes 2/3rds, but the Democrats cannot be seen to oppose it.
Kevin M (1ea396) — 1/20/2023 @ 11:34 am=They know that the US Abrams tank requires crews that are highly trained and good parts supplies.
So does the damn MIC. And it highlights the very problem w/U.S. military procurement policies in this era. Weapons systems need to be both affordable and disposable with their prospective loss a given. These mechanical land whales are not. The Truman Committee was praised for monitoring such issues back in the day.
Eisenhower was right:
Here’s Why The M1 Abrams Tank Program Costs The US Military An Arm And A Leg
… the M1 [Abrams] program has cost the U.S taxpayer billions of dollars over the course of four decades. So what’s the real reason the Abrams tank routinely ranks among the top most expensive military projects of the last fifty years? Well, like lots of uber-expensive military projects, the real-life cost to build them often exceeds the budget that was laid out for them… Let’s not forget that the M1 can’t transport itself around wherever it pleases, it requires a full-size military transport plane to ferry it from warzone to warzone. With so many thousands of M1’s slated to see combat service across the world, the cost of maintaining the fleet of transport planes that are so vital to the M1’s success should be included in cost overruns that the US needs to address.’
https://www.hotcars.com/abrams-tank-m1-millions-to-build/
… and the MIC smiled.
DCSCA (053be5) — 1/20/2023 @ 11:37 amBaldwin was negligent in not checking the weapon, but the armorer, whose JOB was to provide safed weapons, was criminally negligent. Baldwin relied upon that. Then again, Baldwin pointed the weapon at someone and pulled the trigger.
This would make a great Columbo episode. How did the live rounds get into the gun?
Kevin M (1ea396) — 1/20/2023 @ 11:38 amThe court marshal, Gail Curley did a good job and reached a dead end. If there’s any failure, it’s a failure of imagination.
They determined that 82 law clerks or other permanent employees had had access to electronic or hard copy versions of the draft opinion. They examined logs of what were printed on their networked computers but there were also 46 printers which were attached only to local computers which kept a log only of the last 60 documents printed. (and this February draft was leaked in May)
They interviewed 97 employees in 126 formal interviews, so some more than once) All denied leaking but some said that (against the rules)
they had told their spouses or partners the outcome of the decision but that’s not what they were looking for.
The pandemic, as well as previously existing gaps in security created an environment where it was too easy to take something sensitive out of the court’s I.T. network or out of the building. (and undetected)
They also scrutinized contacts with anyone associated with Politico, (but it was probably not done that way. I think it was actually probably somebody who was privately leaking decisions all the time – spying on the court, maybe for a law firm)
They collected all court issued laptops and cellphones from people who had (known or official?) access to the draft opinion, but found nothing relevant there. They also asked to see some personal cellphones and examined call and text logs (and no one who was asked refused) No pertinent information was found.
I suppose you could suspect someone connected with the investigation, but as I said this was probably not a 1-time leak and not made directly to Politico.
Sammy Finkelman (02a146) — 1/20/2023 @ 11:38 amOnce you start dragging serial liar members of Congress where do you stop? Don’t get me wrong, he should go, but so should about 1/2 or more of the entire body.
steveg (216e21) — 1/20/2023 @ 11:40 amOur two most recent Presidents have unleashed a blizzard of lies, plagiarisms, financial shenanigins.
I think I’ve been saying they should eject Santos since the story broke.
Yeah. =sarc= Let’s ‘eject’ every politician who has lied.
Start w/Squinty McStumblebum.
DCSCA (053be5) — 1/20/2023 @ 11:40 amI made this point on Twitter too, but the Biden Administration and the President himself is treating this whole mess as a big misunderstanding and no big deal since it was an accident and he immediately moved to repair the damage. But it comes off sounding to me like the guy who gets busted driving 110 mph on the highway and tries to weasel his way out of it like this:
Team Biden seriously has no shame in the degree to which they choose to pile on the b***s***, but I guess it kind of works since CNN, the NYT, the WaPo and others seem content to parrot their talking points.
JVW (6458d0) — 1/20/2023 @ 11:41 amThat poor Trump lawyer. He and Trump are held jointly liable. Guess who won’t pay and who will be bankrupted.
Kevin M (1ea396) — 1/20/2023 @ 11:41 amJVW,
I think the pesky issue is threatening to derail his impending announcement and that’s annoying him. Can’t he make his announcement in peace!
Dana (1225fc) — 1/20/2023 @ 11:43 amThat poor Trump lawyer. He and Trump are held jointly liable. Guess who won’t pay and who will be bankrupted.
I doubt that anybody held a gun to his head and made him file that frivolous lawsuit. If you are willing to work for Donald Trump but unwilling to tell him no to some of his more outrageous stunts, then as far as I am concerned you deserve what you get. The best thing about Trump is that he seems to take down a whole lot of idiots with him.
JVW (6458d0) — 1/20/2023 @ 11:44 amI think the pesky issue is threatening to derail his impending announcement and that’s annoying him. Can’t he make his announcement in peace!
They told him there would be ice cream at the reception.
JVW (6458d0) — 1/20/2023 @ 11:46 amThe writing on the wall is plain to see for any lawyer dumb enough to get involved with Trump.
Dana (1225fc) — 1/20/2023 @ 11:47 amTeam Biden seriously has no shame in the degree to which they choose to pile on the b***s***
Don’t blame ‘the team’; the buck stops with Squinty: the fish rots from the head down.
Lest you forget, the windbag was a United States senator well known for his history of plagiarism and perpetual lying for nearly half-a-century. He’s a bum; and you know what comes out of them…
We’re a better people than this– and deserve accountability across the board. Which is why populism keep rooting deeper and deeper… and castles get stormed.
DCSCA (053be5) — 1/20/2023 @ 11:47 amAnd I know that I have been bad about posting recently, but I do want to spin up a yarn comparing Germany and Poland in their respective responses to the ongoing mess in Ukraine. One of those nations is distinguishing themselves with their resolve and fortitude; the other is yet again letting Europe down.
JVW (6458d0) — 1/20/2023 @ 11:50 am@13:
This is also known as the Geithner Defense.
Kevin M (1ea396) — 1/20/2023 @ 11:50 am@15. I think the pesky issue is threatening to derail his impending announcement and that’s annoying him. Can’t he make his announcement in peace!
THe clock is against him on every level. If he does opt to run; it’s bubble delusion and expect a challenger. Don’t think his could handle that at his age– nor hide in a bunker this time.
DCSCA (053be5) — 1/20/2023 @ 11:51 amDon’t blame ‘the team’; the buck stops with Squinty: the fish rots from the head down.
He’s a cipher, DCSCA, with no clue as to what is going on in his administration. He’s just a sad and feeble old man being used by the permanent bureaucratic class in Washington to feather their own nests.
JVW (6458d0) — 1/20/2023 @ 11:53 am20,
You’d think Germany would jump at the chance, in the fullest way possible, to come to the aid of a European nation struggling to defend freedom for its people from the illegal invasion of a maniacal leader who believes that genocide is the solution to their problem.
Dana (1225fc) — 1/20/2023 @ 11:53 amOnce you start dragging serial liar members of Congress where do you stop? Don’t get me wrong, he should go, but so should about 1/2 or more of the entire body.
Not sure I agree with this. Oh, the asshat quotient is high, but they are honestly asshats. Maxine Waters did not run as a Trump supporter, or anything other than the vindictive racist that she is. Likewise MTG or Bobblehat (sp?) did not make anyone think they were Rhodes scholars. The Squad, the HFC, etc all have bona fide extremist credentials.
But Santos is a jackal in raccoon clothing. He needs to go.
Kevin M (1ea396) — 1/20/2023 @ 11:56 amNo, they didn;t. Tom Suozzi easily won re-election in 2020. In 2022, he ran and lost badly in the Democratic primary for Governor, creating an open seat. George Santos rode in on Lee Zeldin’s coattails. Another Long Island seat was flipped, too. Zeldin did very well on Long Island although he lost the state as a whole.
That ‘ts the thing people don’t realize. The truth vetting system isn’t good at all. Bilkl Clinton got away with a lot in 1992. He claimed to be the “Man from Hope” He was actually (as of age 6 – and Hope was a place that people associated with the machine went into exile when it lost power in 1948) from the mob dominated (when he was growing up) resort town of Hot Springs, Arkansas, flush with illegal casinos and slot machines, where his step-uncle, Raymond Clinton was an important member of the political machine and whose political boss was one of the principle founders of organized crime in America, Owen Vincent (Owney the Killer) Madden (1891-1965.)
Bill Clinton claimed to have balanced 11 budgets in a row, as if that would be an achievement – in reality, he was not Governor for 11 years in a row and Arkansas had a2-e=year budget cycle. None of this was caught.
He didn’t lie as much as George Santos though.
But Clinton succeeded in getting George Bush the Elder not to do any negative campaigning or even research. He had a spy in the Bsh campaign who gave him access to scripts of Bush TV commercials so that a counter commercial could be on the air almost instantly.
Sammy Finkelman (1d215a) — 1/20/2023 @ 11:57 amTrump knows the populist base of the republican party wants and needs soc. security medicare. Thats how he knocked out the 16 dwarfs. You milton friedman free trade groupies and conservative economic libertarians who think these social safety net programs are socialism/communism. The wealthy libertarian donor class can still buy republican congressmen ;but no longer trump’s populist voters. Before the 2022 election mccarthy to please the wealthy donor class talked about cuts in soc. security and medicare. The blow back by members was so great he dropped it for the election. Now he tries to bring it back along with this stupid 30% national sales tax. They also want states and cities to do away with income taxes on the rich which would mean another 20 to 25% sales tax on top of federal 30%! The rich donor class spend a small amount of their wealth on purchase while the poor spend all what little money they have. The top 10% have 90% of the wealth now!
asset (77c7c3) — 1/20/2023 @ 11:58 am@23. Yes, and it is terrifying.TRHe public face he presients hides the reality of his stubborn, caustic side which is well known in many circles…. you know, the ‘nobody fvcks with a Biden’ attitude.
A savvy adversary- be it domestic or an international ‘Dr. Evil’ will take further advantage of his decline. Even The Big Dick resigned in ’74 putting the needs of America first [although he knew he had no support in the Senate.] This bum has to go.
DCSCA (053be5) — 1/20/2023 @ 11:58 am7. Kevin M (1ea396) — 1/20/2023 @ 11:34 am
Many do not want to set a precedent and they also won’t do it without an investigation independently determining facts. And then deciding that these facts are sufficient grounds for expulsion. And McCarthy needs his vote.
He won’t get expelled unless indicted and convicted or there are allegations that he was being bribed for a vote in Congress or he is threatening people, which is not an issue with him.
IS anyone going to offer to take care of George Santos if he resigns? I think that was promised to Anthony Weiner.
Sammy Finkelman (1d215a) — 1/20/2023 @ 11:59 amDana (24), you would. But Germany has some really complicated history in that part of Russia. Israel also has very mixed feelings for related, but different, reasons. Remember, Ukraine was the main battleground between Stalin and Hitler, and the population was nearly obliterated by both sides.
Kevin M (1ea396) — 1/20/2023 @ 12:01 pmIS anyone going to offer to take care of George Santos if he resigns?
They should. Then welsh.
Kevin M (1ea396) — 1/20/2023 @ 12:02 pmAlso, we don’t know from the report whether the justices or their spouses were questioned with regard to the leak.
If you read the report, there are two numbers they use: 80 (or 82) employees, and 97 persons interviewed. This suggests that justices and possibly spouses were interviewed.
Kevin M (1ea396) — 1/20/2023 @ 12:07 pmMcCarthy needs his vote, so that won’t happen anytime soon.
Rip Murdock (56fbe7) — 1/20/2023 @ 12:12 pmSen. mike lee says f.b.i. came to them in sept. 2020 and said russia would leak disinformation on hunter biden that should not be belived or repeated. Biden said that he has returned all the secret documents he stole when he left office and it was an honest mistake to think that he wouldn’t get caught until the democrat party ratted him out to stop him from running in 2024.
asset (77c7c3) — 1/20/2023 @ 12:13 pm@28 democrats are doing their best to stop biden running in 2024. Does any body here think republicans knew about biden’s stolen documents?
asset (77c7c3) — 1/20/2023 @ 12:19 pmSantos skit on Colbert show last night
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KJr7SwQ03pg
Start at 2 minutes into the video. The real skit with an actor impersonating Santos being interviewed by Stephen Colbert at 3:00 in. It goes on for 5 minutes.
Sammy Finkelman (1d215a) — 1/20/2023 @ 12:30 pmIS anyone going to offer to take care of George Santos if he resigns?
They should. Then welsh.
Kevin M (1ea396) — 1/20/2023 @ 12:02 pm
I think it should be the more earthier but no doubt familiar to “surname ending in vowel denizens of his Long Island district” version of Taking Care if Someone.
urbanleftbehind (27626d) — 1/20/2023 @ 12:32 pmhttps://nypost.com/2023/01/19/new-yorks-discovery-laws-are-designed-to-let-criminals-go-free/
Sammy Finkelman (1d215a) — 1/20/2023 @ 12:33 pmI think Biden put things in his garage to keep them more secure. (I think a housekeeper would probably not have had access to it)
Things kept in their proper place are vulnerable to spies. And they are in order.
Sammy Finkelman (1d215a) — 1/20/2023 @ 12:35 pmThe plan with as stoves was to phase them out, not outlaw them by prohibiting new connections. At least, they understood that was impractical.
Sammy Finkelman (1d215a) — 1/20/2023 @ 12:37 pmHow Santos escaped vetting:
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/13/nyregion/george-santos-republicans-lies.html?unlocked_article_code=n0ahz3xvOcwBN0iFNLfsAS4soH4tFR_K8fekJvdmi_M5CMTO23azMrNSFZud8DwqIllsUCDNl245u1qIdGWMEDVkm1K_qBgPwsMUU4-5R03T8GZWYv_xV0-z32o_WmzNkGy2uzN8fYjBsLSgwJzmoO5qA_jWhaaV7KTuByTmD69w2tSq_ugFgkqVqmuwlDhBOGf0Rsn4euO37dJmS6EkRwB13zgsbLJWZ2T5zx7M3TUAiSJCbY5-bDD9uWh8BI82TM1LFRwI1YkZ9CcIjSmrgftdKm_EK9NyBQuT-lQyz0zT24s8hHxViGqoO1BD9Abj7PU1cXfqw9P8jz7urp3-KLA6vFEo4WTfgA&smid=share-url
Sammy Finkelman (1d215a) — 1/20/2023 @ 12:44 pmMcCarthy needs his vote, so that won’t happen anytime soon.
This is eating seed corn, a short-term measure that costs big problems later. It’s the same logic that has them sticking with Trump, and you can see how that’s worked out.
They can get by with 4 votes instead of 5.
Kevin M (1ea396) — 1/20/2023 @ 12:44 pmSantos skit on Colbert show last night
The gift that keeps on giving. Santos will be the face of the GOP before you know it.
Kevin M (1ea396) — 1/20/2023 @ 12:45 pmAnother Santos monologue and skit interview (Jimmy Kimmel)
Skit interview starts at 10 minutes
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=np6xlLW2JqU
Sammy Finkelman (1d215a) — 1/20/2023 @ 12:45 pm@39 fox news had picture of hunter biden driving joe’s corvette.
asset (77c7c3) — 1/20/2023 @ 12:47 pmRe: Item 6-
Here is the sanctions order, and a summary of how much each defendant’s lawyers receive. Hillary Clinton’s lawyers were awarded $167,433 (the largest award to an individual); Fusion GPS (and two related defendants) $55,820; and the Democratic National Committee (and former Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz) $177,508.
Rip Murdock (56fbe7) — 1/20/2023 @ 12:51 pmEnvironmental rules stoke anger as California lets precious stormwater wash out to sea
Kevin M (1ea396) — 1/20/2023 @ 12:53 pmSantos took a trip to the USA and stole things from a woman causing her to lose her house.
https://nypost.com/2023/01/14/brazilian-homemaker-claims-george-santos-ruined-her-life
Seth Myers monologue on other things and Santos
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=leqadXTl6FU
Sammy Finkelman (1d215a) — 1/20/2023 @ 12:54 pmThe last two paragraphs above should be outside the blockquote:
The Endangered Species Act is myopic. By diverting such vast quantities of water to save a failed subspecies of smelt, countless other species become endangered by this man-made diversion. And then, of course, there is the Central Valley ag business to consider.
But, heck, they all voter Republican anyway, so screw ’em. It’s not like fresh produce prices are rising.
Kevin M (1ea396) — 1/20/2023 @ 12:54 pmAnd it could be used, witha little help, to refill groundwater
Sammy Finkelman (1d215a) — 1/20/2023 @ 12:55 pm@39 fox news had picture of hunter biden driving joe’s corvette.
I’m sure that an Information Security Officer escorted Hunter into the garage.
Kevin M (1ea396) — 1/20/2023 @ 12:55 pmKevin M (1ea396) — 1/20/2023 @ 11:38 am
Simple.
Some people on the set wanted to play with shooting at cans. They took some of the blanks and later replaced them with real bullets.
This was not the first time a real bullet was fired on that set.
Sammy Finkelman (1d215a) — 1/20/2023 @ 12:58 pmKevin M (1ea396) — 1/20/2023 @ 12:55 pm
Hunter knew these were his fathers private papers. He couldn’t risk disturbing them.
Sammy Finkelman (1d215a) — 1/20/2023 @ 1:00 pmCutting his losses:
Rip Murdock (56fbe7) — 1/20/2023 @ 1:02 pmIn is second run, Santos decided not to run on his biography.
Sammy Finkelman (1d215a) — 1/20/2023 @ 1:10 pmSince the Court is using its own security staff to do this investigation, I am guessing it’s no crime to lie to them (unlike making statements to the FBI).
Of course, its apparently not a crime to leak a Supreme Court opinion, only a (horrendous) ethical violation.
At best the House and Senate should conduct hearings and invite the Justices; anyone who the investigation identified as a possible suspect; and reporters to testify under oath.
Rip Murdock (56fbe7) — 1/20/2023 @ 1:15 pmActor Alec Baldwin faces involuntary manslaughter charges
the people who’ve been assuring us Trump would get prosecuted really meant SNL Trump
JF (1c1139) — 1/20/2023 @ 1:19 pmHunter knew these were his fathers private papers. He couldn’t risk disturbing them.
Crackheads aren’t generally known for their discernment, Sammy.
JVW (6458d0) — 1/20/2023 @ 1:20 pmDemocrats love the George Santos story
So do the usuals here
What a coincidence!
JF (1c1139) — 1/20/2023 @ 1:22 pmApparently Not Always Faithful:
<em>Statement of Facts.
Rip Murdock (56fbe7) — 1/20/2023 @ 1:28 pmDana-
Rip Murdock (56fbe7) — 1/20/2023 @ 1:31 pmPlease review and release post 60. Not sure why it’s in moderation. Thanks.
Many sugned sworn statements under penalty of perjury.
Sammy Finkelman (2efd08) — 1/20/2023 @ 1:37 pmAnother “victory” for the soft-on-crime approach of George Gascon. You guys recall the juvenile who went viral in 2021 after deliberately running down a mom and her child (who miraculously were mostly unhurt) in an alleyway in Venice while driving a stolen car, and was given a light sentence of a few months at a youth offender camp? Reports are that he was shot to death last night in Palmdale. Gosh, it’s as if Gascon’s preferred program of youth rehabilitation might not be all that practical outside of the ideological bubble in which it is concocted.
JVW (6458d0) — 1/20/2023 @ 1:47 pm@44. When they do one on Biden it’ll be a 14-part 24 hour mini series.
DCSCA (b0bd45) — 1/20/2023 @ 2:09 pmMcCarthy is a short-term Speaker. I don’t expect him to last more than a year, if that.
Rip Murdock (56fbe7) — 1/20/2023 @ 3:06 pmThree Percenter to Run For President:
The Waffler. .
Rip Murdock (56fbe7) — 1/20/2023 @ 3:20 pm7th news item:
Since Trump is always about Trump, one wonders whether he is worried that he may be dependent on those programs, after a 7th bankruptcy. Yes, that’s a weird idea, but it would explain why he has refused to let voters see his finances. And his first wife did leave him out of her will.
Jim Miller (f29931) — 1/20/2023 @ 3:31 pmIf someone refused to sign then obviously it would be a confession they were the leaker. So the leaker would also sign their statement, if there wasn’t any other evidence identifying who the leaker was. Absent any interviews of the reporters or any other outside parties who might know, the leaker would feel relatively safe.
The Justices were not asked to sign any sworn statements.
Rip Murdock (56fbe7) — 1/20/2023 @ 3:34 pmMost leak investigations end without the leaker being identified.
Rip Murdock (56fbe7) — 1/20/2023 @ 3:37 pmPotential good news on sickle cell disease:
For some reason, Gina Kolata, who is usually a pretty good reporter, focused, not on these potential cures, but on sufferers who weren’t sure they would take the cures, since the disease is so much a part of their identities.
But the potential good news is stll there — and there have been some experimental cures, already.
(Sickle cell disease)
Jim Miller (f29931) — 1/20/2023 @ 3:49 pmThis is the kind of decency and grace we should be entitled to expect from our presidents. Count it among the things Trump stole from us.
lurker (cd7cd4) — 1/20/2023 @ 4:39 pm@72. FIFY: “Count this among the things George HW Bush stole from us”
“‘Since global communism’ perceived as the main, if not sole, threat to global peace” had been vanquished, President George H. W. Bush promised that Americans would soon enjoy a “peace dividend.” Taxpayers commonly understood this to mean that military spending would be downgraded and the billions that had been siphoned from them to fight communism would be shunted back into their pockets.
But the promised peace dividend never came.”
https://www.takimag.com/article/how_we_squandered_the_peace_dividend/
DCSCA (f71430) — 1/20/2023 @ 5:18 pmMost leak investigations end without the leaker being identified.
Yes, the typical bureaucratic excuse. Which puts the credibility of SCOTUS status lower the whale poop at the bottom of the deepest, darkest ocean.
DCSCA (f71430) — 1/20/2023 @ 5:21 pm@67. The Waffler…
Hand-stirred batter, lightly browned, buttered and covered with delicious syrup or powdered sugar…. or better still, shapely curved and coned, topped with a scoop of delicious chocolate chip — and maybe some sprinkles.
What’s not to like.
DCSCA (f71430) — 1/20/2023 @ 5:26 pmWordle in 2. Starting word ALIEN. Better to be lucky. I also invite people to try Worldle. It’s a hoot if you’re into geography.
AJ_Liberty (c98a5a) — 1/20/2023 @ 5:47 pmThis is the kind of decency and grace we should be entitled to expect from our presidents. Count it among the things Trump stole from us.
lurker (cd7cd4) — 1/20/2023 @ 4:39 pm
“Biden says Trump left him a ‘very generous letter’ before departing White House
Factory Working Orphan (bce27d) — 1/20/2023 @ 5:57 pmKate Sullivan Kevin Liptak Pamela Brown
By Kate Sullivan, Kevin Liptak and Pamela Brown, CNN
Updated 7:04 AM EST, Thu January 21, 2021
Abandoning Ship Before the Ship Has Even Left the Dock:
Rip Murdock (56fbe7) — 1/20/2023 @ 6:24 pmSince the Court is using its own security staff to do this investigation, I am guessing it’s no crime to lie to them (unlike making statements to the FBI).
Of course, its apparently not a crime to leak a Supreme Court opinion, only a (horrendous) ethical violation.
Listed in the 23-page report (pdf):
In addition:
So, I think your guess is wrong.
Kevin M (1ea396) — 1/20/2023 @ 6:28 pmHunter knew these were his fathers private papers. He couldn’t risk disturbing them.
Stored in the garage. Sure. The way you assign logic to a meth-addled ne’er-do-well is amusing. If he thought he could get some money from them, he’d take whatever he found. And really, how do we know he didn’t? Because Biden didn’t call him on it? For all we know, Hunter PUT them in the garage.
Kevin M (1ea396) — 1/20/2023 @ 6:32 pm@78: That hurts. Not only did he leave Haley, but he left for the boring boring Mike Pence.
Kevin M (1ea396) — 1/20/2023 @ 6:34 pmPotential good news on sickle cell disease:
The REAL good news in this is that effective gene therapy drugs are coming out. Between them and MABs, there is about to be a revolution in medical care.
Kevin M (1ea396) — 1/20/2023 @ 6:36 pmThe Waffler. .
After Trump and Biden, this is hardly as terrible as you think.
Kevin M (1ea396) — 1/20/2023 @ 6:39 pmThis is the kind of decency and grace we should be entitled to expect from our presidents. Count it among the things Trump stole from us.
Not just Trump. Bill Clinton had harsh things to say about the other Bush who succeeded him.
Kevin M (1ea396) — 1/20/2023 @ 6:42 pm@44. When they do one on Biden it’ll be a 14-part 24 hour mini series.
DCSCA
They call them streamers nowadays…which fits this one to a p..er…tee!
urbanleftbehind (628d5a) — 1/20/2023 @ 6:42 pmWordle in 2. Starting word ALIEN
Yeah, I got it in 2 starting with SLATE. I think that many starting words have AEIOU and other 1-point Scrabble letters, and that worked this time.
Kevin M (1ea396) — 1/20/2023 @ 6:44 pmThe operative word is “potentially.” I’ll wait for the indictment.
Rip Murdock (0a63d6) — 1/20/2023 @ 6:45 pmWordle in three today. I don’t get this: It’s a hoot if you’re into geography??
Dana (1225fc) — 1/20/2023 @ 6:47 pmSay whatever you want about Nikki Haley, but don’t try to tell me she is not a huge upgrade over both Trump and the dementia patient,
steveg (e905b2) — 1/20/2023 @ 6:51 pmYeah, the progression from Reagan to Biden looks like that evolution thing running backwards. If it keeps up we’ll have a President who’s schizophrenic soon.
Kevin M (1ea396) — 1/20/2023 @ 6:54 pmMike Pompeo Trashes Nikki Haley…
https://www.mediaite.com/politics/mike-pompeo-trashes-nikki-haley-claims-she-schemed-with-jared-kushner-and-ivanka-trump-to-replace-pence-as-vp-in-new-book/
West Pointer shoot self in mouth. Film at 11.
Jared and Ivanka back Nikki, not the pomp-a-dour.
DCSCA (13c8ad) — 1/20/2023 @ 7:06 pmHi Dana, different game worldle. You cn find it at
AJ_Liberty (c98a5a) — 1/20/2023 @ 7:15 pmhttps://worldle.teuteuf.fr/
You get a silouhette of a country and have to guess it. If you get it wrong, the game gives you the distance from your guess to the actual center of the intended country plus the direction to that country. You can then earn bonus points for getting the capital, population range, and bordering countries. You get several guesses like in Wordle. Hence the geography quip…
@80 There is a photo of hunter biden driving joe’s corvette. E-mail on hunter’s laptop that joe biden will be on the call with hunter on chinese gas deal. fox news. ace. Even though he says he knew nothing about hunter’s business dealing. Democrats running for president in 2024 smiled.
asset (4cfe02) — 1/20/2023 @ 7:17 pmYeah, the progression from Reagan to Biden looks like that evolution thing running backwards. If it keeps up we’ll have a President who’s schizophrenic soon.
Been there, done that; start w/your hero:
Richard Nixon’s secret psychiatric care that could have torpedoed his presidential bid…
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2110552/Richard-Nixons-secret-psychiatric-care-torpedoed-presidential-bid-detailed-new-book.html
Then broaden out:
Study: Half of All Presidents Suffered From Mental Illness
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-squeaky-wheel/201602/study-half-all-presidents-suffered-mental-illness
DCSCA (13c8ad) — 1/20/2023 @ 7:19 pmAh, I see, AJ. It looks fun.
Dana (1225fc) — 1/20/2023 @ 7:33 pmThe Supreme Court’s report isn’t a criminal investigation (that would need to conducted by the FBI), but such an investigation would have the same result due to the misguided DOJ policy not to subpoena reporters and their records.
Fortunately this policy doesn’t apply to Congressional investigations.
Rip Murdock (8f2a5b) — 1/20/2023 @ 7:44 pmTrump Not Amused by Supreme Court Report:
Rip Murdock (8f2a5b) — 1/20/2023 @ 7:52 pmParagraph breaks added.
Rip Murdock (8f2a5b) — 1/20/2023 @ 9:02 pmThree Women Sentenced to Probation for Interrupting Oral Arguments at the U.S. Supreme Court
More short bus people
norcal (862cdb) — 1/20/2023 @ 9:11 pmAnd of absolutely no nutritional value.
Rip Murdock (8f2a5b) — 1/20/2023 @ 9:25 pmWho has no steadfast beliefs and blows with wind.
Rip Murdock (8f2a5b) — 1/20/2023 @ 9:28 pm@kevin@47 NatGeo had a really interesting article last year regarding recharging the California aquifers with excess storm water. It’s apparently more complicated than it seems, but it also seems like maybe the state should put some more energy into figuring it out.
Nic (896fdf) — 1/20/2023 @ 9:56 pmNic,
As I follow the CA water thing, they have a big problem with the Endangered Species Act, which does not seem to weight costs or benefits. There is some danger of portions of the Central Valley becoming dust bowls to save the Delta Smelt. The reason that the aquifers are being depleted is that the water that they would normally use isn’t available due to diversion.
Coupled with that is the inability to find places to store water, as there is always some niche species inhabiting any low area.
The Act needs revisiting. Species fail all the time, and propping up one species may cause the death of several others. Butterflies in Asia. Not to mention the economic damages, human deaths and other undesirable things that come from poor resource allocation.
Kevin M (1ea396) — 1/20/2023 @ 10:29 pm@Factory Working Orphan (bce27d) — 1/20/2023 @ 5:57 pm
If Trump left Biden a note anywhere near as gracious as the one GHWB left Clinton, I’d be impressed. But I’ll believe it when I see it.
lurker (cd7cd4) — 1/20/2023 @ 11:37 pmIf Trump left Biden a note anywhere near as gracious as the one GHWB left Clinton, I’d be impressed. But I’ll believe it when I see it.
lurker (cd7cd4) — 1/20/2023 @ 11:37 pm
Biden literally said that it was a very generous letter, but I’m not particularly surprised that you’d brush it off because it contradicted the strawman you built.
Factory Working Orphan (bce27d) — 1/20/2023 @ 11:45 pmI don’t doubt Biden said it. What I doubt is that the letter was nearly as generous as GHWB’s. Or for that matter as generous as Biden’s description of it. Or are you suddenly taking Joe Biden’s word as gospel?
lurker (cd7cd4) — 1/21/2023 @ 1:37 amhttps://www.nationalreview.com/news/incomprehensible-white-house-press-secretary-blasts-desantis-for-rejecting-ap-african-american-history-course/
Just another reminder that the Biden administration is pushing virulent racism while Governor DeSantis is standing strong for equality for all Americans.
NJRob (eb56c3) — 1/21/2023 @ 4:32 amLeftists think giving millions of dollars to people who haven’t earned it from the backs of people who have is perfectly legitimate and reparations for slavery that they never experienced, but the people who they are stealing it from become their defacto slaves.
NJRob (eb56c3) — 1/21/2023 @ 5:18 amhttps://nypost.com/2023/01/20/couple-pimped-their-adopted-sons-out-to-pedophile-ring-report/
Pure evil.
NJRob (eb56c3) — 1/21/2023 @ 5:19 amhttps://townhall.com/tipsheet/miacathell/2023/01/17/zulock-case-pt-1-n2618219
More on the true evil.
NJRob (eb56c3) — 1/21/2023 @ 6:14 amhttps://www.nationalreview.com/news/incomprehensible-white-house-press-secretary-blasts-desantis-for-rejecting-ap-african-american-history-course/
That is inexplicable.
High school AP courses give students the option to take an exam at the end of the course, graded 1 to 5. If they score 3, 4 or 5, they get college credit for it. The only ones “hurt” are the college African-American studies departments, and the college bursar. One less student paying for an African-American studies class while still using the credit to fulfill the requirements and graduate.
nk (d0743f) — 1/21/2023 @ 7:14 amI don’t doubt Biden said it. What I doubt is that the letter was nearly as generous as GHWB’s. Or for that matter as generous as Biden’s description of it. Or are you suddenly taking Joe Biden’s word as gospel?
lurker (cd7cd4) — 1/21/2023 @ 1:37 am
You made an argument that Bush’s letter to Clinton was yet another example of something that Trump destroyed. When shown that it was not, in fact, something that Trump destroyed and that he actually did the same thing Bush did, you then went on to move the goalposts by speculating on the supposed depth of generosity, as if that suddenly mattered.
Acting like a petty bitch isn’t much of a virtue either, you know.
Factory Working Orphan (bce27d) — 1/21/2023 @ 7:17 amThe only ones “hurt” are the college African-American studies departments, and the college bursar. One less student paying for an African-American studies class while still using the credit to fulfill the requirements and graduate.
nk (d0743f) — 1/21/2023 @ 7:14 am
These departments would die out if college students weren’t required to take at least one class from them as a “diversity” requirement to graduate. It’s not really an accident that the student majors in these departments are continually highlighted in college and alumni promotional literature, either. There’s very little organic interest in them outside of future political activists, but they’re propped up by students who otherwise wouldn’t bother signing up for the course.
Factory Working Orphan (bce27d) — 1/21/2023 @ 8:46 am103,
Eventually you hit a tipping point: the Delta smelt or people. It shouldn’t be a hard decision. Los Angeles county captured only 20% of water from the past month’s rainstorms that hit the state. Lack of storage and lack of political will continue to doom the region. Kamala Harris just announced the administration is pledging $12 million to Western states to improve storage. At least in California, that money will somehow disappear, only to be absorbed in the general fund.
Dana (1225fc) — 1/21/2023 @ 9:49 amAJ, that games fun. Thank you for sharing.
Time123 (5c0278) — 1/21/2023 @ 10:01 am114,
Yes. There were several proposals in past decades to use some natural bowls in the low desert for water storage, like is done at Lake Perris. But each time there was some microspecies of desert animal or plant that was only found in that area, and the ESA trumps all.
Congress intended for federally endangered species to be saved “whatever the cost”, rule the Supreme Court in the snail darter case. (Tennessee Valley Authority v. Hill, 437 U.S. 153, 184 (1978))
Kevin M (1ea396) — 1/21/2023 @ 10:36 amThe financial fraud is bad enough, but lying about appearing on Hannah Montana? Now that really crosses a line.
Paul Montagu (8f0dc7) — 1/21/2023 @ 11:03 amFour words for California: Nuclear-powered desalination plants.
Paul Montagu (8f0dc7) — 1/21/2023 @ 11:04 amYou’d have to be a weirdo to think Trump’s conduct after getting defeated in an election was similar to Bush 41’s conduct when he was defeated.
The circumstances are actually compelling for Bush, who lost because of Perot, and had been extremely popular at certain points. Trump’s election in 2020 was totally a referendum on Trump, who faced a weak opponent, but had performed terribly in crisis and exhibited poor statesmanship.
Trump didn’t show an ounce of class or respect for the voters’ rejection, and that is true today.
This is why I don’t comment here.
Dustin (a87c64) — 1/21/2023 @ 11:04 amYou’d have to be a weirdo to think Trump’s conduct after getting defeated in an election was similar to Bush 41’s conduct when he was defeated.
Which doesn’t change the fact that he left the same gracious note to Biden that Bush left to Clinton, which lurker asserted was another thing Trump changed.
The circumstances are actually compelling for Bush, who lost because of Perot, and had been extremely popular at certain points. Trump’s election in 2020 was totally a referendum on Trump, who faced a weak opponent, but had performed terribly in crisis and exhibited poor statesmanship.
Which doesn’t change the fact that he left the same gracious note to Biden that Bush left to Clinton, which lurker asserted was another thing Trump changed.
Trump didn’t show an ounce of class or respect for the voters’ rejection, and that is true today.
Which doesn’t change the fact that he left the same gracious note to Biden that Bush left to Clinton, which lurker asserted was another thing Trump changed.
This is why I don’t comment here.
Dustin (a87c64) — 1/21/2023 @ 11:04 am
Yeah, you guys really don’t like having your unwarranted self-regard thrown back in your face.
Factory Working Orphan (bce27d) — 1/21/2023 @ 11:15 amPure evil.
NJRob (eb56c3) — 1/21/2023 @ 5:19 am
Cases like this are why the death penalty is needed.
Factory Working Orphan (bce27d) — 1/21/2023 @ 11:22 amLOL what a weirdo
Dustin (a87c64) — 1/21/2023 @ 11:29 am$12M? That gets LA 24 homeless housing units that would be destroyed in the first two years.
On the water harvest, I’m shocked they didn’t justify not doing anything by saying “even if we started now, it would take 30 years” excuse. That excuse only works on idiots and people under 50.
I can’t speak from depth of knowledge to how to replenish the San Joaquin and Tulare basins in the southern Central Valley. I do know that the groundwater basins were replenished during flood events which were common before what seems like every drop of water was contained by levee, channel, canal. It would take some work and some drilling on test holes, but they should be able to identify where farm acreage, and/or federal and state land would be best suited for water infiltration to recharge the basins and farmers should be incentivized to put aside a block of land for flooding when Sierra outflows are high.
Improvements in sewage treatment have supposedly made effluent potable. I’m personally not ready to drink it, but the larger towns in the Valley should start the 30 year recharging of the basins program right away.
Where I live, we have high exposure to drought. Its sunny, warm, south facing, so the evapotranspiration rate (ET) is high and the average annual precipitation is low When orographically enhanced rain does fall in the coastal mountains at ridgetop (plus or minus 3700 feet) the water falls 3200 feet in just 2.2 miles which is why in heavy rains, we get flooding. (rainfall rates can double or triple from bottom of hill to top)
I’m not a fan of over regulating building, but the County has new requirements that in return for permission to build, remodel, the owner is required to build a system that is capable of containing water from a 1″ storm, in addition to a requirement that all hardscape surfaces have deep permeable elements. This 1″ storm containment threshold is expected to be increased to 2″ soon.
Ojai, CA has a similar steep watershed that has created an alluvial valley. The citrus growers there are conserving their overland drainage flows, creating berms in their orchards to trap the overland flow and no longer channeling the rainwater directly to the creeks or to hard surfaces.
steveg (5f5fd7) — 1/21/2023 @ 11:34 amFour words for California: Nuclear-powered desalination plants.
An environmentalist’s trifecta. Nuclear. Seawater. Heat. Benefiting people. All bad.
Kevin M (1ea396) — 1/21/2023 @ 11:39 amLOL what a weirdo
Dustin (a87c64) — 1/21/2023 @ 11:29 am
LOL what a waste of carbon molecules.
Factory Working Orphan (bce27d) — 1/21/2023 @ 11:41 amCases like this are why the death penalty is needed.
There was a recent multiple murder in Northern Cal where a family was executed, including a 10 month old infant.
Kevin M (1ea396) — 1/21/2023 @ 11:41 amLOL what a waste of carbon molecules.
You are really working the hostility today. Ease up on the bile.
Kevin M (1ea396) — 1/21/2023 @ 11:42 amImprovements in sewage treatment have supposedly made effluent potable. I’m personally not ready to drink it, but the larger towns in the Valley should start the 30 year recharging of the basins program right away.
The urban areas in New Mexico are returning treated water to the ground. This is really important here as a lot of homes still rely on well water.
Kevin M (1ea396) — 1/21/2023 @ 11:45 amHe’s mad, and I would be to if I was trying to ‘win’ at internet debates. Even madder if I were trying to show that Trump was just as respectful of an election loss as Bush 41 had been.
These guys are drinking poison and hoping the other guy gets sick. Makes discussion truly miserable, because there’s no issue where these guys say ‘yeah you’re right, I was wrong, I changed my mind.’ Not really.
Hope you’re doing well Kevin!
Dustin (a87c64) — 1/21/2023 @ 11:54 amIf you slow down, catch your breath, and think: this is Joe Biden being polite. The only grace shown here is on his end. It doesn’t take much to see that Trump, like Obama, has no problem bashing his predecessor and successor, and has no interest in an opponent’s success because of the nation’s need for success. Joe Biden’s administration has been bitterly partisan, but in this example, Biden (who isn’t really the guy tweeting partisan stuff all day) was following his pattern of congeniality along the lines of John Mccain or whatever. It’s somewhat fake, sure, but the effort was there to be calm and kind to the other party.
Sigh, you really have to be a weirdo to still be worried about Trump’s rep. To be angry about it, to be pretending the opposite of reality, to insist the other side is pure evil.
We can do better, but insisting on endless nuance-free fighting forces us to do worse. It’s a decision, each and every politically motivated person makes, one way or the other. Country over tribe. Or tribe over country.
Dustin (a87c64) — 1/21/2023 @ 12:00 pmHe’s mad, and I would be to if I was trying to ‘win’ at internet debates. Even madder if I were trying to show that Trump was just as respectful of an election loss as Bush 41 had been.
Lurker posted Bush’s letter to Clinton and stated that this was another thing that Trump destroyed. Now, having been shown that this was, in fact, not the case, you’re trying to argue that this isn’t about the letter, it’s about Trump’s general reaction to the election loss. So it’s not surprising that you’re trying to deflect. You’re nothing if not extremely full of yourselves.
These guys are drinking poison and hoping the other guy gets sick. Makes discussion truly miserable, because there’s no issue where these guys say ‘yeah you’re right, I was wrong, I changed my mind.’ Not really.
Yeah, how dare anyone interrupt some self-indulgent pretense to show that their claim didn’t have any standing, then refusing to admit they were wrong and blaming the person who pointed it out. This lack of self-awareness is on a level that shouldn’t be possible.
If you slow down, catch your breath, and think: this is Joe Biden being polite. The only grace shown here is on his end. It doesn’t take much to see that Trump, like Obama, has no problem bashing his predecessor and successor, and has no interest in an opponent’s success because of the nation’s need for success.
Huh, so now you’ve shifted over into mind-reading and supposition?
Sigh, you really have to be a weirdo to still be worried about Trump’s rep. To be angry about it, to be pretending the opposite of reality, to insist the other side is pure evil.
Don’t project your own neuroticisms here. You were shown the reality, and you’re coping through this completely unrelated rhetorical handwaving about divisiveness.
We can do better, but insisting on endless nuance-free fighting forces us to do worse.
Where’s the nuance in claiming that Trump didn’t do the same thing Bush did, then trying to claim some arbitrary level of graciousness was actually required when shown that the claim was false, or that this was really about his overall conduct rather than a very specific complaint that wasn’t even fact-based?
One would think you guys could enter the Mr. Olympia contest with the amount of goalpost-shifting you’re doing here.
Factory Working Orphan (bce27d) — 1/21/2023 @ 12:26 pmGood to see you, Dustin. Hope you and the family are well. Your little ones must not be so little now! Time flies with children.
Dana (1225fc) — 1/21/2023 @ 12:30 pmlurker: “This is the kind of decency and grace we should be entitled to expect from our presidents. Count it among the things Trump stole from us.”
Dustin: “You’d have to be a weirdo to think Trump’s conduct after getting defeated in an election was similar to Bush 41’s conduct when he was defeated.”
Trump’s public conduct was consistent with what he wanted to market to his strongest defenders. Trump’s private conduct…to whatever degree that it was genuine and authored by Trump himself…does not excuse or compensate for his public conduct. Trump’s 1.5-year effort to delegitimize Biden’s Presidency and the electoral process, and unnecessarily stir up more resentment in our toxic politics…after exhausting every legal remedy and after ignoring the counsel of his closest advisors….is his legacy. Of all the words that one could use to sum up Trump’s behavior, gracious seems to be most inapt…..
AJ_Liberty (c98a5a) — 1/21/2023 @ 12:33 pmTrump’s public conduct was consistent with what he wanted to market to his strongest defenders. Trump’s private conduct…to whatever degree that it was genuine and authored by Trump himself…does not excuse or compensate for his public conduct.
More goal-post shifting.
Factory Working Orphan (bce27d) — 1/21/2023 @ 12:38 pmSome years ago, I read of a firm that would find an endangered species for you, if you wanted to block a development in your area. There are many unstudied species, especially insects, so that is often possible. (If the protection were extended to bacteria, it should be possible almost everywhere.)
Incidentally, defining “species” turns out to be a difficult problem. (My own, sem-informed view is that it was a mistake to extend it to bacteria.)
Jim Miller (f29931) — 1/21/2023 @ 12:41 pmIf there is a goal post, you need to reach the endzone. You’re claiming Trump was like Bush in how he handled defeat. Prove it. Provide some evidence.
You have failed entirely. You showed us Biden said something vague and nice, but you don’t trust Biden and there is no evidence contained in that statement that Trump did not damage a president’s respect for elections, the respect Bush showed with his letter.
FWO, have the personal integrity to admit you failed to make the argument, and have resorted to dumb insults and self-congrats, because you aren’t very proud of how Trump behaved. He has offered you so little to use as an example of being kind to the man who defeated him you had only an example of Biden being vaguely generous to Trump.
Dustin (a87c64) — 1/21/2023 @ 12:45 pmI hear the word “no” a lot. Life is very good.
Dustin (a87c64) — 1/21/2023 @ 12:46 pmTrump’s public conduct was consistent with what he wanted to market to his strongest defenders. Trump’s private conduct…to whatever degree that it was genuine and authored by Trump himself…does not excuse or compensate for his public conduct.
Sometimes I want to think that Trump is like Danny Devito’s character in Other People’s Money — crass publicly, refined in private — but this fiction is always defeated by feality.
Kevin M (1ea396) — 1/21/2023 @ 1:09 pmDustin, I’m well. I hope that new job you were telling me about has worked out. You had some reservations iirc.
Kevin M (1ea396) — 1/21/2023 @ 1:12 pm* defeated by Reality
Kevin M (1ea396) — 1/21/2023 @ 1:13 pmIf there is a goal post, you need to reach the endzone. You’re claiming Trump was like Bush in how he handled defeat. Prove it. Provide some evidence.
The citation is right up above. The rest of your post is more rhetorical hand-waving and mind-reading attempts,.and thus thwreino need to take it at face value.
Factory Working Orphan (0555f4) — 1/21/2023 @ 1:17 pm*there is no need
Factory Working Orphan (0555f4) — 1/21/2023 @ 1:18 pmIt’s a great SNL skit, but his personal behavior is well understood. There’s no need to relitigate Trump. We all know what kind of dude he is.
Dustin (a87c64) — 1/21/2023 @ 1:20 pmIt took courage for Colbert King to write this:
We need stronger families, desperately, but there are few direct ways for governments to achieve that goal — and few on either the left or right who are even willing to think about the problem.
Jim Miller (f29931) — 1/21/2023 @ 1:23 pmThis is the theater of the small: yes, Trump left a letter, so he kept that tradition after getting a mob to storm the Capitol to prevent the Electoral Count certification, claiming voter fraud he could never prove, and claiming that Biden was the illegitimate President. Yay Trump left the private letter….yay!! FWO wins again!
AJ_Liberty (c98a5a) — 1/21/2023 @ 1:26 pmHonestly we don’t even know that he left a letter. We only know what Trump has actually said in the public sphere. Biden has said a lot of things that aren’t so. Either his memory is garbled or he just liked to tell stories. The one major article about the letter states Biden put the letter in his pocket, and did not share it with advisors.
Dustin (a87c64) — 1/21/2023 @ 1:42 pm“This nice letter from Bush to Clinton is an example of what Trump stole from us.”
“Biden said Trump wrote the same letter.”
::Throws out multiple post hoc qualifiers for why that doesn’t count::
No wonder your copium inhalation is off the charts here.
Factory Working Orphan (0555f4) — 1/21/2023 @ 1:59 pmHere’s Bush’s letter to Clinton, written 30 years ago today, and some other things. It’s too bad he lost, and I didn’t help, votewise.
Paul Montagu (8f0dc7) — 1/21/2023 @ 2:11 pmPiss on the silly letters; t’would be much better if all these recent POTUS party hacks simply left the country in better shape when they left office than when they assumed it.
And speaking of party hacks… another rat jumps ship:
White House chief of staff Ron Klain to step down after State of the Union: reports
WASHINGTON — White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain, the top aide guiding President Joe Biden’s first two years in office, intends to step down in the weeks following the president’s State of the Union address, according to The New York Times and CNN. Klain, 61, is a close confidant of Biden and has long worked by his side. He acted as a senior adviser to Biden’s 2020 campaign, and was Biden’s chief of staff when the now-president was vice president. Klain also served as chief of staff to vice president Al Gore.
Klain became Biden’s chief of staff in January 2021, when the president took office. His departure comes as Biden is widely expected to announce by the spring plans to run for reelection in 2024… Top advisers to Biden are being considered for the role, according to the reports, including Steve Ricchetti, counselor to the president; Susan Rice, a White House domestic policy adviser; and Jeffrey Zients, who formerly coordinated the Biden administration’s COVID-19 response, according to the reports. Labor Secretary Marty Walsh was also mentioned as being a potential pick.
The chief of staff job is notoriously challenging with frequent turnover. James A. Baker III, chief of staff to President Ronald Reagan, has described the position as the “the worst (expletive) job in government…”
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2023/01/21/wh-chief-staff-ron-klain-step-down-reports/11097361002/
Hit it, Mel:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SkKVLGO9Wjc&t=2s
DCSCA (389c7a) — 1/21/2023 @ 2:15 pmBiden actually called Trump’s letter “shockingly gracious”. Assuming Biden is being truthful, that was the one gracious thing Trump did between Election Day 2020 and Inauguration Day 2021.
Paul Montagu (8f0dc7) — 1/21/2023 @ 2:16 pmI think the House or Senate needs to conduct hearings on Trump’s letter to Biden.
Rip Murdock (8f2a5b) — 1/21/2023 @ 2:44 pmTrump showed us he was capable of flattery, but I don’t imagine Trump personally wrote the letter that Biden (rudely) said “[That]was very gracious and generous…Shockingly gracious.”
steveg (5f5fd7) — 1/21/2023 @ 2:48 pmSeems kind of petty of Biden to phrase it that way and Biden should have stopped at “That was very gracious and generous…Shockingly gracious.” but Biden is A sphincter too.
I’ll trade you all four Trump, Pence, Biden, Harris for one Nikki Haley warts and all. Haley won’t win even if the Democrats pick a Santos clone candidate for President because the Democrats cannot let a Republican woman in the WH before they do. I take most of what I read about her with a giant dollop of salt. Its either competitors on the GOP side or on the Democrat side claiming she said or did this or that. She was very good at standing up for the US at the UN. She was often decisive, articulate, and brave. Sure there are mistakes you can find, problems here and there, but in my experience people who don’t seem to make mistakes are usually just real good at covering them up
While Trump is probably in a special class, I think we should remember that Joe Biden is not above intemperate and scurrilous invective in the pursuit of cheap demagoguery.
Kevin M (1ea396) — 1/21/2023 @ 3:13 pmWow, look what you miss when you shirk your duty to correct people who are wrong on the Internet, opting for a long walk instead. Anyway, thank you to Dustin for making the points I’d have wanted to, but more eloquently. There’s something I’m tempted to add, but I’ve been trying to follow Patterico’s example of disengaging from name-callers, so the world will have to go on without it.
lurker (cd7cd4) — 1/21/2023 @ 3:33 pmOops should have read.
“Biden should have stopped at “That was very gracious and generous”
steveg (4fac0f) — 1/21/2023 @ 3:41 pmDustin, good to hear from you. Happy to hear you’re doing well.
FWO, will you be taking Biden’s unsubstantiated word as compelling evidence in the future? Seems unwise. The man’s words aren’t historically very reliable.
No opinion on if Trump left a letter or not. But given His public comments about rhe 2020 election have been vile, dishonest and anti-American if he did leave a letter it’s safe to assume it was flattery and not grace.
Time123 (7f98c0) — 1/21/2023 @ 3:45 pmI’ve come to firmly believe that Dustin is a good guy with a great heart with whom I sometimes disagree, sometimes agree. That goes for most of you all. My biggest job ahead for me in the New Year is to let the little s slide and as always with plans to change, my failures have been quick, obvious, and relentless. I think that is because I had no idea how attached I’ve gotten to small s
steveg (4fac0f) — 1/21/2023 @ 3:50 pm@155, Dustin’s writing has always been top notch.
Time123 (7f98c0) — 1/21/2023 @ 3:53 pmIf the letter was gracious in addition to flattering and a Trump wrote it, but she is named Melania
steveg (4fac0f) — 1/21/2023 @ 3:54 pmTables on voter preference and favorability include the most frequently mentioned candidates.
Rip Murdock (8f2a5b) — 1/21/2023 @ 4:06 pm*Anyway, thank you to Dustin and A.J.*
lurker (cd7cd4) — 1/21/2023 @ 4:09 pmBREAKING NEWS- FBI CONDUCTS SERACH OF BIDEN WILMINGTON COMPOUND– FINDS MORE CLASSIFIED DOCUMENTS -CNN.com
“There’s no there, there.”– Squinty McStumblebum
IDIOT.
DCSCA (5c4286) — 1/21/2023 @ 4:14 pm“The documents at the Wilmington, Delaware, home appear to be related to his time as vice president as well as to his tenure in the U.S. Senate and were found after Biden’s counsel offered full access to the premises as the department investigates his possession of classified material, Bob Bauer, Biden’s personal attorney, said in a statement…” -CNBC.com
Bust the bastard.
DCSCA (5c4286) — 1/21/2023 @ 4:22 pmGood grief, more classified documents at Biden’s house?
Paul Montagu (8f0dc7) — 1/21/2023 @ 4:49 pmIt would be interesting to know if Klain quit because he’s sick of how Biden bungled the situation, or whether he was pushed out for bungling the situation.
Buzz Aldrin weds ‘longtime love’ as he turns 93
Former astronaut Buzz Aldrin announced Friday that he married his “longtime love,” Anca Faur, 63,[which means she was 9 years old when Buzz walked on the moon] on his 93rd birthday. Aldrin tweeted that he and Faur married in a small ceremony in Los Angeles on the same day that he was honored by the Living Legends of Aviation, which honors people who have significant achievements in the aviation industry. He said they are “as excited as eloping teenagers.” Aldrin became the second person to walk on the moon in 1969 after his fellow Apollo 11 crew member Neil Armstrong. The third crew member, Michael Collins, did not set foot on the moon but piloted the spacecraft. Aldrin has previously been married three times.
He left NASA in 1971 and served as the commandant of the Aerospace Research Pilot School at Edwards Air Force Base in California, Reuters reported.
“@TheRealBuzz On my 93rd birthday & the day I will also be honored by Living Legends of Aviation I am pleased to announce that my longtime love Dr. Anca Faur & I have tied the knot. We were joined in holy matrimony in a small private ceremony in Los Angeles & are as excited as eloping teenagers.”- TheHill.com
Ride the stack; plant the flag, and ‘GO’ for reentry, Buzz! 😉
DCSCA (5c4286) — 1/21/2023 @ 4:50 pmDustin,
You.jumped into the conversation simply to attack someone who called out a Never-Trumper that was spreading an easily disproved falsehood. NeverTrump is a tribe and it’s one that has caused people who were once conservative to get in bed with leftists.
Instead of the passive agressive attacks, take a lesson from felipe and focus on the positives and strengths of your beliefs. Show alternatives instead of just claiming that factual statements don’t mean what they say.
NJRob (cb1277) — 1/21/2023 @ 5:07 pmSearch the idiot’s corvette… and, per ‘Popeye’ Doyle, be sure to rip out the rocker panels, too.
DCSCA (5c4286) — 1/21/2023 @ 5:10 pmMaybe they should take a look inside Joe’s beach house too?
In Trump’s favor, he can now tell Biden he never took documents home when he was 36 years in the Senate or 8 years as VP – because he went straight to the top without spending 44 years getting there.
steveg (4fac0f) — 1/21/2023 @ 5:38 pmTrump can also say that he had less than 10% of the experience Biden had in handling documents 4 years vs. 44 years.
Pretty sure it was the Trump that did that.
Time123 (7f98c0) — 1/21/2023 @ 5:50 pmI just called him a weirdo, making himself bitter for no reason.
Relax, my friend.
Trump is not conservative. Not on social issues, personal values, budget balancing, or even avoiding inviting the Taliban to camp david.
I agree with “leftists” all the time, because most folks generally want the same things, and differ on priorities. I am proud when I have a productive conversation with a lifelong dem where they realize a tough on crime approach is truly compassion for the most vulnerable (or whatever).
We’re talking about Trump disrespecting an election. A trend that I think started in 2000 with Gore. Stacey Abrams, Kari Lake, etc, do not respect the voters. I guess I can name gracious concessions, but who do you take examples from? Bush? Mccain? Any dem? Serious question… I can’t recall.
Dustin (a87c64) — 1/21/2023 @ 5:53 pmWhy do women have to change their hair color?
I saw the preview ad for SNL tonight. The guest host, Aubrey Plaza, is now a blonde.
She looked just fine before. Blond hair doesn’t suit her.
Dana? Nic? Radegunda? DRJ? Help me out here.
norcal (862cdb) — 1/21/2023 @ 6:15 pmSame here, brother. I’m pretty sure most of us agree on 90% or more, even Aphrael or Leviticus, yet we only really talk about the things we disagree with. Something has really been broken in politics, political discussions online, and from my view, most other things are wobbling and wheels are falling off all the time. We’ve got to take the big picture seriously and stop fighting ourselves.
Dustin (a87c64) — 1/21/2023 @ 6:22 pm@norcal@173
Always wanted that hair color never got up the gumption to change it before
Bored
Gray coverage
some kind of relationship issue
curiosity (do blondes have more fun? are brunettes taken more seriously? what if?)
Want some kind of change but don’t know what, lets try this before I blow up my life.
Saw someone with a cool color/cut.
Someone made an appearance based comment (could be positive or negative).
In her case it could also be for a role.
Personal reason: I was a blondie blonde kid and my hair darkened to a really boring and flat light ash brown as I got older, so I put some dark blonde highlights back in to make my hair color more interesting to me. It also blends in my relatively minor gray, but that certainly wasn’t my motivation 20 years ago when I started.
Nic (896fdf) — 1/21/2023 @ 7:03 pmThanks for answering, Nic.
Incidentally, I put the same question up at a BYU sports-oriented message board. Got some interesting feedback before the site owner deleted my thread, and told me sexist comments were not allowed.
It’s not the first time I’ve gotten into trouble there, although usually it has to do with church critiques.
norcal (862cdb) — 1/21/2023 @ 7:23 pmHe Was A Top Gun Before Top Gun
Rip Murdock (8f2a5b) — 1/21/2023 @ 7:42 pmWeird. I wouldn’t think the observation that women change their hair color sometimes is particularly sexist? IDK.
Nic (896fdf) — 1/21/2023 @ 7:43 pmRubbish. “I didn’t leave the Republican Party. The party left me.”
Dana (1225fc) — 1/21/2023 @ 7:49 pm@178 The site owner is very sensitive to complaints. Somebody probably complained. It’s funny, because you can block somebody with a mere click there (no complicated blocking script), but many people aren’t satisfied with that.
One of the few women there gave me a great answer, similar to yours. I sent her a DM, asking if she thought my question was sexist. She said she was a bad judge, and that she had been reprimanded herself on the site. That was all I needed to hear.
norcal (862cdb) — 1/21/2023 @ 7:50 pmI googled Aubrey Plaza. She’s an actress and actresses can be required to change their hair color for certain roles they take on. So perhaps that’s why she changed it. Not unusual at all. Actors do it too, but maybe not as frequently.
I like nic’s list but I’d add too that women always seem to be in search of some sort of elusive look of beauty that’s just out of reach. FREX:If I just get the new shade of Charlotte Tilbury’s nude lipstick, it’ll make my look…, etc. Decades ago, women were crazy to get their hair cut/styled like Princess Di and/or Dorothy Hamill. Unfortunately, in reality, most women looked just awful in those styles (including Di and Dorothy, imo).
Dana (1225fc) — 1/21/2023 @ 8:04 pmFWO, you won the skirmish, but you lost the war.
You’re like Shylock, insisting on your pound of flesh. The nasty and dogged way you went about it is not a good look.
You’ve lost track of the big picture, which is that Trump is a degenerate. Do degenerates sometimes do good things? Of course.
You come across as somebody who will seize on something–anything–to feel better about your support of Trump.
You’re an intelligent guy, but it would behoove you to set aside your ego, and consider that maybe, just maybe, your Trump support is misguided.
I’ve been on both sides of the Trump fence, and I’m not too proud to admit that I was wrong about him. It’s so liberating to stop digging in, come out of one’s tribal bunker, and call balls and strikes no matter the party.
Don’t be a slave to emotions and ego.
I anticipate that you will double-down in your zealotry, but who knows? Maybe you’ll surprise me.
norcal (862cdb) — 1/21/2023 @ 8:10 pmnorcal, I would have to agree about Aubrey Plaza. I first saw her in White Lotus and she’s a perfect brunette (oh wait, she was in parks and recreation too, completely forgot about her there). I would guess she did it for a role or to spice things up. My further guess is she’ll be back with darker hair soon enough.
AJ_Liberty (d46e30) — 1/21/2023 @ 8:15 pm“I didn’t leave the Republican Party. The party left me.”
Welcome to 1964.
DCSCA (7a6104) — 1/21/2023 @ 8:17 pmDana (1225fc) — 1/21/2023 @ 8:04 pm
Thanks for your answer, Dana. Very informative.
Apparently, you haven’t seen the TV shows “Parks and Recreation” or “The White Lotus”. She is in them, and both shows are excellent.
She also starred in last year’s movie Emily the Criminal, which I highly recommend.
Full disclosure: I have a crush on her.
norcal (862cdb) — 1/21/2023 @ 8:18 pmOh, I caught onto that about 13 comments ago!
Dana (1225fc) — 1/21/2023 @ 8:37 pmOh, I caught onto that about 13 comments ago!
Dana (1225fc) — 1/21/2023 @ 8:37 pm
LMAO!
norcal (862cdb) — 1/21/2023 @ 8:38 pmBTW, Dustin, I thought our disagreement about Ukraine was civil and respectful, and I appreciate those kinds of disagreements.
Paul Montagu (8f0dc7) — 1/21/2023 @ 9:02 pmThoroughly enjoyed Saturday Night Live tonight… mainly because we watched ‘The Best of Saturday Night Live – 1975-1980’ instead of the crap they’re airing now.
The Bass-O-Matic, Blues Brothers, Fred Garvin, Little Chocolate Donuts, Land Shark, the last mission of the Starship Enterprise, two wild and crazy guys… Paul Simon singing ‘Still Crazy After All These Years’ in a turkey costume; ‘cheeseburger, cheeseburger, cheeseburger’… Aykroyd’s Nixon, Carter and Tom Snyder… all still fresh, fast, witty– and most importantly, very, very funny- with only a cast of half-a-dozen very talented people. What NBC is airing now and call ‘SNL’ is not.
DCSCA (7b661c) — 1/21/2023 @ 9:09 pmDCSCA- first rule of jokes: Be funny. Bill Burr has a huge African American fan base because he approaches touchy subjects with the funny. If I tell a joke about black people and lotion, mixing in a bit about black rappers needing to register their guns, I’ll get crucified because I’m not funny enough to pull that s off
steveg (6768f2) — 1/21/2023 @ 9:40 pmI understand laughing at mean jokes about people I don’t like, because I’ve done it myself and am not going to lie… right now anyway, but if the joke is only funny to people that really dislike the butt of the joke, its not as funny as it is just plain mean. A good example of this is Steven Colbert, he is not stand alone funny, but he is mean funny as long as you hate on Bush or Trump.
As I read it, the latest classified docs found could be 50 years old (he became a senator in 1973) or up to six years ago when he was veep.
Dana (1225fc) — 1/21/2023 @ 9:54 pmNeverTrump is a tribe and it’s one that has caused people who were once conservative to get in bed with leftists.
Yeah, it’s the Truthteller tribe that you hear about in the logic puzzles, aghast that the GOP opted for the Santos crowd.
Kevin M (1ea396) — 1/21/2023 @ 9:56 pmSomeone better go through the Naval Observatory, and see what’s been hidden behind the A?C vents and electrical outlets.
And don’t think that every former official is guiltless here either. They are probably all quietly scouring their houses for indiscreet documents, just like, 30 years ago, they all decided to check up on their servants’ green cards and FICA taxes.
Kevin M (1ea396) — 1/21/2023 @ 10:00 pmAs I read it, the latest classified docs found could be 50 years old (he became a senator in 1973) or up to six years ago when he was veep.
Both scenarios wholly unacceptable. Anybody else pulling this would be prosecuted, fined and jailed.
This bum has been getting away with sleazeball incompetence for decades because nobody took the windbag from a small state too seriously. Now the chickens are coming home to roost and it’s about time he got corn-popped hard. He was nailed for what he is in 1988, a generation ago, by a more vigilant media. This time, they gave him a pass and the world is paying for it. It’s scum like Joe who drive voters to back scum like Trump.
DCSCA (df7e81) — 1/21/2023 @ 11:09 pmscum like Trump.
DCSCA (df7e81) — 1/21/2023 @ 11:09 pm
Who are you, and what have you done with DCSCA?
norcal (862cdb) — 1/21/2023 @ 11:11 pmI beg to differ. Of course, “funny” is subjective, but Steven Colbert was making me laugh long before his humor was political. I find him less funny now, maybe because now he is so blatantly partisan, but IMO he’s a naturally funny guy.
If you haven’t seen Strangers With Candy, do. It’s not everyone’s cup of tea, but I think it’s hilarious.
lurker (cd7cd4) — 1/21/2023 @ 11:12 pm@193. Hell, check every ‘reading room’ he ever pooped in. There’s 50 years of Biden droppings to ‘sniff’ through. And rip out those corvette rocker panels!
DCSCA (df7e81) — 1/21/2023 @ 11:12 pm
lurker (cd7cd4) — 1/21/2023 @ 11:14 pmSteve Vladeck:
@196. Colbert stopped being funny when he shed his faux conservative character on leaving Comedy Central for CBS. Then he nose-dived the day Trump was elected. When a cable guttersnipe like Gutfeld keeps whipping Colbert’s butt in the ratings it’s past time for him to change his act. CBS can’t afford him much longer w/his numbers– Fallon’s flopping too and has NBC regretting their re-up a while back and pondering timing on a contract buy out– and Kimmel might have to consider a Man Show reboot as well…
DCSCA (df7e81) — 1/21/2023 @ 11:19 pmGive me the re-animated corpse of Johnny Carson. He was wise enough to keep his politics to himself.
norcal (862cdb) — 1/21/2023 @ 11:25 pm> I’m pretty sure most of us agree on 90% or more, even Aphrael or Leviticus, yet we only really talk about the things we disagree with.
Hey, Dustin, it’s good to hear from you. It’s been a while. 🙂
I think part of what’s happened is that the software that runs social media is primed to drive engagement, and outrage and anger drive engagement.
But it was already happening before the internet.
I think some of it is the result of deliberate meddling by hostile foreign powers, but … the specific stuff i’m talking about is largely operations carried out on the internet, and it was already happening before the internet.
Somewhere along the line too many of us on all sides lost the ability to respect and love people with whom we disagreed. The disagreements became too fundamental, the disagreement turned into a personal affront.
I don’t know how we recover.
aphrael (f4b598) — 1/22/2023 @ 1:23 amRip Murdock, at 151: that’s not surprising at all. *I* think Biden acted inappropriately. I’m confident anyone on the left that I talked to whom I explained the issue to would agree.
I think that there’s a wide ocean of difference between what Biden did and what Trump did, but that doesn’t make what Biden did *ok*. The whole point to the classification system is that this sort of thing shouldn’t happen. And if government would be rendered impractical by actually enforcing that, then maybe that’s further evidence that we’re classifying way more than we should be and the solution is actually to fix the overclassification problem and then *actually enforce the protections around classified documents*.
The whole thing is idiotic and i’m seriously, seriously angry at Biden for this.
aphrael (f4b598) — 1/22/2023 @ 1:29 amBTW, I saw SNL last night, and Ms. Plaza is gorgeous whether blonde or brunette (yeah, I crushed on her, too).
Paul Montagu (8f0dc7) — 1/22/2023 @ 5:42 amIt was also pretty funny such as her opening act, the Santos sketch, the couples game night sketch, but Miss Universe was hi-larious, a perfect play on an actual Miss World tweet (and you have to go to the very end to catch Miss France). Of course, a couple of segments were clunkers, and the Sam Smith tunes were bizarre.
Another benefit from our continuing success in cleaning up our waters: Dolphins visiting the Bronx and Brooklyn:
(Some are claiming that these dolphins have a New York accent.)
Jim Miller (f29931) — 1/22/2023 @ 6:47 amFWO, you won the skirmish, but you lost the war.
You’re like Shylock, insisting on your pound of flesh. The nasty and dogged way you went about it is not a good look.
You’ve lost track of the big picture, which is that Trump is a degenerate. Do degenerates sometimes do good things? Of course.
You come across as somebody who will seize on something–anything–to feel better about your support of Trump.
Lurker made a claim that wasn’t factual and was easily disproven, all to bellyache about what Trump “stole” from us. When shown the citation which disproved their claim, lurker and Dustin then tried to come up with a bunch of post hoc justifications as to why that didn’t matter anyway.
You’re an intelligent guy, but it would behoove you to set aside your ego, and consider that maybe, just maybe, your Trump support is misguided.
I’ve criticized Trump prior to this. This isn’t about Trump support, it’s about pointing out that lurker will make an unfactual claim for no other reason than to vent his spleen about him, and then change the rules when he’s losing the game. That people are saying “well, this is just about you defending Trump again!” shows the depths of their own tribalistic thinking.
I’ve been on both sides of the Trump fence, and I’m not too proud to admit that I was wrong about him. It’s so liberating to stop digging in, come out of one’s tribal bunker, and call balls and strikes no matter the party.
Except you’re not the umpire.
Don’t be a slave to emotions and ego.
I anticipate that you will double-down in your zealotry, but who knows? Maybe you’ll surprise me.
norcal (862cdb) — 1/21/2023 @ 8:10 pm
Pointing out that someone got a fact wrong is hardly zealotry. My conduct after that isn’t any different than what I’ve already done in the face of arrogant, self-righteous people who love to look down their nose at those who don’t share their same elitist worldviews. The NeverTrumpers here LOVE to deem anyone who doesn’t support what they do “stupid,” “cretins,” “knuckledraggers,” and “cultists,” which isn’t any different from the left-wing, pompous college-educated ding-dongs who snivel that GOP voters vote against their own interest. They then act flabbergasted when someone decides to shove that arrogance back in their face.
I don’t do that with Kevin and Time because they aren’t that way. Maybe people who don’t like how I engage with them should take a cue from that.
Factory Working Orphan (bce27d) — 1/22/2023 @ 7:51 amFactory Working Orphan (bce27d) — 1/22/2023 @ 7:51 am
It’s always good to remember the first rule of holes. When you’re in one stop digging. It’s also good to remember the first rule of internet comments. When the other side starts misrepresenting your position it’s because you made your point and they want to change the subject.
Now, you may ask, how did you get in a hole. That’s easy, you kept engaging with people who will pick any position opposite DT. If DT came out tomorrow in favor of breathing air and claimed trying to breath water would kill you the comment section hear would be down a few people. And there’d be people trying to convince everyone that obviously DT is lying about air and water.
frosty (f13be0) — 1/22/2023 @ 8:22 am1) We need a far better system to track retention/return of properly classified documents.
Perhaps, but it will always run up against Master of the World Syndrome. Who’s going to tell the boss man what he can’t do? “No” is not an acceptable word to these people.
Kevin M (1ea396) — 1/22/2023 @ 8:27 amThe issue with the Abrams in UKR highlights a fundamental issue with the war in UKR and US defense spending generally.
If UKR needs Abrams to stop the RU invasion they’ve lost. The Abrams have a long supply chain that UKR can’t support and requires training and infrastructure UKR doesn’t have time to acquire. If they don’t need Abrams then why does NATO or the US generally? They won’t be much good against CN unless you imagine a large scale land invasion of Asia.
The Patriot and Bradley systems have the same problems in UKR. Same with the Iron Dome. The Patriot and Iron Dome systems would at least be useful defending TW.
Everyone demanding we should give UKR whatever they need doesn’t seem to understand logistics or combined arms operations.
frosty (f13be0) — 1/22/2023 @ 8:35 amSomewhere along the line too many of us on all sides lost the ability to respect and love people with whom we disagreed. The disagreements became too fundamental, the disagreement turned into a personal affront.
Actually, it’s more like what Dustin said. I don’t think I disagree with you on basic things, but maybe we both ignore what we agree on to focus on the fewer things we disagree on.
Example: We both agree that sexuality should not be a subject for government and that marriage should be open to all, but we disagree on how much (or whether) government can insist that other people cooperate in the process.
That is probably more a difference in how we view the State in general, as applied to an instance of how the State uses power. In applying the discussion to something that can be personal, we maybe do what you suggest.
Kevin M (1ea396) — 1/22/2023 @ 8:36 amThe issue with the Abrams in UKR highlights a fundamental issue with the war in UKR and US defense spending generally.
AIUI, Ukraine is not asking for Abrams. They are asking for Leopards. But Germany has constructed an artificial barrier — they will allow Leopards to go to Ukraine if and only if the US sends Abrams.
Why? They don’t want to be on Putin’s permanent sh*t list because they still want that natural gas.
Kevin M (1ea396) — 1/22/2023 @ 8:41 amTo some degree it’s true that the Abrams requires more training than the Leopard 2. However, given that Russia is pausing to regroup now, if the requested is delivered, there would be time to train for a spring campaign.
This details the need for the sophisticated battle weaponry:
Dana (1225fc) — 1/22/2023 @ 8:51 amGermany also ties the hands of other European nations from sending Ukraine any Leopard tanks. It’s just shameful. Their fears of Russian retaliation and being seen as overly-aggressive by the world is helping to escalate the war and enabling Putin to continue his efforts at the genocide of a people. The bitter stench of irony is nearly palatable.
Dana (1225fc) — 1/22/2023 @ 9:00 amThree things can be true:
1) We need a far better system to track retention/return of properly classified documents.
2) Biden’s carelessness is deeply problematic, even if others have been similarly careless.
3) Trump‘s obstructions and prevarications are still far, far worse.
lurker (cd7cd4) — 1/21/2023 @ 11:14 pm
this reply to the tweet captures things pretty well:
Flower 🌹🌸
@Suman_USA
Replying to
@steve_vladeck
Biden seems increasingly guilty at this point of knowingly having these docs all these years. Too many everywhere to dismiss it as carelessness. Would be really sad & infuriating if this prevents Trump from being indicted.
We’re suddenly not hearing “no one is above the law” very much any more.
JF (b99e7f) — 1/22/2023 @ 9:29 amaphrael: “Somewhere along the line too many of us on all sides lost the ability to respect and love people with whom we disagreed. The disagreements became too fundamental, the disagreement turned into a personal affront. I don’t know how we recover.”
I think you’re right and share your pessimism. We uncorked the bottle and unleashed the genie of social media, figuring how wonderful is it that we will be able to stay in touch with distant relatives and friends. Alas,just as Aladdin’s wishes inadvertently go sideways, social media has also exposed and enflamed the neurotic in people. TV and radio saw this itch and couldn’t help but scratch it for ratings and profit. Does anyone really think that Tucker Carlson doesn’t understand which buttons he’s pushing?
And here we are boiling toward a combustible point, cocksure that the “other side” can never be trusted and deserving of every incivility. It’s difficult to be as strident about it to a flesh-and-blood person in front of you, though we are increasingly seeing even that with BLM protests spawning mob violence and then January 6th unleashing law-and-order Republicans to pummel cops and deliver some sort of street justice.
It’s neurotic. We’re punching keypads and hurriedly sending without any consideration of what our words are doing. There’s no longer a time to marinate, to put things in perspective, to exercise Christian charity, and lower the boiling point. We gotta have those endorphins, we gotta have that climax. Much of it is just digital masturbation. Not building anything real, just a vexing itch in your head that needs someone to scratch…preferably in the eyes.
What’s amazingly attenuated from all this free speech is a call to be better. David French tries but is marginalized as NeverTrump, aiding the enemy, selling out his principles, part of the problem. No, he wants people to listen, appreciate the other side’s perspective, and have a thoughtful discussion. We are going to disagree but we neither have to be disagreeable nor overly dramatic. But this interupts the endorphic fun…the need to beat, beat, beat….to defend our essence. But isn’t our essence more….shouldn’t it be more?
AJ_Liberty (d46e30) — 1/22/2023 @ 9:42 amjust another day in a democrat run city:
Bystanders don’t react as man is beaten with hammer in downtown Seattle
The victim of a robbery in downtown Seattle last week who was struck in the head with a hammer has passed away as a result of his wounds.
According to court records obtained by FOX 13 Seattle, on January 13, witnesses allegedly witnessed a man, later identified as 34-year-old Christopher Martin, approach someone who was attempting to take off a bike lock close to Fourth Avenue and Pike Street and hit him in the head with a hammer.
Video that FOX 13 Seattle obtained from various perspectives of the brutal assault. The recordings also document the responses—or lack thereof—of onlookers. Several others are watching the entire attack from the street. Most people continue walking, but some turn around. Nobody seems to have intervened to help the victim or dialed 911.
Is Seattle finished? Crime-ridden woke city’s dying downtown loses flagship Nike store and multiplex cinema – as number of homeless people killed in a year rockets by 122, to an all-time record 310
JF (b99e7f) — 1/22/2023 @ 9:47 am@215: This has been going on since forever. Google “Kitty Genovese” where 38 people did little as a resident of their NYC apartment building was raped and murdered right outside. One man turned up his radio to drown out the screams. No one called police.
Kevin M (1ea396) — 1/22/2023 @ 10:07 amTrump lawyered up and claimed a privilege Biden did not have during the timeline of these discovered documents. Biden had no Executive privilege to assert and although there is a protocol for a President declassifying documents that Trump did not follow, the actual law was murky. Trumps lawyers tested the law. When they lost, the US got its documents back. (Yes I know, after Trump and lawyers dragged their feet and whined)
I think the FBI gave Trump reason to believe there were FBI agents in the upper echelons who were out to get him. Trump behaves like a person who distrusts the FBI and DOJ. James Comey said Trump was “morally unfit to be President of the US” in a book promotion interview. Comey has loyal, like minded supporters in the DOJ to this day. The only prudent thing for Trump and his attorneys to do would be to treat the FBI, DOJ interactions over the documents as an adversarial act, possibly vengeful.
It’s hard for me to say this as an American, but I think Hillary Clinton, Trump, Biden are all morally unfit for the highest office in the country I am proud to be a citizen of
steveg (7d71c9) — 1/22/2023 @ 10:22 amGiven the longstanding (50 year) DOJ policy that a sitting President cannot be criminally indicted or prosecuted, Biden should be impeached (of course, there are multiple reasons to do this) and removed from office, then prosecuted.
Alternatively, Biden could either not run or lose his re-election, and then prosecuted.
The latter is more likely than the former.
Rip Murdock (35368e) — 1/22/2023 @ 10:25 amhttps://www.breitbart.com/politics/2023/01/21/leftists-riot-in-atlanta-light-police-car-on-fire-break-windows/
More violence and devastation than was done on Jan 6th.
NJRob (7aa2f6) — 1/22/2023 @ 10:41 am@203. The show sucked- as usual… caught the re-broadcast; beauty is in the eyes of the beholder; Plaza is a wet cat; she ain’t no Charlene Theron. Way too many Johnny-One-Note-Santo barbs, too. Especially w/all the time off the writers had and the rich pool of Biden fvck-ups to tap. The manure coming out of the writer bull pen at SNL needs cleaned out. The poop they’re shoveling out genuinely stinks.
They production needs fewer cast members and fresh, funny writers. And given NBC’s plans for cutting back prim time programming, a late night slaughterhouse ain’t too far behind. Back in the day I’d interviewed a SNL writer for a freelance gig w/CBS. She was 26 and admitted she was totally burned out. [Coke does that.] Consider how much better Stewart’s ‘The Daily Show’ was when they’d turn around some great comedy writing 4 nights a week in just 24/48 hours, too. From an inside-baseball-industry POV, that was truly a remarkable achievement.
Santos should legally change his name to Joe Biden– then see how long the jokes go on.
DCSCA (0a4e64) — 1/22/2023 @ 10:43 amMitch Daniels…….for Senate?
Rip Murdock (35368e) — 1/22/2023 @ 10:47 amFor example:
Biden ‘documents’ under DC Auto Show Corvette
‘Car enthusiasts attending the Washington Auto Show have come across something unusual and eye catching.
Under a red Corvette in the classic car showcase is a two-foot-long document tube labeled, “Joe Biden TOP SECRET.” WTOP reporter Nick Iannelli also tweeted photos of the car and prop yesterday, writing, “Under a Corvette at the Washington Auto Show. The document tube is obviously a reference to the growing scandal involving documents found at President Joe Biden’s Wilmington home and his office at the Washington-based Penn Biden Center for Diplomacy and Global Engagement of the University of Pennsylvania. The Corvette Club of America and Vintage Chevrolets of America are among the classic car groups displaying autos at the annual show.’ – WashingtonExaminer.com
Check the rocker panels! Hell, even the Washington DC car show is funnier than all of SNL.
DCSCA (0a4e64) — 1/22/2023 @ 10:50 amhttps://www.breitbart.com/border/2023/01/20/biden-admin-reports-record-250k-migrant-encounters-along-southwest-border-in-december/
Law and order used to matter to conservatives.
NJRob (7aa2f6) — 1/22/2023 @ 10:50 amWith regard to how we talk, debate, and discuss issues with others on the Internet: Efforts to frame every issue, whether political or religious or cultural, into a black/white yes/no only framework inhibits, and even shuts down any honest discussion. But that’s the point, isn’t it? That’s the “win,” and the “gotcha” that matters most. From the get-go they have decided for all of us what the parameters are, and what the ultimate findings are. Because, at the end of the day, they are not interested in robust and vigorous discussion and debate, or curious to learn, they are just interested in letting others know in a manipulative way, that they are wrong.
Dana (1225fc) — 1/22/2023 @ 11:09 am@211. Again, it’s all a European problem to manage; not for America to meddle in. They don’t need the Abrams land whales.
Consider unified Germany’s POV, too. Aside from dependence on Russia for energy needs; German battle tanks w/t iron cross emblazoned on their sides rolling into Ukraine again ain’t exactly a good look for a country that has the blame for two world wars hanging around their necks. And lest you forget, Israel denied Ukraine Iron Dome missile systems as well due to worries over pissing off Russia given their proximity to Syria.
So the French have tanks to offer. And so do the British; the Brits sent a few Challenger 2 tanks already. So send more.
https://tanks-encyclopedia.com/modern/France/french-tanks.php
DCSCA (0a4e64) — 1/22/2023 @ 11:20 amDana,
No. It’s simple. It was an issue that used to be discussed on here constantly, but is now ignored because you believe it scores political points for people who you dislike.
Look at pictures of our destroyed neighborhoods due to the invasion on our southern border. Look at how you cannot get a service job in California or Texas unless you speak spanish. Look at the cultural wasteland we are becoming because of the lack of will to enforce our laws and ideals.
So instead of using a “they” to dismiss people rather than dealing with the issue, face the reality that cowardice is allowing our nation to fall from within because the older generation lacked the fortitude to pass it on.
NJRob (7aa2f6) — 1/22/2023 @ 11:22 amTen killed, ten wounded in Lunar New Year mass shooting in Monterey Park
Partisanship of Monterey Park city government not known.
Local news coverage is showing a white van surrounded by Torrance PD SWAT in the Del Amo Fashion Center mall.
Rip Murdock (8f2a5b) — 1/22/2023 @ 11:28 amWhy the castle needs stormed: this very morning, House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Republican Rep. Michael McCaul told CNN’s Dana Bash that Ukraine need not worry about getting $ pout of America:
House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Republican Rep. Michael McCaul tells CNN’s Dana Bash that “we have to educate our members” about why they need to continue to support funding for Ukraine.
https://www.cnn.com/videos/politics/2023/01/22/mccaul-full.cnn
Maybe he needs some educating. In the same interview, he said he backed negotiations on spending cuts for AMERICAN CITIZENS in negotiations over the debt ceiling matter. It’s double-talk. In other words, this Republican bum cares more about helping Ukrainians than tending to the needs of Americans. It’s an astonishing mind set. He’s just a shill for the MIC and a reason these two political parties are overdue for some serious retooling…. and why castles get stormed.
DCSCA (0a4e64) — 1/22/2023 @ 11:31 am224,
It’s also usually the point with people trying to make the point you’re making. It’s hard to take any discussion of this seriously with people who themselves engage in the behaviors they’re complaining about.
For example, this is the problem with French. He may say “both sides” do something and “we” should all do better but almost immediately the conversation will focus on the side he disagrees with. In other words, it’s just an attempt to disarm the other side and control the discussion.
frosty (ff738b) — 1/22/2023 @ 11:33 amHere’s the concluding thought by the National Review article on Mitch Daniels’ call for a “truce” on culture war issues so the country can focus on tough fiscal choices:
First, I think this is misreading “truce” to mean “capitulation”. Second, addressing fiscal concerns means both sides must sacrifice something fiscally, not culturally. Third, is the GOP really willing to give up on federalism handling many of these culture issues and are now insisting on a top-down orthodoxy being imposed from Washington? Is DeSantis going to run to make Oregon behave like Florida…or else? Will this carry the narrative in toss-up states like Wisconsin or Michigan?
I couldn’t read the entirety of the WSJ response, but it started with a both-barrel-attack on Daniels and his record, especially budgetary issues when he was Director of OMB from 2001 to 2003. If memory serves, that period encompasses 9/11 and the country’s response. I like Mitch Daniels. He’s smart and he’s innovative. He serves as an elder at the Tabernacle Presbyterian Church, so he’s not exactly an areligious libertine. I wish he aimed higher, but understand his hesistancy looking at the times. Trump is already attacking him as a RINO which gives us another data point. He was a successful and popular governor and did a great job holding down costs at Purdue.
Daniels will make it a tough call for Indiana…more Trump-style politics or maybe something different. I hope he runs.
AJ_Liberty (d46e30) — 1/22/2023 @ 11:34 amLaw and order used to matter. Order is a big word, it means a lot of things and in this case it means protocol, process unfairly ignored.
“In an interview this month with Nicolle Wallace at the 92nd Street Y in New York City, Comey delighted his Upper East Side audience with his tale of how he exploited the Trump White House’s disarray in its initial days to send two FBI agents to talk to then-national security advisor Michael Flynn without honoring the usual processes (e.g., working through the White House counsel’s office).
Comey said that in a different administration that’s “something I probably wouldn’t have done or maybe gotten away with.” He apparently didn’t consider how that might sound to anyone not already inclined to delight in the wit and wisdom of James Comey, or old enough to remember when an FBI director pushing to “get away” with things wasn’t so amusing.”
It was amusing because it was Trump, but it should not have been. Comey clearly acknowledges that he was not being even-handed and he had done that to me, I wouldn’t trust “his’ FBI and/or DOJ either. I might just be paranoid, but it would be prudent to lawyer up and be ready to fight
steveg (7d71c9) — 1/22/2023 @ 11:51 amDaniels should have thought about the future when he dropped out ten years ago. Times (and the Republican Party) have passed him by. He has no chance against someone much younger and aggressive like Banks. You can’t go home again.
I’m
Source
Rip Murdock (8f2a5b) — 1/22/2023 @ 11:57 amhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9xqGu66D6VU
steveg (7d71c9) — 1/22/2023 @ 12:03 pmInterview with Comey
Fast forward to minute 13
1) Immigration is not ignored in this blog, so you are incorrect in your assessment. Also, every weekend is an open thread in which you can bring up any newsy issue. Perhaps if it wasn’t presented in such a confrontational manner, more people would discuss it. But what’s the point if it’s What I say goes!
Dana (1225fc) — 1/22/2023 @ 12:04 pm2) Immigration is still being discussed here. Perhaps not as much as you would like it to be, but this is a rapidly-changing world and we face many critical issues of impact.
3) I am not interested in scoring political points. As you may or may not know, I am without a political home, and I’ve been fine with that for quite some time. It’s freeing. There is no obligation to defend a political side (like paper over the outrageous descent of the Republican Party). I suspect that’s what irks you most.
Law and order used to matter.
Not anymore.
With POTUS stealing classified docs and SCOTUS failing to find their leaker… and yet another mass shooting last night, ‘Law and Order’ is scripted fiction- just like the TeeVee show.
At least 10 dead in a mass shooting in Monterey Park, California
s
https://www.cnn.com/us/live-news/los-angeles-mass-shooting-01-22-2023/index.html
SWAT team standoff now underway in Torrance, CA w/suspected shooter in white van.
DCSCA (c41e4d) — 1/22/2023 @ 12:05 pm231,
It’s stories like this that are likely to convince anyone paying attention that “law and order” is code for chump.
And if you’re wondering why we can’t all get along this points to one of the problems. Another is that at the time people pointed out that Comey wasn’t a Boy Scout and they got the usual “how do you” treatment because the “law and order” crowd decided getting DT no matter how was more important.
frosty (ff738b) — 1/22/2023 @ 12:10 pm@235 Law and order used to matter when it was law and order for “them” and mercy and forgiveness for us! Police are not allowed to shoot and beat “them” without repercussions anymore.
asset (2ca778) — 1/22/2023 @ 12:29 pmTrump leads desatan in latest poll for nomination. Trump 48% desatan 31% As lincoln said you can only fool some of the people all of the time! Trump is a likable fascist. Desatan is an unlikable nazi attacking the weak and helpless. nicky hailey or tulsi gabbard should run.
asset (2ca778) — 1/22/2023 @ 12:34 pm@236 It’s stories like this that are likely to convince anyone paying attention that “law and order” is code for chump.
yeah, that, and we’ve also become “curious to learn” it could be code for “mass shooting, yay!”
another example and model of “robust and vigorous discussion and debate”
JF (9447d7) — 1/22/2023 @ 12:52 pmRegardless of Trump’s feelings about the FBI, the dozens of boxes of records he took to his country club weren’t his property take. They’re presidential records, especially the classified variety, which included those claimed as executive privilege. It shouldn’t have even been an argument or “negotiation”. To me, this is about Trump delusionally saying they’re his, despite the law, and doggonit he wasn’t gonna give ’em back.
Paul Montagu (8f0dc7) — 1/22/2023 @ 12:55 pmBut I agree that none of them are fit, and it’s a testament to the dysfunction of both political parties that they were nominated.
Immigration gets discussed but people get into an impasse.
The politicians don’t know how to think about it, because well, they are not much good at thinking about anything, Republicans and their allies talk abstractly and intimidate people into silence or partial agreement – even affecting by now the Wall Street Journal editorial page has now been affected.
We’re seeing the results of a successful almost half a century lobbying campaign full of rarely disputed lies and misleading statements done in part by federal workers, probably a violation of the Hatch Act – the FBI isn’t allowed to lobby the American people. And Democrats don’t know how to defend the policy or don’t want to because it doesn’t focus group well)
It will go on like this until people dispute one of the items that everybody agrees on early – like that it is important for laws to be enforced just because they are laws. Not these laws.
In the meantime confusion about immigration was responsible for electing Donald Trump (especially getting him the Republican nomination in 2016) and is ultimately responsible for everything that is wrong with the Republican Party.
And people always propose things that are not going to happen or not going to work. Comprehensive immigration reform is a non-starter. Nobody is going to trade enforcement for liberalization.
Sammy Finkelman (c53056) — 1/22/2023 @ 1:10 pm237,
I suspect antifa is glad they’re primarily dealing with Atlanta PD instead of state police.
frosty (ff738b) — 1/22/2023 @ 1:10 pmBiden sometimes enforces immigration laws, even when some Republicans don’t want him to.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/afghan-soldier-seeking-asylum-us-153301359.html
https://www.voanews.com/a/afghan-soldier-seeks-asylum-after-arrest-at-us-mexico-border-/6928400.html
Under usual asylum rues people seeking to escape gangs aren’t entitlsd to asylum. I don’t know his status now in Brazil.
Sammy Finkelman (c53056) — 1/22/2023 @ 1:22 pmIt’s probably not something called Antifa, but it is a nationwide anti-law enforcement organization.’Which has probably bribed numerous Democratic politicians one way or another. People should not talk knowingly, like they exactly what it is, or who it is,
Sammy Finkelman (c53056) — 1/22/2023 @ 1:25 pm@245. What makes you think there aren’t a dozen of them already minted and locked in a desk in her office, or in a shoebox at Fort Knox… or in Biden’s sock drawer next to his illegitimate granddaughter’s birth certificate, the keys to his phantom 18-wheeler and the classified documents he kept revealing who really killed JFK he got a hold of as a senator in the early 1980s.
DCSCA (32dff9) — 1/22/2023 @ 2:24 pmThey may be minted (LOL) but the coins need to be deposited and accepted by the Fed. Minting is only the first step.
Rip Murdock (3f9088) — 1/22/2023 @ 2:34 pmRelated:
Rip Murdock (3f9088) — 1/22/2023 @ 3:00 pmNobody has seen the alleged shockingly gracious letter from Trump to Biden. All we have is triple (or is it quadruple, I stopped counting) hearsay.
On the other hand, any number of Trump supporters have seen ships falling off the edge of the Earth.
And if there is any kind of petty bitch commenting here it’s the Flat Earther who used the term at https://patterico.com/2023/01/20/weekend-open-thread-161/#comment-2679003.
nk (bb1548) — 1/22/2023 @ 3:53 pmIt’s long past time that California banned assault rifles!!!!
Kevin M (1ea396) — 1/22/2023 @ 4:07 pmKevinM
steveg (7d71c9) — 1/22/2023 @ 4:37 pmI have a story about a legal then, illegal now, AR15 I transferred via FFL out of state.
The serial number of the lower on the filed paperwork was off by consonant. It ended well, which is all I care to say
RIP film producer Edward Pressman (79). Produced over 100 films, including early career films by Brian De Palma, Terrence Malick, Oliver Stone, and Kathryn Bigelow.
Rip Murdock (3f9088) — 1/22/2023 @ 5:44 pmRIP Sal Bando (78). Third baseman and captain of the Oakland Athletics in the 1970s during the team’s run of three consecutive World Series victories.
Rip Murdock (3f9088) — 1/22/2023 @ 5:49 pm“Daniels should have thought about the future when he dropped out ten years ago.”
There’s a struggle going on in the GOP. Voters are getting tired of losing. Other voters are tiring of nothing getting done. I imagine Daniels’ plea will be “give me one term as Senator” and “let me bring common sense to budgeting efforts”. Now, the question is can you get enough reasonable people to get to a 60-vote majority in that window? I’m probably skeptical as well. But we need serious people and Daniels is serious. Trump enthusiasts, like Banks, will just protect Trump and soil the party more. Indiana should signal that they don’t want it to be the party of mafia Don any longer.
AJ_Liberty (4017b2) — 1/22/2023 @ 6:00 pmNow she’s saying that, but if it actually comes to that, she’s not going to say they are all the same.
There are a lot of things the Administration is saying to make things sound worse than they are.
And, by the way, The Secretary of the Treasury is not the Federal Reserve Board. I think she’s misleading people by saying there is no guarantee the Fed would not accept that. (AND NOTE HER CAREFUL CHOICE OF WORDS) And if they try, they can go to court.
Sure, they in the Administration don’t want to do that because it amounts to a license to print money and they are scared of that.
All the other ways suggested of avoiding the problem are legally defective. You cannot say that the president can choose to borrow money without authorization in Congress because Congress authorized spending – those are two separate provisions of the U.S. constitution,
Sammy Finkelman (78e2b5) — 1/22/2023 @ 6:46 pm251
???
Asked what? Is this saying it is easier to seek forgiveness than permission? Or thaat Poland didn’t ask for permission?
Sammy Finkelman (78e2b5) — 1/22/2023 @ 6:50 pmNow it can’t be necessarily taken as a given that Biden and Yellen would do it – but what if it came down to that??
Sammy Finkelman (78e2b5) — 1/22/2023 @ 6:54 pm@250 really it year one of pro life movment. Ok then its year one of giving that movement a post natal abortion. Before dobbs to many democrats said with reasonable people we will be reasonable. (ben gazzara run for your life) after dobbs democrats say and with unreasonable people we will be unreasonable! RethugliKKKans barely won the house in “there” year. In 2024 democratic primaries Malcolm X’s “By any means necessary!” will be the slogan of the winning candidates and what my rich corporate establishment donor class want will be the losers slogan. Pro choice or else! democrats are just marching onto the battle field now for 2024 we will start with ballot initiatives and then primary those who are not militant enough.
asset (ad9e5a) — 1/22/2023 @ 7:59 pmAsset admitting the party will cheat or commit violence to “win.”
Thanks to those who support the left in its rise to power.
NJRob (6cefea) — 1/22/2023 @ 8:08 pmnk (bb1548) — 1/22/2023 @ 3:53 pm
Big talk from someone whom my JIA-afflicted daughter could smack around.
Factory Working Orphan (bce27d) — 1/22/2023 @ 8:25 pmThe real question is would the Fed accept the trillion dollar coin? Probably not.
Rip Murdock (3f9088) — 1/22/2023 @ 8:26 pmSince Yellen served as chair of Federal Reserve Board from 2014-2018 (and other positions as far back as 1994) I’m sure she has an insight into what the Federal Reserve thinks.
Rip Murdock (3f9088) — 1/22/2023 @ 8:36 pmThe trillion dollar coin is a stupid idea anyway; just a way of avoiding dealing with the debt problem. Congress should close that loophole.
Rip Murdock (3f9088) — 1/22/2023 @ 8:39 pmLike the US, Germany requires countries that purchase its weapons to obtain their permission to transfer them to third party countries. In this case Poland has said that they will transfer their Leopard 2 tanks with or without German approval; Germany said that Poland hasn’t asked for permission, and if they did the German government “would not stand in the way.”
The quote in post 251 seems pretty clear.
Rip Murdock (3f9088) — 1/22/2023 @ 8:56 pmNow she’s saying that, but if it actually comes to that, she’s not going to say they are all the same.
If the government “minted” a $1 trillion coin and used that to spend money, the stock market would fall 20% the next day.
Kevin M (1ea396) — 1/22/2023 @ 9:19 pmThe real question is would the Fed accept the trillion dollar coin? Probably not.
No, the real question is whether the markets would accept it. Hint: No, they would not.
Kevin M (1ea396) — 1/22/2023 @ 9:20 pmAnd why not a $5 trillion coin? Pikers!
Kevin M (1ea396) — 1/22/2023 @ 9:21 pm@262 your side cheats like using voter id laws and closing down polling places in black areas to stop poor democrats from voting. I leave the cheating to the clinton wing of the party as I believe it is counter productive besides telling the truth is a lot more fun and you don’t have to remember what you said. As for violence ever here of kent state or the assassination fred hampton and mark clark? I was just as upset with the killing of ashlee babbit even though she was not on my side. You have your militias and right wing controlled law enforcement and we have antifa and john brown gun clubs. As H.rap brown said violence is american as cherry pie!
asset (ad9e5a) — 1/23/2023 @ 12:20 am“As H.rap brown said violence is american as cherry pie!”
You have a weird fetish for violence. It usually just brings more violence and escalation. How much pain and suffering are you willing to personally suffer to see it play out? Calls for violence usually come from people who are unable to put forth a persuasive argument.
AJ_Liberty (5f05c3) — 1/23/2023 @ 7:20 amI suspect that poor asset’s relationship with violence is the same as his relationship with AOC.
nk (bb1548) — 1/23/2023 @ 8:21 amWhich, on further thought, is not a bad thing. Not a bad thing at all. In either case.
nk (bb1548) — 1/23/2023 @ 9:03 amMcGonigal and Shestakov indictment.
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 1/23/2023 @ 9:08 amFYI, what you’ve been hearing about Atlanta the last few days is correct. I agree with this often questionable source:
https://pjmedia.com/news-and-politics/chris-queen/2023/01/22/atlanta-mayor-says-the-quiet-part-out-loud-about-saturdays-terrorism-in-the-city-n1663885
During the years I have lived here, Atlanta has been subject to occasional disruptions and riots and the people who do it are almost always from out of town.
One of the reasons Atlanta does fairly well (despite the traffic) is that the mayor and the governor usually prioritize a good relationship, even when they are from separate parties. Keisha Lance-Bottoms and Kemp didn’t do that from 2019-2021 and the city suffered for it. (This is when Buckhead secession fever was at its height and kemp seemed open to it. Hmmmm…..)
Appalled (1b62a7) — 1/23/2023 @ 10:11 amGeorge Santos on claims he was a drag queen (paraphrased).
“I was not drag queen. I was young. I was a drag princess!”
Kevin M (1ea396) — 1/23/2023 @ 10:11 amQuote from pjmedia posted by Appalled @227:
There seems to have been a similar protest against what they called “Cop City” going on in Boston:
https://www.fox5atlanta.com/news/katherine-clark-daughter-arrested-boston-protest-atlanta-police-training-facility
Sammy Finkelman (1d215a) — 1/23/2023 @ 11:08 amThe trillion dollar coin is a stupid idea anyway; just a way of avoiding dealing with the debt problem. Congress should close that loophole.
You mean like giving away $ freely to Ukraine??!! And speaking of stupid ideas: ‘The National Sales Tax.’
DCSCA (deb751) — 1/23/2023 @ 11:09 amPerhaps storming the castle won’t be necessary; storming the HQ of the RNC and DNC might be enough. These two political parties have to go.
Quote by Montague of DOJ press release:
This raises lots of questions. Oleg Deripaska was the man Paul Manafort owed money to.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jan/29/oleg-deripaska-paul-manafort-trump-russia-investigation
So he retires during the Mueller investigation.
It took three more years to raid the home he owned in Washington, D.C.
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/03/18/oleg-deripaska-calls-allegations-over-ties-with-manafort-very-absurd.html
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2021/10/19/fbi-surge-home-oleg-deripaska-russian-oligarch-putin-regime/8524379002
This must be studied closely if you hope to figure out what’s going on.
Sammy Finkelman (1d215a) — 1/23/2023 @ 11:20 amWho had “an FBI agent investigating Trump’s ties to Russia will get arrested for ties to Russia before Trump does” on your bingo card?
https://www.cnbc.com/2023/01/23/former-fbi-agent-charles-mcgonigal-arrested-for-russia-sanctions-violations.html
kaf (6fa9cd) — 1/23/2023 @ 11:22 am“How Could Anyone Be That Irresponsible?”
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2023/01/10/biden_on_mar-a-lago_documents_how_could_anyone_be_that_irresponsible.html#!
And how would a fed up Citizen Mongo handle a lying, Irish windbag who has earned a kick in the ass, too??
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O8cDfnQD0ws&t=2s
DCSCA (707bc3) — 1/23/2023 @ 11:43 amDCSCA (deb751) — 1/23/2023 @ 11:09 am
Also called the “FAIR” tax by its proponents.
https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/house-bill/25?s=1&r=18
Agreeing to allow a vote on the House floor sometime this year for that (which does not mean it would pass even the House) was apparently one of the concessions House Speaker Kevin McCarthy made to the holdouts.
It would be a 23% tax, which translates to 30% on the quoted price [23/77 = 29.87] with a rebate and possibly some exemptions. (I see secondhand goods are exempt, as is anything purchased by a state government, or for business, investment, or sale outside the United States. Also intangible property like copyrights, but isn’t tat exempt anyway)
The IRS would be abolished, and state tax departments would be responsible for collecting the tax. (I don’t see how you can force a state to spend money on that.)
The rebate would be sent every month, like the Covid child credit, and allocated according to family size and income (but doesn’t that bring back the IRS?!) Legal residents only, but apparently a family would get as much for a one month old baby as an adult.
One problem with this is what happens to all the money in Roth IRA’s or people who saved for retirement – and then with no income taxes files, it might be harder to approximately prove income. And with a 0.00% FICA tax rate, how are you going to guard against overreporting income for Social Security and other purposes?? It’s a problem already with the EITC.
You could do a tax based on non-cash transactions plus large cash transactions, while pulling all currency larger than $10 bills out of circulation, but 23% would be too high to work. (Mastercard and Visa do fine with 3% or so. Last week one place charged me a 4% non cash fee – first time I saw that. I don’t know if anybody else has seen that. They forgot to charge sales tax, though. It was only a $3 purchase anyway)
An alternative maximum tax, where somebody might have the choice of paying either an income tax or sales tax based on transactions might be an idea worth thinking about.
Sammy Finkelman (1d215a) — 1/23/2023 @ 11:45 amThe Biden WH press briefing begins with another lie- saying Biden has lowered gas prices w/Canadian-born Pixie Granholm shoveling the manure along w/Karine Jean-Pierre:
Except they hasn’t:
Gas prices have jumped as high as 40 cents over the last week at some fuel stations as the national average has started to creep back up. AAA reports prices are up 4 cents since Monday to $4.16 for a gallon of regular gasoline.
https://www.newsnationnow.com/us-news/are-gas-prices-going-up-again-yes-and-heres-why/
DCSCA (707bc3) — 1/23/2023 @ 11:49 am^Today’s data: Gas Prices Are Back Above $3 in All 50 States
https://money.com/gas-prices-above-3-dollars-states/
DCSCA (707bc3) — 1/23/2023 @ 11:50 amTis agent was only in charge of the New York office, so he may have only been peripherally involved in the Trump counterintelligence investigation, which was run out of Washington, D.C.
It all goes to show you that the most risky place to store classified information is in organized government files.
https://www.tutorialathome.in/famous-female-spies/ana-belen-montes
But nobody knew there were any secrets in Biden’s garage or Trump’s home, and the secrets were all mixed up.
But Ana Belen Montes could tell the Castro regime in Cuba who were the U.S. government’s sources because she knew where to look and the Cubans and Russians knew who to recruit.
She probably did it for love. (the ideology came afterwards)
Sammy Finkelman (1d215a) — 1/23/2023 @ 11:57 am@198
Hmmm, no, I disagree with Steve on #3.
At least the documents in question a Mar-a-Lago were under some security (Special Service and secured wing). Further more, its most likely in a SCIF onsite.
With Biden’s mishandling classified documents for decades, that sort of spillage is even more troubling imo.
whembly (d116f3) — 1/23/2023 @ 12:03 pm@230
Hell no on a “truce”.
The uber-left will refuse said truce.
These people will NOT relinquish power and their desires to turn the dial to 11 on all issues..
You cannot ‘live and let live’ your way out of this.
whembly (d116f3) — 1/23/2023 @ 12:06 pmKevin M (1ea396) — 1/22/2023 @ 9:21 pm
They can mint more than one coin.
It started with $1 trillion probably because that was all they neded.
A smaller denomination would enable the U.S. government to fine tune it.
Maybe $100 billion or (if enough can be minted) $10 billion coins.
They could then deposit, from time to time, as needed.
Note: The Secretary of the Treasury can only set the value once.
This could be taken off the table by declaring the face value of the coin to be $10,000 say. To get even to even one trillion Dollars then would take 100 million coins. I don’t know that the U.S. government has enough platinum in stock and it will take months to mint them.
She’s bluffing that this is a non-starter. Also bluffing that they have to act fast.
Both Democrats and Republicans are playing chicken, and they may have a good reason to:
They can’t control, or don’t know enough how to control, what happens with the economy, but if they can get the other party to appear to have done something bad, or failed to have done something to prevent something bad from occurring, they can then blame any economic troubles on the other party.
Sammy Finkelman (1d215a) — 1/23/2023 @ 12:09 pm288. lurker (cd7cd4) — 1/21/2023 @ 11:14 pm
There’s a reason this hasn’t happened. It would make working conditions for top level officials difficult.
They also took from Biden some of his handwritten notes they were based on classified information.
Not some. Probably all.
Sammy Finkelman (1d215a) — 1/23/2023 @ 12:12 pmSaturday Night Live looked like it was again limiting itself to non-politics, being about the New York Giants vs Philadelphia Eagles football games (which ended “12 seconds ago”) but they did a lot with George Santos. At 2:30
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1N0fWFSo3JY
He says he is at the Superbowl. He gives his stats including rebounds and RBI.
George Santos was also on Weekend Update
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KGSdOg36pWI (besides being mentioned in a story, he appears in along interview by Colin Jost from about 3:48 tp 7:00)
And he’s also in at least one other sketch. But I can’t find it.
Sammy Finkelman (1d215a) — 1/23/2023 @ 12:45 pm284 unfair tax. States and cities would be tempted to raise their income tax or do away with it and raise sales taxes and fees. Try 30% plus 20 to 25% state, county and city sales tax. Thats 50 to 55% on purchases! Rebates is a con to fool poor people. Also poor, lower middle class people trying to live on social security who are the new homeless class would buy less. Don’t forget the 9% social security income tax that hits the poor harder then the rich and all other taxes and fees. levied by cities counties and states. A person making minimum wage doesn’t make enough to pay federal income tax. Great for rich lousy for poor and lower middle class and don’t forget property taxes added on top.
asset (2dd71b) — 1/23/2023 @ 12:48 pm268. Kevin M (1ea396) — 1/22/2023 @ 9:19 pm
Not so spend money, but to avoid borrowing money because that is the other alternative. And it would actually save money — on interest.
Sammy Finkelman (1d215a) — 1/23/2023 @ 12:48 pmGood news from, of all places, the NRC:
I suppose I shoudl add “better late than never”:
(Emphasis added.)
So, almost 15 years.
As I may have before, I would recommend Michael Shellenberger’s Apocalypse Never for those interested in how nuclear power was blocked for so many years. And by whom.
Jim Miller (f29931) — 1/23/2023 @ 12:55 pmNew York Daily News Op-ed piece that appeared on Thursday, January 12, 2023 (really addressed to potential candidates) arguing that “progressive” policies actually make cities safer
https://www.nydailynews.com/opinion/ny-oped-progressives-and-crime-20230112-jlexh2pcqve4tcobjb2lkghdia-story.html
Sammy Finkelman (1d215a) — 1/23/2023 @ 12:57 pmThere is a lot people can do to argue a false proposition. A lot of work went into concocting these arguments, which also includes the argument that polls have consistently shown people agree crime is going up whether it is or not..(one problem is that crime may be expanding geographically)
Sammy Finkelman (1d215a) — 1/23/2023 @ 1:01 pm@272 The court of last resort is not the supreme court ;but the street. Lexington green and concord bridge not english courts settled our grievances with England. The dred scott decision was taken to a court higher then the supreme court. first at harpers ferry and finally settled at cemetary ridge gettysberg pennsylvania july 3 1863. Dr. King told the white power structure you deal with me or you will deal with Malcolm X! After his assassination Dr. King said you deal with me or you deal with the black panthers! Your side Jan. 6 and the violent intimidation by the trump supporters.
asset (2dd71b) — 1/23/2023 @ 1:04 pmThe GOP cannot get rid of Santos
steveg (4e935d) — 1/23/2023 @ 1:05 pmFirst Hispanic Gender Fluid in Congress making history! Sure Santos is truth fluid too, fluids everywhere, but all Santos has to do is play victim. “society made life so hard to be me, I needed to lie about who I am, who I could love….”
A book that may help explain the slowdown in scientific and medical progress since 1945
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BQNX1LZT/ref=cm_cr_dp_d_vote_lft
Against Method by Paul Feyerabend.
From an Amazon.com review:
Sammy Finkelman (1d215a) — 1/23/2023 @ 1:06 pmWhat George Santos really said (on Saturday) was that he often did wear women’s clothes but he was not a drag queen. But he is reported to have entered a contest, not just enjoyed himself in Carnival..
They are so interested in making fun of Santos, they waived their usual tolerance about sexual matters.
Sammy Finkelman (1d215a) — 1/23/2023 @ 1:10 pmhttps://thepostmillennial.com/seattle-officials-intentionally-purged-thousands-of-texts-about-2020-autonomous-zone-despite-order-not-to-federal-judge?utm_campaign=64506
Leftist politicians violating the law and then trying to destroy the evidence.
In Seattle no less.
I’m shocked!
NJRob (650fff) — 1/23/2023 @ 1:14 pmThe real question is would the Fed accept the trillion dollar coin? Probably not.
How could they reject it?
Buy Swiss francs? As for the stock market that always jumps up and down.
But it would amount to a reversal of policy. Getting close to this:
https://www.investopedia.com/modern-monetary-theory-mmt-4588060#:~:text=The%20central%20idea%20of%20modern,to%20do%20so%20is%20taken.
Of course this makes it more obvious that the money is fiat. They go into uncharted territory.
Sammy Finkelman (1d215a) — 1/23/2023 @ 1:15 pm302. If Republicans want to investigate anything, maybe they should investigate what’s going on here and has been going on especially since about 2015, maybe 2012. But doo so competently, and not rely much on subpoenas people don;t want to comply with.
Sammy Finkelman (1d215a) — 1/23/2023 @ 1:18 pmThis Trump guy is still paying dividends, cleaning up Washington remotely from Fla. Sure it’s inadvertent but I gotta give him a nod. Not many people under investigation get to see an FBI agent who investigated them for Russian collusion show up as being arrested for the same crime.
steveg (4e935d) — 1/23/2023 @ 1:23 pmHow many people get excoriated by a President over documents and then get to watch the hypocrite get roasted, or hoisted on his own petard. WTF does that even mean when translated literally… let me look it up. Oh. It is a roadrunner vs coyote ACME explosive cartoon episode – nice
I think Biden’s scripted statement the other day that he had no regrets was meant to apply to what he did since November 2. (which was actually to try to keep it under wraps till it could be announced that everything was resolved)
I don’t think it was anyone in Biden’s press operation who did the initial leak, but it was somebody working for him. hey knew that Rep. James Comer (R-Kent) intended to ask the National Archives questions and they wanted to make something public before he got a chance to ask.
Sammy Finkelman (02a146) — 1/23/2023 @ 1:35 pm305. steveg (4e935d) — 1/23/2023 @ 1:23 pm
No, it was probably a parallel investigation.
Sammy Finkelman (1d215a) — 1/23/2023 @ 1:36 pmIt’s not so much intolerance of his sexual preferences, but the overall impression he has or lied and misrepresented just about every aspect of his life.
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 1/23/2023 @ 1:38 pmI see the FBI has “Retired Executive” Headlining its Press Release regarding crimes that began when he was still an employee, but OK, it is technically accurate
https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/retired-fbi-executive-charged-concealing-225000-cash-received-former-intelligence-officer
Extra bonus for Trump is that McGonigal got ratted out. “from August 2017 and continuing through and beyond his retirement from the FBI in September 2018, McGonigal concealed from the FBI the nature of his relationship with a former foreign security officer and businessperson who had ongoing business interests in foreign countries and before foreign governments. Specifically, McGonigal requested and received at least $225,000 in cash from the individual and traveled abroad with the individual and met with foreign nationals. The individual later served as an FBI source in a criminal investigation involving foreign political lobbying over which McGonigal had official supervisory responsibility.
Kinda weird how many people who investigated Trump from Comey’s FBI- who we were told were beyond reproach – also had stink on them.
I’m walking a mile in Trump’s shoes today and they feel like my favorite pair of boots
steveg (4e935d) — 1/23/2023 @ 1:44 pmSammy, I don’t think it matters if McGonigal played a very minor role in the Trump collusion inquiry.
“McGonigal, who left the FBI in 2018, was involved in the bureau’s probe of Trump campaign adviser Carter Page, according to text messages released by Senate Republicans. “Our Team is currently talking to [Carter Page] re Russia,” he wrote on March 16, 2017, to an FBI colleague.”
steveg (4e935d) — 1/23/2023 @ 1:58 pm309 – “I’m walking a mile in Trump’s shoes today and they feel like my favorite pair of boots”
I hope those lifts don’t hurt your feet.
(This gentle reminder: Those who follow Trump often lose their money, their health, and even, in some cases, their freedom.)
Jim Miller (f29931) — 1/23/2023 @ 2:07 pm@303
This was all hashed out during the Obama years.
Short answer: Federal Reserve are OBLIGATED to accept any currency printed/coined from the Treasury. So, if a $1 trillion dollar platinum coined was issued, the Feds would have to accept it and add a trillion dollar to their balance sheet.
Even if the Feds permanently keeps the coin in the vault, never to be circulated, it would cause massive inflation and destroy the “good faith of the US Currency” worldwide.
This is how hyperinflation can bring down a nation.
Hence why no rationale economist would ever advocate for it.
whembly (ae61f7) — 1/23/2023 @ 2:07 pm@288. The problem with too many documents stamped classified or the procedures involved around handling same is a wholly separate issue.
It is what it is. Now– and when the bum was a U.S. senator.
The bum is not supposed to have them and w/half-a-century of government experience dealing w/them -certainly decades more than one-termer POTUS Trump [who had never held elected office before and certainly was not a U.S. senator.]
The lying SOB knows better — he ‘takes classified documents seriously.’ More like ‘seriously, he takes classified documents.’ And the American people, as well as our own government- must DEMAND the bastard step up and take responsibility, not blame others, and own up to why he stole them, and what the contents were relative to potential influence peddling, policy planning for him and his family of bums w/respect to personal business dealings. If any of us pulled this crap we’d be prosecuted, fined and/or jailed.
The senate era papers he swiped clinch this. So, ‘there is a there, there’ after all.
Bust the lying bastard.
DCSCA (7d0ebd) — 1/23/2023 @ 2:13 pmSo McGonigal recommended the daughter of a possible Russian Intelligence officer get an internship with the NYPD counterintelligence and she claimed McGonigal had given her access to confidential files
From NPR
In 2018, while McGonigal was still working for the FBI, Shestakov introduced him to a former Soviet and Russian diplomat who functioned as Deripaska’s agent, the indictment said. That person is not named in court papers but the Justice Department says he was “rumored in public media reports to be a Russian intelligence officer.”
According to the indictment, Shestakov asked McGonigal for help getting the [Russian] agent’s daughter an internship in the New York Police Department’s counterterrorism and intelligence units. McGonigal agreed, prosecutors say, and told a police department contact that, “I have an interest in her father for a number of reasons.”
According to the indictment, a police sergeant subsequently reported to the NYPD and FBI that the woman claimed to have an “unusually close relationship” with an FBI agent whom, she said, had given her access to confidential FBI files. The sergeant felt it was “unusual for a college student to receive such special treatment from the NYPD and FBI,” the indictment said
This gets better. All the collusion people get a pass and now we get “confidential files at home in the closet? bah! I raise you one FBI agent possibly letting the daughter of a Russian agent access to his confidential files. Confidential files obviously means zero anymore until someone important gets more than a wrist slap.
While I’m rolling, lets do away with the FBI relying on memos their people supposedly write contemporaneously after interviews rather than using a recorder. There are clearly some untrustworthy individuals in positions of trust
steveg (4e935d) — 1/23/2023 @ 2:26 pm“An F.B.I. agent’s contemporaneous notes are widely held up in court as credible evidence of conversations.”
Sure. But have a separate unit do the recording so we can see if the contemporaneous memo contents add up to what is said in the recording because I am confident McGonigal’s sacred writings don’t match reality
So, for decades NM had a law on the books criminalizing abortion. It was unenforceable due to Roe, but the state legislature repealed it last year, possibly anticipating Hobbs. So, there is now no state law, and 3rd trimester clinics have sprung up.
Now, after Hobbs, several towns and counties outside the metro areas have passed laws forbidding abortion within their jurisdictions. The state AG is beside himself, and is suing to overturn these laws under several inkblot sections of the state constitution, even though they were never applied to the previous law.
https://www.abqjournal.com/2567053/ag-torrez-challenges-legality-of-local-abortion-bans.html
Kevin M (1ea396) — 1/23/2023 @ 2:35 pmHence why no rationale economist would ever advocate for it.
And why the markets would melt down.
Kevin M (1ea396) — 1/23/2023 @ 2:39 pmSo Putin infiltrated the Trump Russian Collusion probe with a double agent. It does reflect badly on the FBI, but as far as Trump is concerned it’s more evidence of his treason.
nk (a72a20) — 1/23/2023 @ 2:43 pm(assuming the Biden mask continues to unravel)
Fast forward to Jan 6, 2025, when Biden’s supporters — including a large portion of the DC government workforce — storm the Capitol to make sure that Biden is retained as President despite those lying ballots from AZ, GA, PA, MI and Vermont.
This will be called “The Patriotic Event” in later years. Hardly anyone will talk about the 11 GOP Senators hanged on the Capitol steps. Or really anything not listed on “this week’s allowed topics” as distributed to social media.
Some deadender counterrevolutionary terrorists will go on about “December 37th” but they’ll largely be ignored by everyone not wearing jackboots.
Kevin M (1ea396) — 1/23/2023 @ 2:46 pmJim Miller
steveg (4e935d) — 1/23/2023 @ 3:03 pmregarding your gentle reminder:
What was the reference to health about?
nk- maybe that is why the Mueller investigation tried to say we can’t convict but we also can’t say he didn’t do it. A dirty FBI agent in the probe would have called the FBI into question making it harder to convict, and embarrass all involved
steveg (4e935d) — 1/23/2023 @ 3:11 pmPatterico, on today’s Jan. 6 seditious conspiracy convictions:
lurker (cd7cd4) — 1/23/2023 @ 3:20 pmEven Democrats Are Now Critical of Biden Over Documents Mess
‘…Both Dick Durbin and Joe Manchin, they understand that the president is acting responsibly,” Ian Sams, a spokesman for the White House counsel’s office, said Monday on MSNBC. “When it comes to the standing of the president with the American people, they can see that he is taking this course of action of believing in the rule of law and being cooperative with the Justice Department…” -Bloomberg.com
Bullsh!t.
‘Smiler’ Grogan robs a tuna factory, buries the bundle under a ‘Big W’ for 15 years then, after crashing his car in a police chase accident, “cooperates”– by telling good-samaritans Finch, Bell, Benjamin, Crump and Pike where he hid the loot before he kicks the bucket and cashes in his chips.
“You’ll see it! You’ll see it under this big W. You can’t miss it! A big, big, W! And it’s been there. And it’s been laying there for fifteen years!” – Smiler Grogan [Jimmy Durante] ‘It’s A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World’ 1963
DCSCA (7d0ebd) — 1/23/2023 @ 3:21 pmManchin, Durbin have probably already been in contact with their lawyers on how to sneak documents back into the Senate building.
steveg (4e935d) — 1/23/2023 @ 3:38 pmWhat are the chances there a documents spread around Diane Feinsteins house
@323. Except they’re not the POTUS w/a half a century of government experience in various lower level public offices, suspicions of influencing nor boasted w/global bravado, ‘nobody fvcks with a Biden’ of how seriously [not] he takes classified docs; of how anybody could be so irresponsible, w/no regrets– and that ‘there’s no there, there.’
DCSCA (7d0ebd) — 1/23/2023 @ 4:08 pmBiden offered DOJ to search ‘every room’ of Delaware house before latest classified docs were found
WASHINGTON – President Joe Biden offered for the Justice Department to search every room of his Delaware house for government documents – a search that ultimately turned up additional classified records, the White House said Monday. After the discovery of the latest batch of documents, one of the key questions had been whether the Justice Department asked Biden for permission to search the Wilmington residence and Biden consented or whether Biden had offered to let them do the search.
The discovery was a product of negotiations between the president’s lawyers and the Justice Department, culminating in the consensual search, according to a person familiar with the matter. Ian Sams, a spokesman for the White House counsel’s office, said Biden directed his lawyers to make clear that he welcomed a thorough search.
“The president’s personal lawyers, at the direction of the president, offered for the Justice Department to come to his house and conduct a thorough search of ever room of the house to ensure that any material that should be in possession of the government is in possession of the government,” Sams told reporters….’ USAToday.com
Who says they’re ‘in a room’? Joe??
Check the corvette glove compartment— and rip out those damn rocker panels.
DCSCA (7d0ebd) — 1/23/2023 @ 4:55 pmCheck the beach house
steveg (82276c) — 1/23/2023 @ 5:54 pmDiane Feinstein was never President, but she did have a couple centuries in the Senate
steveg (82276c) — 1/23/2023 @ 5:55 pmCheck the lost & found at the Delaware and DC Amtrak stations, too. And all the seat pockets and rest rooms on all the train cars as well… same w/every ice cream parlor he frequents… including the ‘reading rooms’ w/t porcelain thrones. Then turn every place he’s ever been in Scranton inside out– as well as his cell in South Africa, the cab of his 18-wheeler — Beau’s casket; even his campaign planes, all the AF!s he frequents. Then look through the Obama papers for Joe Junk… because, you know, in Joe parlance, this is ‘a big fvcking deal!’ 😉
DCSCA (485072) — 1/23/2023 @ 6:39 pmBiden offered DOJ to search ‘every room’ of Delaware house before latest classified docs were found
This reminds me of Gary Hart.
Kevin M (1ea396) — 1/23/2023 @ 10:30 pm@329. Had same thought; although Jill Biden ain’t no Donna Rice.
DCSCA (4fe7d2) — 1/23/2023 @ 11:37 pmBiden offered full cooperation. When his personal lawyers ( we still don’t know why on Nov. 2) found secret documents they immediately called nat. archives to retrieve them. No they called white house lawyers to tell them. White house lawyers asked biden about them. White house then calls director of nat. archives and asks if they can quietly return them. Archives inspector general tells archives administration he has to inform fbi. Dec. 18 biden finally allows search of his home by his lawyers more documents found. Cbs spills story jan. 9 that week more documents found by lawyers in garage then house. Fbi is allowed to search after another top secret document found and picture of hunter driving dad’s corvette on fox. 6 more folders containing documents found total transparency! Tonight on tucker harmee dilion say ny post has hunter biden laptop e-mail that contains classified material.
asset (6fb1ca) — 1/24/2023 @ 12:35 amsteveg (4e935d) — 1/23/2023 @ 1:58 pm
Carter Page knew nothing, and was nit associated with the Trump campaign any more at the time he was being investigated by the FBI.
You could suspect that McGongal (if he had anything to do with this) wanted him investigated because nothing of value would turn up.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carter_Page
Sammy Finkelman (f6691c) — 1/24/2023 @ 7:06 amNote, or correction.
In 2016. Charles F. McGonigal was working in Washington D,C, (it sounds like he might have been transferred and demoted) and was one of the first FBI agents told about the other person associated with the Trump campaign who was investigated by the FBI, George Papadopoulos, and in fact the entire counterntelligence investigation..
https://nypost.com/2023/01/23/charles-mcgonigal-indicted-ex-fbi-head-helped-trigger-russia-probe/
He was indicted by two different grand juries – one in New York and the other in Washington.
The other case, in DC, involves apparent bribery by a former Albanian spy – and others. The Albanian, possibly as the result of his advice got turned into a (paid?) confidential informant.
https://balkaninsight.com/2023/01/24/us-probes-fbi-ex-agents-ties-with-balkan-officials
Here’s more:
https://mobile.twitter.com/BeschlossDC/status/1617673023053778945
Sammy Finkelman (1d215a) — 1/24/2023 @ 1:33 pmWell, he searched and Mike Pence [!] also found out he had classified information in his possession.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/vice-president-mike-pence-discovered-classified-documents-indiana-home
Actually, this is not surprising. I said every high level official had.
Sammy Finkelman (1d215a) — 1/24/2023 @ 1:38 pmhttps://hotair.com/jazz-shaw/2023/01/24/when-illegal-migrants-started-looting-in-nyc-n525973
Must be nice to be a criminal alien in Biden’s America.
NJRob (4f2cef) — 1/24/2023 @ 3:09 pmHamline Faculty Vote 71-12 to Ask University President to Step Down Over Muhammad Painting Firing Controversy
Bravo
lurker (cd7cd4) — 1/25/2023 @ 2:57 pm