Political Randomness

[Kraken]

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/ven ... spartandhp

I'm not sure of my opinion on this but it's news worthy.

Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro called on his nation's military leaders Tuesday to prepare for war against the U.S. days after the Trump administration banned Venezuelan officials from entering the nation.

"We have been shamelessly threatened by the most criminal empire that ever existed and we have the obligation to prepare ourselves to guarantee peace," said Maduro, who wore a green uniform and a military hat as he spoke with his army top brass during a military exercise involving tanks and missiles. "We need to have rifles, missiles and well-oiled tanks at the ready....to defend every inch of the territory if needs be," he added.

The Trump administration has taken a hard stance against Maduro's regime by banning money lending to Venezuela's government or its state oil company PDVSA, and passing sanctions against Maduro and his top officials.

"The most criminal empire that ever existed" is flattering, but Trump has not yet surpassed master Putin.

[Holman]

Charlie Daniels weighs in on NFL protests:

link

[stessier]

538 has a new podcast coming.

[Moliere]

Republican Senate Candidate Austin Petersen Has His Personal Facebook Page Suspended

In that email interview today, Petersen writes that "I was signed out of Facebook on all my devices [last week], and when I signed back in, I received a message saying that my livestream had been the cause of me being banned for 30 days. This was a livestream done on my professional public facing account (Austin Petersen), but it was my personal account (Austin Wade) that got the ban."

The livestream in question was promoting a raffle giveaway of an AR-15 rifle. Fox News in reporting on Petersen's ban today thinks it found in Facebook's posted "community standards" a reason: "The purchase, sale or trade of firearms, ammunition and explosives between private individuals isn't allowed on Facebook." (Fox was not able to get Facebook to speak directly about the matter.)

Petersen says that in communication with Hines Digital, a company that helps his campaign with digital strategies, a Facebook official verbally insisted that there was not an inherent problem with giving away that gun, but hinted that an automatic AI may have interpreted a video about a gun as something potentially dangerous and worth immediate takedown. The "automatic" story might not hold water, Petersen says, since "the AI they state takes down videos almost instantaneously, while my video wasn't taken down until 24 hours after it was created."
...
Petersen wonders aloud in his open letter to Zuckerberg about the propriety of seemingly arbitrary clampdowns on a political candidate, especially considering that the company's Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg has donated "the maximum allowable amount to my opponent" (incumbent Democrat Claire McCaskill).

[Pyperkub]

Republican Senate Candidate Austin Petersen Has His Personal Facebook Page Suspended

In that email interview today, Petersen writes that "I was signed out of Facebook on all my devices [last week], and when I signed back in, I received a message saying that my livestream had been the cause of me being banned for 30 days. This was a livestream done on my professional public facing account (Austin Petersen), but it was my personal account (Austin Wade) that got the ban."

The livestream in question was promoting a raffle giveaway of an AR-15 rifle. Fox News in reporting on Petersen's ban today thinks it found in Facebook's posted "community standards" a reason: "The purchase, sale or trade of firearms, ammunition and explosives between private individuals isn't allowed on Facebook." (Fox was not able to get Facebook to speak directly about the matter.)

Petersen says that in communication with Hines Digital, a company that helps his campaign with digital strategies, a Facebook official verbally insisted that there was not an inherent problem with giving away that gun, but hinted that an automatic AI may have interpreted a video about a gun as something potentially dangerous and worth immediate takedown. The "automatic" story might not hold water, Petersen says, since "the AI they state takes down videos almost instantaneously, while my video wasn't taken down until 24 hours after it was created."
...
Petersen wonders aloud in his open letter to Zuckerberg about the propriety of seemingly arbitrary clampdowns on a political candidate, especially considering that the company's Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg has donated "the maximum allowable amount to my opponent" (incumbent Democrat Claire McCaskill).

Except that doofus is full of it. Facebook is very clear about not hawking guns, there's nothing arbitrary about it.

[Moliere]

Librarian: we don't want your racist propaganda.

Now let's watch Michelle Obama read some of that racist literature.

[Max Peck]

I'll see your Cat in the Hat and raise you one Thomas the Tank Engine.

The Repressive, Authoritarian Soul of “Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends”

When I was a child, I could spend all day at Shining Time Station, the fictive train depot with its own eponymous TV show, where Thomas the Tank Engine and all his plate-faced locomotive friends worked and lived. To my undeveloped brain, each episode seemed like a beautiful daydream, in which an orderly, magical, trance-inducing universe ticked on under bluebird skies. For company, there was the Conductor, voiced first by Ringo Starr and later by George Carlin, and then the trains: gentle blue Edward, moody green Henry, big strong Gordon, little red James, and, of course, Thomas, with his pointed eyebrows and perpetual smile. The show, which included segments that had first aired on a British show called “Thomas & Friends,” began airing on PBS in 1989, and each episode opened with a Joe Cocker-ish theme song: “Reach for the steam, reach for the whistle, go where the railway runs/ Reach for the words, reach for the story, follow the rainbow sun.” I would hum along. How could I possibly have imagined that, decades later, I would get lost in obscure corners of the Internet where people interpret the show—at length—as a depiction of a premodern corporate-totalitarian dystopia?

[El Guapo]

I mean, those trains are clearly intelligent, and I have seen no indication on the show that they are being compensated or have any alternative to following Sir Topham Hatt's orders.

[Rip]

Librarian: we don't want your racist propaganda.

Now let's watch Michelle Obama read some of that racist literature.

What I don't get is if she thinks Dr. Suess is racist how do you explain this?

[Moliere]

What I don't get is if she thinks Dr. Suess is racist how do you explain this?

Well, let me explain the current modern political situation to you. Trump is now President so everything he or his wife does is based on their racist, misogynist, immigrant hating views. Therefore, it was ok for Michelle Obama to read and promote Dr. Seuss, but when Melania does the exact same thing it is now racist propaganda that cannot be tolerated. Think of the children!

[Remus West]

What I don't get is if she thinks Dr. Suess is racist how do you explain this?

Well, let me explain the current modern political situation to you. Trump is now President so everything he or his wife does is based on their racist, misogynist, immigrant hating views. Therefore, it was ok for Michelle Obama to read and promote Dr. Seuss, but when Melania does the exact same thing it is now racist propaganda that cannot be tolerated. Think of the children!

Trump is a misogynist, racist, immigrant hating asshat but giving books to schools shouldn't be viewed in that lens. Where the Librarian lost me was in objecting to the author of the books. She had a VERY valid point asking why give the books to the schools that were doing extremely well already instead of those that need them the most but it was completely ruined by her hatred of Seuss.

[El Guapo]

This here is the very definition of the phrase "small potatoes".

[Remus West]

This here is the very definition of the phrase "small potatoes".

Sure, but it is also emblematic of the entire Trump administration. The well to do get more while those in need get none.

[El Guapo]

This here is the very definition of the phrase "small potatoes".

Sure, but it is also emblematic of the entire Trump administration. The well to do get more while those in need get none.

Sure, but I'm not sure that the Trump Administration really stands out in this respect. Plenty of people donate to well-to-do charitable causes (for example, Stanford University) rather than needier causes. At the end of the day, this is 10 Dr. Seuss books and an unhappy librarian.

[Skinypupy]

What I don't get is if she thinks Dr. Suess is racist how do you explain this?

Well, let me explain the current modern political situation to you. Trump is now President so everything he or his wife does is based on their racist, misogynist, immigrant hating views. Therefore, it was ok for Michelle Obama to read and promote Dr. Seuss, but when Melania does the exact same thing it is now racist propaganda that cannot be tolerated. Think of the children!

Because, as we all know, this one random librarian voices the collective opinion of every single American who is against Trump.

[Paingod]

At this point, I'd wager that a lot of people - some librarians included - are so disgusted with the administration that they'll rail against anything he does. He could bring puppies to the White House to give away to parapalegic Mexican orphans, and people would spit on him for it. It's because of who he is, not what he does. They assume (know) that it's a sham, scam, gimmick, prank, or lie. His wife gets wrapped up with him, so when she copies the other First Ladies, she's a villain.

[Max Peck]

What I don't get is if she thinks Dr. Suess is racist how do you explain this?

Well, let me mansplain the current modern political situation to you. Trump is now President so everything he or his wife does is based on their racist, misogynist, immigrant hating views. Therefore, it was ok for Michelle Obama to read and promote Dr. Seuss, but when Melania does the exact same thing it is now racist propaganda that cannot be tolerated. Think of the children!

FTFY

Anyway, you're right, it's ridiculous to accuse Melania Trump of being a misogynist. And how can anyone truthfully assert that Donald Trump hates immigrants when he's married so many of them?

[Moliere]

At this point, I'd wager that a lot of people - some librarians included - are so disgusted with the administration that they'll rail against anything he does. He could bring puppies to the White House to give away to parapalegic Mexican orphans, and people would spit on him for it. It's because of who he is, not what he does. They assume (know) that it's a sham, scam, gimmick, prank, or lie. His wife gets wrapped up with him, so when she copies the other First Ladies, she's a villain.

Reminds me of this little nugget about Trump exploiting children to get cheap labor for mowing the lawn.

[GreenGoo]

Librarian: we don't want your racist propaganda.

Now let's watch Michelle Obama read some of that racist literature.

That's weird. I read an article earlier today and there was no mention of "racist" anything. She did mention that Dr. Seuss was somewhat passé and there are more modern children's books that might be of use.

Shrug.

[pr0ner]

Yeah, this whole paragraph is hyperliberalism in 2017 run amok.

Another fact that many people are unaware of is that Dr. Seuss’s illustrations are steeped in racist propaganda, caricatures, and harmful stereotypes. Open one of his books (If I Ran a Zoo or And to Think That I Saw It On Mulberry Street, for example), and you’ll see the racist mockery in his art. Grace Hwang Lynch’s School Library Journal article, “Is the Cat in the Hat Racist? Read Across America Shifts Away from Dr. Seuss and Toward Diverse Books,” reports on Katie Ishizuka’s work analyzing the minstrel characteristics and trope nature of Seuss’s characters. Scholar Philip Nel’s new book, Was the Cat in the Hat Black? The Hidden Racism of Children’s Literature, and the Need for Diverse Books, further explores and shines a spotlight on the systemic racism and oppression in education and literature.

[GreenGoo]

I think the lesson here is to make sure people you're giving things to actually want those things.

I think the librarian's response is a bit much, but I'm not a graduate degree librarian.

It's not like 10 dr. Seuss books are much of a gift, so, who cares. I mean, I've donated more than that the my kid's school library and no one rushed to give me a handjob. They are books, which are great, don't get me wrong. It's just that...it's hard to imagine any school library being significantly impacted by such a small donation.

Is it supposed to be symbolic of something?

[Moliere]

I think the lesson here is to make sure people you're giving things to actually want those things.

I think the librarian's response is a bit much, but I'm not a graduate degree librarian.

It's not like 10 dr. Seuss books are much of a gift, so, who cares. I mean, I've donated more than that the my kid's school library and no one rushed to give me a handjob. They are books, which are great, don't get me wrong. It's just that...it's hard to imagine any school library being significantly impacted by such a small donation.

Is it supposed to be symbolic of something?

I agree that there are legit other issues with this story: giving 10 books to a well to do library is a little silly and pointless. Like a lot of political gestures it probably is not meant to accomplish anything other than a photo-op. At the same time, that doesn't mean the receiving librarian needs to use this as an opportunity to try and shame the FLOTUS.

[GreenGoo]

I have a few family members that are ruder than the librarian when receiving a gift they don't want.

Melania will live.

[ImLawBoy]

I have a few family members that are ruder than the librarian when receiving a gift they don't want.

Melania will live.

And the librarian will probably live even after receiving this deserved criticism.

[Alefroth]

Well, let me explain the current modern political situation to you. Trump is now President so everything he or his wife does is based on their racist, misogynist, immigrant hating views. Therefore, it was ok for Michelle Obama to read and promote Dr. Seuss, but when Melania does the exact same thing it is now racist propaganda that cannot be tolerated. Think of the children!

Yeah, Michelle Obama was never unfairly criticized.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gSk4leN9pOY
Michelle a tranny?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H03chvYw0V4

Your veneer of impartiality is getting thin.

[GreenGoo]

I have a few family members that are ruder than the librarian when receiving a gift they don't want.

Melania will live.

And the librarian will probably live even after receiving this deserved criticism.

Shrug. Who cares about a random librarian who thinks highly of herself.

It's a bunch of drama with no substance. Perfect headline fodder I guess.

[Max Peck]

I have a few family members that are ruder than the librarian when receiving a gift they don't want.

Melania will live.

And the librarian will probably live even after receiving this deserved criticism.

Shrug. Who cares about a random librarian who thinks highly of herself.

I do. I like librarians, so I hope she lives.

And it's been a great distraction from the White House's (non)handling of the Puerto Rican disaster response, so if there is any justice left in the world Trump should care too. I mean, he can't expect the NFL to do all the heavy lifting this week.

[GreenGoo]

Librarian writes an overly pretentious and potentially dubious rejection letter for 10 Dr. Seuss books, for a poorly-thought out reading promo from the first lady.

I get that you care what happens to the Librarian after the fact, but the entire thing is pure chaff.

[Max Peck]

There's no accounting for what's news worthy, I guess.

Well, you got your news-worthy stuff and you got your news-covered stuff. They aren't always the same things. For a propagandist, that's a feature rather than a bug.

[GreenGoo]

There's no accounting for what's news worthy, I guess.

Well, you got your news-worthy stuff and you got your news-covered stuff. They aren't always the same things. For a propagandist, that's a feature rather than a bug.

It's the worst of reality tv. What will Melania do next?! WIll the Librarian keep her job?! Tune in tomorrow!

[Max Peck]

In non-Seussgate-related news that doesn't seem to be getting much coverage yet: US Senators Push to Exempt Puerto Rico from Jones Act

US Senators John McCain and Mike Lee have introduced legislation that would permanently exempt Puerto Rico from the Jones Act to aid recovery efforts in the wake of Hurricane Maria and encourage long-term economic growth.

While the Trump administration granted a 10-day Jones Act waiver for Puerto Rico on September 28, the senators’ legislation, introduced the same day, would provide Puerto Rico with “the permanent, sustainable relief it needs to rebuild.”

“While I welcome the Trump administration’s Jones Act waiver for Puerto Rico, this short-term, 10-day exemption is insufficient to help the people of Puerto Rico recover and rebuild from Hurricane Maria,” Senator McCain said.

“Our legislation would permanently exempt Puerto Rico from the Jones Act, an antiquated, protectionist law that has driven up costs and crippled Puerto Rico’s economy. For years, I have fought to fully repeal the Jones Act, which has long outlived its purpose to the benefit of special interests. It’s time for Congress to take action, end this injustice, and help our fellow citizens in this time of need.”

The Jones Act requires that all goods shipped between waterborne ports of the United States be carried by vessels built in the US and owned and operated by Americans. Shipping costs from the US mainland to Puerto Rico have been estimated to be twice as much as from neighboring foreign islands.

I had completely overlooked the fact that Trump's waiver was for only 10 days. I presume that was their best estimate for how long the Maria news cycle would last.

[Moliere]

Well, let me explain the current modern political situation to you. Trump is now President so everything he or his wife does is based on their racist, misogynist, immigrant hating views. Therefore, it was ok for Michelle Obama to read and promote Dr. Seuss, but when Melania does the exact same thing it is now racist propaganda that cannot be tolerated. Think of the children!

Yeah, Michelle Obama was never unfairly criticized.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gSk4leN9pOY
Michelle a tranny?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H03chvYw0V4

Your veneer of impartiality is getting thin.

Um, what are these? They have nothing to do with Michelle reading Dr. Seuss. I'm pretty sure I was talking about Melania being criticized for doing something Michelle did. Show me a clip of Michelle being criticized for reading Dr. Seuss and then you can talk about by veneer.

[Max Peck]

Well, let me explain the current modern political situation to you. Trump is now President so everything he or his wife does is based on their racist, misogynist, immigrant hating views. Therefore, it was ok for Michelle Obama to read and promote Dr. Seuss, but when Melania does the exact same thing it is now racist propaganda that cannot be tolerated. Think of the children!

Yeah, Michelle Obama was never unfairly criticized.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gSk4leN9pOY
Michelle a tranny?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H03chvYw0V4

Your veneer of impartiality is getting thin.

Um, what are these? They have nothing to do with Michelle reading Dr. Seuss. I'm pretty sure I was talking about Melania being criticized for doing something Michelle did. Show me a clip of Michelle being criticized for reading Dr. Seuss and then you can talk about by veneer.

Technically, reading a book to some children and shipping some books to a school library are not "the exact same thing." You hold yourself to the same standard as you set for your interlocutor.

Unless you're just trolling, of course.

[Rip]

Well, let me explain the current modern political situation to you. Trump is now President so everything he or his wife does is based on their racist, misogynist, immigrant hating views. Therefore, it was ok for Michelle Obama to read and promote Dr. Seuss, but when Melania does the exact same thing it is now racist propaganda that cannot be tolerated. Think of the children!

Yeah, Michelle Obama was never unfairly criticized.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gSk4leN9pOY
Michelle a tranny?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H03chvYw0V4

Your veneer of impartiality is getting thin.

Um, what are these? They have nothing to do with Michelle reading Dr. Seuss. I'm pretty sure I was talking about Melania being criticized for doing something Michelle did. Show me a clip of Michelle being criticized for reading Dr. Seuss and then you can talk about by veneer.

Technically, reading a book to some children and shipping some books to a school library are not "the exact same thing." You hold yourself to the same standard as you set for your interlocutor.

Unless you're just trolling, of course.

So your opinion is that had Melania went to read Dr. Seuss books instead of just send some the librarian in question would have leaped back into her Cat in The Hat costume with a smile?

[Rip]

Cambridge Public Schools says the librarian's editorial letter represented her opinions and was not an official statement on behalf of the school district.

The district says it has "counseled" Soeiro on its policies. It says her letter "was not a formal acceptance or rejection of donated books."

https://www.yahoo.com/news/librarian-re ... 00257.html

[GreenGoo]

Well thank god.

[hepcat]

Listen, Melania should be respected for staying with Donald long after the terms of her contract expired. Although I guess there might have been a no-compete clause in there. I haven't actually seen it.

[Max Peck]

NSA says it would need to scale down spying program ahead of expiration

The U.S. National Security Agency would need to begin winding down what it considers its most valuable intelligence program before its expiration at year-end if the U.S. Congress leaves its reauthorization in limbo, the agency’s deputy director said on Friday.

The possibility the U.S. government may begin losing access to the surveillance authority even before it would officially lapse on Dec. 31 is likely to increase pressure on lawmakers to quickly renew the law.

“We would have to be looking to work with our mission partners in the government as well as the companies to start scaling down in advance,” George Barnes, the deputy director of the NSA, said at the George Washington University Center for Cyber & Homeland Security event.

“We would, definitely. The last thing we would want to do is conduct any operation ... if we did not have an active statute in place,” Barnes said in response to a question asked by Reuters. “We would have to work the dates backwards to make sure we didn’t cross the line.”

Asked about the remarks by Barnes, an NSA spokesman said the agency fully expects Congress to reauthorize the program.

The law, Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, allows U.S. intelligence agencies to eavesdrop on, and store vast amounts of, digital communications from foreign suspects living outside of the United States.

It is considered a critical national security tool by U.S. officials, who say it supports priorities ranging from counterterrorism to cyber security.

But the program, classified details of which were exposed by 2013 by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden, also incidentally scoops up communications of Americans for a variety of technical reasons, including if they communicate with a foreign target living overseas. Those communications can then be subject to searches from analysts without a warrant.

The scenario articulated by Barnes resembles one that occurred two years ago, when portions of a separate law, the Patriot Act, that allowed the NSA to collect bulk domestic phone metadata were expiring.

Gridlocked over whether to enact reforms, U.S. lawmakers briefly let that Patriot Act lapse. The NSA said it had to begin winding down the program about a week before its expiration.

A bipartisan group of lawmakers in Congress is working on legislation to reform aspects of Section 702, but many Republicans, supported by the White House, want to renew the law without changes and make it permanent.

Supported by the White House? Why do I get the feeling that there are those in the White House (or who were there back in January) that wish it had lapsed a couple of years ago.

[Kraken]

I see ol' Kasich is threatening to leave the GOP. IDK how he or anyone else can pull it out of the abyss, but bless him for trying.

[malchior]

In looking at the tweets around the Vegas shooting last night I found odd threads from alt right types about the shooters political leanings. Ergo someone had thrown together a wiki style page about him. No real detail other than a photo from the web and that he likes rachel maddow, was pro Obama and anti Trump. Minutes after the story broke. Smells funny to me at least.

Edit: It was alt-right brigading. Much like what happened after the Boston marathon. They put another person up as the attacker. That man's name was trending for hours this morning.