Over a million people are without power due to Hurricane Michael. Four have died so far, and the damage is incredible, having wiped out wide swathes of homes. Houses torn apart, communities flattened--they say it's the strongest to hit the U.S. in decades.
Maybe somebody should do something about climate change. Hint: loosening the damn rules doesn't help. Maybe they are onto something with those Paris accords.
Kanye West followed Ted Nugent's footsteps and met with Trump in the oval office for a bizarre meeting full of rantings and a 10 minute speech from Kanye.
The MAGA crowd apparently loved it and then went back to saying Taylor Swift should stay out of politics and stick to music.
The details of the Saudi Arabian government's apparent murder of this journalist get murkier and darker, as Turkey now seems to have either audio or visual evidence of the killing, but are reluctant to reveal that fact. Moreover, Trump's response to this has been predictably atrocious, basically brushing it off because the man who was murdered was not an American citizen, and will say nothing or take any action of consequence because of our recent arms deal with the Saudi government. It's long past time we as a country removed ourselves from anything having to do with the Saudi Royal Family and government. This country and their leadership have been at the fulcrum of our horrendous policies in the Middle East since at least the early-90s. Almost all the 9/11 hijackers were Saudi. They have as bad a record on human rights as any of their neighboring states that the neo-cons have either invaded (Iraq) or would like to invade (Iran). Yet we have been cozying up to them for decades.
And this Administration specifically?? They put Jared in charge. The President's incompetent son-in-law:
I should also be able to sue my state if they refuse to let me vote for any reason as it is my democratic right to exercise my vote. I am surprised someone hasn’t done this yet to be honest. This BS continues because people let it continue.
It was the Supreme Court that took away in 2013 the strongest legal protection for voters. Under Obama the government was still working to provide voter protection, but surprisingly enough the Trump administration is now supporting policies that restrict voting. Given that backdrop the chances of an individual changing the system are approximately 0%. They might well succeed in getting their own vote back, but the time and cost associated with doing that wouldn't help others.
If I have proof of residence as well as proof of citizenship, I should be able to walk into a voting station and vote.
There should be a master list, but that list should not ever be considered complete.
I should also be able to sue my state if they refuse to let me vote for any reason as it is my democratic right to exercise my vote. I am surprised someone hasn’t done this yet to be honest. This BS continues because people let it continue.
I am in a conservative state, in a strongly liberal and overwhelmingly minority area (south Texas), but I am about as white as can be (ethnically, my ancestry is mostly Polish/German/Swedish), not Hispanic.
The last day to register was 3 days ago. I have been watching my voter registration status like a hawk every couple of days, and I am going to continue to do so until the date of the election. If my registration status, which has been valid for, uh, 4-6 years changes, I am going to be pitching a fit.
I do not trust Republicans for anything, given how supposedly competitive this election will be.
I actually think this 45 second clip of Trump is about the most tried and true, down-home American thing he has ever said. A murdered journalist doesn't even figure as a blip on the radar next to our love of selling them weapons. Death and destruction as an export:
I am in a conservative state, in a strongly liberal and overwhelmingly minority area (south Texas), but I am about as white as can be (ethnically, my ancestry is mostly Polish/German/Swedish), not Hispanic.
The last day to register was 3 days ago. I have been watching my voter registration status like a hawk every couple of days, and I am going to continue to do so until the date of the election. If my registration status, which has been valid for, uh, 4-6 years changes, I am going to be pitching a fit.
I do not trust Republicans for anything, given how supposedly competitive this election will be.
The best site for tracking your registration/eligibility to vote in Texas may be found here via the Secretary of State's office. You can also find out who your local representatives are, as well as getting links to sample ballots.
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Khashoggi was not a United States citizen and so from that point of view what happened to him is not our problem. He *chose* to go to that embassy when he probably should have known better--had he stayed in Virginia he would still be alive. On the other hand, @jjstraka34 is correct--we are too cozy with Saudi Arabia. We may view them as "an essential ally in that region" but they view us as "a useful tool for dealing with our regional enemies".
*************
The stock markets. *pfft* That isn't news, just a market correction based on the Fed slightly raising the base interest rate in an attempt to ward off any inflationary pressure. 95% of the time market performance has absolutely *nothing* to do with a President whatsoever.
I am in a conservative state, in a strongly liberal and overwhelmingly minority area (south Texas), but I am about as white as can be (ethnically, my ancestry is mostly Polish/German/Swedish), not Hispanic.
The last day to register was 3 days ago. I have been watching my voter registration status like a hawk every couple of days, and I am going to continue to do so until the date of the election. If my registration status, which has been valid for, uh, 4-6 years changes, I am going to be pitching a fit.
I do not trust Republicans for anything, given how supposedly competitive this election will be.
The best site for tracking your registration/eligibility to vote in Texas may be found here via the Secretary of State's office. You can also find out who your local representatives are, as well as getting links to sample ballots.
I know, I said I was checking it every couple of days, though I was actually checking my county's voter registration webpages, not the state's.
Khashoggi was not a United States citizen and so from that point of view what happened to him is not our problem. He *chose* to go to that embassy when he probably should have known better--had he stayed in Virginia he would still be alive.
As a journalist specializing in exposing the actions of a despotic regime I think it's pretty clear he didn't prioritize safety as his prime concern. His girlfriend said he was worried about going there, but did it anyway because he wanted to get married and a visit to the embassy was the only way he could get divorce papers. Personally I find that more admirable than stupid.
This links in with the recent discussion about the extent to which opinions and actions matter. In a free democracy the availability of information is important. Controlling the flow of information is a high priority for authoritarian regimes and that's one reason why Trump's continuing attacks on the free press is of concern - his downplaying of the disappearance of a prominent columnist for a US newspaper is another signal about the low priority the current administration gives to a free press. I don't think the appropriate reaction to that is to pretend it isn't happening or to wait and hope that things will revert to 'normal' eventually.
Journalists get murdered all the time. With the Trump administration cozying up to known media suppressors like Russia, it is only fitting other countries feel they can get away with their own attacks.
It would also sound hypocritical for Trump to say the press is the enemy and then condemn a country for treating them like one.
I am actually surprised this is getting as much coverage as it is. Check the link below for a list of murdered journalist around the world for just this year:
I mean there is certainly at least room to speculate that the Saudi Crown Prince thinks he can get away with whatever he wants based on two things: one being his close relationship with Kushner, and two being Trump's rhetoric about journalists. And as if we didn't need reminding, this truly is the most corrupt Administration in history, even after only two years. I mean, just look at this. The President's son-in-law is a walking conflict of interest. No one cares about any of this anymore. Anyone who believes this Administration isn't making foreign policy decisions based on what is good for the Trump family first and foremost is out of their mind. The people of this country allowing them to hold onto all these foreign business assets while they are in the White House is insane. We have normalized abject corruption:
He was fired as executive of his dad's will because he tried to pressure his dying father into just signing everything over to him.
He and his siblings concocted a scheme to form a shell company where they laundered his father's money by overcharging and padding bills in order to avoid paying estate taxes. Example: By purchasing a radiator for $10k then charging dad $20k they kept 10k profit tax free. They did this for years for many buildings.
"I started with a small loan of a million dollars" <- another Trump lie back when we maybe didn't realize he lied everytime he opens his mouth.
Hundreds of Border Patrol agents have been arrested in the last few years for committing criminal activity. Not 10, not 50, but HUNDREDS. That is not a few bad apples:
Hundreds of Border Patrol agents have been arrested in the last few years for committing criminal activity. Not 10, not 50, but HUNDREDS. That is not a few bad apples:
I'm not sure exactly how scandalous this is. This agency has over 60,000 employees, over 500 of which were arrested in 2016 and 2017. That's about 0.83% of employees over 2 years. For comparison, there were 10 million total arrests in 2017, out of 325 million--one arrest for every 30 people.
It's not a direct comparison, since one is number of persons arrested out of the total population, and the other is number of arrests per person (some people will have been arrested multiple times), but it looks like the rate of arrests is considerably lower among the Border Patrol than in the general population.
Hundreds of Border Patrol agents have been arrested in the last few years for committing criminal activity. Not 10, not 50, but HUNDREDS. That is not a few bad apples:
I'm not sure exactly how scandalous this is. This agency has over 60,000 employees, over 500 of which were arrested in 2016 and 2017. That's about 0.83% of employees over 2 years. For comparison, there were 10 million total arrests in 2017, out of 325 million--one arrest for every 30 people.
It's not a direct comparison, since one is number of persons arrested out of the total population, and the other is number of arrests per person (some people will have been arrested multiple times), but it looks like the rate of arrests is considerably lower among the Border Patrol than in the general population.
Shouldn't the bare minimum for people working in law enforcement be that they are "arrested less than the general population"?? I think we also know for a certainty that if 500 or so were arrested, many more have been engaging in similar behavior and simply haven't been caught yet.
We can't just assume that the real numbers are some arbitrary amount higher than the ones we have, not without some additional piece of evidence. Otherwise we cease to place value on statistics and instead make judgments about assumptions--the very opposite of empiricism.
I don't know how much lower it's normal for crime rates to be in law enforcement compared to the general population, but it's not obvious to me that a very rough difference (again, this is not a direct one-to-one comparison, so let me know if we have a more direct one) of 0.83% per 2 years and 3% per 1 year, or an annual 0.4% for the Border Patrol to 3% for the population, is that scandalous.
Even though the opening paragraph had a scandalous tone with the drugs and bribery charges, it goes on to state that the majority of the arrests are related to minor drug and alcohol related, or domestic issues.
Put the microscope to any large organization and you will always find similar numbers. People are human and everyone makes mistakes time from time. Painting a whole group of people for those mistakes is unfair to everyone else.
Even though the opening paragraph had a scandalous tone with the drugs and bribery charges, it goes on to state that the majority of the arrests are related to minor drug and alcohol related, or domestic issues.
Put the microscope to any large organization and you will always find similar numbers. People are human and everyone makes mistakes time from time. Painting a whole group of people for those mistakes is unfair to everyone else.
Depends on whether or not they are being allowed to remain in the job after the minor offenses. If you work at a bank and are found to have ANY sort of financial shenanigans in any sector of your life, even if they aren't strictly criminal, you will probably lose your job. I certainly don't think stuff like a traffic or parking ticket should qualify for losing you livelihood, but anything that actually results in an arrest and conviction should disqualify you from ever working in law enforcement again. Again, it seems that a bare minimum standard to enforce laws that the citizenry should have to follow is that you are 100% compliant with them yourself. Anything above a petty misdemeanor should be an automatic dismissal. Being given exceptional power should mean you have to live up to exceptional standards to wield it. I don't much care if my plumber does drugs. I have a big problem with a law enforcement officer who engages in the very activity they arrest other people for participating in. The article doesn't give us the numbers (or even really mention) whether or not these agents were fired or still have jobs, but I would be shocked if many of them weren't on the job right now. And I do find that unacceptable. This shouldn't be an issue. If you are going to enforce laws, follow them. If you can't, I don't think you need to be in prison, but you also damn sure shouldn't be engaged in the imprisoning of others.
Agency officials said the release of the annual reports underscores the agency’s commitment to transparency and swift actions to weed out employees who violate the law or internal policies. They also said the reports show that a majority of employees carry out their duties without getting into trouble.
From the exact same article.
The article also said that they were charged, not convicted. Innocent until proven guilty and all that.
Serious charges would probably equal leave with pay while the charges are being investigated or before the courts.
Powerful article by Bernie Sanders about Trump and other authoritarian leaders and what is needed around the world - a global democratic counter to right wing authoritarianism.
Are YOU one of the 550,000 Voters on the Illinois Purge List? OCTOBER 12, 2018 Greg Palast We have the Illinois voter purge list. Are you on it?
The list contains a staggering 550,000 names, and was obtained after a formal complaint and notice of a federal lawsuit was filed by Greg Palast and Rev. Jesse Jackson.
Comments
Kanye West followed Ted Nugent's footsteps and met with Trump in the oval office for a bizarre meeting full of rantings and a 10 minute speech from Kanye.
The MAGA crowd apparently loved it and then went back to saying Taylor Swift should stay out of politics and stick to music.
And this Administration specifically?? They put Jared in charge. The President's incompetent son-in-law:
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/10/us/politics/jamal-khashoggi-disappearance-kushner.html
Watch as this all comes apart at the seams just like everything else.
Here's an article with a bit of background to the issue of voter purging.
The last day to register was 3 days ago. I have been watching my voter registration status like a hawk every couple of days, and I am going to continue to do so until the date of the election. If my registration status, which has been valid for, uh, 4-6 years changes, I am going to be pitching a fit.
I do not trust Republicans for anything, given how supposedly competitive this election will be.
https://theintercept.com/2018/10/11/adelanto-ice-detention-center-abuse/
The Budget is Ballooning
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-09-13/u-s-budget-deficit-swells-to-898-billion-topping-forecast
The Stock market has big problems
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/stock-market-carnage-has-slashed-almost-1600-points-from-the-dow-in-a-week-2018-10-11
Why Khashoggi's disappearance underscores the danger in Trump's Rhetoric
But all is not lost...
https://www.theonion.com/report-students-who-take-latin-have-better-chance-of-s-1829686631
(a little humor here)
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Khashoggi was not a United States citizen and so from that point of view what happened to him is not our problem. He *chose* to go to that embassy when he probably should have known better--had he stayed in Virginia he would still be alive. On the other hand, @jjstraka34 is correct--we are too cozy with Saudi Arabia. We may view them as "an essential ally in that region" but they view us as "a useful tool for dealing with our regional enemies".
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The stock markets. *pfft* That isn't news, just a market correction based on the Fed slightly raising the base interest rate in an attempt to ward off any inflationary pressure. 95% of the time market performance has absolutely *nothing* to do with a President whatsoever.
This links in with the recent discussion about the extent to which opinions and actions matter. In a free democracy the availability of information is important. Controlling the flow of information is a high priority for authoritarian regimes and that's one reason why Trump's continuing attacks on the free press is of concern - his downplaying of the disappearance of a prominent columnist for a US newspaper is another signal about the low priority the current administration gives to a free press. I don't think the appropriate reaction to that is to pretend it isn't happening or to wait and hope that things will revert to 'normal' eventually.
It would also sound hypocritical for Trump to say the press is the enemy and then condemn a country for treating them like one.
I am actually surprised this is getting as much coverage as it is. Check the link below for a list of murdered journalist around the world for just this year:
https://cpj.org/data/killed/2018/?status=Killed&motiveConfirmed[]=Confirmed&motiveUnconfirmed[]=Unconfirmed&type[]=Journalist&start_year=2018&end_year=2018&group_by=location
https://www.businessinsider.com/jared-kushner-real-estate-100-million-investment-saud-uae-2018-5
In Texas, naturally. And the College is a black College that Texans don't want to allow to vote.
https://www.newsweek.com/arizona-republicans-pose-communists-make-illegal-donation-democrat-1166911?amp=1
http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/nyc-crime/ny-metro-brooklyn-judge-wont-dismiss-rent-stabilization-lawsuit-kushner-20181011-story.html
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/oct/12/trump-administration-plans-crackdown-on-protests-outside-white-house
I guess the only admendment that the Republicans in office care about is the second.
Donald Trump Is a Criminal Tax Cheat
https://www.thenation.com/article/donald-trump-is-a-criminal-tax-cheat/
He was fired as executive of his dad's will because he tried to pressure his dying father into just signing everything over to him.
He and his siblings concocted a scheme to form a shell company where they laundered his father's money by overcharging and padding bills in order to avoid paying estate taxes. Example: By purchasing a radiator for $10k then charging dad $20k they kept 10k profit tax free. They did this for years for many buildings.
"I started with a small loan of a million dollars" <- another Trump lie back when we maybe didn't realize he lied everytime he opens his mouth.
Top Ten of Donald Trumps' Businesses that Completely Failed
10 of the Stupidest Things Donald Trump Ever Said
Dear Republican Voters: Stop Blaming the Left. You're Trash. Own It
https://thedailybanter.com/2018/10/09/republican-voters-are-trash/
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/12/us/politics/border-agency-employees-arrested.html?smid=tw-nytimes&smtyp=cur
It's not a direct comparison, since one is number of persons arrested out of the total population, and the other is number of arrests per person (some people will have been arrested multiple times), but it looks like the rate of arrests is considerably lower among the Border Patrol than in the general population.
Shouldn't the bare minimum for people working in law enforcement be that they are "arrested less than the general population"?? I think we also know for a certainty that if 500 or so were arrested, many more have been engaging in similar behavior and simply haven't been caught yet.
I don't know how much lower it's normal for crime rates to be in law enforcement compared to the general population, but it's not obvious to me that a very rough difference (again, this is not a direct one-to-one comparison, so let me know if we have a more direct one) of 0.83% per 2 years and 3% per 1 year, or an annual 0.4% for the Border Patrol to 3% for the population, is that scandalous.
Put the microscope to any large organization and you will always find similar numbers. People are human and everyone makes mistakes time from time. Painting a whole group of people for those mistakes is unfair to everyone else.
From the exact same article.
The article also said that they were charged, not convicted. Innocent until proven guilty and all that.
Serious charges would probably equal leave with pay while the charges are being investigated or before the courts.
https://medium.com/@SenSanders/building-a-global-democratic-movement-to-counter-authoritarianism-46832e3beef6
OCTOBER 12, 2018
Greg Palast
We have the Illinois voter purge list. Are you on it?
The list contains a staggering 550,000 names, and was obtained after a formal complaint and notice of a federal lawsuit was filed by Greg Palast and Rev. Jesse Jackson.
https://www.gregpalast.com/illinois-voter-purge-list/