Political Randomness

[Kraken]

Seems like a good place to mention Copperhead. I didn't like Gods & Generals, but I'll give the guy another chance.

[LordMortis]

Need to vent against the insanity of the governor, in which he makes me long for the insanity of Grandholm.

How can selling off the art of the DIA possibly be on the table when it was only a year ago that residents of Oakland and Wayne counties voted overwhelmingly to raise our own property taxes to keep the DIA funded for the next ten years.

So Snyder and Orr's response? "Well, if you won't let us shut the DIA down, maybe we can at least examine selling off all of the art inside." They are truly in sane.

http://www.freep.com/article/20130523/N ... ruptcy-art" target="_blank

http://www.democracy-tree.com/detroit-e ... ankruptcy/" target="_blank

Annmarie Erickson, Executive Vice President of the Institute told the Detroit Free Press “We are standing by our contention and belief that we hold the collection in trust for the public. And although to some it may seem to be an asset, we do not.” However, Bill Nowling, spokesperson for Orr, believes that the art may indeed be a city-owned asset, and cautioning that they currently have no intention of liquidating the collection, went on to assert it may be within their authority to do so. He was quoted saying “We have to look at everything on the table. As much as it would pain us to do it, and it does, I’m a great lover of art and so is Kevyn, we’ve got a responsibility to rationalize all the assets of the city and find out what the worth is and what the city holds.”

I don't even want to know how Snyder can make things worse any more. He's actually managing to strong arm me into "anyone by Snyder" next election after I simply couldn't vote for a governor at all last election.

[McBa1n]

Need to vent against the insanity of the governor, in which he makes me long for the insanity of Grandholm.

How can selling off the art of the DIA possibly be on the table when it was only a year ago that residents of Oakland and Wayne counties voted overwhelmingly to raise our own property taxes to keep the DIA funded for the next ten years.

So Snyder and Orr's response? "Well, if you won't let us shut the DIA down, maybe we can at least examine selling off all of the art inside." They are truly in sane.

http://www.freep.com/article/20130523/N ... ruptcy-art" target="_blank

http://www.democracy-tree.com/detroit-e ... ankruptcy/" target="_blank

Annmarie Erickson, Executive Vice President of the Institute told the Detroit Free Press “We are standing by our contention and belief that we hold the collection in trust for the public. And although to some it may seem to be an asset, we do not.” However, Bill Nowling, spokesperson for Orr, believes that the art may indeed be a city-owned asset, and cautioning that they currently have no intention of liquidating the collection, went on to assert it may be within their authority to do so. He was quoted saying “We have to look at everything on the table. As much as it would pain us to do it, and it does, I’m a great lover of art and so is Kevyn, we’ve got a responsibility to rationalize all the assets of the city and find out what the worth is and what the city holds.”

I don't even want to know how Snyder can make things worse any more. He's actually managing to strong arm me into "anyone by Snyder" next election after I simply couldn't vote for a governor at all last election.

Wow, that's a wrinkle in this story I didn't hear about when reading about it earlier today. That makes the prospect of selling off the artwork far worse. I understand Detroit is proper f'd, but I don't care for this solution at all. You know if the art gets auctioned off, it will fall into private hands and never be able to be seen by the public. That's the real crime. But dang, jacking property taxes to fund the DIA and then selling everything off? Can those property owners get a rebate? Haha sheesh.

Hopefully people will come to their senses and it won't happen - because the estimated value of the collection is probably not going to come anywhere near that number at auction. Auction houses dealing in premium items take a really large chunk, unless they are the type that tacks their fees onto the buyer.

[dbt1949]

You know how strange I feel being a "patriot" and not being a right wing conservative.
Or am I illegal?

[Exodor]

We won't have Crazy Eyes to kick around anymore - Michelle Bachmann decides not to run for re-election

But we'll always have plenty of crazy to look back on




Hopefully this is the end of her political career.

[hepcat]

She's decided to spend more time working with poor unfortunates...which to her and her husband means teh gays.

[McBa1n]

We won't have Crazy Eyes to kick around anymore - Michelle Bachmann decides not to run for re-election

But we'll always have plenty of crazy to look back on




Hopefully this is the end of her political career.

What a downer. I'll never forget the first time I saw her give an interview. I was wondering if I lived on a different planet or was taking all the wrong drugs or both. Needless to say, it disturbed me.
The good thing is, I'd bet she'll end up in the public eye somehow - so potential comedic material isn't necessarily gone. If she had her own talk show or something - I figure satirists would have way more to work with now than they did while she served in congress.

[Kraken]

She was a colorful villain, but Congress has plenty more.

[stessier]

We won't have Crazy Eyes to kick around anymore

The good thing is, I'd bet she'll end up in the public eye somehow -

I see what you did there.

[Rip]

She's decided to spend more time working with poor unfortunates...which to her and her husband means teh gays.

I think you mean working on.

[Pyperkub]

Thought about making this a separate topic, but I don't have the energy to really write it up. I was thinking about Sandy Hook vis a vis Boston, and I'm coming more and more to the conclusion that we should be treating Religious extremism as a form of Mental Illness.

[hepcat]

To be fair, any form of extremism is unhealthy.

[LordMortis]

The AP thing never got it's own thread, so this has no home.

http://news.yahoo.com/top-obama-appoint ... 30956.html" target="_blank

WASHINGTON (AP) — Some of President Barack Obama's political appointees are using secret government email accounts to conduct official business, The Associated Press found, a practice that complicates agencies' legal responsibilities to find and turn over emails under public records requests and congressional inquiries.

Carney said all their email accounts, public and otherwise, were subject to congressional oversight and requests by citizens under the U.S. Freedom of Information Act.

"There's nothing secret," Carney said.

The AP reviewed hundreds of pages of government emails released under the federal open records law and couldn't independently find instances when material from any of the secret accounts it identified was turned over. Congressional oversight committees told the AP they were unfamiliar with the few nonpublic government addresses that AP identified so far, including one for Secretary Kathleen Sebelius of the Health and Human Services Department.

Ten agencies have not yet turned over lists of email addresses, including the Environmental Protection Agency and the departments of Defense, Veterans Affairs, Transportation, Treasury, Justice, Housing and Urban Development, Homeland Security, Commerce and Agriculture. All have said they are working on a response to the AP.

Carney would not say whether White House officials also use secret accounts, noting that the president's staff, like Congress, is exempt from turning over materials under the open records law. But Carney said that early in his tenure as press secretary, after his email address had been announced publicly, Carney changed his address to avoid being inundated by emails and spam.

"That's a very reasonable thing to do," Carney said.

Most transparent administration. Ever.

I'm thinking DoJ attack on the the AP is really going to hurt this administration for anyone who actually reads news feeds any more. If congressional republicans were smart, they'd sit this out. They taint the news every time they try and raise a banner.

[Zarathud]

AP goes on fishing expedition, thinks it has a few gotchas that can't be confirmed, then cranks up the OUTRAGE before the government responds? Someone has an axe to grind and papers to sell.

[LordMortis]

I don't care if your cause is in the right, I like way she handled it.

http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/06 ... aiser?lite" target="_blank

Obama told the woman that people gathered in the backyard tent could "listen to me or you can take the mic, but I'm leaving,” before telling the crowd, “You all decide. You have one choice.”

[Unagi]

I don't care if your cause is in the right, I like way she handled it.

http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/06 ... aiser?lite" target="_blank

Obama told the woman that people gathered in the backyard tent could "listen to me or you can take the mic, but I'm leaving,” before telling the crowd, “You all decide. You have one choice.”

Sturtz told The Washington Post that she was surprised by the first lady's actions.

“She came right down in my face,” Sturtz said. “I was taken aback.”

somebody isn't very self-aware.

[Enough]

Wow, this one just pegs my outrage meter to 11. Go flippin' TX.

An Ezekiel Gilbert was acquitted of murder after shooting and killing a Craig's List escort who wouldn't put out after he paid her fee. He was able to go free under TX law that permits deadly force during a nighttime theft, i.e. in the case the $150 he paid the escort since she refused to have sex with Gilbert. This is truly one of the most disgusting verdicts I've seen recently, wow.

[Isgrimnur]

Yeah, I don't think this is going to quite hold up in court like you think it will:

Among about a dozen bills signed Wednesday by Gov. Rick Scott was the “bong ban” bill (HB 49), which prohibits the sale of metal, wooden, acrylic, glass, stone, plastic, or ceramic smoking pipes, chillums or bongs. The bill allowed pipes to continue to be sold that are primarily made of briar, meerschaum, clay or corn cob, which are typically used to smoke tobacco.

The bill’s sponsor, Rep. Darryl Rouson has said the bill wouldn’t eradicate pot smoking, but “we’re going to stop making it convenient.”

[WPD]

Wow, this one just pegs my outrage meter to 11. Go flippin' TX.

An Ezekiel Gilbert was acquitted of murder after shooting and killing a Craig's List escort who wouldn't put out after he paid her fee. He was able to go free under TX law that permits deadly force during a nighttime theft, i.e. in the case the $150 he paid the escort since she refused to have sex with Gilbert. This is truly one of the most disgusting verdicts I've seen recently, wow.

So prostitution is legal in Texas?

[Enough]

Wow, this one just pegs my outrage meter to 11. Go flippin' TX.

An Ezekiel Gilbert was acquitted of murder after shooting and killing a Craig's List escort who wouldn't put out after he paid her fee. He was able to go free under TX law that permits deadly force during a nighttime theft, i.e. in the case the $150 he paid the escort since she refused to have sex with Gilbert. This is truly one of the most disgusting verdicts I've seen recently, wow.

So prostitution is legal in Texas?

Nope, but killing escorts apparently is. Open season!

[WPD]

Wow, this one just pegs my outrage meter to 11. Go flippin' TX.

An Ezekiel Gilbert was acquitted of murder after shooting and killing a Craig's List escort who wouldn't put out after he paid her fee. He was able to go free under TX law that permits deadly force during a nighttime theft, i.e. in the case the $150 he paid the escort since she refused to have sex with Gilbert. This is truly one of the most disgusting verdicts I've seen recently, wow.

So prostitution is legal in Texas?

Nope, but killing escorts apparently is. Open season!

No pokey, no pokey would be a good rebranding of the law.

[silverjon]

Nope, but killing escorts apparently is. Open season!

So, I've been giving this a think, and I get more disturbed.

Wanna leave because he's giving you a violent creep vibe? Even if you give back the money, he can kill you anyway, and claim you were robbing him. Who's going to question it? No witnesses. Yay!

Terrible precedent.

[hepcat]

That is an egregious abuse of the law, imho. It actually makes me angry thinking about it too. My first guess is that the justices involved in that case are misogynistic sociopaths just bending the letter of the law to their personal prejudices.

I'm not a fan of Anonymous, but I wouldn't have any trouble with them making those involved in that travesty regret the day they made this unjust decision.

[noxiousdog]

That is an egregious abuse of the law, imho. It actually makes me angry thinking about it too. My first guess is that the justices involved in that case are misogynistic sociopaths just bending the letter of the law to their personal prejudices.

I'm not a fan of Anonymous, but I wouldn't have any trouble with them making those involved in that travesty regret the day they made this unjust decision.

The jury acquitted. Not judges.

This is just another reason why vices shouldn't be illegal; they should be regulated.

[hepcat]

Sorry, a misuse on my part of the word "justices".

The message this case sends out to the public is chilling.

[Isgrimnur]

I've been conscious for 20 minutes. The highlight of my day so far is seeing that Marc Randazza has liked my comment on a Popehat FB post.

[Exodor]

How is it that I have never heard about the Annual Congressional Baseball Game before today?



Submitted without comment.

[Rip]

Must be steroids knocking those hormones out of whack since that is what makes a hormonally balanced conservative become a liberal.

http://www.motherjones.com/politics/201 ... l-opinions

But to draw a seamless connection between a person's genes and his or her political orientation poses a formidable scientific challenge. What's more, there's a crucial biological step that, thus far, has been largely missing. Genes, after all, are simply the code or template that our cells use to make proteins. So what are those proteins doing in the body to create political leanings?

Today's political psychologists and biologists are honing in on a possible answer: Genetic differences may influence the body's production of hormones (such as testosterone) and neurotransmitters (such as dopamine). These chemical messengers flow through the bloodstream and in between nerve cells, shaping our patterns of attention, response, emotions, and much else. Such patterns, the thinking goes, then come together to create our values and personalities; and these, along with input from our surroundings, impel our political ideologies and behaviors.

Man up and get conservative already!

[Holman]

How is it that I have never heard about the Annual Congressional Baseball Game before today?



Submitted without comment.

Nate Silver comes full circle.

[Pyperkub]

Uh, dude... red beans & rice ain't vegetables...

[silverjon]

I think what he's suggesting is that vegetables would have been cheaper than prepared red beans and rice.

Looking over his entire purchase, he's got a lot of junk food/empty calorie items and a lot of carbs. He's gone for beans and peanut butter for protein, which is economical, but pretty much no significant sources of vitamins and minerals.

This is food that will fill your belly and keep you alive, not food that will keep you particularly fit and healthy.

Edit, from comments:

Fat. Where I live, most of the Stampers, SNAPpers and EBTers are fat. Many morbidly obese. And, out here in the fields, population is too sparse to support any public transport or bus routes, so instead of bus vouchers, the SNAPpers get dependable used cars from we taxpayers. Hell, we prob'ly give 'em a gas allowance, too.

I shed no tears for the free eaters.

Well Jesus fuck, eating garbage like Stockman bought day in and day out will make you fat. (oh god get out of the comments, someone is blaming the Jews nooooooooooo.......)

[Kraken]

Yeah, there's a big difference between filling and nutritious. In college I was able to keep my belly full for $11 per week on the potatoes & popcorn diet for a few months before I qualified for food stamps.

[Isgrimnur]

Stay classy, Rick Perry:

Public Integrity Unit de-funded:

Funding for state’s Public Integrity Unit disappeared last week with a wave of Gov. Rick Perry’s hand. Now, some say the only way the unit can survive is if Travis County picks up the $3.5 million yearly tab.

Perry used a line-item veto to kill funding for the unit, housed in Travis County and the prime investigator of corruption by public officials and fraud. State funding for the unit will cease August 31 and not be renewed for at least another two years.

The unit’s jurisdiction is statewide, meaning it has the authority to investigate certain cases in other counties. More than half of its pending cases, 280 out of 400, have a Travis County connection. It currently has 34 employees.

Not learning anything from the West plant explosion, Perry goes to try and poach NY businesses with deregulation rhetoric.

[Isgrimnur]

Exodus International, the country's largest "gay-fixing" ministry, shuts itself down:

Exodus International announced in a statement Wednesday that its board of directors voted unanimously to close down "after a year of dialogue and prayer about the organization's place in a changing culture." The Orlando-based ministry says it opened in 1976 and boasts member agencies around the world.

"Exodus is an institution in the conservative Christian world, but we've ceased to be a living, breathing organism," Exodus President Alan Chambers said in the statement. "For quite some time we've been imprisoned in a worldview that's neither honoring toward our fellow human beings, nor biblical."

The announcement was posted to the ministry's website after Chambers posted an open apology to the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community earlier in the day.

"It is strange to be someone who has both been hurt by the church's treatment of the LGBT community, and also to be someone who must apologize for being part of the very system of ignorance that perpetuated that hurt," said Chambers. "Today it is as if I've just woken up to a greater sense of how painful it is to be a sinner in the hands of an angry church."
...
But, in his apology Wednesday, Chambers said he "conveniently omitted my ongoing same-sex attractions.

"I was afraid to share them as readily and easily as I do today," he said. "They brought me tremendous shame and I hid them in the hopes they would go away. ... The days of feeling shame over being human in that way are long over, and I feel free simply accepting myself as my wife and family does."

Saying he was "deeply sorry" to the LGBT community, Chambers said he understood "why I am distrusted and why Exodus is hated." However, he also said that he wouldn't apologize for his personal beliefs against same-sex intercourse and same-sex marriage.

[Fireball]

Exodus International, the country's largest "gay-fixing" ministry, shuts itself down:

Exodus International announced in a statement Wednesday that its board of directors voted unanimously to close down "after a year of dialogue and prayer about the organization's place in a changing culture." The Orlando-based ministry says it opened in 1976 and boasts member agencies around the world.

"Exodus is an institution in the conservative Christian world, but we've ceased to be a living, breathing organism," Exodus President Alan Chambers said in the statement. "For quite some time we've been imprisoned in a worldview that's neither honoring toward our fellow human beings, nor biblical."

The announcement was posted to the ministry's website after Chambers posted an open apology to the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community earlier in the day.

"It is strange to be someone who has both been hurt by the church's treatment of the LGBT community, and also to be someone who must apologize for being part of the very system of ignorance that perpetuated that hurt," said Chambers. "Today it is as if I've just woken up to a greater sense of how painful it is to be a sinner in the hands of an angry church."
...
But, in his apology Wednesday, Chambers said he "conveniently omitted my ongoing same-sex attractions.

"I was afraid to share them as readily and easily as I do today," he said. "They brought me tremendous shame and I hid them in the hopes they would go away. ... The days of feeling shame over being human in that way are long over, and I feel free simply accepting myself as my wife and family does."

Saying he was "deeply sorry" to the LGBT community, Chambers said he understood "why I am distrusted and why Exodus is hated." However, he also said that he wouldn't apologize for his personal beliefs against same-sex intercourse and same-sex marriage.

Good riddance. Apology not accepted.

[hepcat]

Saw that a little bit ago. I'm glad to see that they won't be around to psychologically ruin teenagers and adults anymore.

...although I would've been interested to see how they would've handled someone like my brother, who's supremely confidant and assured that his choice in lifestyles is perfectly fine:

Exodus "counselor" Bob: You CAN change, you just have to WANT to change!

Mattie: So could you...but I gotta tell ya, you dress like shit. You're never gonna land a man lookin' like an IBM salesman from the 60's.

[Smoove_B]

I was rather surprised to read that NJ officially banned the practice on children a few weeks ago, mostly because I would not have thought anyone was attempting to convert children in NJ.

[Rip]

So the market nose dives on the mere thought that QE may come to an end at some undetermined future date?

What does that say about the state of the economy absent the inflationary practice?

Rough(er) times ahead I suspect.

[stessier]

Why do you think the market's one day reaction is symbolic of the state of the economy?

[noxiousdog]

So the market nose dives on the mere thought that QE may come to an end at some undetermined future date?

What does that say about the state of the economy absent the inflationary practice?

Rough(er) times ahead I suspect.

Nothing really. It just means borrowing will be more expensive so profits will be smaller so the companies aren't worth as much as they were yesterday.