Trump's Son-in-Law to Serve Administration, Expect Confirmation Fights, SCOTUS Tackles Court Fees: P.M. Links

• 

  Andy Katz/TNS/Newscom

  President-elect Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner will reportedly be named a senior adviser in the new administration.

• Political news all week will revolve around Trump's appointments and the rush to get Senate confirmations.
• Comments from Supreme Court justices in a case today suggest they're likely to declare that courts must return fees paid by defendants when their convictions are overturned.
• The U.S. State Department formally apologized for decades of discrimination against LGBT employees, a helpful reminder that the government was historically the worst offender in this area.
• The Department of Defense has successfully tested a swarm of "micro-drones," in case you're looking for sci-fi dystopian future inspirations.
• WikiLeaks' Julian Assange insists the Russian government is not the source of Democratic National Committee emails the site published prior to the election.
• The Associated Press felt the need to "fact check" Trump's complaint/opinion that Meryl Streep is "overrated," which says more about the problems with the concept of "fact-checking" than anything else.

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Comments

[Fist of Etiquette]

President-elect Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner will reportedly be named a senior adviser in the new administration.

In charge of midnight tweets.

[bacon-magic]

Lol, it wasn't where it was supposed to be...

[Fist of Etiquette]

It seldom is.

[bacon-magic]

I thought Scott was an enabler?

[Pompey: Ho Class Mothersmucker]

Playa Manhattan hardest hit.

[TheZeitgeist]

Between this and and the Jerusalem-Embassy promise the Nazi sympathies are really getting flagrant.

[Rufus The Monocled]

Hello.

[Kurmudgeonly Kristen]

Dukakis Trump After Dark?

[Jimbo]

What about 3 AM tweets?

[Fist of Etiquette]

Those are all Donny.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Political news all week will revolve around Trump's appointments and the rush to get Senate confirmations.

The horse race that never ends.

[BigT]

Unprecedented!

[Fist of Etiquette]

The Department of Defense has successfully tested a swarm of "micro-drones," in case you're looking for sci-fi dystopian future inspirations.

The kind that fly into my bloodstream and rebuild my missing kidney?

[Bobarian (Would Chip Her)]

They fly into your bloodstream and mock your enlarged prostate.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Don't you start. Also, there are worse things to fly into to do that.

[Drake]

Or make your other kidney go missing too.

[Sour Kraut]

But can they fly in and massage my prostate?

[Pompey: Ho Class Mothersmucker]

I'll have what he's having!

[waffles]

You really think the first application of micromachine technology will be benevolent?

[Ska]

I figured it would be for porn, so yes.

[ant1sthenes]

I never got to have micromachines as a kid, so I vote no.

[Get To Da Chippah]

They were!

[BigT]

This was dead cool on Sixty Minutes last night. And they will be ready for prime time in about two years.

[jack sprat]

Geezus

[Not a True MJG]

I assume they can be destroyed with the right Beastie Boys track.

[Trolleric the Goth]

Dr. Lee, PhD?

[Sour Kraut]

Intergalactic?

[bacon-magic]

Sabotage?

[bacon-magic]

I watched the movie and still it took me this long to figure it out. /Star Wars fan

[Not a True MJG]

I couldn't figure out why they were considered 'drones' when it looked like each ship had a pilot, and I missed why it was that the music would cause the ships to EXPLODE instead of just losing coordination.

But it was cool to watch.

[bacon-magic]

Agreed. The first time I watched it. After...meh. (This meh is for the haters)

[Fist of Etiquette]

Comments from Supreme Court justices in a case today suggest they're likely to declare that courts must return fees paid by defendants when their convictions are overturned.

WELL THEN MAYBE WE JUST WON'T OVERTURN ANY CONVICTIONS, SMART GUY.

[R C Dean]

The important ruling, if we get it, is that courts can't charge fees to people who haven't been convicted of anything.

[Tonio]

^This. The punishment is the process. OK, you're innocent but we're still charging you court costs.

I'd love to see prosecutors and cops pay court costs out of their own fucking pockets when they lose a case. Either that or eliminate court costs all together.

[shortviking]

Second. Individuals in government should be punished when they are wrong.

[Bubba Jones]

Fees are often in lieu of a conviction.

Pay twice the fine, and we'll waive the conviction.

[Jimbo]

+1 Mexican roadblock

[rts]

Interior Ministry wants to give Czech firearms holders the right to use their weapon against terrorists

Presently over 300,000 Czechs have a firearms license and there are over 800,000 registered weapons in the country. Under Czech law such a weapon can be used in defence of life or property although its use would have to be adequate to the threat posed. Now the Interior Ministry is proposing to extend the use of arms in defence of the state, i.e. in the event of a terrorist attack.

[waffles]

Cool. Can American Citizens discharge firearms "in defense of the state"?

[Zeb]

I think so. Probably with better outcomes for the armed citizen in some states than others.

[Caput Lupinum]

Residents of Pennsylvania can:

? 21. Right to bear arms.

The right of the citizens to bear arms in defense of themselves and the State shall not be questioned.

[BigT]

shall not be questioned

Officer Dumbo: Whatcha got there Goober?

Goober: You are under arrest. You have the right ....

[Rufus The Monocled]

"Soooo. Why did you use excess force in defending yourself?"

[Bubba Jones]

Except in Philly?

[Rufus The Monocled]

Fucken-A.

Meanwhile back at the movies it's...PATRIOTS DAY!

[BigT]

MIL's are terrorists. Right?

[That's A Bingo!]

Can they conceal and/or open carry?

[rts]

Yes

[Volren]

I don't get it. Wouldn't using a weapon in response to an ongoing terrorist attack be considered a defense of life or property?

[rts]

Eh, there are a number of things wrong with that headline (like the state "gives you rights") that maybe got lost in translation or some nuance of Czech law or something.

[Zeb]

The notion that the state gives you rights is not terribly unusual outside of libertarian and certain conservative circles. Most people seem to think that way.

[Zeb]

Not sure what the point would be otherwise.

I think the idea is that private citizens would be allowed to use guns where now only police or military are. Not sure.

[rts]

Actually, this wiki link makes a little more sense; it looks like he's trying to preserve their current de facto rights before the EU strips them away de jure.

[flye]

Czech firearms holders the right to use their weapon

Don't do anything too wild and crazy, guys.

[SQWRLZ: Deplorable Woodchipper]

Holy shit! Citizens of NATO countries may apply for firearm licenses the same as a Czech. Even up to and including (with special permission) full auto and... tanks.

[Tonio]

Easy, there, Fist. Pace yourself, Big Guy.

[bacon-magic]

It's almost as if he thinks someone is gunning for first...

[Fist of Etiquette]

You want me on that wall. You need me on that wall.

[Mantis Toboggan, Jr.]

"Who's gonna do it? You? You, (((Renegade)))? I have a greater responsibility than you can possibly fathom! You weep for Lucy and you curse the Yokels, but deep down in places you don't talk about at cocktail parties, you want me on that wall! You NEED me on that wall!"

That's a sneak preview of my upcoming work, A Few Good Chippers. Thanks Fist for reminding me to leave this teaser here.

[Fist of Etiquette]

You friggin' people. You have no idea how to post a comment.

[Crusty Juggler]

You, (((Renegade)))?

Oh my. Very well done, sir.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Is he Jewish??? (He better not be!)

[Kurmudgeonly Kristen]

WikiLeaks' Julian Assange insists the Russian government is not the source of Democratic National Committee emails the site published prior to the election

I hope Assange doesn't fall for the DNC's ham-handed attempt to find his source (I'm sure he won't - he's smarter than all the DNC brainz combined).

[Shirley Knott]

Well, to be fair, so is the average rock.

[The Fusionist]

So, he's smarter than a retarded turnip? That's not reassuring.

[Half-Virtue, Half-Vice]

Kristen, his source is dead. It was the DNC staffer shot in the back walking home round 3am a few months back. None of his possessions were taken. He was assassinated in well executed hit. Wikileaks put out a $10,000 reward for leads on the killer but didn't say why they wanted those leads.

It's pretty obvious, reading between the lines.

[bacon-magic]

Which Wikileaks would say if not for the damage it would do to finding more sources. How many potential sources would pause if they knew for sure they would get muggedmurdered?

[Sour Kraut]

That's a pretty cold hearted calculation. Maybe Assange was mad as hell that a brave whistleblower was capped by the operatives of a smug "sophisticated" political party.

[bacon-magic]

I'll give credit to Assange for throwing out the truth, but Snowden has even remarked on Wikileak's blind disregard for people they have hurt/killed/compromised. He is not my friend. He is not my enemy. He is a person with his own agenda.

[BigT]

I read a biography of Assange. When he first was about to publish the Iraq and Afghan videos, he was not going to remove his contact's name. He even said: 'What do I care' (paraphrasing) But his associates talked him out of it, so the names were not revealed.

He is a bad person. But he has been truthful in his disclosures.

[Half-Virtue, Half-Vice]

Based off your two analysis's, I'd say he is the same amount of cold blooded as anyone who is associated with the documents he has leaked.

Not caring about who could be hurt in the process of an action is like the first requirement for climbing the ladder to Top Man status.

[bacon-magic]

^Yes! He wants to be a Top Man. Still doesn't tarnish the truth that he's been spittin'. But like all TRUTHS?, finding your own facts are key.

[Half-Virtue, Half-Vice]

Not many I reckon, most of the wikileaks sources that have been ID'd or speculated to be sources are all relatively young people that are tech savvy. They are just grabbing electronic documents and blasting them onto the internet through encrypted communications. They must feel pretty safe under the guise of anonymity, like we all do on the internet, case in point the insults and curses we all use here while protected by distance and anonymity.

That is they feel pretty safe until the day someone tracks the leak back to them and plugs it with bullets.

[Kurmudgeonly Kristen]

Huh - I didn't know Wikileaks had gotten involved in that.

[Kurmudgeonly Kristen]

I wonder why they haven't picked a random minority to pin that murder on yet? Plenty of poor, powerless black people in DC to railroad.

[Half-Virtue, Half-Vice]

Well considering that the DNC staffer was almost assuredly killed at the behest of a government official or someone tied to the DNC they probably don't want any possibility of an investigation connecting back to the state.

It's not so outrageous, one could consider what the DNC leaker did was treason. He acted against the political parties and his leaks had major repercussions. For that he had to be silenced.

Mark my words, this case will go cold, they are never going to pin the murder on to anyone; it'll all be swept under the rug.

[Sevo]

Startup plans digital license plates
[?]
"After 150 years on the road, license plates are still the same basic slabs of metal.
Now a San Francisco company called Reviver wants to reinvent the plates, with an interactive digital display called rPlate that can automatically update DMV registration, display messages and images and handle vehicle and fleet tracking. "
http://www.sfgate.com/business.....841233.php

Gee, we don't even have to wait for self-driving cars to be tracked!

[SugarFree]

[blink] I'M SPEEDING [/blink]

[Bobarian (Would Chip Her)]

Business model: Dark start-up to be able to hack/spoof plate software.

[Scarecrow Repair & Chippering]

Gee, we don't even have to wait for self-driving cars to be hacked!

FIFY

[robc]

Gee, we don't even have to wait for self-driving cars to be tracked!

Which removes one argument against self-driving cars.

[Fist of Etiquette]

The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is, apparently, doing away with registration stickers for plates. With every police car equipped with a mobile data terminal, they can easily check all that shit on their own during a stop.

[thom]

This seems strange. Isn't it usually a nice fine just for failing to put the stickers on your plate? Seems like they're walking away from a lot of "revenue" by doing this.

[DEG]

Maybe not. Counterfeit stickers won't help if cops rely on a plate scanner to check the database.

[Fist of Etiquette]

It costs money to print the stickers.

[Juice]

They already have digits on them. I guess they mean electronic.

[dschwar]

But what about the jobs in prisons? What will they make now?

[Crusty Juggler]

U.S. charges Volkswagen executive with fraud over emissions scandal

Volkswagen AG (VOWG_p.DE) suffered a new setback on Monday when an executive was charged with conspiracy to defraud the United States over the company's diesel emissions cheating and the automaker was accused of concealing the cheating from regulators.

Oliver Schmidt, who was general manager in charge of VW's environmental and engineering office in Michigan, did not enter a plea at an initial appearance in U.S. District Court in Miami on Monday and was ordered held pending a hearing on Thursday by U.S. Magistrate Judge William C. Turnoff.

Schmidt, who was shackled and wearing a jail uniform, was charged with fraud and conspiracy in not disclosing a cheating device used to rig U.S. diesel emissions tests from 2006 through 2015.

The FBI then released Schmidt, who went on to randomly murder a bunch of people while screaming about ISIS.

[Tonio]

Why does this remind me of how the Indian government carted those non-Indian Union Carbide execs off to jail after the Bhopal disaster?

[Ted S.]

You horrible cynic!

[Rufus The Monocled]

Jesus Christ...OVER FUCKEN EMISSIONS?

Exaggeration much?

[BigT]

There were some nocturnal emissions, so maybe OK.

[Tonio]

[golf clap]

[Not a True MJG]

He woulda got away with it, too!

[BakedPenguin]

U.S. charges Volkswagen executive with fraud over emissions scandal

While exonerating the EPA entirely.

[Not a True MJG]

The EPA is us.

[Mantis Toboggan, Jr.]

The Department of Defense has successfully tested a swarm of "micro-drones," in case you're looking for sci-fi dystopian future inspirations.

How micro are we talking about? Because I want my immortality-granting nanomachines, dammit!

[Fist of Etiquette]

WikiLeaks' Julian Assange insists the Russian government is not the source of Democratic National Committee emails the site published prior to the election.

If you can't trust the guy dedicated to sticking his finger in the eye of the entity whose eye he's sticking his finger in by making this claim...

[TheZeitgeist]

Until vetted by thirty+ edit fight on respective Wikipedia article's Talk page, it is not true.

[Jimbo]

What does Snopes say? That's my go-to truthsayer.

[CPRM]

Those chatting bots same the damnedest things.

[waffles]

I saw this while hiding from the rain in my cave this weekend. I gather that they randomly spout whatever stupid shit people have been saying to cleverbot over the past decade or so. Hilarity ensues.

[CPRM]

The randomness is hilarious, then sometimes you get gems like this one that you could put on shirts and sell to Irish gastropub nerds.

[R C Dean]

Is that the one where they wind up falling in love?

[CPRM]

over and over, and get kinky.

[waffles]

I just tried asking cleverbot to be my slave. Turns out the AI is just totally down with it.

[Jimbo]

I want a digital hand-job.

[Scarecrow Repair & Chippering]

The Associated Press felt the need to "fact check" Trump's complaint/opinion that Meryl Streep is "overrated," which says more about the problems with the concept of "fact-checking" than anything else.

Over reach? From proggies? Whoda thunk it?

[TheZeitgeist]

Meryl Streep is overrated when playing Meryl Streep.

[Tonio]

She's not overrated as an actress so much as out of her element. Meryl, honey, your job is to feel things and act out those feelings; good work if you can get it, but that doesn't mean you are an expert on politics.

[jesse.in.mb]

Did you click through to Scott's link? The actual text of it is kind of amazing. It's three paragraphs of accolades she's received and then at the end is:

He has two Emmy nominations ? no wins ? for best outstanding reality competition. But he beat her to one award ? a Golden Raspberry. He won a worst supporting actor trophy in 1989, appearing opposite Bo Derek in the crime comedy "Ghosts Can't Do It."

The butthurt is palpable.

[Not a True MJG]

I take it they don't realize that her copious accolades are a necessary condition for her to be overrated.

[jesse.in.mb]

Mark Kennedy at least acknowledges it's an opinion and not a fact but tries to counter that opinion with the mentioned three paragraph listing of accolades, so I'm gonna go with no, no he does not realize that very basic component of "overrated".

[Bubba Jones]

Oh, snap.

[R C Dean]

Overrated, CONFIRMED.

[Enough About Palin]

She was great in The

Devil Wears Prada

.

[Half-Virtue, Half-Vice]

The Deer Hunter gives me a lot of feelz every time I watch.

[Ska]

I couldn't watch that more than once. Most depressing movie ever.

[Zeb]

Fact checking a completely subjective assessment of an actress. Yeah.

[flye]

It is a pretty dumb reply. Streep is an excellent actress, but she's paid to READ not LEAD.

[josh]

i'm getting people who think trolls on the internet and people disagreeing with her speech means that hollywood actually is vilified. thus, they say, we're proving her point.

[Sevo]

"The Associated Press felt the need to "fact check" Trump's complaint/opinion that Meryl Streep is "overrated,""

Gee, we asked people who worked in the other cubicles here and they said: Nope!
So it's not true.

[Pan Zagloba "The Stickler"]

Today's Spectator has a ridiculously detailed article on why Leave won Brexit referendum, from one of the leaders of Vote Leave campaign, the non-Farrage one.
It's long but well worth reading if you are interested in either inner workings of the persuasion process, or musings on branching history and what is inevitable vs not. Too much to quote but here's something related to the first thing I found interesting

Why is almost all political analysis and discussion so depressing and fruitless? I think much has to do with the delusions of better educated people. It is easier to spread memes in SW1, N1, and among Guardian readers than in Easington Colliery.

Generally the better educated are more prone to irrational political opinions and political hysteria than the worse educated far from power. Why? In the field of political opinion they are more driven by fashion, a gang mentality, and the desire to pose about moral and political questions all of which exacerbate cognitive biases, encourage groupthink, and reduce accuracy. Those on average incomes are less likely to express political views to send signals; political views are much less important for signalling to one's immediate in-group when you are on 20k a year.

[Pan Zagloba "The Stickler"]

And a bit on history

Reality has branching histories, not 'a big why'

Much political analysis revolves around competing simple stories based on one big factor such that, in retrospect, 'it was always clear that immigration would trump economic interest / Cameron's negotiation was never going to be enough / there is an unstoppable populist tide', and so on. Alternatives are quickly thought to have been impossible (even if X argued the exact opposite repeatedly). The big event must have had an equally big single cause. Confirmation bias kicks in and evidence seeming to suggest that what actually happened would happen looms larger. People who are quite wrong quickly persuade themselves they were 'mostly right' and 'had a strong feeling' unlike, of course, the blind fools around them. Soon our actual history seems like the only way things could have played out. Brexit had to happen. Trump had to win.

[Crusty Juggler]

Screw 'em if they can't take a joke, Meryl.

[bacon-magic]

Change that to drama queen and I think you have something.

[Fuck You - Cut Spending]

"Swarm of micro-drones"

The first thing I thought of was "passenger pigeon".

[rts]

We don't tip black people, note to Virginia waitress said

How long until this is revealed as a hoax... ?

[robc]

PS Or white people, for that matter.

[Sour Kraut]

"I don't tip. I don't believe in it."

[flye]

Who cares what you normally do?

[Col. Chestbridge]

Shut the fuck up Donnie.

[Ska]

I don't even know a Jew who'd have the balls to say that.

[Sevo]

"How long until this is revealed as a hoax... ?"

After WaPo runs it.

[DJF]

AAfter WaPo runs the story with an accompanying full page editorial mentioning slavery and the Civil War..

[Free Society]

So far the only substantiated "hate crimes" of any gravity I've seen has been the leftists themselves false flagging "hate crimes" or the leftists committing this species of crime against a perceived Trump supporter. But the narrative of of vicious white people oppressing every brown person in sight, remains strong as ever.

[BakedPenguin]

Not until 134 "Trump supporters refuse to tip Black Waitress" stories come out.

[Free Society]

This country is so divided. So polarized! We need to have a national conversation about race. We need to come together. Love Trumps Hate. Something something inclusion. Did I leave out any other worthless platitudes?

[BigT]

We are "Stronger Together." You know. Like a bunch of sticks is stronger. Even the Italians knew that back in the day.

And "It takes a village," because nobody every lived on a farm or the frontier with few others around. Nope, never happened. Or at least they all became serial killers.

[Ted S.]

You won't believe what #89 wrote.

[ant1sthenes]

This is why punctuation is key. The note was supposed to say "We don't tip (black people)".

[OneOut]

Perhaps the one of the no tippers had been a server who has waited on black diners before.

Every server I have ever known say that black people either don't tip or just leave a dollar or the change.

[Dick N. Bimbose (n?e Cooper)]

Still incredibly stupid to call it out.

[Mantis Toboggan, Jr.]

The Associated Press felt the need to "fact check" Trump's complaint/opinion that Meryl Streep is "overrated," which says more about the problems with the concept of "fact-checking" than anything else.

All the best people know how properly-rated Streep is.

[Bobarian (Would Chip Her)]

Are we rating her as an actress, or as a political spokesman, because the results of those two ratings would be significantly different.

[josh]

it's sort of along the lines of, "i can call my sister a slut, but you can't" kind of thing...

[robc]

The Department of Defense has successfully tested a swarm of "micro-drones," in case you're looking for sci-fi dystopian future inspirations.

Vinge already did that one.

[Crusty Juggler]

Dana White Isn't Concerned With The Opinion Of 'Uppity, 80-Year-Old' Meryl Streep

The last thing in the world I expect is an uppity, 80-year-old lady to be in our demographic and love mixed martial arts.

[Mongo]

With a name like Dana I bet you are a pretty girl.

[Ted S.]

Would like a word with you.

[Juice]

WTF? Ok, what did she say about MMA?

[Crusty Juggler]

"Hollywood is crawling with outsiders and foreigners, and if we kick 'em all out, you'll have nothing to watch but football and mixed martial arts, which are not the arts," she said."

[Bubba Jones]

Because we can't watch films made in Canada?

[John Titor]

What, there's suddenly a big demand for Turbokid?

[Jimbo]

Truly, a "Cult Classic in the WAITING."

[flye]

Not true. Rousey perfected the art of standing still and getting punched in the face.

[R C Dean]

Hollywood is crawling with outsiders and foreigners,

Just look at a picture of the audience for the Golden Globes! Its a frickin' United Nations all up in there!

http://pjmedia.com/instapundit/254078/

[BakedPenguin]

Its a frickin' United Nations all up in there!

Well, I'll bet they are all a bunch of corrupt shitwheels dedicated to forcing others to pay for the PC scams they seek to inflict on others.

[Crusty Juggler]

It's the bus from Speed.

[Juice]

Uh, ok. And Dana White freaked out about that? Maybe you can call MMA some form of art (hell, Arts is right there in the name) but I don't think you can put it in the category of "the arts" which to most people means theater, sculpting, etc. and would put MMA into the sports category. Much ado about nothing.

[flye]

It was more of the tone of voice that said, without us to provide you enlightened entertainment you'll be stuck with troglodyte bloodsports.

[John Titor]

I really don't think it's fair for someone to spit on other forms of entertainment and uphold Hollywood, the primary producer of American low-brow crap, as some sacred high culture.

[Juice]

Oh, I guess I didn't catch the subtext. Yeah, maybe she's still bitter for being rejected to play in King Kong.

[GILMORE?]

"IF WE DIDNT MAKE TRANSFORMERS AND KUNG-FU PANDA TO ENLIGHTEN AND INFORM YOU, YOU PHILISTINES WOULD BE MAKING MUD-PIES WITH YOUR OWN FECES"

[Ken Shultz]

"Political news all week will revolve around Trump's appointments and the rush to get Senate confirmations."

Oh no. It's all going to be about Russian hacking, the Supreme Court weighing in on the validity of the election results, and Obama's agenda for the country through 2018.

[Half-Virtue, Half-Vice]

This whole Ivanka Trump thing really makes me wonder about nepotism laws. Everyone is freaking out about her involvement but honestly a person like her isn't why those laws exist. Obviously they are there so Top Men don't just hand out chief positions to their wife's nephew.

I find Ivanka to be pretty respectable, she seems more like the King's good son, properly trained to take the throne and rule justly one day. That is what Trump has been grooming her for long before politics became a realistic undertaking.

On the scale of kids born into money and power -- one end you have Paris Hilton, the other let's just say is Jon Snow. She leans closer to Jon Snow by my estimation. Seems like a person with actual skills, knowledge, and savvy.

[That's A Bingo!]

Ever see the documentary "Born Rich?" It's about the kids of really rich people. She was the only one who came off as stable and sane.

[Half-Virtue, Half-Vice]

Nope never saw it, all of my opinions of Ivanka come from the eyeball test and a bit of The Apprentice back in the day. She was in the boardroom and in charge even back then at the age of 20 something, she already appeared to be Donald's right hand. She is the heir to the empire and by my estimations it looks like she is earning it.

[Bubba Jones]

And she married someone who isn't obviously a moron. Another sign of not being a moron.

[That's A Bingo!]

He bought an extremely expensive building in NYC at the peak of the real estate bubble. I wouldn't put him beyond he realm of moron.

[OneOut]

From what I've read he was pretty young when he made that mistake and he learned from it.

He also quit trying to play the glamour developer and started buying less high profile properties after that.

I can only assume that you are not a self employed business person and must draw a salary or punch a clock if you think that making a mistake automatically makes someone a dumb person.

[Sevo]

Isn't she the gal who was flying Jet Blue and had to put up with that raging asshole suffering from TDS?

[R C Dean]

That's the one. Should have had the Secret Service coldcock him and leave him facedown on the runway.

[BigT]

Bobby Kennedy was Atty Genl for Zod's sake. He was qualified, sort of.

Jared Kushner is the brains behind that outfit IMHO.

[Gadfly]

Re: Bobby Kennedy;
He was qualified, but the anti-nepotism laws under consideration here were written explicitly in reaction to him.

[The Fusionist]

Jon Snow is from that On the Throne TV series, isn't he?

How about John Quincy Adams?

[Bobarian (Would Chip Her)]

If you're gonna use John Snow, then the other end would be Jeoffrey Lannister.

But I'd say that Daenerys vs. Viserys would be an even better scale.

[Rufus The Monocled]

To our Canadian friends. Multiculturalism = less right wing extremism in Canada paper contends:

https://works.bepress.com/cas_mudde/116/

[Ted S.]

Left-wing extremism, like firebombing stores with apostrophes in their names, however, is A-OK.

[The Fusionist]

Wow, that's a thing?

I mean, thats a thing?

[Rufus The Monocled]

Yeh in Quebec they have a *problem* with Eaton's and THE Home Depot. Tiny things like that are *threats* apparently.

[BakedPenguin]

Is the FLQ still a thing?

[The Last American Hero]

THE Home Depot? Is that the one in Columbus, OH?

[Ted S.]

I was slightly off. But only slightly.

I think it was the Eaton's department store chain that was forced to change its name in Quebec because of that apostrophe.

[Rufus The Monocled]

Yup. It became Eaton.

Apparently the path to protecting a language is to demean another.

One day they'll be more mature about it. Hopefully. But I ain't sticking around for it.

[Rufus The Monocled]

FLQ. A bunch of complete depraved losers, murderers and clowns.

[John Titor]

Welcome to the wonderful Canadian world of language terrorism.

[BearOdinson]

"We argue that the failure of the Canadian radical right is primarily the result of Canada's unique multiculturalism policy, which is based on a combination of selective immigration, comprehensive integration, and strong state repression of dissent on these policies. "

Wait a minute, which ones are the totalitarians?

[John Titor]

But the FLQ can blow up as many mailboxes as they want and we're still good.

Honestly, I think it has less to do with 'multiculturalism' and more to do with the fact that most of our historical politics revolved around two different cultures' form of conservativism: French Catholicism and English Protestantism. Most of our historical political fights were over which brand won; the English won in a lot of the imperialism and Protestant social issues like Prohibition, the Catholics won for things like censorship and the school system. But that's not multiculturalism, at least in the way they want to frame it, that was a battle of consociationalism between elites. We've only recently started to emerge from that dynamic and time will tell (check out comments on a Rebel Media video if you don't think we have any right wing extremism).

I wonder if he handwaves the fact that we do actually have two national socialist parties (of little influence obviously).

[SIV]

If you don't think Meryl Streep is overrated you live in a bubble.

[Crusty Juggler]

Is she even blog worthy?

[BigT]

You wouldn't. Tell us you wouldn't.

[AlmightyJB]

Young Jessica Lane hotter than young Meryl Streep.

[SIV]

I can't think of even one picture where she did a lingerie scene

How it's done

[Tonio]

Whether she's overrated as an actress is a sticky trap. Don't go there. The big question is why should she be taken more seriously than Lurlene the lunch counter lady? Does she have a degree in PolSci? Does she have any published articles on politics or government? Or are her utterances treated seriously because she is a famous actress?

[Jimbo]

Oh, I get it - "It's sticky." Why that? Because you pleasured yourself while watching The Devil Wears Prada?
I did too, but I was watching Anne Hathaway not Meryl, you sick individual.

Seriously, I do agree with your point. Who gives any fucks what she thinks?

[Pan Zagloba "The Stickler"]

Russian embassy in UK trolls using Pepe. BBC reports on it. Still not The Onion article.

[BakedPenguin]

Still don't get Pepe memes, or how in the hell he'd be a symbol of hate groups.

Is it like Harambe, where lefty SJWs saw memes about a dead gorilla, which apparently made them think of a dead black guy, a thought which they then projected onto their imagined racist foes?

[Gadfly]

Well, the Pepe meme has been used by hate groups, but that's simply because internet meme makers have used that frog for everything. People who share memes frequently seem to have a higher incidence of trolls among their number than the general population, so I would be surprised if there's a single popular meme that has not been repurposed for nearly every cause.

[Ken Shultz]

"President-elect Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner will reportedly be named a senior adviser in the new administration."

Trump shouldn't be allowed to speak to anyone unless they've been confirmed by the Senate, and the Senate shouldn't confirm anyone who's ever made any money through something icky--like business dealings with . . . businesses.

I still wince every time I think that we might have had Hillary Clinton as President. There's an alternative universe where Liz Warren is working out the details of single payer--right freakin' now.

[Free Society]

Can you imagine the level of nepotism involved with taking advice from someone whose counsel you value? MOST CORRUPT ADMINISTRATION EVER.

[The Fusionist]

"President-elect Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner will reportedly be named a senior adviser in the new administration."

That's just like the time Hitler appointed *his* Jewish son-in-law to a senior adviser position.

I couldn't find that "what do I tell my children" editorial by the rabbi, but I suppose he's telling them that sometimes a Nazi will appoint Jewish advisers in order to fool the people into thinking he's not a Nazi.

[R C Dean]

The U.S. State Department formally apologized for decades of discrimination against LGBT employees,

Of course, until pretty recently, being LGBT was a legitimate security risk, as you would be unusually vulnerable to blackmail.

[Free Society]

Just ask, well we'll call him "J. E. Hoover" to protect his identity. . .

[SugarFree]

But only because you would lose your job for being vulnerable to blackmail. The State Department and other agencies created their own security risk.

[Free Society]

Yeah aside from immediate employment concerns, there was no reason for a member of the civil services in the 1950's or 1960's to fear being outed as a homosexual... There was absolutely no social scorn back in those good ole days.

[jesse.in.mb]

Annnnd SF and Tonio both got there first. Thank goodness for F5.

[jesse.in.mb]

A favorite bit of primary source documentation.

So I offer this amendment, and when the time comes for voting upon it, I hope that no one will object. I sometimes wonder how many of these homosexuals have had a part in shaping our foreign policy. How many have been in sensitive positions and subject to blackmail. It is a known fact that homosexuality goes back to the Orientals, lone before the time of Confucius; that the Russians are strong believers in homosexuality, and that those same people are able to get into the State Department and get somebody in their embrace, and once they are in their embrace, fearing blackmail, will make them go to any extent. Perhaps if all the facts were known these same homosexuals have been used by the Communists.

I realize that there is some physical danger to anyone exposing all of the details and nastiness of homosexuality, because some of these people are dangerous. They will go to any limit. These homosexuals have strong emotions. They are not to be trusted and when blackmail threatens they are a dangerous group.

[Tonio]

Only because it was illegal.

[The Fusionist]

Yes, a blackmailer could threaten to tell (a) your employer, (b) the cops, and (c) your family.

So in the case of State Dept. employees, two out of these three vulnerabilities are govt-connected.

[Ken Shultz]

Trifling details.

And where's the apology to communist spies?

We spent decades hounding them, too.

[Ken Shultz]

"The U.S. State Department formally apologized for decades of discrimination against LGBT employees"

Must be Obama's last week in office.

[flye]

Seriously, he's hitting that to-do list pretty hard. Next up: Presidential Medal of Freedom for his wife.

[Zeb]

That is something they would need to consider, I suppose. But it seems like publicly outing them would have been as effective to combat that as would firing them.
And from the linked article, it sounds like they were removed for being "perverts and subversives" not security threats.

[Bubba Jones]

That's would have been a good idea.

Give them the choice of public disclosure or termination.

Then again, what happens when someone denies being homosexual?

[flye]

We elect him as our 44th president?

[jesse.in.mb]

And there hangs the tale of Frank Kameny.

[Zeb]

And it's not as if apologizing will change history so that the USSR won or something. I see no problem with apologizing for doing things that may have been necessary to some degree, but were nevertheless pretty nasty and hateful.

[jesse.in.mb]

You may find this SMBC entertaining.

[Tonio]

Tundra, you got your ears on good buddy? Temperature was in the low single-digit lows here this weekend. Not record breaking but damn close to it and colder than we normally get here. At least it takes all the humidity out of the air so you don't feel the cold.

[bacon-magic]

Illinois feels your pain.

[Juice]

You just feel your epidermis separating from your dermis.

[Zeb]

Nice dry cold air is pretty nice. I'd much rather go out when it's 20 degrees than when it's 30.

[jesse.in.mb]

My nose is bleeding just thinking about it.

[Zeb]

I took some lovely walks in the woods this weekend in the 10 degree weather, growing icicles in my mustache.

I do need to sleep with a humidifier this time of year, though, or I wake up all full pf phlegm.

[Crusty Juggler]

Pics? Thanks.

[Zeb]

Phlegm or mustache icicles?

[jesse.in.mb]

Oddly, I've already seen a picture of a commenter here's mustache icicles.

[jesse.in.mb]

My mental image of you has always been clean shaven. Amended.

I was always confused by the number of humidifiers floating around Daegu, Korea during the winter and then woke up every night for a week with a bloody nose and trundled off to the Emart to buy one. That was the year that I learned dry winters and humid summers were not for me.

[bacon-magic]

Amend it to being a sweet handlebar mustache.

[Zeb]

There's probably one in there somewhere.

[Lord_at_War]

I larfed... Potato or Amy Schumer

[Ken Shultz]

She was a lot funnier before she got into politics.

They used to go after her for being politically incorrect, too. I wonder if she thought coming out big as a progressive would shield her from that .

It just makes it so the whole act just ain't that funny anymore.

[Bobarian (Would Chip Her)]

^^This

[Drake]

She used hang out on the Opie & Anthony and participate in the most non-PC conversations ever. Not sure if she's really a Progressive snowflake or playing one for money. But you are right, she used to be actually funny.

[Not a True MJG]

She is Chuckie Schumer's niece. I imagine a lot of her political beliefs are sincere, and she may be taking them more seriously as a career pivot.

[Juice]

She was a lot funnier before she got into politics.

This is true of most comedians. They'll eventually get to the preaching stage. Chappelle's comedy was political in a way, but really funny (at least for a good 8 year run there). Now he tends to just preach and it's horrible and not funny. Comedians think they HAVE to do it because this stuff is SO IMPORTANT. And some of their biggest fans go along with it and feed their ego all the way down the unfunny spiral.

[bacon-magic]

Chappelle lost his humor when all of his black friends/community said he actually was Clayton Bigsby.

[Juice]

I love how the argument against Streep being overrated is "look how highly rated she is."

So ridiculous and hilarious.

[GILMORE?]

The Associated Press felt the need to "fact check" Trump's complaint/opinion that Meryl Streep is "overrated,"

technically its not a 'fact check', but it does sort of reveal that my earlier comment about "the only quasi-decent news sources" being AP and Reuters has its own problems.

when i was saying that, i was actually thinking about 2 incidents in the recent past which both had wildly misconstrued;

one being the EPA 'mine spill' in colorado(?); where they reported the facts on Day1, then proceeded to spin as hard an you can imagine to change the story from one of EPA's mammoth incompetence, to legacy corporate pollution which EPA was sorely underfunded in dealing with...

(*a huge sub-story which they also buried were the damages EPA had caused to a indian-tribe's main water source; something never once referenced in later stories about the Dakota Access Pipleline, no matter how relevant)

the other being the post election "Spike in hate crimes" (which was really just an SPLC press release mixed with references to 2-3 sensational news items... most of which turned out to later be false/hoaxes)

[AlmightyJB]

I don't know about Reuters but AP routinely spins their "news" feeds left.

[GILMORE?]

Reuters is actually worse than AP imo - but in a different way

(they're british, and they tend to exaggerate the stereotypes about US politics for an international audience; but they tend to be better on simple-stories. AP is far worse in the way they will initially report a story pretty dry... but then will echo whatever spin WaPo or NYT later decide to put on said events)

I still think both are better sources than any of the MSM; tho they don't always do the firsthand reporting.

[DOOMco]

It was a colorado mine

[GILMORE?]

I'm not trying to be phobic or anything here...

....but does this "mom" have like a ginger's version of 5-o'clock shadow?

honestly, the horrors of the story itself are completely besides the point. Is that a dude or what?

[Crusty Juggler]

That's comedic actor Steve Agee.

[Mantis Toboggan, Jr.]

A man who answered the phone at Sara Packer's father's home declined to comment and hung up.

Removing any doubt that this writer gets paid by the word.

[jesse.in.mb]

I'd put money on untreated polycystic ovary syndrome.

[Zeb]

Yup. I know a few women with similar facial hair situations. It happens.

[Crusty Juggler]

Pics? Thanks.

[Zeb]

I'll see if I can scrape up a pic of my sister in law. She's probably right up your alley.

You're into fat, diabetic nurses who drink to excess and own 5 cats, right?

[Crusty Juggler]

Yes.

[Juice]

*MY EYES!*

[GILMORE?]

but seriously, the horrors of the story itself are pretty goddamn horrible

its bad enough that... thing... looks like some hormone therapy gone wrong, but add the idea that she had some "murder-suicide" kink? my dinner is ruined.

[jesse.in.mb]

Prude.

[Bobarian (Would Chip Her)]

Squirrels ate my first post on this, but it looks like something from an SNL 'Pat' skit and that story is fucking horrible.

[Half-Virtue, Half-Vice]

Tie a noose and make it tight,
A feast for crow come tonight!

Also, burn the bodies, erase the names, and never tell their tale again.

[Diane Reynolds (Paul.)]

"I'm sorry for what I did," Sullivan said. "It was wrong."

Officials say 14-year-old Grace Packer was beaten, was raped as her mother watched, was poisoned and hours later was strangled in a stifling attic in July.

Nice.

[GILMORE?]

i hate to nitpick about how journalists use language (ha!)...

...but really, is the fact that the 'attic was hot' really a significant qualifying context to a *strangling*?.

i mean, if she'd died of dehydration? RELEVANT. If you're being violently murdered? not so much.

Its like saying, "man stabbed 32 times while wearing a very itchy sweater"

it reminds me of how the media recently hooked onto the Ft. Lauderdale shooter's "star wars T-shirt'. i guess in their case they had so few facts that it just seemed like a detail to hinge a story around. but then they kept mentioning it long afterward.

[Diane Reynolds (Paul.)]

Well, it tells you she was in horrid conditions while she was tortured and killed-- you know, like those kids in True Detective.

[GILMORE?]

she was in horrid conditions while she was tortured and killed

the joke that keeps on giving =

2 Jewish grandmothers @ Catskill's Resort =

#1 = isn't the food terrible here?
#2 = I know! and such small portions

"If it wasn't for the strangling, i'd be dying in here!"

[Not a True MJG]

Supreme Court Seems Wary of Hurdles for Refunds of Fines After Exonerations

The Supreme Court on Monday seemed deeply skeptical of a Colorado law that makes it hard for criminal defendants whose convictions are overturned to get refunds of the fines and restitution they had been ordered to pay.
[...]
Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. asked if the state could impose a $10,000 fine on everyone convicted of a crime and refuse to return the money if the convictions were later overturned.

Mr. Yarger said yes. Just as there is no need to pay people for the time they spend in prison after their convictions are reversed, he said, there is no need to reimburse them for fines and fees. "The assumption is that the deprivation of both the liberty and the property at the time of conviction is lawful, and that the property passes into public funds," he said.

[Bobarian (Would Chip Her)]

Roberts should have immediately fined Yarger for contemptuous stupidity in court and asked him how he felt about that.

[Not a True MJG]

The stupidity is that he's struggling to justify it to Roberts. Just say that the state would consider such a fine a criminals tax and be done with it.

[The Late P Brooks]

"The assumption is that the deprivation of both the liberty and the property at the time of conviction is lawful, and that the property passes into public funds," he said.

"Well, yOu see, Your Honor, it's like this: we stole the money, but we can't pay it back because we spent it."

[Juice]

They'll just seize it through civil forfeiture more often to make up the difference.

[The Fusionist]

""You keep talking about compensation," Chief Justice John Roberts said. "The issue is restitution.""

Now that you mention it, though, it would be nice if people who are prosecuted but ultimately have the charges thrown out should be compensated for their trouble.

[Juice]

Sorry, sovereign immunity. Moose outside shoulda toldya.

[Wasteland Wanderer]

But I saw no m??se . Only little squirrel.

[GILMORE?]

Racists Trying to Make a Big Deal Out of People's Suffering

*that's what the meta-narrative seems to be.

the underlying thing is more like,

"lots of people want to know why black dude burned down black church, and spray painted 'Vote Trump' on it.... but asking those questions probably undermines the news-media habits of assuming things are genuine hate-crimes"

[TheZeitgeist]

"lots of people want to know why black dude burned down black church, and spray painted 'Vote Trump' on it.... but asking those questions probably undermines the news-media habits of assuming things are genuine hate-crimes"

What we need is just some common sense self-loathing control.

[GILMORE?]

I honestly think the guy was paid to do it. i can't imagine any other reason the guy would have done it.

that event occurred days before the election itself. and it was pushed hard by media.

i expect he'll keep his mouth shut, but it would be interesting if it maybe leads to co-conspirators.

[Tornado35235gsg35423ttg3gt3g3g]

Shut up....you don't want to reveal it is the Hillary Clinton campaign! Totes the most qualified ever

[AlmightyJB]

Once the media reports it as a hate crime you're not supposed to fuck it up since 99.99% of the time it's a false flag.

[Austrian Anarchy]

Confirmation fight? I guarantee you EVERY Trump nominee will have a rougher go than the first 12 Obama nominees.

[Crusty Juggler]

An ugly woman bravely overcame her looks to become successful in her career.

[flye]

Too ugly for King Kong? "The audience just won't believe a giant ape could fall for you honey."

[The Fusionist]

What ape could resist 1979 Streep?

[Juice]

She, like Glenn Close, is a handsome woman.

[flye]

There are the remains of a fine woman about her.

[Juice]

That was a half-assed Family Guy reference.

[flye]

I was referencing Penzance.

[Lord_at_War]

Sorry Ms Streep, we decided Jessica Lange was hotter than you.

[BakedPenguin]

They meant it about her spirit.

[DOOMco]

Listened to the fifth column today.

Someone brought up occams razor and then didn't >/i> say inside job.

[The Fusionist]

But then, they *were* talking about the KIC 9832227 star system.

[DOOMco]

Close tags, dammit.
At least my comment posted. I've tried maybe 15 over the weekend and this morning that didn't post.

[DOOMco]

God, why do people care about an actor's thoughts?
They've been told they are great for their entire career. Disillusioned ideologues living with their peers, not remembering the last time they budgeted for peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.

[TheZeitgeist]

God, why do people care about an actor's thoughts?

People don't care what an actor thinks; this is why Golden Globes is the soapbox. Say what one does about politicians, at least they can manufacture a crowd for politics, instead of mug a trophy show.

BTW, did anyone actually watch the Golden Globes? I had no idea it happened until seeing stories about Meryl Streep.

[DOOMco]

No one i know watches, but it sure got around fast on facebook. Apparently they all saw it live, got excited, and waited the 15 minutes until a news article was published.

[DOOMco]

probably the cleanest fj43 out of the fj company yet

[Kurmudgeonly Kristen]

Brian Aitken is hiring.

[jesse.in.mb]

SF'd

[Lord_at_War]

The Diabeetus squared...

[Kurmudgeonly Kristen]

Well, sheeeeit. Lord got it.

[Kurmudgeonly Kristen]

I don't...what? (this stinks, and I'm one of the people that are for more open immigration)

She is backing up those efforts and is pledging to spend taxpayer money to help immigrants pay for legal fees to fight deportation.

[Christophe]

"We want to make a program that is going to serve the needs of D.C. residents and we are looking forward to partnering with community organizations that do this kind of work in D.C. already and making sure they have the resources that they need to work with D.C. residents,"

Subsidy for "community organisers". The Dems know they need to build bench strength.

[John Galt II]

The Associated Press felt the need to "fact check" Trump's complaint/opinion that Meryl Streep is "overrated," which says more about the problems with the concept of "fact-checking" than anything else.

Unless somebody actually READS the link, which humiliates both Trump and his ass-kisser (Shackford).

... the most Academy Award nominations of any actor. .. 19 Oscar nominations and three wins.... a record 29 Golden Globe nominations and eight wins, and two Emmy Awards. ... 10 People's Choice Awards, two British Academy Film Awards, four National Society of Film Critics Awards, two Screen Actors Guild Awards, a Kennedy Center Honor .... named a Commandeur de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, the highest civilian honor given by the French government. ... a Tony Award nomination, five Grammy Award nominations, the American Film Institute's Life Achievement Award, an MTV Movie Award .... an American Comedy Award ... an Irish Film and Television Award, two Italian Online Movie Awards, two Teen Choice Award nominations and two Screen Actors Guild Awards.

It's obviously Trump who's over-rated. And now Shackford.
Oh wait, she's a fucking liberal. And Streisand and Fonda are just as bad. And Tribal GroupThink. And ....

[Fist of Etiquette]

Well, her tribe certainly does rate her highly. So they successfully checked half the fact.

[John Galt II]

Huh?

[bacon-magic]

^It's awesome. Ice storms are really beautiful, but dangerous.

[Half-Virtue, Half-Vice]

Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening

Feel in love and memorized this classic because it reminds me of home; the woods, the lake, and the gentle snow.

[DOOMco]

The best. The fucking best.

[DEG]

Guten Abend Rufus und Tundra!

[westernsloper]

Ya, up by Silverton. When that first happened, I was kind of like pffffftttt. Whatever. The amount of water that flows down the Animas would move any pollution/heavy metals out in pretty short order, and the amount of heavy metals that seep naturally into the rivers from natural runoff at high altitudes is quite a bit. But then it came up that, perhaps it was planned, or maybe the Epa had other goals. Seems shady. I have also talked to some guys who fished the Animas this fall and got skunked. That really means nothing, but it was interesting info.

[DOOMco]

The maintenance by EPA was necessary because local jurisdictions had previously refused Superfund money to fully remediate the regions' derelict mines, due to a fear of lost tourism.[4] After the spill, the Silverton Board of Trustees and the San Juan County Commission approved a joint resolution seeking Superfund money
Yea, western might be on to something.
*takes out tin foil*

[TheZeitgeist]

Jessica Lange's curves in King Kong is the Goldilocks - not too much, not too little, instead just right.

[westernsloper]

hahaha.....seriously? I don't think it is tin foil hat territory. It was big news over on the good side of the mountains. They have been trying to make the area a Superfund site for quite a long time from what I understand. Maybe it should be. Hell, I don't know. I just don't trust the EPA to make things better, and I see superfund as a government takeover over an area by an inept agency. There are a lot of abandoned mines up there. There is a lot of abandoned mines in a lot of places. Beautiful country above Silverton if you ever get out of Boulder.

[DOOMco]

Im trying.
The furthest west Ive made it might be hanging lake? Or the trip through indy pass.
The black hills are on my list.