cortez the killer wrote: ↑

Sun Feb 05, 2023 1:29 am

Yeah, but spy balloons....

I'm glad you mentioned that. I mean, WTF? I've said before that as little as we actually know about the real story behind most political events, we know a fraction of that amount about foreign policy/intelligence events. The only thing we know for sure is that we're not hearing the full story and we're probably not even hearing an honest story. All that said, what's going on? Who benefits? Did Xi want to cancel the meeting w/ Blinken but want to put the responsibility for it on the US? Seems weak. Is Xi less powerful internally than he appears and this represents the work of a faction trying to undermine him? Are these balloons routine but the US chose to make this one public for its own reasons as part of its China strategy? Beats the hell out of me.

But one thing I do know: The Republicans can be guaranteed to blame Biden, loudly and caustically without thought or evidence, and that is already happening. Easy enough to shrug off/ignore. But claiming that "it never would have happened if Trump were president" is just laughably pathetic. It seems that Trump is ascending to rorschach test status among the faithful: People just project on to him whatever result they want, reality be damned. If he actually did any of the things one Republican or another credits him for he would have won with at least 70% of the vote.

I assume it's pretty common that when reading/hearing about an historical moral dilemma, most people wonder, "what would I have done?" Typical examples are would you as a German or a Pole hidden a Jewish family during the Holocaust or would you as a French person been an active member of the resistance before June 1944? These situations have both a moral dimension and great personal risk.

When faced with a truly minimal version of a crisis of conscience last week, the College Board blinked and branded themselves publicly and forever as cowards without legitimacy. Faced with typical bullying by Ron DeSantis about the curriculum for an African American history AP course, they didn't just back off, they folded completely. I was unaware until today that the changes the CB made including eliminating the writings of Ta-Nehisi Coates. You don't have to know much about African American history (and I know too little) to know that you can't get too far in the discussion without referencing Coates, nor should you. This is just pathetic. Craven.

I have been a foe of the College Board since I started taking their and their predecessor's exams in the Dark Ages when it became obvious to me that they did not do what they were supposed to do.* My favorite was the claim that because the tests supposedly tested some kind of innate ability, studying for them would not materially change one's score. To put it mildly, this was proven definitively false over and over again to the point where the test prep industry is a well established and profitable one. But I suppose all of that can get folded into more high level discussions about what is intelligence, can it be predicted, etc etc about which reasonable people can disagree. This incident, OTOH, is about basic ethics, morality, professionalism and at some level, academic freedom. The College Board was tested and it failed. It's hard to see how the organization can maintain any credibility. I sincerely hope this leads directly to the death of the entire enterprise.

*Having had versions of this convo many many times over many many years let me anticipate the inevitable response: I always did well on the CB's tests; there are no sour grapes involved,

And this is in Massachusetts where we pride ourselves on the quality of healthcare.

https://www.bostonglobe.com/2023/02/05/ ... newsletter

Published in the NYT the same day as the previous article was in the Boston Globe. Coincidence? I think not.

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/05/opin ... 029039208a

Does the NYTimes have that feature where subscribers can share an article, bypassing the paywall? I ask because I'm very curious about this:

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/03/opin ... demic.html

John A Arkansawyer wrote: ↑

Mon Feb 06, 2023 8:25 pm

Does the NYTimes have that feature where subscribers can share an article, bypassing the paywall? I ask because I'm very curious about this:

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/03/opin ... demic.html

Here is a trick:
https://archive.ph/1j86i

My guess is that exactly one line out of the entire State of the Union moment will have staying power, and it comes from, who could have guessed?, Sarah Huckabee Sanders. She said, "The dividing line in America is no longer between right and left — it's between normal or crazy," What makes this line so memorable is, of course, that who (or which side) is normal and which crazy is totally in the mind of the beholder and each will believe they've got it right w/ equal fervor. To my mind, nothing captures the state of political America on February 8, 2023 as well as this does. Which is not to be confused with a good thing.

beantownbubba wrote: ↑

Mon Feb 06, 2023 6:41 am

Published in the NYT the same day as the previous article was in the Boston Globe. Coincidence? I think not.

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/05/opin ... 029039208a

doesn't the NYT own part of the Boston Globe? I recall seeing shared stories fairly often

tinnitus photography wrote: ↑

Thu Feb 09, 2023 11:33 am

doesn't the NYT own part of the Boston Globe? I recall seeing shared stories fairly often

There was a short period when the Times owned the Globe but the Globe was sold to and is still owned by John Henry (perhaps w/ partners, I forget).

Oof.

After being privately held until 1973, it was sold to The New York Times in 1993 for $1.1 billion, making it one of the most expensive print purchases in U.S. history.[6] The newspaper was purchased in 2013 by Boston Red Sox and Liverpool owner John W. Henry for $70 million from The New York Times Company, having lost over 90% of its value in 20 years.

beantownbubba wrote: ↑

Wed Feb 08, 2023 3:24 pm

My guess is that exactly one line out of the entire State of the Union moment will have staying power, and it comes from, who could have guessed?, Sarah Huckabee Sanders. She said, "The dividing line in America is no longer between right and left — it's between normal or crazy," What makes this line so memorable is, of course, that who (or which side) is normal and which crazy is totally in the mind of the beholder and each will believe they've got it right w/ equal fervor. To my mind, nothing captures the state of political America on February 8, 2023 as well as this does. Which is not to be confused with a good thing.

Her speech was what I imagine an AI/ChatGTP would spit out if you asked it to write a GOP SOTU rebuttal

Let me say upfront that I have not watched any of the Republican hearings and I do not intend to watch any in the future. I have read something like the bare minimum necessary to be informed which seems like plenty to me but it is possible that I'm missing some detail or nuance. But based on what I have read, I am struck by 2 things:

1. The Freedom Caucus (used loosely to encompass the furthest fringe of elected Republicans) truly seem to confuse playing to the Fox audience with how to do their jobs. In other words, performing for the TV audience, creating soundbites, coming across as obnoxiously aggressive while intimidating weenie technocrats and Democrats IS the job, IS the purpose of the exercise. I wonder if they even understand how little of the total voting population even watch Fox and its imitators.

2. At a very fundamental, basic level, these legislators do not know how to do their jobs. They simply do not understand what it means to conduct an investigation, to craft legislation based on the findings of those investigations and to do what is necessary to actually pass legislation. It's a pretty bizarre thing, not least because it's not all that hard a job to understand.

In the meantime, the unforced errors continue to mount, the wasted opportunities constitute pretty much 100% of their attempts to do whatever it is they think they're trying to do and they seem to be alienating to the point of maybe losing as voters traditional Republicans. While it may be true that Republicans can't win w/out their base, they also can't win w/out traditional Republicans, so this does not appear to be a winning strategy, on top of actually being a strategy that undoubtedly will not accomplish anything. Romney clearly knows this. So does McConnell. The Koch brothers know it. I bet McCarthy at least suspects it. Whether all of those doubts add up to anything meaningful remains to be seen.

Edited once to correct typo

beantownbubba wrote: ↑

Fri Feb 10, 2023 7:08 am

Let me say upfront that I have not watched any of the Republican hearings and I do not intend to watch any in the future. I have read something like the bare minimum necessary to be informed which seems like plenty to me but it is possible that I'm missing some detail or nuance. But based on what I have read, I am struck by 2 things:

1. The Freedom Caucus (used loosely to encompass the furthest fringe of elected Republicans) truly seem to confuse playing to the Fox audience with how to do their jobs. In other words, performing for the TV audience, creating soundbites, coming across as obnoxiously aggressive while intimidating weenie technocrats and Democrats IS the job, IS the purpose of the exercise. I wonder if they even understand how little of the total voting population even watch Fox and its imitators.

2. At a very fundamental, basic level, these legislators do not know how to do their jobs. They simply do not understand what it means to conduct an investigation, to craft legislation based on the findings of those investigations and to do what is necessary to actually pass legislation. It's a pretty bizarre thing, not least because it's not all that hard a job to understand.

In the meantime, the unforced errors continue to mount, the wasted opportunities constitute pretty much 100% of their attempts to do whatever it is they think they're trying to do and they seem to be alienating to the point of maybe losing as voters traditional Republicans. While it may be true that Republicans can't win w/out their base, they also can't win w/out traditional Republicans, so this does not appear to be a winning strategy, on top of actually being a strategy that undoubtedly will not accomplish anything. Romney clearly knows this. So does McConnell. The Kock brothers know it. I bet McCarthy at least suspects it. Whether all of those doubts add up to anything meaningful remains to be seen.

I was lamenting the other night about how I've noticed that the Republican agenda has shifted from obstructionism to something that feels more defeatist. They just seem to be actively rooting for the other side (and the country) to fail. It's just really sad. Arson is not a governing principle.

pearlbeer wrote: ↑

Fri Feb 10, 2023 12:20 pm

I was lamenting the other night about how I've noticed that the Republican agenda has shifted from obstructionism to something that feels more defeatist. They just seem to be actively rooting for the other side (and the country) to fail. It's just really sad. Arson is not a governing principle.

This is clearly true. Look no further than the "negotiations" over the debt ceiling. What's the Republican position? Give us what we want (once we figure out what that is) or we will blow up the economy and take everyone with us." Bad governing principle, bad negotiating strategy.

You decide:

Marjorie Taylor Greene on Presidents' Day: “We need a national divorce. We need to separate by red states and blue states and shrink the federal government,” Greene, R-Ga., said in the tweet. “Everyone I talk to says this. From the sick and disgusting woke culture issues shoved down our throats to the Democrat’s traitorous America Last policies, we are done.”

Definition of sedition: "conduct or speech inciting people to rebel against the authority of a state or monarch."

beantownbubba wrote: ↑

Tue Feb 21, 2023 10:05 am

You decide:

Marjorie Taylor Greene on Presidents' Day: “We need a national divorce. We need to separate by red states and blue states and shrink the federal government,” Greene, R-Ga., said in the tweet. “Everyone I talk to says this. From the sick and disgusting woke culture issues shoved down our throats to the Democrat’s traitorous America Last policies, we are done.”

Definition of sedition: "conduct or speech inciting people to rebel against the authority of a state or monarch."

I'd be MGT has more mentions of the word "woke" in the past 6mos than all MSNBC anchors combined.

but, more to your point, btb, she should be pushed for an ACTUAL PLAN. Show us the plan you have for mass succession - how would that work? If you're "DONE!!!", than I'd assume you could go beyond window dressing.

you know she has no plan, she just wants to be in the news.

yes, some states do have a clear political preference but how would you divvy them up in practice? it's not like there are states where it's a 2/3rds or more majority, most states are actually kinda close. so then you look at the regions in the state; California is very D in the big cities aside from SD, but bakersfield/fresno etc are pretty R.

there is no plausible scenario where this happens.

tinnitus photography wrote: ↑

Tue Feb 21, 2023 6:18 pm

there is no plausible scenario where this happens.

No, there isn't. Not to put too fine a point on it, it's a moronic comment. But nonetheless, promoting/urging/agitating for the break up of the Union is a violation of her oath of office and she should be crushed like a fucking mosquito by Kevin McCarthy and the rest of the Republican Party. No. Really. Stop laughing. I said "should." Obviously that's not going to happen. Liz Cheney has weighed in. Kitzinger will if he's so motivated. Maaaaybe Mitt Romney will. And that's about it, which is all one needs to know.

pearlbeer wrote: ↑

Tue Feb 21, 2023 3:50 pm

she should be pushed for an ACTUAL PLAN.

Just one more example of the difference between governing and tweeting. I am coming around to the conclusion that a substantial portion of elected Republicans really and truly do not understand the difference. As one of their number used to say, "Sad."

beantownbubba wrote: ↑

Tue Feb 21, 2023 6:30 pm

pearlbeer wrote: ↑

Tue Feb 21, 2023 3:50 pm

she should be pushed for an ACTUAL PLAN.

Just one more example of the difference between governing and tweeting. I am coming around to the conclusion that a substantial portion of elected Republicans really and truly do not understand the difference. As one of their number used to say, "Sad."

It's because (most of the party) has devolved from pure obstructionism to rooting for and ensuring the other party's failure. The health and safety of the country or it's population be damned. Victory at all costs. Why? Because, victory. Also, freedom.

California has the most registered Republicans of any state.

MTG is a moron

well, CA also has the most registered Ds and Texas doesn't register voters by party.

MTG is still a worldclass moron.

tinnitus photography wrote: ↑

Wed Feb 22, 2023 10:06 am

MTG is still a worldclass moron.

Now come on fellas, don't you think you're being a little harsh? Who amongst us wasn't at least temporarily fooled by the Jewish Space Lasers or the NIH's use of Peach Tree Dishes?

pearlbeer wrote: ↑

Wed Feb 22, 2023 11:53 am

tinnitus photography wrote: ↑

Wed Feb 22, 2023 10:06 am

MTG is still a worldclass moron.

Now come on fellas, don't you think you're being a little harsh? Who amongst us wasn't at least temporarily fooled by the Jewish Space Lasers or the NIH's use of Peach Tree Dishes?

well, isn't CDC HQ in Atlanta?


IT ALL MAKES SENSE!

tinnitus photography wrote: ↑

Thu Feb 23, 2023 11:13 am

pearlbeer wrote: ↑

Wed Feb 22, 2023 11:53 am

tinnitus photography wrote: ↑

Wed Feb 22, 2023 10:06 am

MTG is still a worldclass moron.

Now come on fellas, don't you think you're being a little harsh? Who amongst us wasn't at least temporarily fooled by the Jewish Space Lasers or the NIH's use of Peach Tree Dishes?

well, isn't CDC HQ in Atlanta?


IT ALL MAKES SENSE!

i thought it was in wuhan then moved to kyiv.

Zip City wrote: ↑

Sat Apr 23, 2022 1:46 pm

beantownbubba wrote: ↑

Sat Apr 23, 2022 10:02 am

TDB wrote: ↑

Sat Apr 23, 2022 4:25 am

Can we simply ALL AGREE that Ron DeSantis is a royal douchebag? Come on, people. Let logic rule.

I don't think you'll get much disagreement here about that but the real questions are why is he so popular? How does he retain the muscle to bully anything he wants through the lapdog state legislature?

Interesting (as in bizarre) story in today's WaPo about a school district in FL banning a book called Everywhere Babies, an apparently well known much loved picture book for young children celebrating, well, babies. As incredible and scary as this is especially when combined w/ the enthusiastic book banning occurring state wide in FL, it's not just DeSantis.

He's not terribly popular. He only won the governor's race by 0.4%. He has maintained power through a gerrymandered districting of the state (which he's trying to make worse right now, and will hopefully get slapped down in court)

And one year later........this FASCIST CUNT won re-election by a LARGE % and Florida schools/teachers/students have paid the price.

Ron DeSantis deserves to be hung up by his nuts from a palm tree on the Governor's lawn, covered in peanut butter and honey, and left to rot.

Just saying...

DeSantis has gone full-Fascist and no one in Florida is fighting back. I can't wrap my brain around it.