Patterico's Pontifications

3/24/2023

Weekend Open Thread

Filed under: General — Dana @ 10:03 am



[guest post by Dana]

Let’s go!

First news item

President Biden orders retaliatory strikes:

The US military has carried out multiple airstrikes in Syria against Iran-aligned groups who it blamed for a deadly drone attack that killed a contractor, injured another and wounded five US troops, the Pentagon said.

The strikes were in retaliation for an attack against a US-led coalition base near Hasakah in north-east Syria on Thursday, it said.

Second news item

Tik-Tok unites Democrat and Republican lawmakers:

TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew testified before the House Energy and Commerce Committee for roughly five hours…Members grilled Chew, citing concerns about privacy for Americans’ data, protections for children online and TikTok’s connection to the Chinese Communist Party…Congress and President Joe Biden are looking at ways to crack down on the app, including a potential U.S. ban. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., told reporters during the hearing that he’d back a ban…Chew said in his opening statement that TikTok is safe and secure and that it shouldn’t be banned. He also noted that 150 million people in the U.S. are active TikTok users, underscoring how entrenched the app has become in the three years Washington has sought to rein it in.

Chew stressed that Tik Tok is not an arm of the Chines government:

Chew used his testimony to stress TikTok’s independence from China and play up its US ties. “TikTok itself is not available in mainland China, we’re headquartered in Los Angeles and Singapore, and we have 7,000 employees in the U.S. today,” he said in his opening remarks.

“Still, we have heard important concerns about the potential for unwanted foreign access to US data and potential manipulation of the TikTok US ecosystem,” Chew said. “Our approach has never been to dismiss or trivialize any of these concerns. We have addressed them with real action.”

P.S. Accusations of “xenophobia” were made after the hearing.

An oldie, but a goodie:

By combining personnel data with travel records, health records, and credit information, Chinese intelligence has amassed in just five years a database more detailed than any nation has ever possessed about one of its adversaries. The data and its layers work both to identify existing US intelligence officers through their personnel records and travel patterns as well as to identify potential weaknesses—through background checks, credit scores, and health records—of intelligence targets China may someday hope to recruit. Numerous cases in recent years have shown the creative ways China has identified and targeted potential spies, even sometimes using LinkedIn to find employees at companies of interest. The wealth of combined data now in the hands of Chinese intelligence will only make such targeting easier in the future.

Third news item

Trump crazily ratchets up the rhetoric, warns of possible violence if indicted, and goes after District Attorney Alvin Bragg:

What kind of person can charge another person, in this case a former President of the United States, who got more votes than any sitting President in history, and leading candidate (by far!) for the Republican Party nomination, with a Crime, when it is known by all that NO Crime has been committed, & also known that potential death & destruction in such a false charge could be catastrophic for our Country? Why & who would do such a thing? Only a degenerate psychopath that truely hates the USA!

WHY WON’T BRAGG DROP THIS CASE? EVERYBODY SAYS THERE IS NO CRIME HERE. I DID NOTHING WRONG! IT WAS ALL MADE UP BY A CONVICTED NUT JOB WITH ZERO CREDIBILITY, WHO HAS BEEN DISPUTED BY HIGHLY RESPECTED PROFESSIONALS AT EVERY TURN. BRAGG REFUSES TO STOP DESPITE OVERWHELMING EVIDENCE TO THE CONTRARY. HE IS A SOROS BACKED ANIMAL WHO JUST DOESN’T CARE ABOUT RIGHT OR WRONG NO MATTER HOW MANY PEOPLE ARE HURT. THIS IS NO LEGAL SYSTEM, THIS IS THE GESTAPO, THIS IS RUSSIA AND CHINA, BUT WORSE. DISGRACEFUL!”

Peggy Noonan: This is the wrong indictment:

Charging him in the Stormy Daniels case is below us—not below him, but us. The subject matter is below us. The nature of the charges is below us. The players in the drama aren’t people of import who stand for big things, they’re not fate-of-the-republic people, they don’t have any size. They’re tacky lowlifes doing tacky lowlife things. The case involves a questionable legal theory that depends on the testimony of Michael Cohen, who is half-mad in his own right and also in the way all “close Trump advisers” past and present are half-mad: money-addled, fame-addled, power-addled, screwball in their thinking…“No one is above the law.” True, and an important tenet of democracy. But no nation is above good judgment…“But the hush money payments likely had tax implications.” Everything has tax implications, hold your fire…Whether indictment helps or hurts Mr. Trump’s political prospects is irrelevant. We have to think more broadly than that. He has called on his supporters to arise and . . . do something, it’s not quite clear. He wants a big public reaction. Will he get it? I don’t think he has that kind of juice anymore. His followers know what happened to the people he inspired to overrun the Capitol: They’re in jail…Are we doing the wise thing? No. Hold your fire. Save the mug shot for Georgia, the handcuffs for Jan. 6. Those were real offenses against the country. Not Stormy Daniels, which was an offense against his wife.

Fourth news item

Florida principal: quit or be fired:

Aschool principal in Tallahassee, Florida, was forced to resign because, she said, a Renaissance art lesson included a section on Michelangelo’s sculpture of the Bible’s David, which one parent described as pornographic.

Hope Carrasquilla, who had been the principal at Tallahassee Classical School, stepped down Monday during an emergency board meeting, the Tallahassee Democrat reported…The school board’s chair, Barney Bishop, told Carrasquilla that she could either quit or be fired but gave no reason for the ultimatum. She told the newspaper that she believes it was because of the art lesson, saying, “It saddens me that my time here had to end this way.”

Carrasquilla said that the school is obligated by law to teach lessons on the Renaissance to sixth graders as part of the annual curriculum. But three parents complained that their children felt uncomfortable with the lesson, which included a section on David, a marble statue of a nude male that represents youthful beauty as well as the Italian city of Florence. It is considered one of Michelangelo’s masterpieces as well as one of the Renaissance’s greatest sculptures.

Note:

Bishop is a lobbyist who has expressed his support for DeSantis’ approach to Florida’s K-12 education…”We agree with everything the governor is doing in the educational arena. We support him because he’s right,” Bishop said…”The whole woke indoctrination going on about pronouns and drag queens isn’t appropriate in school.”

In an interview at Slate, Bishop answered questions about the incident:

I think in this situation, some boards would say: We’re going to stand by the principal, the trained educator, as opposed to a handful of parents who have an issue. Why did you not go this way?

What issue do you believe people had?

That the statue was pornographic.

You’re operating from the wrong premise. The teacher mentioned that this was a nonpornographic picture, No. 1. The teacher said, “Don’t tell your parents,” No. 2. So the issue, Dan, isn’t whether children should see these pictures or not. Gosh, we’re a classical school. Why wouldn’t we show Renaissance art to children?

Fifth news item

The House passes the Parents Bill of Rights Act:

The House on Friday passed GOP-sponsored legislation aimed at providing parents with more information about their children’s educations…would require public school districts to publicly post information about curricula for students, including providing parents with a list of books and reading materials available in school libraries…schools would be required to offer at least two in-person parent-teacher meetings annually, and school boards would be required to hear feedback from parents about students’ educations…Schools would have to publicly disclose their district budgets as well as the budgets of each school, including revenues and expenditures. They would also have to notify parents of violent activity occurring at schools or at events sponsored by schools…the bill would require parents to consent before any medical exams, including mental health or substance use disorder screenings, take place at school.

Sixth news item

A.I. copyright rules:

The U.S. Copyright Office (USCO) has issued guidance clarifying that material created solely by artificial intelligence (A.I.) cannot be copyrighted. Under the new rule, though applicants may claim a copyright for an arrangement or editing of such material, the original work is ineligible. “In these cases, copyright will only protect the human-authored aspects of the work, which are ‘independent of’ and do ‘not affect’ the copyright status of the AI-generated material itself,” the USCO says…Generative A.I. such as the chatbot ChatGPT and image maker DALL-E can create artistic content in response to human prompts. A prompted A.I. creation does not fit traditional legal conceptions of expression and property rights.

Speaking of A.I., here’s some A.I. generated art:

Trump even reposted an A.I. image of himself:

*The hands in A.I. works are usually a dead giveaway that the work has been artifically created.

Seventh news item

Dmitry Medvedev, the deputy secretary of Russia’s Security Council, is demanding that there be demilitarised corriders around the territory Russia is claiming in Ukraine, and vows to “destroy this infection.” He also suggested retaliation after a German official said that Vladimir Putin would be arrested if he steps foot in Germany:

A top Russian security official warned Thursday about the rising threat of a nuclear war and blasted a German minister for threatening Russian President Vladimir Putin with arrest, saying that such action would amount to a declaration of war and trigger a Russian strike on Germany…Asked whether the threat of a nuclear conflict has eased, Medvedev responded: “No, it hasn’t decreased, it has grown. Every day when they provide Ukraine with foreign weapons brings the nuclear apocalypse closer.” …the 57-year-old Medvedev denounced the International Criminal Court’s decision to issue an arrest warrant for Putin on charges of alleged involvement in abductions of thousands of children from Ukraine as legally null and void…Medvedev specifically blasted German Justice Minister Marco Buschmann, who said last week that Putin would be arrested on the ICC’s warrant if he visits Germany.

“Let’s imagine … the leader of a nuclear power visits the territory of Germany and is arrested,” Medvedev said, adding that it would amount to a declaration of war against Russia. “In this case, our assets will fly to hit the Bundestag, the chancellor’s office and so on.”

Eighth news item

Soon to be a free man:

Imprisoned political activist Paul Rusesabagina, whose story inspired the Oscar-nominated film Hotel Rwanda, will be released from his incarceration as early as Saturday morning, senior Rwandan and Qatari officials have told Semafor.

At the conclusion of a key cabinet meeting on Friday, Rwanda’s Minister of Justice, Emmanuel Ugirashebuja, plans to announce that Rusesabagina and twenty others sentenced with him on terrorism-related charges will have their prison terms commuted. Their underlying convictions will remain intact, according to two senior Rwanda government officials.

“Should any of these individuals return to the criminal activities for which they were originally charged, the sentence will be automatically reimposed,” one official said.

Rusesabagina, a high-profile critic of Rwadan President Paul Kagame, became a global celebrity after Hollywood memorialized his efforts to save more than 1000 Hutus and Tutsis during during his country’s 1994 genocide. But in 2021 he was sentenced to 25 years in prison on terrorism charges for his role leading the Rwandan Movement for Democratic Change, the dissident coalition whose militant wing Rwandan authorities accused of violent attacks resulting in civilian deaths.

Have a great weekend!

–Dana

233 Responses to “Weekend Open Thread”

  1. Hello and happy Friday!

    Dana (1225fc)

  2. I remember decades ago the arguments that impeaching Clinton in the Lewinsky case was below us–not below him, but us. That said, I agree with Noonan that Bragg step back. There are stronger, better cases in Fulton County and involving Jack Smith.

    Paul Montagu (8f0dc7)

  3. Hi, Dana!

    Children should only be taught what their State’s governor wants them to know.

    Sure, it’s Michelangelo now, but next thing you know they’ve moved on to the hard stuff. Renoir, Van Gogh… Picasso!

    nk (acdccf)

  4. There are stronger, better cases in Fulton County and involving Jack Smith.

    Paul Montagu (8f0dc7) — 3/24/2023 @ 10:24 am

    Cases which are going nowhere.

    Rip Murdock (ac65cf)

  5. Biden image: Add a head and it’s Zaphod Beeblebrox.

    Kevin M (1ea396)

  6. First news item update:

    A new missile strike targeted a U.S. base in northeast Syria Friday, a day after a U.S. contractor was killed and five U.S. service members and another U.S. contractor wounded when a suspected Iranian drone hit a coalition base in the same region, according to U.S. officials. U.S. officials confirmed the new attack targeting an American base southeast of the Syrian province of Der el-Zour on Friday, saying there were “lots of rockets” fired, but no known U.S. casualties.
    …………

    And

    The main air defense system at a coalition military base in northeast Syria was “not fully operational” when a suspected Iranian drone hit the installation on Thursday, killing a U.S. contractor and injuring six other Americans, two U.S. officials said on Friday.

    It was unclear why the system was not fully operational and what difference that made in defending the base. The circumstances are under investigation, military officials said.

    The drone strike happened at a moment when U.S. forces in northeast Syria are on high alert against attacks from Iran-backed militias — there have been 78 such attacks since January 2021, a top American general said on Thursday. But the Avenger missile defense system at the base, called RLZ, may have been experiencing an unexpected maintenance problem at the time of the attack, one of the officials said.
    ………..

    Rip Murdock (ac65cf)

  7. Cases which are going nowhere.

    How do you know that?

    Paul Montagu (8f0dc7)

  8. Trump Poll Watch:

    ……..
    The survey (conducted by McLaughlin & Associates), taken March 16- 20, 2023, asked Republican primary voters who they would support for president out of a wide range of potential candidates. ………

    ………. Trump leads the pack with 46 percent support, followed by DeSantis, who garnered 23 percent support. For Trump, that reflects an increase from the 42 percent support he saw last month — a four-point jump. Meanwhile, DeSantis’s 23 percent support represents an eight percent drop from the 31 percent support he saw in January and three percent drop from the 26 percent he saw in February.

    ……….. Trump’s lead over DeSantis has expanded from 12 percent in January, to 16 percent in February, to a 23 point gap in March.
    …………
    ……….Pence comes in third with eight percent support, followed by Haley (5 percent), Romney (3 percent), and Cheney (3 percent). Every other candidate saw one percent support or less.
    ……….
    When placed in a head-to-head matchup, Trump leads DeSantis 61 percent to 31 percent. Trump also holds the lead among independents, 48 percent to 39 percent in that scenario.
    ……….

    Rip Murdock (ac65cf)

  9. Cases which are going nowhere.

    How do you know that?

    Paul Montagu (8f0dc7) — 3/24/2023 @ 11:35 am

    The Fulton County case still needs to be presented to a regular grand jury to obtain any indictments and the federal January 6th/classified documents investigations are still trying to get witnesses to testify. We won’t see any indictments in the federal investigations until 2024 (if then), and I suspect Trump will avoid being prosecuted in Georgia.

    Rip Murdock (ac65cf)

  10. Going by what the jury forewoman said, there were lots of crimes going on in GA, and the Jack Smith investigation is going strong. That doesn’t sound like “nowhere” to me.

    Paul Montagu (8f0dc7)

  11. If the cases are delayed into 2024, indicting Trump will prove impossible.

    Kevin M (1ea396)

  12. Plagiarism on the march in March:

    “We choose to go to the moon.”- JFK, Rice University, Houston, TX 9/12/62

    “We choose to go to the moon together.” – Squinty McSpeechthief, Canadian parliament, Ottawa, Canada 3/24/23

    DCSCA (4bae87)

  13. Russian Media Watch, British Edition:

    Putin Ally Calls for Striking Parliament in London: ‘No More Red Lines’


    ……….
    “Can’t we finally strike at London? What is the problem?” (Vladimir) Solovyov asked his audience during a segment of his show posted to Twitter on Sunday with English subtitles by Anton Gerashchenko, an adviser to the minister of internal affairs of Ukraine.

    “No, no, no—only at military targets. Well, at the parliament, too,” the Russian propagandist added.
    …………
    “Well, they’re going to give planes [to Ukraine] to strike deep into Russia’s territory. At the same time, they cunningly say: ‘No, well, we just don’t recognize Crimea as Russia,'” Solovyov said.
    ……….
    “In this case we will not recognize at all—for us then there is no England at all. No France. No Germany. Instead, there are Nazi states united by hatred for everything Russian,” the Putin ally said.

    “And so let’s get serious. Do they think there are no red lines? OK. Well, let’s show them that there are no more red lines. Let’s strike! So that the fist would ring,” he said.
    ……….
    Previously on Thursday, Solovyov targeted EU diplomats as he suggested that they should be expelled from Russia in a “sealed container” or “packed in a sealed wagon.”

    “A bunch of scumbags! We should pack them all into a sealed wagon, not a plane, but in a truck, seal them up and get them the hell out of the country in a 20-foot container,” Solovyov said.
    …………
    Related:

    Russian Lawmaker Calls for Wiping U.K. off the Face of the Earth
    ………..
    “Attention, Great Britain! Russian propagandists see the U.K. as the ‘main instigator’ and want to end the war by ‘inflicting a critical defeat on Britain'” tweeted (Andrey Gurulyov, Russian State Duma deputy) on Thursday as he shared part of the TV segment showing Gurulyov, who is also a retired Russian military leader.
    ………..
    “… The first thing to do is to tear Britain down, to wipe it off the face of the earth. And in fact, after that, everything will be over. It will be over, because it’s Britain that’s the main bastard. And the territory behind the puddle [the U.S.] itself as its masters,” Gurulyov said…….

    ………. “The main instigator here in Europe is Britain. By inflicting a critical defeat on Britain, essentially the whole war will be over. And then they’ll start listening to what our president says. Right away, off the bat. They’ll start to listen to what the president of the People’s Republic of China is saying. Sooner or later it will come to that, and that’s probably how it will end.”
    …………

    Rip Murdock (479f9d)

  14. Link to Gurulyov quotes.

    Rip Murdock (479f9d)

  15. The House GOP Takes Alvin Bragg’s Bait

    Donald Trump, the Beltway press corps and Democrats don’t agree on much, but they do all want Mr. Trump to dominate the nation’s political news and conversation. The puzzle is why House Republicans seem eager to fall into this trap by investigating Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s potential prosecution of Mr. Trump.
    …………
    ……….. Democrats couldn’t be happier that House Republicans are helping them in their Trump obsession by saying the GOP plans to investigate Mr. Bragg and haul him up before Congress. This is a loser’s game. Mr. Bragg has said he won’t cooperate, and he has the law on his side.

    His local police power is protected from federal intrusion as part of the Constitution’s separation of powers. If he refuses a House subpoena, he is likely to win in court if Republicans try to compel him. Even if he showed up at a House hearing, Mr. Bragg could rightly refuse to comment, as any federal or state prosecutor would, because doing so could jeopardize his investigation. He’s unlikely to comply with document requests for the same reason.

    As for the politics, House Republicans are hurting their own cause. The press corps and Democrats want to talk about Mr. Trump all the time, and Republicans are giving them more fodder to do so. It’s one thing to denounce Mr. Bragg’s prosecution as weak and unjust. It’s another to look like defending Mr. Trump is the new majority’s main preoccupation.
    ………..

    Rip Murdock (479f9d)

  16. 4th item. School teachers should quit their are plenty of job openings around the country for teachers.

    asset (48e523)

  17. Peggy Noonan is wrong. The Supreme Court just heard about Dog Poop toys so this seems on brand

    steveg (fc2c29)

  18. Fifth News Item:

    Prediction:

    The Parents Bill of Rights legislation (like most bills passed recently by the House) will die a lonely death in the Senate.

    Rip Murdock (479f9d)

  19. Actually it won’t be that lonely. It will have a lot of other bills that won’t be considered.

    Rip Murdock (479f9d)

  20. russian bots e-mail threats to NYC prosecuter also white powder found in letter to him. Trump threatens violence. Thats why we give police and military guns. Lets see how they like their own kent state or being fred hampton or mark clark. I remember conservatives talking about shooting rioters. I disagreed ;but if thats what conservatives want to do to rioters.

    asset (48e523)

  21. Has anyone asked why we have “a US-led coalition base near Hasakah in north-east Syria” in the first place?

    Who are we backing in Syria? Is there any particular ‘side’ in that protracted conflict that’s worth backing? Or is it just that we are backing the least bad side?

    The libertarian, but not Libertarian, Dana (364b6e)

  22. Who are we backing in Syria?

    Who our half-assed politicians always back: the donors who finance, wine and dine the pigs at the trough in the Military Industrial Complex– now hungry for a near trillion dollar budget to feast on.

    DCSCA (0747e2)

  23. Again: The UN General Assembly should correct the mistake it made when it assigned the USSR’s Security Council seat to Russia, and declare the seat vacant.

    Kevin M (1ea396)

  24. Donald Trump, hearing that Bragg is close to dropping the case, is trying to make it look like his veiled threats scared off Alvin Bragg.

    Sammy Finkelman (aa0f8d)

  25. Who are we backing in Syria? Is there any particular ‘side’ in that protracted conflict that’s worth backing?

    The Kurds. Against ISIS, the Syrian government, and Wagner Group.

    nk (457263)

  26. ‘Not just Artemis: China and Russia plan to put boots on the moon, too’

    https://www.space.com/china-russia-moon-base-ilrs

    The future technology development and transfer between these two spacefaring nations of the Eurasian Alliance means nothing to an 80 year old infinitely closer to the end than the beginning. Lest you forget his dissing of America’s enterprising efforts:

    [T]he president mocked the SpaceX CEO’s plans for a return to lunar exploration. “So, you know, lots of luck on his trip to the moon,” Biden said of Musk, the world’s richest man. -https://www.businessinsider.com/biden-elon-musk-feud-lots-of-luck-moon-trip-quote-2022-6

    DCSCA (0747e2)

  27. Bragg blinked. But now his name is known nationally. He’s going to make run for governor of NY.

    DCSCA (0747e2)

  28. The question I have is why the lamestream media used the term “suicide drone”. Who’s suiciding? It’s just a slow guided missile. Like the WWII V-1 buzz bomb. Not a kamikaze.

    nk (457263)

  29. Re: Parents bill of rights.

    Budget, details of curriculum, access to school board, and parent teacher meetings are all things I already have.

    Not sure if I can get a list of all the books in the school library. I’ve never looked. But I’m pretty confident the school would share that if I asked.

    List of all the books ina classroom? My younger kids teachers all have classroom libraries. I donated some books my kids had outgrown to a teacher that had helped them read. I helped stack them on the shelf with him and he didn’t make a list so I don’t think that list exists that part seems a little pointless honestly.

    Time123 (450d52)

  30. Here’s a request for a Constitutional Vanguard post (apologies if it’s already been done) — what is the constitutional basis, if any, of what appears to be a rather routine commission of what used to be called acts of war by the US around the world? Obviously, if a US base is attacked we have the right, and probably the duty, to respond as Biden just did in Syria. But not everything is so clear-cut. The latest example I can recall is a US strike a few months ago that killed Al Shahab (spelling?) militants in Somalia. They’re probably bad guys and may have deserved what happened to them, but it seems like the decision to carry out such strikes is purely left to the Executive with no input from Congress. Another example is when Trump ordered or at least OK’d the strike on the Iranian general Soleimani in 2020. Another bad guy, who had killed Americans and had it coming, but does the executive branch just get to do these things on its own? Is there some AUMF from 20 years ago, or more, that is the legal justification for acts like this, and if so, isn’t that authority pretty attenuated by now? People like Dennis Kucinich and Justin Amash used to ask questions like that, and their parties’ leadership weren’t exactly unhappy to see them ousted from Congress — IIRC, Ohio Dems specifically redistricted Kucinich so he’d be defeated after he criticized Obama’s actions in Libya. Would appreciate it if anyone can point to a reasoned explanation of whether our political establishment actually pays attention to the Constitution any more in making decisions about US military action.

    RL formerly in Glendale (7a2d64)

  31. Has anyone asked why we have “a US-led coalition base near Hasakah in north-east Syria” in the first place?

    The US is supporting the Kurds to fight ISIS and prevent the reemergence of the Caliphate:

    In northeast Syria, the Kurdish Syrian forces conduct targeted raids against Islamic State members. They also guard more than 10,000 imprisoned Islamic State fighters, while the Pentagon and American troops provide air support, intelligence and reconnaissance.

    The U.S. troops conduct operations as well, but those are fewer and farther between. They also provide security for the women and children, many of them relatives of Islamic State members who died fighting or were detained, who want to be repatriated. The Biden administration and the Iraqi government say they have come to value repatriation as a means to get people out of the camps, where they are vulnerable to being indoctrinated by the Islamic State.

    Source

    More:

    The House voted 103-321 on (March 8, 2023) against pulling U.S. troops out of Syria, rejecting a war powers resolution to do so introduced by Rep. Matt Gaetz.
    ……….
    Since the territorial defeat of the so-called ISIS caliphate, the U.S. Defense Department has kept troops stationed in both Syria and Iraq. In Syria, they remain split in the northeast — where they aid the Kurdish-majority administration’s fight against ISIS sleeper cells — and the southeast garrison of al-Tanf, which has become a frequent target of attack for Iran-backed militias.
    ……….
    House lawmakers also voted down 155-273 a National Defense Authorization Act amendment last year from Rep. Jamaal Bowman, D-N.Y., that would have required Biden to withdraw U.S. troops from Syria if Congress does not pass an authorization specifically for that mission. …….
    ………

    Rip Murdock (479f9d)

  32. The Kurds. Against ISIS, the Syrian government, and Wagner Group.

    And maybe a little bit against Turkey.

    Kevin M (1ea396)

  33. Is there some AUMF from 20 years ago, or more, that is the legal justification for acts like this, and if so, isn’t that authority pretty attenuated by now?

    Yes and no. The Senate has passed a repeal of the 1991 and 2002 AUMFs. However the repeal may not pass the House as defense hawks oppose repeal. Biden supports repeal.

    In its statement, the White House said repealing the measure would “have no impact on current US military operations and would support this Administration’s commitment to a strong and comprehensive relationship with our Iraqi partners.”

    Presidents, as the commander in chief and the primary implementer of US foreign policy, retain the inherent use of military force to defend the United States.

    Former President Barack Obama used the 2002 measure to justify airstrikes against Islamic State terrorists in Iraq and Syria. Former President Donald Trump cited that AUMF when authorizing the strike that took out Iranian Gen. Qasem Soleimani in Baghdad.

    Terrorist organizations, like ISIS and its offshoots, Al-Shabaab, etc. are not states, and I’m sure the countries where they are located appreciate our intervention (privately if not publicly).

    Rip Murdock (479f9d)

  34. Our guru from Greece wrote:

    Who are we backing in Syria? Is there any particular ‘side’ in that protracted conflict that’s worth backing?

    The Kurds. Against ISIS, the Syrian government, and Wagner Group.

    But backing the Kurds also means destabilizing Iraq and Turkey, both of which have sections of the fictional ‘Kurdistan’ within their borders and both of whom have seen Kurdish separatist desires there.

    Will this end well?

    The libertarian, but not Libertarian, Dana (364b6e)

  35. #33

    No doubt a president has the inherent power to defend the US — it could not be any other way — but does that inherent power extend to, e.g., ordering a missile strike to kill Soleimani in Iraq, solely on his own authority?

    No argument from me about the merits — all of these actions may be reasonable, and even necessary, and something that any reasonable member of Congress should approve. But it is troubling that we’re depending on 20 and 30-year-old grants of authority to carry out strikes today. So I’d still like to see some proper constitutional authority for all this. Not saying it doesn’t exist!

    RL formerly in Glendale (7a2d64)

  36. Will this end well?

    We can only have faith and hope that with our help they will live out their natural spans without being gassed, bombed, shot, tortured, raped, and enslaved.

    nk (19564f)

  37. For years I have believed that we should understand that Iran is at war with us (and Israel). It’s a low-level war, which Iran mostly fights with proxies, but it is a war, nonetheless. And I can’t imagine any way to negotiate peace with their current leadership.

    That drone strike was a typical example of their tactics, small scale, with someone else doing the dirty work.

    I think getting rid of Soleimani was a reasonable counter move, but that Trump should have issued a non-denial denial, rather than boasting about it. (We might even have suggested that he had a lot of enemies in the Iranian theocracy, just to stir things up a bit.)

    Jim Miller (f29931)

  38. This is a familiar pattern. Like on J6, Trump incites, and his cult reacts.

    Paul Montagu (8f0dc7)

  39. We can only have faith and hope that with our help they will live out their natural spans without being gassed, bombed, shot, tortured, raped, and enslaved.

    That’s fine in theory, but there are Erdogan’s delicate sensibilities to think about.

    lurker (cd7cd4)

  40. https://www.defense.gov/News/News-Stories/Article/Article/2980669/fiscal-2023-budget-funds-military-for-today-future/

    Ike was right:

    “In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist.” – President D.D. Eisenhower, 1/17/61

    DCSCA (0747e2)

  41. RIP Gordon Moore (94). Co-founder of Fairchild Semiconductor and Intel.

    Rip Murdock (479f9d)

  42. “I applaud China.” — Joe Biden

    JF (2f237f)

  43. This is a familiar pattern. Like on J6, Trump incites, and his cult reacts.
    Paul Montagu (8f0dc7) — 3/24/2023 @ 6:11 pm

    Alvin Bragg has a made a lot of enemies since he became DA, and he’s threatened many innocent people with a lot more than just nasty notes and powdered sugar.

    But, it’s good to see you’ve got his back, Montagu.

    JF (2f237f)

  44. This is a familiar pattern. Like on J6, Trump incites, and his cult reacts.

    Paul Montagu (8f0dc7) — 3/24/2023 @ 6:11 pm

    And they get left holding the bag.

    Rip Murdock (479f9d)

  45. But, it’s good to see you’ve got his back, Montagu.

    No, I don’t have Trump’s back, not one bit.

    Paul Montagu (8f0dc7)

  46. The forces there in Qamishli are set up on an airport right on the Syria Turkey border in primarily Kurdish area. In the south of the Province, the US is set up on a large oilfield that I believe Conoco runs for the Kurds. The US supposedly wants to keep ISIS from taking it again and getting rich off of free oil. There is another US base in the province that blocks an important crossroad. Not sure which base was hit, but am thinking it was the one on the Turkish border? If air defense was down at the time of the attack, it seems a bit too coincidental

    steveg (737b9a)

  47. The parent’s bill of rights is a silly law. It details stuff that mostly already is in place or is actively dangerous:

    1. Parents have a right to know what their children are taught.
    Almost all of this already exists online at the school district website or the state department of education. The only part that doesn’t explicitly exist on line is the part about school eliminating gifted/talented program, which is available via deduction through their course request forms and course lists.

    2. Parents have a right to be heard:
    Schools have at least one formal parent conference for parents every year AND parents have a right to request a meeting with a teacher at any time. School board meetings all have a period where they hear from the public (mostly time limited because everyone wants to go home at some point.). Nobody is stopping parents from assembling, though they may not be able to do so on school property if they are being violent or aggressive or interfering with the operation of the school. (IANAL but I don’t know that you can legislate “respect”?) and boards already consider community feedback.

    3. Parents have the right to see the school budget and spending:

    District budgets are already public. A few years ago there was a question about the LA school district budget here on the site and I was able to look at it and comment on one of the issues. The trick about the district budget is that the public doesn’t know what they are looking at and districts use tricks to disguise when they are putting funding in non-useful places. For example, district office personnel costs are counted among “Credentialed Administration” which includes all the school site admin as well, so it just looks like part of the regular school salary expenses. And I would welcome the school budget being public. Parents at non-sports oriented schools, middle schools, and elementary schools would be appalled at exactly how much money goes into the football program/ related services and to the school with the good football program. Parents at the school with the good football program would be appalled at home much less access to resources they would suddenly have. HOW MANY TIMES DO WE NEED TO REDO THE STADIUM?!?!

    4. Parents have the right to protect their child’s privacy:
    Schools already don’t share identifiable student data and in fact parents have to sign permission forms for their child’s picture to appear in any promotional material or sports photos in the paper.

    The parent consent to medical/mental health/substance use exam is actually dangerous.

    We often can’t get a hold of a parent. If someone’s child has been seriously injured, is clearly on drugs, is overdosing, has been abused by a parental figure, or is actively acutely suicidal we need to be able to move forward in order to make sure that child is safe. I took a student to the nurse today. Today. Who had dozens of self harm cuts across her body that she had broken open in PE and she came to me, oozing blood, to ask me what to do (yes, everyone who needs to know, including the family member she lives with who is not her parent or guardian, is aware she self-harms and we can’t get her help because her parents are paranoid and won’t agree to it because they are afraid she’ll say something to get them investigated due to drugs). The nurse could not get a hold of anyone on her contact list, despite trying at least 5 people, several times each, just to inform them that someone needs to talk to her when she gets home and take care of her cuts (she wasn’t suicidal, just self harming.). Fortunately the nurse was able to clean her up and cover her in bandages despite that because we are allowed to do that. For now at least.

    5. Parents have a right to keep their children safe:

    Parents are already informed of any major incidents that cause interruption in the school day. As for the rest of them, define violent activity, and tell me how to keep the students confidential? One student smacking another on the back of the head falls under the category of one student placing hands on another, but it may have really been one student being an idiot and other student objecting. What about two boys roughhousing that turns into a shoving match (no, they aren’t allowed to roughhouse. But boys.)? How do you keep it confidential if you inform the 5th grade parents that two 5th grade students were fighting and only Jordan and Darren are absent the next day? You could do monthly or yearly reports that is just statistics, but parents still wouldn’t know what they were reading.

    Anyway, just the thoughts of a local school district employee.

    Nic (896fdf)

  48. 46 ever here of dien bien phu? Fallujah? Kabul airport.

    asset (288786)

  49. RIP Gordon Moore (94). Co-founder of Fairchild Semiconductor and Intel.

    The last of Silicon Valley’s founders. He lives on with “Moore’s Law.”

    Kevin M (1ea396)

  50. Oops……….-

    South Carolina’s embattled top accountant will step down next month after a $3.5 billion error in the year-end financial report he oversaw, according to a resignation letter written Thursday that was obtained by The Associated Press.

    Republican Comptroller General Richard Eckstrom’s decision to leave the post he has held for 20 years came after intense scrutiny of his performance following the blunder and amid rising calls for him to either quit or be removed.
    ………….
    The Senate report concluded that Eckstrom was solely responsibile for the mapping error, which happened during the state’s transition to a new internal information system from 2011 to 2017. State officials testified that Eckstrom ignored auditors’ yearslong warnings of a “material weakness” in his office and flawed cash reporting.

    Eckstrom has said the Annual Comprehensive Financial Report exaggerated the state’s cash balances for a decade by double counting the money sent to colleges and universities. The mistake went unsolved until a junior staffer fixed the error this fall.

    Officials have said the overstatement did not affect the state budget. But lawmakers alarmed by Eckstrom’s inconsistent testimony slammed his failure to fulfill one of his primary constitutional duties: to publish an accurate account of state finances.

    The fallout for the state agency that typically flies under the radar is expected to continue. ……..

    Rip Murdock (479f9d)

  51. Who could’ve guessed Idaho hospital suggests citizens leave the state to give birth in part due to insane anti-aboriton laws (me, I could’ve guessed)

    for non link clickers a town in Northern Idaho is having to close down it’s obstetrician services because all the doctors are leaving due to fears of liability due to Idaho’s extreme anti-aboriton laws. Two of their suggested alternatives are in Washington and Montana (in all fairness, the rest are in Coeur d’Alene, hopefully they’ve reduced their White Supremacist problem in the last decade or two).

    Nic (896fdf)

  52. Re: Second news item-

    There’s a Problem With Banning TikTok. It’s Called the First Amendment.
    ………..
    ………TikTok’s American users are indisputably exercising First Amendment rights when they post and consume content on the platform.
    …………
    ………….(T)he Supreme Court (has) decided a series of cases recognizing that the First Amendment protects not only the right to speak but also the right to receive information, including the right to receive information and ideas from abroad. ……..

    So there’s really no question that government action whose effect would be to bar Americans from using a foreign communications platform would implicate the First Amendment. That’s exactly what one federal court held two years ago when it blocked President Donald Trump’s attempt to ban WeChat, the Chinese messaging app.
    …………
    ………… At the very least, the government would have to show that the ban is substantially related to important governmental interests.

    The principal interests the government has invoked thus far involve protecting Americans’ data and depriving the Chinese government of a tool that could be used to spread disinformation. ………

    For one thing, the Chinese government can obtain private data about Americans without relying on TikTok. It can simply purchase the data from data brokers……….

    ……….. (T)he federal government could protect Americans’ privacy much more effectively (and without the necessity of a categorical ban on a communications platform used by millions of Americans) by enacting comprehensive privacy regulation. …………

    ……….. The Supreme Court and lower courts have held repeatedly that the mere invocation of national security is insufficient to justify the suppression of First Amendment rights. In court, the government will have to introduce evidence that the threats it is addressing are real, not merely conjectural, and that the proposed ban would address those threats. The evidence assembled so far is not likely to be sufficient. ……..
    ………..

    Rip Murdock (479f9d)

  53. I find it silly to assert that banning TikTok is a violation of the First Amendment. TikTok is not subject to a possible ban because people are mad about the content being shared on the channel, it’s subject to a possible ban because its parent company is too tied into an authoritarian government which has a history of compiling information on its overseas users as well as of espionage and other malfeasance.

    This is like an electric toothbrush company selling a defective and potentially dangerous product, then complaining that regulators are trying to put them out of business only because they have a rainbow pride flag on their packaging. Nobody should fall for this crap.

    JVW (adf84b)

  54. @53. There’s no constitutional right to brush your teeth (though were it up to me it would be a constitutional duty).

    Before reading Rip’s linked NYT article, I would have agreed with you. I’ll stipulate that the author, Jameel Jaffer, is an anti-government-power, pro-privacy-and-speech-rights zealot, but he makes a persuasive case that the FA is implicated. I’d like to hear the counter-argument, but for now I’m inclined to think the issue is whether a ban would trigger intermediate or strict scrutiny, whether the defect to which you refer clears the applicable hurdle, and whether the ban is sufficiently narrowly tailored to correct the defect. Jaffer seems to think the standard should be strict scrutiny (shocker), which would probably be death to any attempted ban, but he concedes it may only be intermediate scrutiny, the outcome of which is hard to predict. I suppose it’s possible he snookered me and it would be rational basis or no scrutiny at all, i.e., not a FA issue, but if so I’ll be surprised.

    lurker (cd7cd4)

  55. Every denocrat voted against the Parents Bill of Rights. Says everything.

    NJRob (eb56c3)

  56. Tik Tok? Tik Tok?! When everything that goes through your Chinese-made device goes right to the Chinese government?

    nk (19564f)

  57. What kind of morons want Boebert, Biggs, Gaetz, Gosar, and MTG passing laws about their kids’ education?

    nk (19564f)

  58. Nic @47: The parent’s bill of rights is a silly law. It details stuff that mostly already is in place or is actively dangerous

    You can find silly stuff in just about any piece of legislation. No real point in focusing on that unless there is some non-silly stuff that you want to pretend isn’t there:

    “The Parents Bill of Rights Act would update the 1965 Elementary and Secondary Education Act by requiring elementary schools to obtain parental consent if a child wants to change their gender accommodations”

    That a law has to be passed for parents to find out how their child is being handled in such a significant way by the schools should inform everyone as to who is driving the culture wars.

    Subtle hint: It ain’t the parents.

    JF (2f237f)

  59. What kind of morons want Boebert, Biggs, Gaetz, Gosar, and MTG passing laws about their kids’ education?
    nk (19564f) — 3/25/2023 @ 5:32 am

    motes and beams, nk. motes and beams

    JF (2f237f)

  60. Here’s a thread of a Russian spy who got busted. Makes me wonder how many others are out there.

    Paul Montagu (8f0dc7)

  61. Does he know George Santos?

    Tucker Carlson tried to get in the CIA.

    nk (19564f)

  62. Of all the places Trump could choose for the very first rally of his 2024 campaign, he picked Waco, on the anniversary of a certain FBI operation. We’ll see how many show up, and I’m sure an untold number will stand back and stand by.

    Paul Montagu (8f0dc7)

  63. An evening in Macron’s Paris. Who needs those little propane heaters when there are other heat sources.

    Paul Montagu (8f0dc7)

  64. Here’s a good rundown on the vatnik assault on Vuhledar, which turned out to be a meat grinder for the Russians. If you go to #6, you can see how much the town has been destroyed by the rashist invaders.

    Paul Montagu (8f0dc7)

  65. I find it silly to assert that banning TikTok is a violation of the First Amendment.

    Indeed. The US has laws about foreign ownership of broadcast stations and this would be along those same lines. I would think that a more general law would be preferable than simply banning TikTok, or suddenly you’d have PikPok.

    Kevin M (1ea396)

  66. What kind of morons want Boebert, Biggs, Gaetz, Gosar, and MTG passing laws about their kids’ education?

    Different morons that those who want AOC, Ilhan Omar, Rashida Tlaib, Cory Bush and Summer Lee passing laws about their kids’ education.

    Kevin M (1ea396)

  67. The leading candidate to head the Scottish National Party is Humza Yousaf. Who is, as his name suggests, a Muslim.

    If he wins that contest, he is the most likely person to become Scotland’s First Minister, replacing Nicola Sturgeon, also of the SNP. (As I understand it, he would need the same support from the Greens that Sturgeon has had.) Commenters at Political Betting mostly think Yousaf is not particularly competent; one of the common nicknames for him is “Useless”.

    If that happens, the UK will have a Church of England king, a Hindu prime minister, a Muslim first minister in Scotland, an atheist first minister in Wales, and a factional Christian government in Northern Ireland. Where the factions have not always treated each other in Christian ways.

    (Why are they having this contest? Because Sturgeon was unable to win a referendum on Scotland leaving the UK, and because the SNP hasn’t provided a very good government for Scotland. Why now? Possibly because of investigations into scandals, like a missing £600,000. Sturgeon’s husband, Peter Murrell, was head of the party, but has resigned.)

    The membership vote is supposed to be announced Monday morning, about 8 AM, PDT.

    Jim Miller (f29931)

  68. Regarding TikTok, it seems more appropriate to try and raise regulatory hurdles like through CFIUS…if that’s your thing…by say requiring TikTok to store PII with a US cloud service provider. Of course this will likely then cause some retaliatory regulation imposed by China on US companies. It’s kind of funny when you hear that this is about propaganda….and controlling the spread of misinformation via propaganda. Yikes, what should then be the implication for FNC and stop the steal? The mind shudders.

    AJ_Liberty (546e02)

  69. And for those who want more details, here’s a list of all the heads of governments in the UK, and its dependencies.

    Jim Miller (f29931)

  70. Yeah, that was the premise of Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451. The wingnuts did not want depictions of Michelangelo’s David and the whatever they are did not want depictions of Mohammed.

    nk (19564f)

  71. I believe that Trump’s choosing Waco for his rally was most certainly intentional, and with a hope that he will add fuel to the simmering fires of the “death & destruction” crew. It was not an accidental oversight. Given its central location in the state and being a “region of religious and anti-federal government conservatives, right-wing populists, evangelical Christians, and Christian nationalists who are all receptive to Trumpian politics, it makes perfect sense for the rally to be held there. If/when the protests break out after Trump is indicted, no one can say that they weren’t warned.

    Dana (1225fc)

  72. My children were in school 15-20 years ago, Nic, and even then a few teachers were changing the curriculum to be the “cool” teachers and show students inappropriate material.

    This school reportedly has a rule about notifying parents of new material, a rule that apparently was not followed in this case. If such a rule exists and was not followed, I think parents should object to the lack of notice.

    DRJ (0abb72)

  73. Yikes, what should then be the implication for FNC and stop the steal? The mind shudders.

    The same rules for the NYT, WaPo and Russian bots. Domestic speakers have far more leeway than foreign ones, and this has been going on for some time.

    Kevin M (1ea396)

  74. The parent consent to medical/mental health/substance use exam is actually dangerous.

    It *can* be, but is not always. Jumping to the extreme doesn’t help navigate the terrain and come up with reasonable solutions.

    Parents are already informed of any major incidents that cause interruption in the school day. As for the rest of them, define violent activity, and tell me how to keep the students confidential?

    Older students will almost certainly talk to their peers or parents or sibs about any violent altercations that happen in the classroom. However, school administrators do not always inform other parents of said incidents. This is especially true if there was neglect to intervene by the teacher/if the school could possibly be accused of neglecting their duty to students or at fault/or in an effort to protect the student involved’s privacy (for the sake of the other students’ mental well-being). Also, at the elementary school level, there can be, and often is, a reluctance to notify parents of a violent classroom altercation because of student privacy. What makes this even more troubling is that little ones are less able to process what they’ve seen happen and don’t necessarily tell their parents because they can’t or are afraid or just confused by what they’ve witnessed. The way they may “speak about it” is by acting out at home, starting to wet the bed, being afraid to go to school, etc. They are not necessarily able to “give voice” to the traumatic event they witnessed, and they end up traumatized. And if the troubled student is currently going through testing and assessment and waiting for a more suitable placement, the events continue to happen and you end up with a classroom of traumatized students who have witnessed an awful event. Even if there is an emergency exit strategy in place (a signal the teacher gives the students when the event is beginning) they are still very impacted. And parents never know unless they have a child who can give voice to the event. Additionally, school administration may be directed by district officials to not send out any notice to other parents out of fear that it would violate the child involved’s privacy and thus open the district up to litigation. And it does happen. Too frequently the scale is tilted toward not notifying classroom parents of the event that occurred for the sake of protecting the privacy of the student involved in the incident.

    Dana (1225fc)

  75. The rally is 30 years after the Branch Davidian standoff in Waco that started February 28, 2993, and ended April 19, 1993.

    If you want people to believe rebellion against government is a good idea, by all means, go to Waco.

    DRJ (0abb72)

  76. What kind of morons want Boebert, Biggs, Gaetz, Gosar, and MTG passing laws about their kids’ education?

    Americans.

    DCSCA (f4c5e5)

  77. Some do, some don’t. You think you are clever but you aren’t.

    DRJ (0abb72)

  78. Maybe Trump’s next rally could be in OK City, in eyeshot of the Murrah Building.

    Paul Montagu (8f0dc7)

  79. If you want people to believe rebellion against government is a good idea, by all means, go to Waco.

    Maybe it is a good place to go to recognize the full force of government and its ability to cover things up?

    As a test, ask a group of your smartest friends to describe what the victims at Waco looked like. Almost assuredly, your friends will describe them as white, Bible-toting, gun-loving Christians of the peckerwood variety.

    What your friends almost assuredly will not know, and will be reluctant to believe, was that more than half of those presumed peckerwoods were racial minorities, thirty-nine out of seventy-four who died on April 19 to be precise. Six of the dead were Hispanic. Six were of Asian descent. Twenty-seven were black. The victims ranged in age from six to sixty-one.

    Truth be told, Waco represented the single greatest federally orchestrated one-day slaughter of racial minorities on American soil since Wounded Knee in 1890, and there, at least, the Indians fought back, killing more than 30 American cavalry. And no, this is not something I read on the Internet. I found a verifiable list of the dead, broken out by age and ethnicity, and counted them.

    The FBI had given the Branch Davidians video cameras. The Clinton White House knew who was in the buildings. So, almost assuredly, did the major media, but those video images were successfully suppressed, and the public never knew.

    https://www.cashill.com/archive/intellect_fraud/hasnt_al_sharpton.htm

    They probably deserved to die, I guess..

    BuDuh (eaef9b)

  80. They probably deserved to die, I guess..

    BuDuh (eaef9b) — 3/25/2023 @ 10:17 am

    The Branch Davidians didn’t deserve to die but they made a choice not to surrender.

    Rip Murdock (479f9d)

  81. The government is extremely powerful. That is why we have the Bill of Rights, to try to protect people from government. I believe the government abused its power in places like Ruby Ridge and with the Branch Davidians, but standing up to law enforcement can end like that.

    This is also why I don’t want Trump to be President. I hoped he would try to understand how our government and Constitution work. All he cares about is using it for his own purposes. Not ours.

    DRJ (0abb72)

  82. The Branch Davidians actually did have an illegal cache of weapons, including AR-15s.
    Also true is that eight surviving cultists were convicted on weapons charges. Koresh actually was a pedophile, where any female over 12 was fair game.
    Also true is that the feds effed up by not apprehending Koresh off-site.
    Also true is that Trump picked Koresh’s deathplace for his inaugural rally.
    Also true is that Cashill is a conspiracy theorist and regular contributor to conspiracy-theory clearinghouse WorldNetDaily.

    Paul Montagu (8f0dc7)

  83. He loves authoritarian leaders who use their power to get even. That is a recipe for more Ruby Ridges and Wacos.

    DRJ (0abb72)

  84. https://redstate.com/nick-arama/2023/03/25/horrific-tornadoes-hits-mississippi-at-least-23-dead-many-injured-massive-damage-for-miles-n721216

    Absolute horrific devastation in Mississippi due to an outbreak of tornadoes yesterday.

    NJRob (a0c8ee)

  85. Kiri Jewell was married to Koresh at age 10. What happened there is part of why Texas moved to break up the Yearning for Zion cult in Eldorado TX, and probably part of why they came to Texas is a belief that they could be here. So the after effects of Waco didn’t end in 1993.

    DRJ (0abb72)

  86. Dark humor but still funny, Paul 78.

    DRJ (0abb72)

  87. Ukraine Brings the War to Russia:

    ………..
    More than a year after President Vladimir Putin unleashed his invasion, Russia’s war in Ukraine is also being fought on Russian soil, and Moscow is scrambling to protect its borders. The war Putin expected to win quickly now encroaches daily on the lives of Russian citizens, with frequent reports of fires, drone attacks and shelling.
    ………..
    There have been at least 27 publicly reported drone attacks on high-value targets in Russia, primarily military bases, airfields and energy facilities. In some cases, drones crashed or were shot down before reaching their targets. At least three drones crashed near Astrakhan, a city close to the Caspian Sea near where Russia fires missiles into Ukraine.
    ………..
    The two successful strikes at the Engels-2 airfield in December appear to have greatly alarmed the Russian leadership. Since then, Russia has deployed new air defenses to protect Moscow.

    In recent months, air defense systems such as the Pantsir-S1 and S-400 were lifted with heavy cranes and perched on rooftops or placed in city parks. Analysts noted that three systems in central Moscow — on the roofs of the Defense Ministry, the local Interior Ministry headquarters and a business center — effectively form a dome over the Kremlin.
    ………..
    Since the invasion started, Russian authorities have reported more than 300 strikes involving shelling, artillery or missiles in Russian border villages and towns, and at least 40 casualties, according to the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project (ACLED).
    ………..
    The Belgorod region, one of the main staging grounds for Russian forces, began installing fortifications as early as April 2022. The fortifications have been rebranded as the “zasechnaya line,” a medieval term referring to a line of reinforcements created on the southern borders of the Russian Tsardom in the 16th and 17th centuries to protect it from attacks of the Crimean Khanate.
    ………..
    The cost of the fortifications is high. The Belgorod region alone spent about $132 million on the project. But military experts and even some pro-war Russian commentators agree that they are largely useless, because there is virtually no chance Ukrainian forces will launch a ground attack on Russian territory.
    ………….
    In recent weeks, Russia has also been actively placing similar fortifications in occupied Crimea and other territories it holds in southern Ukraine, which may suggest Moscow is afraid of losing them.
    …………..

    Free link.

    Rip Murdock (479f9d)

  88. Mick Ryan has a Ukraine update, discussing the upcoming counteroffensive. This para caught my eye.

    12/25 The current Russian offensive will culminate. Ukraine will watch for the optimal time is to strike, taking this into consideration. It means a Ukrainian offensive could come sooner than we think given the Russians have failed to seize the initiative with the current ops.

    There are rumors of senior Russian military selling their Crimean homes, and of a real estate crash there.

    Paul Montagu (8f0dc7)

  89. That’s Just Too Bad:

    ………..
    A “mysterious explosion” destroyed Russian cruise missiles that were being transported through occupied Crimea, Ukraine said Tuesday, days after President Vladimir Putin visited the Black Sea region.
    ………..
    (Ukraine’s) Defense Ministry said in a Telegram post that “Kalibr NK” missiles designed to be launched from the Russian naval fleet in the Black Sea had been destroyed.

    “The mysterious [explosions] continue the process of Russia’s demilitarization and prepares the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea for de-occupation,” the post said, adding that the missiles were being transported by rail.
    ………….
    Video posted on social media and geolocated by NBC News showed an aerial vehicle flying near a rail yard in the Dzhankoi area, in northern Crimea. It then dives toward the ground and erupts into flames. A loud explosion can then be heard. The person recording the video can then be heard asking: “Did it hit my house?”
    …………

    Rip Murdock (479f9d)

  90. I sincerely wonder if Trump would object to Koresh’s marriages to minors, given how he objectifies young girls including his own daughter.

    DRJ (0abb72)

  91. @JF@58 I don’t think you read my entire comment.

    @DRJ@72 If the concern is a random teacher using unapproved supplementary material, that’s already against policy and this law wouldn’t help that any more than passing 15 laws against speeding would help more than passing one law.

    @Dana@74 I’m not sure what counts as extreme? I have a student who’s had 4 seizures at school this year. Vaping whatever random thing a 13 year old can get their hands on has been a big problem. Our counselors have done more than 20 suicide risk assessments, each, because a student has arrived at school with visible self-harm, told a friend they were going to kill themselves, written something in class that was extremely concerning, or gone to the counselor and told then they wanted to die. We have a girl who faints periodically because she has an eating disorder. And of course the normal assorted broken bones, concussions, etc. Parents are often not easy to get a hold of, though with cell phone it’s better than it used to be, and often have “voicemail is full” issues.

    Most violent altercations aren’t in an actual classroom. Usually they are at lunch, passing period, or on the way to or from somewhere else (or during recess for the littles).

    Nic (896fdf)

  92. Looking at ATF statistics on the Waco weapons, either all the AR15’s were illegally modified to full automatic, or they didn’t feel like breaking out the number. 200,000 rounds is less than 1500 per AR15 (fully assembled) and I know people even here in deep blue CA that have 3X that because they got a great deal on bulk ammunition.
    Have to admit I am surprised that they didn’t “find” a few spent AT4 tubes. Every time LAPD has a gun buyback, someone always breathlessly reports that in the haul of old, broken guns, they found a “rocket launcher”. I guess I could hit someone with the empty tube, so there is that.
    The PR teams alienate legal gun owners with their BS, and statistical manipulation intended to move the needle in a particular direction, losing trust needlessly. Lying even for all the right reasons is a slippery slope, let alone lying for less noble

    steveg (191f02)

  93. There were three cartoons in Politico’s weekly collection that I especially liked: Ramirez’s “bad political precedent”, Bramhall’s “Emperor” Xi’s strategies, and Kelley’s T. Rex.

    (Oh, and I chuckled at the tiny hands in Wexler’s cartoon.)

    Jim Miller (f29931)

  94. Does this mean that, if they come for Trump, he plans to die in a violent confrontation, surrounded by his cult?

    Kevin M (1ea396)

  95. A plea from Ukraine (free link)

    ‘Give Me an Abrams!’ Ukrainian Tank Commanders Grow Impatient.

    The US Response:

    The US will dramatically accelerate the time it takes to ship Abrams tanks to Ukraine by sending older M1-A1 models of America’s main battle tank instead of the more modern version of the tank, according to two US officials.

    The switch will allow the tanks to arrive as early as fall of this year, one of the officials said, shaving months off the previous timeline that could have taken a year or longer.
    ………..
    The US still intends to send 31 M1-A1 Abrams tanks to Ukraine, the same number as previously announced. The size of a complete Ukrainian tank battalion.
    ……….
    A number of other countries are poised to send western tanks to Ukraine in the coming weeks. Germany said last week that Ukrainian crews have nearly completed training on Leopard 2 battle tanks and that it would soon be feasible to send them to Ukraine. Norway announced on Monday that it had delivered Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine, and Spain said Ukrainian crews would finish training on their Leopard 2A4 tanks this week. Meanwhile, the UK said it was aiming to send its Challenger 2 tanks to Ukraine by the end of March.
    #########

    Rip Murdock (479f9d)

  96. Re: Parents’ Bill of Rights. So the federal government, through the GOP, is attempting to craft legislation regulating the operation and reporting of K-12 schools. Can we say right now that federalism is dead and give up on the notion that some things just are not in its purview and are local matters?

    OK, I get it…this is not REALLY about the legislation. Everyone knows that a Democrat-controlled Senate will not push this forward. It’s about making a culture war show. Yes, some of the items are innocuous and some I think are policies I would support at the local level….but all of this should be done by state or local government.

    Look if there’s any direction for things to go, it’s for the federal government and Title IX to get out of local education. The new GOP now wants to use state and federal power to fight the culture war. FWO must be ecstatic.

    AJ_Liberty (5f05c3)

  97. He plans for his cult to die for him, just like Jan 6. The ultimate sacrifice for your king.

    DRJ (0abb72)

  98. Nic, I appreciate your comments on education. The perspective of someone with first hand experience is valuable. I think to much of the debate is dominated by edge cases / unusual events that are exaggerated and simplified to make them more engaging to their target audience.

    Time123 (3b4bee)

  99. Good news from Scandinavia:

    The air forces of four Nordic countries agreed to operate their fleets of around 250 fighter jets as a combined force, hoping to deter Russia by working together.

    Air force commanders of Sweden, Norway, Finland and Denmark said Friday that they have signed a letter of intent to establish a unified Nordic air defense, Reuters reported.

    Jim Miller (f29931)

  100. With regard to incidents happening inside the classroom or outside of the classroom, I can assure you that ugly, violent incidents do take place inside the classroom. And frequently, SROs are necessary to call in and restrain violating students. I suspect that And the degree that they occur depends on the district, the demographics of the community, and the overall socio-economic health of the families. If you’re in a mid-high performing district, these sorts of things happen far less frequently. If you’re in a trouble, lower performing district and challenging community, they happen with more frequency. It’s sad, but true.

    Dana (1225fc)

  101. https://www.history.com/topics/us-government/populism-united-states-timeline

    Conservative Populism

    The 1990s saw some moderate conservative populism with the presidential campaigns of Ross Perot winning 18.9 percent of the popular vote in 1992 and 8.4 percent in 1996. TV and radio media also saw a rise in populist Conservative personalities like Rush Limbaugh and hosts on Fox News, on the Internet with Matt Drudge and Andrew Breitbart, and in publishing with authors like Ann Coulter.

    The Tea Party

    The biggest bursts of populism in the 21st Century came in activist movements on each side of the political spectrum. The Tea Party was a conservative movement that appeared in 2009 following the election of President Barack Obama. The Tea Party rode a wave of conspiracy theories about Obama in order to push the Republican Party further right to the point of Libertarianism. It also became associated with the Freedom Caucus, another populist Conservative movement.

    Occupy Wall Street

    Occupy Wall Street burst into action following the financial crisis of 2011. The leader-less movement focused on seeking economic reform and prosecution of the big banks behind the financial crisis. Its members staged mass marches across the country and built semi-permanent protest camps in urban areas. Though largely a progressive movement, noted for the involvement of anarchist groups, its anti-corporate, anti-bank stance also attracted conservatives, libertarians and others.

    Bernie Sanders

    The 2016 election saw a battle of populist styles in the presidential race. Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, an Independent who caucuses with the Democrats, ran a wildly popular primary race against Hillary Clinton. The senator launched an unexpectedly vigorous challenge with a platform of tackling economic inequality, though he ultimately lost the Democratic nomination.

    Donald Trump

    Millionaire real estate developer Donald Trump won the presidency in 2016 on the most vigorous populist platform seen in years. In many ways Trump’s campaign was an extension of the Tea Party, but built around the businessman’s personality. Under the slogan “Make America Great Again,” Trump sought to undo any agreements that he felt damaged the United States, to curb immigration and take an aggressive, isolationist stance against other countries, including allies.

    DCSCA (0bcc41)

  102. UK To Give Ukraine Depleted Uranium Tank Shells Along With Their Challenger Tanks (Putin Not Amused):

    The UK Ministry of Defence confirmed it would provide Kyiv the armour-piercing rounds alongside Challenger 2 tanks but insisted they had a low radiation risk.

    Depleted uranium “is a standard component and has nothing to do with nuclear weapons”, the MoD said.

    “The British Army has used depleted uranium in its armour piercing shells for decades,” the statement added.
    ………..
    Former British Army tank commander – and chemical weapons expert – Col Hamish de Breton-Gordon, said Mr Putin’s comments were “classic disinformation”.

    He said depleted uranium rounds used by Challenger 2 tanks contained only trace elements of depleted uranium.

    He added it was “laughable” to suggest depleted uranium rounds were in any way linked to nuclear weapons, which uses enriched uranium.
    ……….
    Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said sending depleted uranium ammunition to Ukraine would mean the UK was “ready to violate international humanitarian law as in 1999 in Yugoslavia”.
    “There is no doubt this will end badly for London,” Mr Lavrov added.
    ………..

    More:

    ………
    (Depleted uranium (DU)) tank rounds are designed to penetrate heavily armored targets, such as tanks and other armored vehicles. When the DU round strikes its target, the kinetic energy from the impact causes the depleted uranium to self-sharpen and penetrate the armor. Upon penetration, the DU round can cause catastrophic damage to the interior of the target, including the ignition of any fuel or ammunition stored within, as well as killing or injuring the crew inside.
    ……….
    DU tank rounds have several advantages that make them an attractive choice for military use, particularly for engaging heavily armored targets. This type of ammunition is approximately 1.7 times denser than lead and 2.4 times denser than steel, making it an excellent material for armor-piercing projectiles. The high density allows DU rounds to maintain their shape and integrity even at high velocities, ensuring better penetration against thick armor. When a DU round impacts a target, it has a unique characteristic of self-sharpening rather than deforming or mushrooming like other materials. This behavior increases the effectiveness of the round in penetrating armor, as it maintains its sharp, pointed shape as it passes through the target.
    ………..

    Rip Murdock (479f9d)

  103. @Dana@100 Schools with heavy gang involvement do have more issues, but I work in a low income school with a lot of struggling families and in my almost 20 years in education, we’ve had SROs have to break up fights less than 5 times.

    Nic (896fdf)

  104. Ken White is out today with a trademark Popehat take-no-prisoners commentary on Stanford Law School Dean Jenny Martinez’s letter about the turmoil surrounding CA5 Judge Kyle Duncan’s speech to SLS’s Federalist Society. I linked and commended Dean Martinez’s letter here a few days ago and, no surprise, Ken likes it too. Ken’s take, as well as the letter itself, are well worth a read.

    lurker (cd7cd4)

  105. AJ_Liberty (5f05c3) — 3/25/2023 @ 11:56 am

    GIGO.

    You claim everything, but the truth which is the left is using the school system to indoctrinate children into their twisted beliefs and doing it without the consent of the children’s parents.

    They are failing at actually teaching, math, science, English and history which is why they claim teaching those subjects as white supremacy.

    NJRob (a0c8ee)

  106. we’ve had SROs have to break up fights less than 5 times

    You’re very fortunate.

    Dana (fbf2ff)

  107. If attendees to the Waco rally opt to protest on Trump’s behalf, per his encouragement and direction, then they are fools. Quite clearly, as he evidenced, he only cares about using his supporters to benefit himself. See: Jan. 6 protesters. So at this point, if one is willing to break the law or put themselves on the line for him, then they’ve learned absolutely nothing.

    Dana (fbf2ff)

  108. In my experience, any bill that has “rights” in the title is more about governmental directives and less about rights.

    Speaking of school safety, Mrs. Montagu teaches middle-school special-ed kids and there’s one kid in her class who needs to be someplace else, because he has to be constantly watched for all his misbehaviors.
    Yesterday, he slapped her twice (once in the chest, once in the arm) fairly hard, pointed his finger at her like a gun and said “you should die” and “I should kill you”, followed by some “eff you’s” and middle fingers, but the topper was him hurling a full can of soda at her head (fortunately, he barely missed), which earned him a 3-day suspension.
    The school district is so scared of parental complaints that the teachers spent an entire semester of documenting his behavior, but did nothing about it until there was a clear case of assault. This is a whole different universe than how it was when I came up.

    Paul Montagu (8f0dc7)

  109. As Trump Rallies in Waco, His Followers Shore Up His 2024 Bid
    …………
    ………… At least one reason for (Trump’s) political durability was assembled Saturday morning outside the airport in the central Texas city of Waco in various combinations of red caps, antagonistic T-shirts and MAGA-button flair — the Trump die-hards.

    Starting before 8 a.m., more than nine hours before the former president was set to take the stage at the first rally of his 2024 campaign, his supporters streamed across dirt roads and formed an ever-growing line that zigzagged across the grass and bluebonnets, with a forest of Trump flags flying nearby. One sign nodded to both the F.B.I.’s search of Mr. Trump’s Florida property and the federal agency’s siege 30 years ago of a religious sect’s compound in this Texas city: “Remember the Alamo, Remember Waco, Remember Mar-a-Lago.”

    It is Mr. Trump’s base of hard-core followers, who show up to his rallies in force, that has allowed him to maintain his grip on the party despite a pattern of dangerous, discordant behavior that would have sunk most traditional politicians.

    They fly “Trump or Death” flags from Jeep Wranglers outside Mar-a-Lago. Many have fallen out with family and friends over their devotion to the former president. They view themselves as mistreated and unappreciated, and view Mr. Trump as not so much a man but a cause. “Jesus, Freedom & Trump” read the T-shirt worn by one woman who went to see the former president in Iowa recently.
    ………
    ………(T)he support that Mr. Trump has coalesced has given him the luster of an incumbent in the primary contest. That means to overtake the former president, other Republican contenders face the difficult task of first peeling support away from Mr. Trump before they can persuade those same voters to back their own bid for the nomination.
    ……….
    “I like DeSantis, I do, but the ground that needs to be covered is going to take Trump to get it done,” said Jeff Fiebert, 69, a farmer who described himself as a die-hard Trump supporter and who moved to Waco from California during the pandemic, a move he said was motivated almost entirely by politics.

    Asked what Mr. Trump could do that Mr. DeSantis could not, he said the former president was the kind of person “who goes into the bar and knocks all the bottles off the shelf just to see where they land.” Mr. DeSantis, he added, does not do that sort of thing.
    ………..

    Free link.

    Rip Murdock (479f9d)

  110. Dana (fbf2ff) — 3/25/2023 @ 2:19 pm

    maybe Antifa will show up in Waco

    and then when violence breaks out, as happens 100% of the time when Antifa shows up — just by coincidence, we can blame Trump supporters for it

    JF (e985c2)

  111. It’s kind of funny when you hear that this is about propaganda….and controlling the spread of misinformation via propaganda. Yikes, what should then be the implication for FNC and stop the steal? The mind shudders.
    AJ_Liberty (546e02) — 3/25/2023 @ 9:31 am

    if you think this is about misinformation and propaganda, then maybe you need to read up on it more

    g o o g l e

    JF (e985c2)

  112. A word from the Estonian Prime Minister.

    My mother was deported to Siberia today 74 years ago as a 6-months old baby. Russia hasn’t changed.

    Paul Montagu (8f0dc7)

  113. Nic @91: I don’t think you read my entire comment

    no, I did

    there, I read it again

    I’ll infer your position then: You think it’s silly that parents must be informed when their child Sara is called Steve by the school

    ok, got it

    JF (e985c2)

  114. Ouch!

    …………
    ………(B)oth the liberal-leaning New York Daily News and conservative-leaning New York Post shared a rare moment of consensus on Saturday when they both condemned the threats of violence made by Donald Trump in response to news that Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg could soon indict the former president.
    ………..
    ……….. As the reality of an indictment grew near last week, the former president posted photos on Truth Social of himself holding a baseball bat, ready to swing, next to a photo of Bragg. Trump has since deleted the post.

    The New York Post’s front page on Saturday featured the bat-slinging photo of Trump with the headline “BAT HIT CRAZY” and “Deranged Trump threatens violence against Bragg, who gets death note.”

    Similarly, The New York Daily News called Trump “THE DANGEROUS DON,” adding that New York politicians slammed “Trump’s ‘racist bile.'”
    …………
    The New York Post also published an editorial on Friday saying Trump’s responses to the various investigations into his conduct have been “unhinged, indicative, and self-defeating” and that Republicans in 2024 need to “pick someone who can actually get elected.”
    ………..

    TrumpWorld getting tired of Trump’s schtick?

    ……… Trump is out of my life completely. Te guy is a psyco and getting dangerous. ………. You’re worried about a mean tweet and not the ‘ist takeover that is currently well underway? ……… Trump is the only candidate who has the money and base to beat the MIC donors, and I support him, but this was a dumb move and completely unnecessary. ……… A mean tweet isn’t the issue. It’s the chronic self sabotage. Trump is making it harder for him to win in 2024 in a general election with every ridiculously unnecessary tweet that reinforces the Left’s portrayal of him and by association their portrayal of MAGA and Republicans. …….. Trump is an american like you or I. Why would you not allow a fellow American the latitude to be upset about flagrant injustice? ………

    ………… We are in trouble… Trump will not win, they will never let him. If he does get in both parties will tie his hands behind his back and he will not be able to accomplish a damned thing for four years. And if another Republican gets in he will just be a fraudulent proxy Communist Democrat with an R. ……… The impact of Trump’s recent moves upon his supporters alone is very troubling. If he meant to divide his base and marginalize his defenders, he could hardly do a better job. ……… He basically hands his opponents ammo to use against him. While you might see the humor in it, many people do not and if you want to win the Presidency again, you have to convince a heck of a lot of middle of the road people to vote for you. ………. It’s kind of disheartening to scroll thru the comments and see so many people who should know better making anti-Trump comments. My hunch is that most of these people would rather vote for De Santis or even Haley or Pence.……….

    ……. Trump turns off all the moms in the suburbs. That’s about it. His brand is tarnished. We need to recognize that and move on. …….. Personal insults are simply characteristic of both Trump and his supporters. This is why so many of his former supporters have had it with him. ……… We are not going to get “suburban moms” for at least the next decade, because of Roe v Wade being overturned. ………. any ticket with Nikki’s name on it will get ZERO electoral votes from the south … ZERO ..…… Nikki is DOA. …….. The whole shock jock outsider presidency thing failed in 2020, people were not buying it anymore. If anyone thinks the same thing will work out differently in 2024, they need their heads examined. ……….. </blockquote

    Probably not.

    Rip Murdock (479f9d)

  115. #108 Paul – I think teachers in some schools are going to want to have body cameras.
    And I don’t blame them one bit for that.

    (My sympathies to your wife.)

    Jim Miller (f29931)

  116. Paul Montagu (8f0dc7) — 3/25/2023 @ 10:56 am

    Also true is that power was cut off to the Davidians, and the weather was cold, so they started fires to keep warm like anyone would

    Also true is that flammable tear gas was used, but was supposed to deployed in stages. Instead, it was ordered to be deployed all at once.

    Also true is that the FBI was too incompetent to connect the two

    A good account by a rare objective reporter:
    “Waco: David Koresh, the Branch Davidians, and A Legacy of Rage” by Jeff Guinn

    JF (e985c2)

  117. NJRob: “GIGO. You claim everything, but the truth which is the left is…”

    It’s a simple set of questions Rob, does the federal government have the power to broadly regulate K-12 education and dictate what they must or must not do?

    AJ_Liberty (430c16)

  118. Paul, what do the parents say/do? Are they belligerent as well or are they likely at their wits end?

    I’m sure your wife’s job is hard enough as it is without an out-of-control student with violent impulses. Medication? A different facility? This does not sound like an individual who is ready to learn in a traditional environment.

    AJ_Liberty (430c16)

  119. > It *can* be, but is not always. Jumping to the extreme doesn’t help navigate the terrain and come up with reasonable solutions.

    If the policy isn’t designed with built in exceptions for extreme situations, then the extreme situations will be catastrophic.

    These policies are being designed reactively by people who are selling high level marketing points, which is normal for politicians, but they’re also being designed by people who distrust school employees to use discretion responsibly, so they take away the ability to use discretion *without thinking through the cases where discretion is necessary and providing reasonable guidance for those circumstances*.

    They *will* cause catastrophic outcomes in many cases, even if they work fine in the majority of cases.

    aphrael (3f4e5a)

  120. > That is a recipe for more Ruby Ridges and Wacos.

    Ah, but it’s *ok*, because the victims of his Ruby Ridges and Wacos will be bad people who don’t like him and are secretly liberals.

    aphrael (3f4e5a)

  121. It’s a simple set of questions Rob, does the federal government have the power to broadly regulate K-12 education and dictate what they must or must not do?
    AJ_Liberty (430c16) — 3/25/2023 @ 3:31 pm

    not sure if you noticed, but the government in this circumstance is the school and the local jurisdiction is the parent. The burden should be on the government to justify interfering with parental authority — whether it’s federal, state or district level

    for well over a hundred years we didn’t need a law to make that a given

    JF (accc24)

  122. > Can we say right now that federalism is dead

    It’s been dead for a while. Neither the left nor the right, writ large, believe in it; most people on both sides want it if it allows states run by their allies to defy federal rules imposed by the other tribe, but most people on both sides find it intolerable if it allows states run by the other tribe to defy federal rules imposed by their allies.

    There are some exceptions, and those exceptions are almost overwhelmingly on the conservative side, but even conservatives mostly don’t support real federalism any more.

    aphrael (3f4e5a)

  123. It’s a simple set of questions Rob, does the federal government have the power to broadly regulate K-12 education and dictate what they must or must not do?

    AJ_Liberty (430c16) — 3/25/2023 @ 3:31 pm

    This is about regulating when parents must be informed about actions the school engages in. That is well within their purview, and a much sturdier case than NCLB which you are silent about.

    NJRob (eb56c3)

  124. Thanks Jim and AJ.
    It’s a situation where the mom has drug and mental issues, and passed them down to her kid. Mrs. Montagu & Co. are equal parts sympathetic with his condition and beyond frustrated that they can’t get him placed somewhere else.
    There’s nothing this “bill of rights” legislation could fix here, but would likely place even more paperwork and bureaucratic requirements on staff, and they’re already neck-deep in TPS reports (obscure movie reference).

    Paul Montagu (8f0dc7)

  125. I don’t deny that the feds made multiple mistakes, JF. The cult leader also made multiple mistakes, such as defying a legally executed search warrant and killing four ATF in the process, and then refusing to surrender.
    Reno should’ve lost her job over this.

    Paul Montagu (8f0dc7)

  126. https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2023/03/beware-of-liberals-bearing-bugs.php

    Leftists hate people. Any excuse to make living worse, they support it.

    NJRob (eb56c3)

  127. @Paul@108 Hopefully that kiddo is on his way to the correct program.

    @JF@113 I didn’t talk about trans kids at all. Like not a single mention. Or implication. Or anything. What part of my comment do you think was about trans kids? Are you sure you read it?

    @AJ@118 There are a whole bunch of levels of programs for kids, but part of the IDEA national law is that children must be placed in “the least restrictive environment” that they can handle and still get their education. Because of that there are a number of steps that have to be taken before a child can be moved into a more restrictive environment and each one has to be in place for several weeks before you can move to the next one. It can take an entire year or more to do a a series of change of placements from Gen ed to an ED program or a non-public school(a treatment school).

    Nic (896fdf)

  128. Nic @127: I didn’t talk about trans kids at all. Like not a single mention. Or implication. Or anything. What part of my comment do you think was about trans kids? Are you sure you read it?

    must be a fun game you’re playing, Nic

    enjoy

    JF (16318c)

  129. @JF@128 Can you find a single part of my comment that talks about trans kids?

    Nic (896fdf)

  130. Waco, 3/25/2023, from my party’s double-digit 2024 frontrunner.

    Trump: They got nothing.. It probably makes me the most innocent man in the history of our country

    Paul Montagu (8f0dc7)

  131. Look if there’s any direction for things to go, it’s for the federal government and Title IX to get out of local education

    Socialist control freaks vs fascist control freaks. Binary choice!

    Kevin M (1ea396)

  132. Nic @129, I specifically pointed that out @58 and you disagreed @91!

    Now, you’re agreeing. Which is it?

    JF (16318c)

  133. It’s a simple set of questions Rob, does the federal government have the power to broadly regulate K-12 education and dictate what they must or must not do?

    Not that simple when the feds have been doing that for years. Sure, I’d rather they just closed the D.Ed, but this is not a game the GOP invented.

    Kevin M (1ea396)

  134. My mother was deported to Siberia today 74 years ago as a 6-months old baby. Russia hasn’t changed.

    What a devastating truth.

    Dana (1225fc)

  135. There are two salient points to the Waco Standoff:
    1. Don’t kill cops! It will get you killed.
    2. Don’t follow a wacko! He will get you killed.

    nk (bb1548)

  136. >> Can we say right now that federalism is dead

    It’s been dead for a while.

    One of the reasons why we need a new Federalism Party. Another one being the Trump party.

    Kevin M (1ea396)

  137. Paul,

    I’m so sorry that Mrs. Montagu experienced that. She has a difficult enough job without something like that happening. I’m glad that someone of her caliber is there for the students.

    Dana (1225fc)

  138. There are two salient points to the Waco Standoff:
    1. Don’t kill cops! It will get you killed.
    2. Don’t follow a wacko! He will get you killed.
    nk (bb1548) — 3/25/2023 @ 5:00 pm

    The kids at Waco did neither. What’s their salient point, nk?

    remember, motes and beams

    JF (16318c)

  139. JF: “the government in this circumstance is the school and the local jurisdiction is the parent”

    NJRob: “This is about regulating when parents must be informed about actions the school engages in.”

    Yeah federalism is dead.

    AJ_Liberty (430c16)

  140. @JF@132 What you quoted from me was, “The parent’s bill of rights is a silly law. It details stuff that mostly already is in place or is actively dangerous.” Which, in the comment, I supported point by point, none of which involved anything about trans kids. Nothing in my comment was about trans kids. Nothing in my comment in 91 was about trans kids either. My entire answer to you was, “I don’t think you read my entire comment” Where does it say anything about trans kids?

    Nic (896fdf)

  141. Parents shouldn’t get a pass when they do something illegal and abusive with their kids.

    Unless they’re future Democrats

    Any American parent who puts their one year old through this would be put in jail.

    The child will be reunited with their abusive parents at taxpayer expense, and this administration thinks migrants are too dumb to figure this out. Pretty much a daily story at the border thanks to demented joe and his supporters

    JF (16318c)

  142. Nic @140: the thrust of my @58 was about 1) parental rights re: trans kids, and 2) how you skirted that item of significance in the bill

    since you’ve acknowledged that you did skirt it, and still skirt it, I think we’re done

    JF (16318c)

  143. Yeah federalism is dead.
    AJ_Liberty (430c16) — 3/25/2023 @ 5:10 pm

    did Lent end already?

    JF (16318c)

  144. @139 AJ, the left never valued federalism and the right gave up on it because it interfered with their culture war priorities. They’ll still pay lip service to it when doing so aligns with other goals. But that’s about it.

    Time123 (0e838e)

  145. @JF@142 You addressed me and my commment directly with something that wasn’t in my comment at all and didn’t address anything that I did say. So here is that answer that you won’t like either. If you want a bill requiring faculty to inform parents of their child’s gender concerns, pass that one. Don’t pass a bill that could endanger any random member of the student body instead. I don’t think the father of the kid who waited waited for 2 hrs in the nurse’s office bleeding and in pain with a compound fracture, even a very conservative Christian one, would think it a fair trade for lessening the anxiety of someone who is afraid that their kid might possibly feel trans, then might possibly tell someone else who isn’t them, who then might possibly use the wrong pronouns for them.

    Nic (896fdf)

  146. #51 Three thoughts on that Idaho story about a hospital closing its obstetrician service.

    First, as Anemona Hartocollis reported years ago (in the NYT), ObamaCare resulted in the closing of entire rural hospitals. (Here’s a summary of recent changes. I won’t vouch for the organization, but think the general trend is clear.) She was citing a study by economists, which seemed sound enough from her description.

    Second, as the Washington Examiner reminded everyone recently, births are down nationally. And at that hospital.

    Third, some obstetricians are pro-life, or just reluctant to perform abortions. That would be especially true, I expect, of older Catholic doctors.

    (In this area, the local monopoly newspaper opposed the expansion of Catholic hospital organizations because of abortion, but, as far as I know, their hospitals have still been been able to hire the needed specialists.)

    Jim Miller (f29931)

  147. Rip Murdock (479f9d) — 3/25/2023 @ 1:03 pm

    Russian Tanks Can Escape Depleted Uranium Rounds by Leaving Ukraine: NSC
    ………..
    NSC spokesman John Kirby on Wednesday dismissed the Kremlin’s concerns about the depleted uranium munitions during a briefing with journalists. “Certainly, we would let the U.K. speak for itself in terms of what sovereign decisions they’re going to make about providing ammunition,” Kirby said.

    “But make no mistake: This is yet another strawman through which the Russians are driving a stake. This kind of ammunition is fairly commonplace, [and has] been in use for decades.”
    ………..
    “It’s going to be a bad day for Russian tankers when they meet the depleted uranium munitions, because there’s simply nothing they can do to defend themselves against those,” Mark Voyger—a former special adviser for Russian and Eurasian affairs to ex-commanding general of U.S. Army Europe Ben Hodges—told Newsweek.
    ………..
    “This is a qualitative jump,” Voyger said. “Their armored forces have been decimated by the combined use of and NLAWs [Next generation Light Anti-tank Weapon] and Javelins, but this is a whole new level of anti-armor weaponry.”
    ##########

    Sad!!

    Rip Murdock (479f9d)

  148. @Jim@146

    I agree that the loss of rural healthcare in general is an issue.

    The difficulty with the doctors doesn’t seem to have anything to do with performing abortions themselves, it seems to have to do with the law being so broad that it involves medical procedures that are not generally considered abortions and are relatively normal part of at risk pregnancies and births. They are having a hard time getting pediatricians to attend in the case of such births.

    Nic (896fdf)

  149. some obstetricians are pro-life, or just reluctant to perform abortions.

    Jim Miller (f29931) — 3/25/2023 @ 5:38 pm

    And Ob/Gyns that aren’t pro-life don’t want to work in pro-life states. Self segregation.

    Rip Murdock (479f9d)

  150. oh yes, we’re against the patient bill of rights cuz _Federalism_ LOL

    if it were enacted at the state or district level, these same Federalist champions (for today) would still be against it

    but “Federalism is dead” so sad SMH

    look at what DeSantis has tried in Florida and what these same commenters had to say about it

    Youngkin won in Virginia because of it, and they’d oppose him as a Presidential nominee for exactly that reason

    JF (16318c)

  151. The kids at Waco did neither. What’s their salient point, nk?

    What’s your point? The kids were born to morons who followed a wacko and were helpless to do anything about it.

    nk (bb1548)

  152. Trump Civil Litigation Watch:

    ………..
    Judge Lewis A. Kaplan in Manhattan ruled that key witnesses will be allowed to testify and misogynistic remarks Trump made about women in 2005 when he apparently didn’t realize he was being recorded can be played for a jury that will hear quarter-century-old rape allegations made by a former magazine columnist.
    ………..
    Kaplan had previously ruled that taped remarks Trump made in an “Access Hollywood” tape could be used in a defamation case Carroll brought against him before she filed a rape claim against him in November, when a temporary law took effect allowing adult rape victims to sue their abusers, even if attacks happened decades ago.

    He also ruled that two women who made sexual abuse claims in circumstances similar to those alleged by Carroll could testify at trial.
    ………..
    In an order Monday, Kaplan ruled specifically that he would allow the “Access Hollywood” tape and testimony by two other women who say Trump attacked them sexually to be included in next month’s trial, repeating his rulings from the defamation case.

    “There is no reason, and Mr. Trump has made no persuasive argument, for me to rule differently,” he wrote.
    …………..

    The case at trial (scheduled to begin on April 25, 2023) was brought under a New York law that extended the statute of limitations for sexual assault victims to sue their abusers, and is separate from the defamation case which is being litigated in federal court. In that case, the DOJ is attempting to substitute itself for Trump as the defendant.

    Rip Murdock (479f9d)

  153. Youngkin has called for gender neutral bathrooms.

    Rip Murdock (479f9d)

  154. I liked Younkin until he campaigned for lake.

    Time123 (0e838e)

  155. Michael McFaul, former US Ambassador to Russia, on the Xi-Putin summit.

    As I watched the historic Xi-Putin summit this week, I couldn’t help but think about my obsession with deliverables. In an elaborate signing ceremony, which we also used to do, Xi and Putin did sign two agreements, namely the Joint Statement on the Plan for the Economic Cooperation until 2030 and the Joint Declaration on Deepening the Relations of Comprehensive Partnership and Strategic Cooperation Entering a New Era. Those documents do not contain serious deliverables but rather pledges to make more progress on deals already underway or other lofty goals somewhere in the undefined future. In fact, this summit was very short on tangible outcomes but huge on symbolism of this allegedly “no-limit” friendship. All in all, score it as a small win for Putin, a much bigger win for Xi, and neither a win nor a loss for the U.S., our allies, and Ukraine. Things could have turned out much worse for us.

    Putin’s biggest (and maybe only) deliverable from this summit was the photo-op. He went all out! He had bands playing at the airport, soldiers standing in sharp attention, giant delegations on both sides, enormous flags, long carpets – all at the backdrop of the grandeur of the Kremlin, which makes everything seem big, historic, and important. Having Xi, the second most powerful leader in the world, show up in Moscow just a few days after the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued Putin an arrest warrant for abducting Ukrainian children was an achievement for Putin.

    However, beyond the photo-op and Xi’s words of general praise for the success of their bilateral cooperation, Putin got very little out of the meeting. Did Xi recognize Russia’s invasion, occupation, and annexation of Ukraine as legitimate? No. Did Xi publicly pledge a new military assistance package to Russia? No (although more cooperation and joint military exercises have been announced). Did Xi agree to start increasing exports of high-tech components to Russian companies and the military-industrial complex suffering under sanctions? No. Did Xi promise any economic or humanitarian assistance to Russia in war? No. Instead, he reaffirmed his commitment to buy Russian energy for prices well below global market prices. Some “friend.”

    Paul Montagu (8f0dc7)

  156. Another reason why should never, ever be president ever again…

    I was asked the other day ‘Who’s our biggest threat? Is it China? Is it Russia?’ No our biggest threat are high level politicians that work in the United States government.

    I doubt Trump was asked that, but it’s only further disqualifying that, to Trump, the greatest threat to America are his fellow Americans. Presumably (because he doesn’t name any of them) they’re fellow Americans who are “disloyal” to Trump.

    Related, Marjorie T. Green likes Trump because “he has a list” and the other candidates don’t.

    “Here’s what we know about President Trump,” she said. “President Trump has a list of names, and no one else has that.”

    “Ron DeSantis doesn’t have that. Nikki Haley, or whoever she is, she doesn’t have anything like that,” Greene said. “No one else knows how to clean out the swamp like President Trump.”

    Presumably, Ms. Greene is not a student of history and didn’t know about a previous president who kept a list.

    My GOP really needs to go down in flames if Trump and Greene are going to lead this party.

    Paul Montagu (8f0dc7)

  157. All in all, score it as a small win for Putin, a much bigger win for Xi, and neither a win nor a loss for the U.S., our allies, and Ukraine. Things could have turned out much worse for us.

    At the end of the day, it was a photo op for two vile dictators, and a war criminal to boot.

    Dana (1225fc)

  158. RIP producer, director, screenwriter Norman Steinberg (83). Wrote Blazing Saddles, a film that couldn’t be made today. Also wrote My Favorite Year starring Peter O’Toole.

    Rip Murdock (479f9d)

  159. When you’ve lost Andrew Cuomo…

    ‘I don’t understand why Bragg is putting such emphasis on this case,’ Cuomo said.

    ‘A person breaks the law I get it, but on the state side this is a misdemeanor case. It’s really a federal case because he needs it to be a campaign finance fraud case which is a federal case and that’s what Bragg is going to have to do to get a felony out of this,’ he explained.

    ‘I think it’s all politics and that’s what I think the people of this country are saying,’ Cuomo continued.

    ‘It just feeds that anger and that cynicism and the partisanship. It’s a coincidence that Bragg goes after Trump and Tish James goes after Trump and Georgia goes after Trump? That’s all a coincidence? I think it feeds the cynicism and that’s the cancer in our body politic right now.’

    Despite concerns over Bragg’s motivation, Cuomo says he expects an indictment will be brought next week while noting that district attorneys could ‘indict a ham sandwich’ if they want to.

    JF (b21f3c)

  160. I liked Younkin until he campaigned for lake.

    It’s what, like zombies for you? One scratch from a zombie….

    Kevin M (1ea396)

  161. My GOP really needs to go down in flames if Trump and Greene are going to lead this party.

    Loud is not the same as lead. And remember, it is the leftist press who decides what you hear. There is no profit in it for them to quote sane people.

    Kevin M (1ea396)

  162. @155. Washington’s Clueless Ambassadors: Damaging American Interests Is Their Legacy

    https://strategic-culture.org/news/2021/08/12/washington-clueless-ambassadors-damaging-american-interests-is-their-legacy/

    DCSCA (4ea5db)

  163. Here’s a thread on the structure of the ChiCom economy, and there is no simile to the American Dream there.

    Paul Montagu (8f0dc7)

  164. There is no profit in it for them to quote sane people.

    Kevin, one of those people I mentioned is a double-digit frontrunner for the 2024 nomination in my party, and who has another legitimate shot at Leader of the Free World, with direct access to the Nuclear Football. Trump said all those batsh-t words earlier today.
    This isn’t about the “leftist press”, it’s about a lot more than that.

    Paul Montagu (8f0dc7)

  165. Loud is not the same as lead. And remember, it is the leftist press who decides what you hear. There is no profit in it for them to quote sane people.

    It isn’t the leftist press that made Liz Cheney, Adam Kinzinger, Justin Amash, Mark Sanford, Will Hurd, Jeff Flake, among others, personae non gratae in the GOP.

    lurker (cd7cd4)

  166. Paul
    I like the word gopniks

    steveg (f41fb0)

  167. Mark Sanford? Isn’t he hiking the Appalachian Trail, you know, the other Appalachian Trail that is in Argentina? Most people don’t know there are two.

    steveg (f41fb0)

  168. When nixon committed treason to win the 1968 election republicans told the devil not now. When reagan committed treason to win the 1980 election republicans told the devil not now. When dubya needed a second pearl harbor and then a mushroom cloud so he could invade iraq republicans told the devil not now. In 2016 when conservatives allied with trump to gain power they again told the devil not now. It is 2023 and the devil says no more delays I want your souls NOW! Republicans say the jokes on you we never had any souls!

    asset (be55cd)

  169. @167. Yup, that’s the one. And despite his mortifying display of dissembling, corruption and adultery, he won three subsequent terms in Congress by healthy margins with endorsements from Lindsey Graham, Tim Scott, and Nikki Haley. It was only his infidelity to Trump that got him primaried and effectively exiled from the GOP.

    lurker (cd7cd4)

  170. It’s what, like zombies for you? One scratch from a zombie….

    Kevin M (1ea396) — 3/25/2023 @ 9:43 pm

    Funny. But no. She’s an outspoken election denier from the other side of the country. Traveling there to help her wasn’t in any way necessary but he did it. Im willing to pit up with some
    Amount to ambiguity on the topic from a Republican candidate. But that was too much.

    Time123 (0e838e)

  171. Here’s an interesting piece about Americans who volunteered to fight in Ukraine. I followed one of them on Twitter, James Vasquez, but after a month or so of seeing his tweets, something seemed off, and it turns out he’s stolen valor. I stopped after he was arguing in threads more than providing any useful information.

    Paul Montagu (8f0dc7)

  172. https://www.frontpagemag.com/antifa-plants-deadly-traps-in-georgia-park/

    Antifa escalating their war on civilization by placing booby traps in public parks designed to kill or injure.

    NJRob (5cc294)

  173. https://nypost.com/2023/03/24/joseph-harrell-accused-of-paralyzing-woman-confesses-on-call/?dicbo=v2-uxQbgdF

    These are the criminals being rewarded when you support leftist “soft on crime” policies and leftist politicians.

    NJRob (5cc294)

  174. A Gift:

    U.S. District Judge Trevor N. McFadden has sentenced 30 defendants for their role in the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the Capitol. As Geoffrey Sills, 31, of Virginia stood before him Tuesday, McFadden said, “Of all the January 6th defendants I’ve sentenced to date, your conduct is the most troubling, the most outrageous.”

    Sills wore a full gas mask, goggles and gloves into the Capitol that day, entered the lower West Terrace tunnel and flashed a strobe light in the eyes of officers. He swiped a baton from one officer and then smashed him and other officers with it as the battle raged inside the tunnel. One of the officers retired as a result of his injuries.

    Once he left the Capitol, Sills posted photos of himself attacking the police. After he was arrested in June 2021, prosecutors said his family raised over $25,000 for the legal fees to take on a government that is “simply bent on punishing patriots who truly love this country.”
    ………….
    …………. McFadden announced a term of 52 months, followed by three years of supervised release in which Sills’s internet time will be limited to 90 minutes per day, subject to unannounced searches by the government.
    Prosecutors had estimated that Sills’s sentencing range should have been 97 to 121 months, and recommended to McFadden that he impose 108 months.……..

    Of the 30 sentencings McFadden has done, he has gone below the government’s recommendation 28 times, according to a Washington Post analysis. Of the 10 felony defendants he has sentenced, he has gone below the sentencing guidelines every time.
    ………..
    The defendant’s attorney, John C. Kiyonaga, argued that the proper sentencing range was 33 to 41 months. “The president of the United States, the highest authority in the land, told him to do it,” Kiyonaga said. “How can that be a crime?”
    ………..

    Sills was convicted of:

    •obstruction of an official proceeding,
    •assaulting, resisting, or impeding officers with a dangerous weapon
    •robbery

    Rip Murdock (479f9d)

  175. Trump Civil Litigation Watch II:

    The jury determining whether Donald Trump raped E. Jean Carroll in the mid-1990s will be anonymous, a federal judge ruled on Thursday, citing the former president’s attacks on courts, judges and even jurors.

    “Mr. Trump’s quite recent reaction to what he perceived as an imminent threat of indictment by a grand jury sitting virtually next door to this Court was to encourage ‘protest’ and to urge people to ‘take our country back,’” Senior U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan noted. “That reaction reportedly has been perceived by some as incitement to violence. And it bears mention that Mr. Trump repeatedly has attacked courts, judges, various law enforcement officials and other public officials, and even individual jurors in other matters.”
    …………
    “If jurors’ identities were disclosed, there would be a strong likelihood of unwanted media attention to the jurors, influence attempts, and/or of harassment or worse of jurors by supporters of Mr. Trump,” the judge wrote. “Indeed, Mr. Trump himself has made critical statements on social media regarding the grand jury foreperson in Atlanta, Georgia, and the jury foreperson in the Roger Stone criminal case. And this properly may be viewed in the context of Mr. Trump’s many statements regarding individual judges, the judiciary in general, and other public officials, as well as what reports have characterized as ‘violent rhetoric’ by Mr. Trump including before his presidency.”
    …………
    The only objections to the plan for an anonymous jury came from media organizations: The Associated Press and the New York Daily News in particular.
    ………..
    The extensively footnoted decision invokes the various times that Trump has been blamed for violence.
    ………..
    “On the basis of the unprecedented circumstances in which this trial will take place, including the extensive pretrial publicity and a very strong risk that jurors will fear harassment, unwanted invasions of privacy, and retaliation by virtue of the matters referred to above, the Court finds that there is strong reason to believe that the jury needs the protections prescribed below,” Kaplan wrote, shielding jurors’ names, addresses and places of employment.
    #########

    Jury selection is scheduled to begin on April 25th.

    Rip Murdock (479f9d)

  176. Trump Civil Litigation Watch III:

    A Manhattan judge held firm on plans for a trial this autumn in the $250 million lawsuit accusing former President Donald Trump, his adult children and his business of fraud.

    “This case is complex, but it’s not complicated,” Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron declared in court on Tuesday. “It all boils down to whether the statements of financial condition are true, and the rest as Rabbi Hillel famously said, is all commentary.”

    Trump’s attorneys asked the judge to postpone the Oct. 2 trial by six months, deep into the presidential campaign season. Attorney Christopher Kise returned to court with a more modest request of a couple of weeks, which would move the trial to Oct. 23.
    …………
    In commenting on the simplicity of the case, Engoron noted that Trump’s defenses would be limited under New York law. He said that “Everyone was doing it” and “Those parties could reach their own conclusions” are not legal defenses.

    “‘No harm’ is not a defense,” either, he added.

    Eliminating all doubt, Engoron said of the trial date: “That’s written in stone.”
    ##########

    Rip Murdock (479f9d)

  177. The president of the United States, the highest authority in the land, told him to do it,” Kiyonaga said. “How can that be a crime?”

    Out of the mouths of babes.

    Kevin M (1ea396)

  178. “The president of the United States, the highest authority in the land, told him to do it,” Kiyonaga said. “How can that be a crime?”

    So he admits that Trump told him to do it.

    We were just following orders.

    Now, where have we heard that excuse before…

    Dana (1225fc)

  179. Snitching out the Boss don’t get you nothing but a pair of cement shoes.

    nk (bb1548)

  180. GOP weighs protecting Trump with law shielding ex-presidents from prosecution
    ……….
    In a letter to Mr Bragg, House Judiciary Committee Chair Jim Jordan, Oversight Committee Chair James Comer, and House Administration Committee Chair Bryan Steil rejected arguments the Manhattan prosecutor gave in response to the trio’s demand that he give evidence before their panels about the ongoing investigation into Mr Trump.
    …………..
    ………….. Jordan, Comer and Steil said their inquiry is legitimate because “the potential criminal indictment of a former President of the United States by an elected local prosecutor of the opposing political party (and who will face the prospect of re-election) implicates substantial federal interests”.

    They added that Mr Bragg’s work falls under the jurisdiction of Mr Jordan’s House Judiciary Committee because that panel — and Congress — has “a specific and manifestly important interest in preventing politically motivated prosecutions of current and former Presidents by elected state and local prosecutors, particularly those tried before elected state and local trial-level judges”.

    “Therefore, the Committee on the Judiciary, as a part of its broad authority to develop criminal justice legislation, must now consider whether to draft legislation that would, if enacted, insulate current and former presidents from such improper state and local prosecutions,” they said.
    …………

    Rip Murdock (479f9d)

  181. @157. ‘All in all, score it as a small win for Putin, a much bigger win for Xi, and neither a win nor a loss for the U.S., our allies, and Ukraine. Things could have turned out much worse for us.’ – Michael McFaul

    A mere photo-op? On top of existing agreements within the emerging Eurasian Alliance, created in the past few years, hardly just a photo-op:

    “During the three-day visit to Moscow, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping signed over a dozen agreements aimed at expanding co-operation between their two countries. The agreements covered a range of fields, including trade, industry, science, and the military. In addition to these topics, the leaders also discussed the prospects for peace in Ukraine… As part of their increased co-operation, Moscow and Beijing have agreed to regularly conduct joint maritime and air patrols, along with joint military exercises. They also aim to develop military exchange and cooperation using all available bilateral mechanisms, and increase mutual trust between their armed forces….

    China’s trade with Russia reached a record high in 2022, increasing by 30% despite efforts by the West to impose sanctions on Moscow. Bilateral trade between the two nations is expected to exceed $200 billion this year, with two-thirds of the trade denominated in yuan and rubles as both countries seek to reduce their dependence on the US dollar.

    Putin has expressed support for the use of the Chinese yuan in trade settlements with other countries in Asia, Africa, and Latin America. During their meeting, Xi and Putin discussed various ways to enhance their countries’ co-operation, reported RT. They talked about expanding the scale of trade, improving logistics and cross-border infrastructure, increasing agricultural co-operation to ensure food security for both nations, and enhancing co-operation in the exchange of energy, minerals, metals, and chemical products. Additionally, China and Russia committed to expanding collaboration in the fields of technology, information technology, and artificial intelligence…

    A protocol was signed between the ministries of science to strengthen co-operation in the field of “fundamental scientific research,” while another protocol established a mechanism for future presidential meetings on a regular basis.

    It was also announced that Russia and China would collaborate on producing joint television programming, as the Russian public broadcaster VGTRK and China Media Group signed a memorandum of co-operation. In addition, state news agencies Tass and Xinhua signed an agreement to exchange information… In addition to the previous agreements, six more memoranda of understanding were signed between the governments of Russia and China, covering areas such as trade, forestry, agriculture, consumer protections, and infrastructure in Russia’s Far East. Furthermore, Rosatom and the Chinese atomic energy agency signed an agreement to develop a long-term co-operation program in the field of fast neutron reactors and the closing of the nuclear fuel cycle…”

    https://www.republicworld.com/world-news/rest-of-the-world-news/numerous-agreements-inked-between-russia-and-china-as-xi-concludes-moscow-visit-articleshow.html

    ‘In March 2023, Politico reported that Chinese state-owned weapons manufacturer Norinco shipped assault rifles, drone parts, and body armor to Russia between June and December 2022, with some of the shipments going through via third-countries including Turkey and the United Arab Emirates.’-source, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/China%E2%80%93Russia_relations

    “A telling moment came as Xi bid farewell to Putin following a state dinner at the Kremlin Tuesday. “Right now there are changes the likes of which we haven’t seen for 100 years,” Xi told Putin. “And we are the ones driving these changes together.” – source, https://www.npr.org/2023/03/22/1165066688/xi-jinping-putin-talks-china-russia-ukraine

    DCSCA (bd1713)

  182. Poll: Gen Z voters oppose TikTok ban, but worry about China’s influence
    ……….
    Among registered voters aged 18 to 42, the survey (conducted by SocialSphere) found 46% support a ban on TikTok unless it’s sold to U.S. operators, while 38% oppose it.

    But the generations are split. Gen Z voters said they oppose a ban by a margin of 53% to 34%, while millennials said they support a ban by 49% to 34% margin.
    ………….
    By a 2-to-1 margin, the poll found that voters 42 and under were concerned by the statement, “TikTok is owned by ByteDance, a company that was founded in China and reported to have close ties to the Chinese Communist Party.”

    Gen Z voters said by a 51% to 41% margin that they’re concerned by that statement, while millennials registered a higher level of concern, at 64% to 29%.
    ………….
    Gen Z voters said they have a 66% favorable view of TikTok versus 31% who found it unfavorable, while millennials were more divided at 46% favorable to 42% unfavorable.
    ………..

    Rip Murdock (479f9d)

  183. Trump Poll Watch II:

    In an early look at the 2024 Republican presidential primary, 46 percent of Republican and Republican leaning voters support former President Donald Trump, who has declared his candidacy, and 32 percent support Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who is seen as a potential candidate, according to a Quinnipiac (KWIN-uh-pea- ack) University national poll released (on March 15, 2023).

    Former United Nations Ambassador and South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley receives 5 percent. Of the remaining 12 listed declared or potential candidates, no one tops 3 percent of the vote. Trump has widened his lead over DeSantis. In Quinnipiac University’s February poll, Trump led DeSantis 42 – 36 percent.
    …………..
    Joe Biden: 40 percent favorable, 54 percent unfavorable, 4 percent haven’t heard enough about him;

    Donald Trump: 36 percent favorable, 58 percent unfavorable, 2 percent haven’t heard enough about him;

    Ron DeSantis: 36 percent favorable, 40 percent unfavorable, 23 percent haven’t heard enough about him;

    Mike Pence: 27 percent favorable, 52 percent unfavorable, 18 percent haven’t heard enough about him;

    Nikki Haley: 21 percent favorable, 29 percent unfavorable, 49 percent haven’t heard enough about her;
    ……………
    Nearly two-thirds of Americans (65 percent) think Fox News should be held accountable after Fox Chairman Rupert Murdoch acknowledged in a deposition that a number of the network’s hosts spread false information about the 2020 presidential election being stolen from Donald Trump, while 26 percent think Fox News should not be held accountable. ……..
    …………..
    Nearly half of Americans (49 percent) support a national ban of foreign technology such as the video- sharing service TikTok, while 42 percent oppose a national ban.
    ………….
    Among all listed groups, Americans 18 – 34 years old register the highest opposition to a ban 63 – 33 percent.

    …………..

    Poll questions and toplines.

    Rip Murdock (cfb3be)

  184. Pence Is A Dead Man Walking:

    …………

    And then there’s former vice-president Mike Pence, who’s stolidly moving toward candidacy along with a few other distant dark horses. His four years as Donald Trump’s vice-president and conservative Evangelical street cred have given him just enough name ID to run roughly even with the much less well-known Nikki Haley in the early polls; they are each at 6.3 percent in the RCP averages, which puts them third and fourth behind Trump and DeSantis. For Pence, that polling status may be even worse than it seems. McKay Coppins recently sat in on some Republican focus groups around the country, and the findings were devastating, as he writes in The Atlantic:

    “He has alienated every Republican and Democrat … It’s over. It’s retirement time.”

    “He’s only gonna get the vote from his family, and I’m not even sure if they like him.”

    “He just needs to go away.”

    It went on and on like that across four different focus groups. Of the 34 Republicans who participated, I heard only four people say they’d consider Pence for president — and two of them immediately started talking themselves out of it after indicating interest.

    As Coppins sees it, Pence’s polling numbers reflect a “following” that’s basically low-information voters who are tired of Trump and can’t think of any other names:
    …………..
    Balance this tepid-at-best support with the anger directed at Pence from two sides of the Republican Party. MAGA folk mostly agree with Trump’s assessment that Pence should have stopped Congress from confirming Joe Biden’s election on January 6. And anti-Trump Republicans are looking for a champion who wasn’t one of Trump’s most ridiculously craven toadies prior to January 6. It’s easy to see why his candidacy is doomed.
    ……….
    ………..(T)here’s little visible path beyond Iowa for Pence unless the rest of the field collectively self-immolates.
    ………….

    Rip Murdock (479f9d)

  185. So he admits that Trump told him to do it.
    We were just following orders.
    Now, where have we heard that excuse before…
    Dana (1225fc) — 3/26/2023 @ 12:27 pm

    this is beyond parody

    JF (38b875)

  186. Rip Murdock (479f9d) — 3/25/2023 @ 10:49 am

    The Branch Davidians didn’t deserve to die but they made a choice not to surrender.

    The FBI did everything it could to discourage surrender. They separated children from their parents, while meanwhile trying to get every child to say they were sexually abused,by means that had just about been discredited by then (Janet Reno was one of the local prosecutr=ors who conjured up these false cases)

    It was only David Koresh (he chose that name to make some Biblical prophecies apply to him) who was the only one who had sex with a limited number of underage girls. Nobody else there was allowed to have any kind of sex.

    Donald Trump has no idea of what was really wrong with Waco, but basically, the BATF, and especially Friend of Bill Jay William Buford, the head of the BATF in Little Rock, created a false search warrant, with the probable goal of having a big shootout, after which nobody would question the warrant. To ensure the Davidians would been seen in retrospect, as a menace, Buford murdered three of his own men – as it was, in front of KWTX-TV Channel 10 in Waco, television cameras. It would have ended there except that he didn’t count on this newfangled device of a cellphone, of which there was one in Mount Carmel, and Koresh ws able to negotiate a ceasefire.

    This left Buford with a problem. If the details were looked into it would become evident he had murdered three of his own men, hoping to blame the Davidians. I don’t know what exactly Clinton’s ties were to Buford but Buford had probably covered up (the investigation was inconclusive) the first attempt to murder Alice McArthur in Little Rock in 1982 (which was by bomb)

    Bill Clinton sent Roger Altman to see Buford..and the upshot was it was decided to burn down the compound and murder most of the Davidians especially Koresh and two other leaders

    Many lies were told during the standoff including that the Davidians could commit suicide. Clinton used the “Hostage Rescue Unit” of the FBI to kill the Davidians, but protected everyone with a paper trail. I can go on and on into this.

    The fire was caused by the CS tear gas they began pouring in in the middle of the day on April 19, 1993, In the morning they were calling for a surrender but after Janet Reno said “today was bot supposed to be D-Day”

    They claimed that the Davidians fired at them on April 19 but this was a lie The compound was demolished before anybody independent could go into it but not before they sent in two dishonest Texas arson investigators (we know more now about Texas arson experts saying falsely that many fie=res were arson)

    The FBI spokesman said after the fire “That’s why they called it Ranch Apocalypse” but they never did. That was a lie planted in both TIME (in a news article) and Newsweek (in a diagram) The Davidians called it Mount Carmel.

    I think Vincent Foster got really scared by the email I sent to president@whitehouse.gov on July 19, 1993. I saida that if FBI Director William Sessions was fired, reporters would be released from their pledges of confidentiality and he would be free to say what he knew about Waco, particularly how he was kept from the scene and how his water cannon plan was rejected in favor of tear gas

    Sammy Finkelman (8094e2)

  187. Mitch McConnell has gone home:

    Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) was released from inpatient physical therapy and returned home 2½ weeks after a fall that left him with a concussion and a broken rib, he said in a statement on Saturday.

    Which should make all of us happy.

    Such injuries can be serious at any age, but I imagine they are potentially far worse for someone his age, 81.

    Jim Miller (f29931)

  188. Sam Quinones says we have a good way to attack fentanyl:

    The irony is that fentanyl and meth — synthetics produced in clandestine labs — make Mexican traffickers more vulnerable than ever to aggressive, binational law enforcement. Mexico-based traffickers no longer depend on drugs grown across the mountainous expanses of their country. For their profits, they rely on ingredient chemicals, many from China, coming into a handful of shipping ports and airports — a vulnerability easier for modern and collaborative law enforcement to attack.

    (Link omitted, emphasis added.)

    Quinones believes that it is possible for us to work with Mexico, providing we approach them on this issue, respectfully. And any arguments our diplomats might make will have the great advantage of being based on the fact that cooperation on controlling these deadly drugs is in both nations’ interests.

    Jim Miller (f29931)

  189. Far-right extremist Riley Williams sentenced to 3 years in prison for storming Capitol on Jan. 6
    ………..
    Williams was ultimately convicted on six counts: felony civil disorder, resisting and impeding certain officers and four misdemeanor charges. The jury deadlocked on a count of obstruction of an official proceeding, as well as on the question of whether Williams aided and abetted the theft of Pelosi’s laptop.
    ……….
    Federal prosecutors had sought 87 months, or more than seven years, in federal prison, arguing that such a sentence would hold Williams accountable “for her outsized and chilling participation in — and furtherance of — the chaos and violence” at the Capitol on Jan. 6.

    “Everywhere she went, Williams acted as an accelerant, exacerbating the mayhem. Where others turned back, she pushed forward. When officers blocked her path, she recruited other rioters, especially larger men wearing helmets and body armor, gathered them together, and pushed them forward like a human battering ram, using the mob as a weapon to break through the police lines. The officers she faced off with were among those injured,” they wrote in a sentencing memo.

    “Then, in the 12 days between the riot and her arrest on January 18, 2021, Williams repeatedly destroyed evidence and tried to evade law enforcement officials: She deleted her social media and communication accounts, instructed others to delete messages and take down videos from the internet, reset her iPhone, switched cellular phones, and used advanced software to wipe her computer,” they wrote. …….

    “I’ve been told what I did was wrong by everybody but in my heart and soul I know what we did was patriotic and what is right and anybody who says otherwise should be condemned,” Williams wrote to her dad, who traveled with her to Washington on Jan. 14, 2021, prosecutors said.
    ……….

    Amended Statement of Facts.

    Rip Murdock (7376a8)

  190. (T)here’s little visible path beyond Iowa for Pence unless the rest of the field collectively self-immolates.

    Indeed. Nikki Haley has a few months to get some traction as the only other choice. Sadly, I don’t see her doing it — she’s running a copycat campaign with weak jabs at culture war issues. Maybe this will work with women and centrist voters, but it’s just not doing it yet for me.

    Nikki remains my candidate, but only because the other two aren’t.

    Kevin M (1ea396)

  191. Such injuries can be serious at any age, but I imagine they are potentially far worse for someone his age, 81.

    A broken rib is painful at any age, but heals much the same way for everyone (slowly).

    Kevin M (1ea396)

  192. GOP weighs protecting Trump with law shielding ex-presidents from prosecution

    Good luck with that.

    Kevin M (1ea396)

  193. Reading on, the letter to Bragg is as much about passing a law protecting Trump as the previous Congress’ subpoena for Trump’s tax records was about tax laws. A pretext.

    Kevin M (1ea396)

  194. Donald Trump: …. 2 percent haven’t heard enough about him;

    Hard to believe.

    Kevin M (1ea396)

  195. GOP weighs protecting Trump with law shielding ex-presidents from prosecution

    Good luck with that.

    Kevin M (1ea396) — 3/26/2023 @ 4:30 pm

    I could see Democrats getting behind this……..

    Rip Murdock (7376a8)

  196. mr. president trump who lost reelection by the greatest number of votes of any sitting president in the history of the united states needs to be shielded from the light spectrum altering rothschilds lasers which make him look orange

    that’s what he needs to be shielded from

    but nobody listens to congressperson marjorie taylor-greene

    from the great state of georgia

    nk (bb1548)

  197. The top 10 Republican presidential candidates for 2024, ranked
    ………….
    DeSantis’s shifting comments on Ukraine feel more like a miscalculation than a change of heart — the actions of a guy who said what he thought was the right answer, politically speaking, and soon decided it wasn’t the right answer.

    The Ukraine flap doesn’t mean DeSantis is suddenly a bad candidate. But it reinforces a difference between him and Trump: While Trump could say pretty much anything he wanted to and the GOP would contort itself to remain molded in his image, this suggests DeSantis doesn’t wield the same kind of power.

    And if you’re running against someone like Trump, that is a distinct disadvantage.
    …………
    Below are our rankings of the 10 people from among whom the 2024 GOP nominee is likely to emerge. As usual, they are in order of likeliness to be nominated, which takes into account both how likely they are to run — or that they’re already running — and their formidability if they do.
    ……….
    10. Vivek Ramaswamy:…………(Previous ranking: n/a)

    9. Kristi L. Noem: ………Axios recently listed Noem and three other women as being among those from among whom Trump is considering picking a running mate. (Previous ranking: 10)

    8. Chris Sununu: ……… Sununu suggests (DeSantis) is too willing to wield the power of government to crack down on supposed “woke” private entities. There probably isn’t a market for this more-staid, traditional brand of conservatism, but Sununu would be a fascinating candidate to watch. (Previous ranking: 8)

    7. Mike Pompeo: ………. Pompeo appears likely to run. (Previous ranking: 7)

    6. Glenn Youngkin: ……….. The Washington Post’s Michael Scherer and Hannah Knowles also reported that Youngkin recently seemed “uninterested in entertaining questions about a run for national office” during a recent donor retreat in Georgia. (Previous ranking: 5)

    5. Nikki Haley: The good news for the former South Carolina governor and U.S. ambassador to the United Nations is that she’s competing with Mike Pence in polls for the top non-Trump and non-DeSantis spot. The bad news is that still means she’s around 5 percent. …………

    4. Mike Pence: ………. Atlantic’s McKay Coppins offered this very insightful line:

    … In creating a permission structure for voters to excuse Trump’s defective character and flouting of religious values, Pence was unwittingly making himself irrelevant. In effect, he spent four years convincing conservative Christian voters that the very thing he had to offer them didn’t matter.

    (Previous ranking: 4)

    3. Tim Scott:…….. (Scott is) doing just about everything you’d expect a would-be candidate to do, and he’s someone you can see emerging as a credible alternative to Trump — especially if DeSantis does flame out or just fades. ……….(Previous ranking: 3)

    2. Ron DeSantis: ……….(Previous ranking: 1)

    1. Donald Trump: ………..(Previous ranking: 2)
    #########

    Free link.

    Rip Murdock (7376a8)

  198. Wondering what’s happening in ATL while New York thinks about giving the Stormy Daniels case another go? This is pretty good. Though I am sure NJRob thinks the battle in the forest with Antifa is more significant.

    https://www.ajc.com/politics/what-trumps-expected-indictment-in-new-york-means-for-fulton-inquiry/GSVD6F72RJF6PBANQSKB53SQWA/

    Appalled (0b9f3a)

  199. Trump Poll Watch III:

    ………. The Monmouth University Poll shows Trump has made gains among nearly every voting bloc since the start of the year and is especially popular among strong MAGA supporters. [Note: most of the poll interviews were conducted before reports emerged about a potential indictment of the former president.]

    When asked who they would like to see as the Republican nominee for president in 2024, 41% name Trump and 27% name DeSantis. These two have dominated top-of-mind preferences of GOP voters since Monmouth started polling the 2024 contest late last year, but there has been a significant shift between them over that time. The two were tied in February (33% each) while the December results showed a greater preference for the Florida governor (39%) than the former president (26%).
    ……………..
    Some of Trump’s broadest support comes from Republicans who identify as strong supporters of MAGA – the Make America Great Again movement within the party. These voters – who represent nearly 4 in 10 Republicans nationally – overwhelming prefer Trump (73%) to DeSantis (25%) in a head-to-head contest. DeSantis is preferred by those who only support MAGA somewhat (61% to 32% for Trump), as well as Republicans who do not consider themselves to be MAGA supporters at all (57% to 31%). Overall, 73% of GOP voters say the MAGA movement has been good for the party. Just 20% say it has been bad. Even among Republicans who are not MAGA supporters themselves, 34% say the movement has been good for the party.
    …………
    ………… Trump is the overwhelming favorite against either (Nikki Haley or Mike Pence) in a direct matchup – taking 70% to 23% against Haley and 73% to 21% against Pence. In a hypothetical four-way contest, Trump (44%) holds a nominal lead over DeSantis (36%), with Pence (7%) and Haley (6%) trailing far behind.
    ………….
    …………. GOP voters hold overwhelmingly positive views of both Trump (71% favorable and 21% unfavorable) and DeSantis (76% favorable and 8% unfavorable). Opinion of Pence is divided at 42% favorable and 37% unfavorable. Haley gets a net positive 45% favorable and 16% unfavorable rating, but nearly 4 in 10 Republican voters have no opinion of her.
    ………….

    Questions and responses.

    Rip Murdock (7376a8)

  200. When asked who they would like to see as the Republican nominee for president in 2024, 41% name Trump and 27% name DeSantis. ……..

    Darling Nikki received 3%, tied with “others”.

    Rip Murdock (7376a8)

  201. Correction: Here’s the T. Rex cartoon I meant to link to, much earlier.

    Sorry about that.

    Jim Miller (f29931)

  202. Apparently, Harper-Collins is reworking Agatha Christie’s books to remove things offensive to woke sensibilities.

    https://deadline.com/2023/03/agatha-christie-hercule-poirot-miss-marple-classic-mysteries-rewritten-modern-readers-1235310224/

    Kevin M (1ea396)

  203. Ouch!

    Brian Kilmdeade did not hold back in his criticism of Donald Trump on Monday morning, lacing into the former president for harping on ongoing court cases instead of touting his accomplishments as 45th president. But Kilmeade really tore into Trump for his celebration of January 6th rioters, calling it “absolutely awful” and “insane” that he would do such a thing.
    …………
    Kilmeade then took to Trump’s recent rally in Waco, Texas, which featured a moment when the former president appeared to celebrate rioters on January 6th at the beginning of the event.

    “Instead, the United States former president opened up with January Six video,” Kilmeade noted, adding, “which is insane!”

    “He should be running from that, period,” he continued. “I don’t care his point of view, that is not a good thing for him. I thought that was absolutely awful. Even though he is winning in the polls, that will not help.”
    ……….

    Rip Murdock (7376a8)

  204. Trump has to portray J6 as a bunch of patriots because he will soon enough be convicted of inciting the mob.

    Kevin M (1ea396)

  205. Trump has to portray J6 as a bunch of patriots because he will soon enough be convicted of inciting the mob.

    Kevin M (1ea396) — 3/27/2023 @ 10:57 am

    I doubt he will even be charged of doing so, let alone convicted.

    Rip Murdock (7376a8)

  206. 28-year-old woman kills 3 students and 3 adults at private Christian school in Nashville, police say
    ………..
    The shooter, who has not been identified by name, entered the Covenant School via a side door and was armed with at least two assault-style rifles and a handgun, said Metro Nashville Police spokesperson Don Aaron. She fired multiple shots on the first and second floors of the school before police fatally shot her on the second floor, Aaron said.
    ……….
    The incident is the 19th shooting at a school or university so far this year in which at least one person was wounded, according to a CNN tally. ……..
    ……….
    The Covenant School is a private Christian school founded in 2001 as a ministry of Covenant Presbyterian Church and teaches preschool through 6th grade, according to its website. On a typical day it has 209 students and 40 to 50 staff members, Aaron said.
    ………

    Rip Murdock (7376a8)

  207. #202 — The Agatha Christie estate wants to continue making money. Falling afoul of current standards is a way to minimize the income flow. So I can see why they are doing it. You can lose the flavor of the work or a character by doing that — like a nasty character would be inclined to use racially insenstive language and you may lose something Dame Agatha wanted to say about the character by excluding it.

    All that said, google the original title of “And Then There Were None”, one of Dame Agatha’s more noteworthy tiles. I think I would want that changed — and it was changed in the mid-70s.

    Appalled (c8a590)

  208. How big is Trump’s true-believer base?
    ………..
    One of the best ways to look at the question is to focus on how many Republicans view Trump not just favorably but “very” or “strongly” favorably.

    And by this measure, Trump’s support has declined significantly since his 2020 defeat. While Fox News polling in October 2020 showed that 7 in 10 Republicans had a “strongly” favorable opinion of him, by December 2022, that 69 percent had dropped to 43 percent.

    Unfavorable views of Trump have increased from around 1 in 10 Republicans to around 2 in 10 over that span, but nearly as significant is the movement from “strongly” favorable to merely “somewhat” favorable.
    ………..
    An AP-NORC poll from January showed just 14 percent of Americans overall viewed Trump “very favorably.” That was Trump’s lowest number on record — and it was half what it was in 2019.
    …………
    Another telling measure is how many Republicans view themselves as Trump-first rather than party-first. NBC News has asked this question frequently, gauging whether GOP-leaning voters view themselves more as supporters of Trump or supporters of the party.

    NBC’s most recent poll, in January, showed 33 percent viewed themselves as Trump-first. That’s compared to a majority who often said so while he was in office.
    ………..
    In a Monmouth University poll last month, 27 percent of Republican-leaning voters said they would want Trump to run as an independent (vs. 67 percent who wouldn’t). In another poll, 28 percent said they would actually vote for Trump in that scenario, even if Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis was the GOP nominee. ……….
    ………….

    Rip Murdock (7376a8)

  209. Trump Poll Watch IV:

    ………….
    A majority of Americans (56%) think the investigations into former President Donald Trump are fair. 41%, though, consider the probes to be a “witch hunt.” Perceptions align closely with partisanship with 87% of Democrats and 51% of independents reporting the investigations are above board. Nearly one in five Republicans (18%) agree. Most Republicans (80%), though, think the investigations are a “witch hunt.”

    Most Americans perceive Trump has engaged in improper behavior. A plurality of Americans (46%) think the former president has done something illegal, and an additional 29% consider Trump to have done something unethical but not illegal. Only 23% of Americans say Trump has done nothing wrong.

    ……… While majorities of Republicans and independents perceive wrongdoing by Trump, there is less consensus about the criminality of his actions. ………

    More than six in ten Americans (61%) do not want Trump to be President, again. 38% want him to be elected to another term. 89% of Democrats, 64% independents, and 21% of Republicans do not want Trump to return to the White House. 76% of Republicans want Trump to be president, again. ………

    Poll questions and responses. I

    Rip Murdock (7376a8)

  210. It’s a name recognition game at this point. President Scott Walker wants to remind us about getting too far in front of the polls. Trump has his 33%, but the best he can hope for moving forward is “insufficient cause for indictment”. Not exactly a ringing endorsement for the chief law enforcement officer. How does DeSantis do outside of Florida? Do voters think he can win nationally? Is he coming across as a less-personable Trump? I agree that all-the-rest have work to do to become relevant, but it’s hard to think that Trump and DeSantis are both inevitable…unless we use that word in the Thanos sort of way.

    AJ_Liberty (5f05c3)

  211. it’s hard to think that Trump and DeSantis are both inevitable…….

    AJ_Liberty (5f05c3) — 3/27/2023 @ 1:43 pm

    We’ll see, but I don’t see anyone on the horizon with enough funding or popularity challenge either one. And it’s not just name recognition, both DeSantis and Trump have records to run on which are popular with their bases.

    Rip Murdock (7376a8)

  212. AJ_Liberty (5f05c3) — 3/27/2023 @ 1:43 pm

    President Scott Walker wants to remind us about getting too far in front of the polls.

    Scott Walker suffered from flip/flops- waffling.

    As does DeSantis. This will show up more than once and sink him if he keeps it up..

    Sammy Finkelman (1d215a)

  213. 192. New York State considers law extending statute of limitations for ex-presidents.

    https://spectrumlocalnews.com/nys/central-ny/ny-state-of-politics/2023/03/23/new-york-lawmakers-want-to-make-it-easier-to-prosecutor-former-presidents

    The Democratic-led state Senate has approved a measure that would halt the clock for the statute of limitations for criminal and civil prosecutions in New York for people who become president of the United States.

    The measure, approved this week, comes as a grand jury is considering a possible indictment of former President Donald Trump amid allegations he paid hush money to a porn star named Stormy Daniels. Trump has denied any wrongdoing and has called the allegations politically motiviated….

    …..If granted final approval, the proposal would stop the clock on the statute of limitations for any crimes alleged to have been committed by a sitting president. A president has immunity from prosecution, which can be used to evade charges based on the statute of limitations.

    He doesn’t really have immunity.

    Sammy Finkelman (1d215a)

  214. https://therightscoop.com/nyt-and-nbc-contributor-suggests-matt-walsh-and-daily-wire-to-blame-for-christian-school-shooting-today/

    Just a reminder that the communists, including those at the NY Slimes, are trying to blame conservatives for every evil act that happens in the world today.

    NJRob (eb56c3)

  215. https://twitter.com/disclosetv/status/1640490947036295168

    Staffer for Rand Paul stabbed in broad daylight.

    NJRob (eb56c3)

  216. Not surprisingly, the mass shooter was autistic.

    A larger than normal percentage are.

    DRJ (0abb72)

  217. <a

    href=”https://www.cnn.com/2023/03/28/politics/mike-pence-grand-jury-testimony/”>Mike Pence must testify about conversations he had with Donald Trump leading up to January 6, judge rules

    Sad!

    Rip Murdock (d2a2a8)

  218. NJRob (eb56c3) — 3/27/2023 @ 7:11 pm

    Was the attack was politically motivated?

    Paul Montagu (8f0dc7)

  219. Sure was. A habitual criminal let out by a leftist criminal system to cause havoc on the public.

    NJRob (5aebc7)

  220. Nice spin, Rob.

    Paul Montagu (8f0dc7)

  221. Dem walls, Dem walls, Dem dry walls.

    Colonel Haiku (a1a963)

  222. You know, I keep reading:

    1) That the inflation was caused by U.S. government spending.

    No explanation is given as to why only after a long delay and only Mark Levin has offered an explanation of why the inflation is worldwide -supposedly because the U.S. dominates the world economy I think it was.

    There may still be still be supply shortages.

    2: That the Federal Reserve Board was “forced” to raise interest rates.

    This does not explain why they did not foresee the natural result – some bank would be first to suffer from an interest rate mismatch and associated drop in the selling price of an asset without credit risk)

    This was something they weren’t watching.

    Besides which, if left alone, the inflation will go away by itself, just like it did in the late 1940s, as supply finally overtakes demand.

    And I also think that making loans less available, diminishes supply

    Sammy Finkelman (1d215a)

  223. DRJ (0abb72) — 3/28/2023 @ 11:06 am

    Not surprisingly, the mass shooter was autistic.

    And male.

    At least on linked in and recent social media.

    Sammy Finkelman (1d215a)

  224. Joe Biden keeps giving testimonials to a brand of ice cream at nearly every opportunity

    https://www.columbusmonthly.com/story/lifestyle/2021/01/20/jenis-and-joe-biden-love-story/115336256

    https://www.newsweek.com/fact-check-did-joe-biden-joke-about-ice-cream-before-nashville-remarks-1790836

    The transcript reads: “Thank you. My name is Joe Biden. (Laughter.) I’m Dr. Jill Biden’s husband. (Laughter.) And I eat Jeni’s Ice Cream, chocolate chip. (Laughter.) I came down because I heard there was chocolate chip ice cream. (Laughter.)”

    Sammy Finkelman (1d215a)

  225. Tghe Nashville shooter was originally a woman (assigned at birth like they say) and has kept her name.

    I think the motive was to get people to read her manifesto. (probably anti-“transphobe”)

    So the media does not publicize it.

    We are at just about maximum deterrence since people who commit crimes like this face a de facto death penalty, or life behind bars.

    One thing that would help is to limit the publicity of these crimes.

    There are other places to go to that have plenty of people in them – churches and stores, for instance. Movie theatres. Commuter travel.

    It would help, of course, to totally outlaw high capacity rifles. The Second amendment only applies to weapons in common use said the Supreme Court, and if not even the police have them they would not be in common use. That would cut down the death toll, and if you cut down the death toll, you also cut down the motive because nobody will be interested in the manifesto.

    Sammy Finkelman (1d215a)

  226. Some civil rights leaders, including Hazel Dukes and Eric Garner’s mother, held a rally in Harlem today, threatening to not re-elect Assembly Speaker Carl Hastie next time, if he doesn’t change the bail reform laws and put more people in jail.

    Sammy Finkelman (cacd71)

  227. 227. I think this rally may have been coordinated with Carl Heastie al, since I learned that on the same day he was already prepared to change the bail reform laws (maybe not enough, and there’s no talk of changing some of the other pro-criminal defendant laws, like enhanced discovery, which forces prosecutors to drop cases although that could be overcome by increasing funding for District Attorneys and the number of ADAs)

    https://nypost.com/2023/03/28/carl-heasties-constituents-support-charter-schools-bail-reform/

    https://hellgatenyc.com/carl-heastie-is-getting-ready-to-send-more-people-to-jail-again

    The premise of the bail reform laws was that the only cause for detaining a defendant before conviction was to ensure his presence in court — something that is apparently not the law — and there was and is no necessity to resort to the claim that a defendant facing ac serious charge is likely to flee.

    Sammy Finkelman (1d215a)

  228. People regularly die when immigration law is enforced.

    https://www.wsj.com/articles/illegal-immigration-mexico-us-border-deaths-c35cf892

    ‘It’s Like a Graveyard’: Record Numbers of Migrants Are Dying at the U.S. Border

    More men, women and children are trying to navigate dangerous waters and isolated terrain to evade authorities
    ————————

    EAGLE PASS, Texas—Local officials keep a refrigerated truck to hold the bodies of migrants who drown in the currents of the Rio Grande while trying to cross the border into the U.S.

    Across the river, families having picnics or walking along the waterfront promenade of Piedras Negras, Mexico, say they sometimes see bodies floating by or bobbing among the reeds under a bridge. “We had times when we received four or five bodies a week,” said Hugo González, owner of Funerarias González in Piedras Negras. “At one point, there were a lot of corpses and there was nowhere to put them. We just didn’t have enough refrigerators at the funeral home.”

    A spike in deaths along the most dangerous stretches of the U.S.-Mexico border reflects the escalating number of migrants seeking to cross into the U.S. from troubled home countries. At the same time, U.S. immigration policies are allowing fewer of them legal entry. Many migrants have turned to human smugglers and WhatsApp messages to help them navigate more lightly patrolled—and treacherous—sections of the border to enter illegally, U.S. officials said.

    Do some “conservatives” want more of this?

    Interesting thing: They’re not complaining about “social media” facilitating this.

    That’s because they don’t want to admit that ordinary people are breaking the law, and it’s just “human trafficking” or fentanyl smugglers or people riddled with disease.

    So no criticism of Facebook or Instagram or Twitter on this.

    I wondered if Tik-Tok is helping illegal immigrants – I thought they might censor it because I don’t think China would want to encourage it.

    But they do, too:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=btY2gs3f4KM

    Sammy Finkelman (1d215a)

  229. You heard about the fire in a Saudi Arabian girl’s school a number of years ago, where religious police kept the girls in because they weren’t dressed the way they wanted them to?

    Well, a sort of similar thing happened the other day in Mexico in a migrant detention center.

    They were migrants from Central America detained in Mexico (no doubt in part because of pressure from the Biden Administration.

    Some of them were about to be moved and they started a protest, possibly hoping to escape, fearing possible deportation. It may have worked for the man who set the fire, and his cellmates, but others were burned to death because the guards did not want to free them, (15 women were let out)

    https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/28/world/americas/mexico-fire-ciudad-juarez.html

    As Migrants’ Desperation Mounts at the Border, a Fire Kills Dozens

    The fatal blaze comes as border cities across Mexico have been flooded with migrants turned back from the United States and more arriving from other countries.

    CIUDAD JUÁREZ, Mexico — Katiuska Márquez said she was begging for money on the streets of Ciudad Juárez on Monday afternoon when Mexican migration officers took her and her family to a migration detention facility just across the border from El Paso, Texas.

    Hours later, the 23-year-old Venezuelan was released along with her two young children and husband, but she said the authorities wouldn’t release her older brother, Orlando Maldonado.

    One of the last things her brother told her, she said, was “don’t let me die.”

    That night, a fire broke out inside the facility, killing at least 38 people and injuring 28 others. Sixty-eight men from Central and South America were being detained at the facility, the Mexican government said. (The government had reported that 40 people were killed, but it later revised the figure.)

    …President Biden has responded to the extraordinary surge in migration at the southwestern border by trying to dissuade people from crossing illegally, leaning more heavily on Mexico to take in migrants expelled by American border officials and house migrants who must wait in northern Mexico to apply for the chance to enter the United States and request asylum.

    The measures have reduced the rush of people into the United States, but they have also added to the relentless buildup of migrants in Mexico, where shelters are overwhelmed and where the authorities have a checkered record on human rights.

    “Alongside the Mexican government, the U.S. has direct responsibility for what happens to migrants in Mexico, because they force people to stay in Mexico,” said Rachel Schmidtke, a senior advocate for Latin America at Refugees International.

    The Biden administration argues that it is trying to discourage people from taking dangerous journeys to illegally cross into the United States.

    Only death truly deters.

    The administration has also opened legal pathways for migrants from certain countries to apply for humanitarian parole to enter the United States, hoping that a more orderly process will be safer.

    Of
    course not enough, so this is mostly an attempt to quiet criticism.
    And also not available to the very same people who tried to cross illegally

    Senior administration officials told The Times that since Jan. 5, when the U.S. government launched a new program to allow migrants to apply for a two-year humanitarian parole, there had been a 97 percent drop in illegal crossings by Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans. The officials said they also have seen a reduction in at least one migrant camp on the Mexican side of the border.

    Sammy Finkelman (1d215a)

  230. https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/29/world/americas/fire-mexico-migrants.html

    Mexico Investigates Migrant Deaths in Border City Fire as Homicide Case

    The authorities identified eight suspects and said government workers and private security workers had done nothing to help migrants flee the blaze at a detention center in Ciudad Juárez.
    ——————————–

    CIUDAD JUÁREZ, Mexico — Mexican officials announced on Wednesday that they were investigating a fire at a migrant detention center in Ciudad Juárez as a homicide case, saying that government workers and private security employees had not allowed detainees to escape from the blaze that killed at least 39 people.

    The authorities, in a news conference, said they had identified eight suspects, including federal and state agents, and would issue four arrest warrants on Wednesday.

    “None of the public servants, nor the private security guards, took any action to open the door for the migrants who were inside where the fire was,” said Sara Irene Herrerías Guerra, a top federal human rights prosecutor.

    The announcement came after a video emerged appearing to show that the migrants had been trapped when the fire broke out on Monday. Uniformed figures at the center can be seen walking away from the blaze while people remain behind bars as the area fills with smoke.

    I don’t know why anyone should be surprised.

    Sammy Finkelman (1d215a)

  231. Good news. It seems that Finland will be joining NATO.

    DRJ (0abb72)


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