A.M. Links: Trump Invites Duerte to White House, Marine Le Pen Accused of Plagiarism, Merkel Meets Putin

• 

  Gage Skidmore / Flickr.com

  President Donald Trump has invited Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte to visit the White House.

• "Police in Balch Springs, Texas initially claimed a car was reversing toward them 'in an aggressive manner' when an officer fired three shots into the back of the vehicle, killing 15-year-old Jordan Edwards, an unarmed black teen. Now the department admits the car was driving away when the fatal shots were fired."
• North Korean state media says the U.S. "is pushing the situation on the Korean peninsula closer to the brink of nuclear war."
• French presidential candidate Marine Le Pen has been accused of plagiarism.
• German Chancellor Angela Merkel is currently in Russia for meetings with President Vladimir Putin.

Follow us on Facebook and Twitter, and don't forget to sign up for Reason's daily updates for more content.

Comments

[Fist of Etiquette]

German Chancellor Angela Merkel is currently in Russia for meetings with President Vladimir Putin.

SHE'S GOING TO WIN ALL HER ELECTIONS NOW.

[Rufus The Monocled]

Hello.

"German Chancellor Angela Merkel is currently in Russia for meetings with President Vladimir Putin."

NO TOUCHING.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Hopefully she brought her dog mace.

[Juice]

Not even a harmless little shoulder massage?

[Fist of Etiquette]

French presidential candidate Marine Le Pen has been accused of plagiarism.

Yeah, of Trump.

[Fist of Etiquette]

North Korean state media says-

Stop right there.

[DJF]

Which one was it, NPR or PBS?

[Fist of Etiquette]

Now the department admits the car was driving away when the fatal shots were fired.

The life-threatening exhaust, however, was coming right at the officer.

[widget]

Now the department admits the car was driving away...

Self-driving cars may get me out of legal jams too.

[Fist of Etiquette]

President Donald Trump has invited Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte to visit the White House.

Where they will arm wrestle.

[Conchfritters]

Duarte said recently just give him some salt and vinegar, and he will eat the drug dealers in the Philippines. Maybe Trump can arrange for El Chapo to be served as the main course at a State dinner?

[Scarecrow Repair & Chippering]

I hope Trump changes the White House policy of bowing to despotic authoritarian thugs.

[Fist of Etiquette]

German Chancellor Angela Merkel is currently in Russia for meetings with President Vladimir Putin.

You know who else went to Russia?

[jack sprat]

Napoleon?

[Conchfritters]

Henry Agard Wallace?

[Inigo Montoya]

Lee Harvey Oswald?

[Brandybuck]

Alger Hiss?

[Citizen X - #6]

The Teutonic Knights?

[Crusty Juggler aka "Chad"]

2 students accused of distributing nude photo of teacher

Authorities say two North Carolina high school students used trickery to get a nude photo of a veteran teacher from a social media site and then were arrested after showing the picture to other students.

Local media outlets report the 16-year-old students are charged with misdemeanor disclosure of private images. Each was given a $5,000 unsecured bond, and they have a June 15 court date. It's not known if they have attorneys.

The Onslow County Sheriff's Office says the Swansboro High School students obtained the male teacher's picture after misrepresenting themselves on a social media site.

How were they private images if the teacher sent them to someone?

[Mickey Rat]

I am not sure that is the best way to describe it, but there was fraud of some sort involved.

[Crusty Juggler aka "Chad"]

I believe they are being prosecuted under North Carolina's revenge porn law (although I could very well be wrong), which is why I shared the story, because under the law the teacher has a "reasonable expectation of privacy."

[Crusty Juggler aka "Chad"]

I also shared the story because it involves a penis.

[Not a True MJG]

Tricksy studentses.

[DanO.]

President Donald Trump has invited Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte to visit the White House...

...and soon he will be honored to invite Frederick Douglass as well, who as we all know almost stopped the Civil War.

[Fist of Etiquette]

An official of her National Front party said she had made a "nod" to Mr Fillon and it showed she was "not sectarian".

Almost le headbutt, really.

[Crusty Juggler aka "Chad"]

Janitor allegedly raped teen after he spurned her advances

A 16-year-old boy was raped by a married female janitor when he rebuffed her advances, and now his family has filed a $4.5 million lawsuit against the Tennessee school for allowing the depraved assault to happen, according to a report.

Galyon tried to coax the boy to a hotel room on Sept. 16 so they could have sex, but he refused her advances, telling her he didn't want "any further contact" with her, according to the suit.

The teen eventually confronted Galyon about her persistent come-ons ? and that's when she took him into a room at Midway and allegedly raped him during school hours.

She swore him to secrecy, saying she could lose her job, husband and her children.

"This was the first ever sexual encounter of any kind that [the boy] had ever had in his life," the suit said.

I'd wax her floor, if you know I mean.

[Libertarian]

FOUR AND A HALF MILLION AMERICAN DOLLARS? Are they nuts? People who are wrongly convicted and spend 40 years in prison don't get that much. Wrongful DEATH judgements are lower.

[jack sprat]

She was extra good at polishing knobs.

[Meh.]

How do these incidents keep happening? Teenage boys smell like Doritos and B.O.... and especially when it doesn't really sound like he was that into you? It's a head-scratcher.

[Libertarian]

If you're scratching it, you're doing it wrong.

[Karen24]

When my older son was 13, he and a friend decided to see who could go the longest without washing his PE clothes. My son won, refusing to launder his PE uniform for an entire semester. I threw them away when he finally gave in after being told that he would fail if he didn't wash the damned things.

He is still, at age 19, without a girlfriend, which is not remotely surprising.

[Entropy Drehmaschine Void]

I'd wax her floor, if you know I mean.

Wood.

[Inigo Montoya]

Whoa, does this 16-year-old actually identify as a boy? I'm just saying that I would have dusted her trophy case very thoroughly.

As I recall, my high school janitors consisted of a 50-something Sicilian dude pushing 300lbs and a couple of white-haired ladies whose skin looked liked it was made from pale beef jerky.

[Zeb]

It sounds great to us here, but I can imagine a 16 year old who has never had much intimate contact with a woman being freaked out by it.

[Not a True MJG]

And she's married with kids, and it's not as if all teenagers are amoral sex freaks.

Plus, janitor?

[Fist of Etiquette]

Police in Balch Springs, Texas initially claimed a car was reversing toward them 'in an aggressive manner' when an officer fired three shots into the back of the vehicle, killing 15-year-old Jordan Edwards, an unarmed black teen.

Uh, he was armed with a passenger-side airbag.

[DanO.]

It's the Fist & Crusty Show!

[Fist of Etiquette]

That's being awfully generous to Crusty.

[Crusty Juggler aka "Chad"]

Trump: Truckers Have Asked Me to Consider Raising Gas Tax

President Donald Trump, in an interview with Bloomberg news on Monday, indicated he would consider raising the federal fuel tax to pay for his infrastructure plan.

The truckers came to see me. And I have very good relationships with the truckers. I have one friend who's a big trucker and he's -- he's like -- said, 'I've never seen anything like it,' you know, with the roads -- you've heard this story -- with the roads, and his trucks are all being destroyed, and he's going to start buying cheap equipment now. Yeah, the roads are in bad shape.

But I've -- I've -- had the truckers come to see me, that if we earmarked money toward the highways that they would -- that they would not mind a tax -- you know, gas tax or some form of tax.

[Crusty Juggler aka "Chad"]

So I haven't -- I haven't made a commitment. But they would like it, because they say the roads are in such bad condition.

"Can I report that you're open to raising the gas tax? Would that be fair?" the reporter asked Trump.

"The truckers have said that they want me to do something, as long as that money is earmarked to highways?You could say that I had that meeting," the president responded.

"Well, it's something that I would certainly consider, that -- because they've asked me to consider it."

Trump said he's "totally open" to a trillion dollar infrastructure bill, and he's "in agreement" with Democrats on the need for such a bill.

What's happening?

[Libertarian]

Hey, Trump. Why don't you freakin get the CURRENT gas tax earmarked for road construction?

[Conchfritters]

The President is going to raise taxes and spending? He is fiscally liberal and socially conservative - like most New York conservatives.

[Rich]

He said he only realized his earlier statement was incorrect after reviewing body camera footage of the killing.

That's some mighty fine police work right there.

[Crusty Juggler aka "Chad"]

American Girl introduces the brand's first Korean-American doll, Z Yang, a stop-motion filmmaker

Doll makers American Girl have announced the release of their first Korean American doll, whom they have dubbed Suzie 'Z' Yang.

According to a press release announcing the new doll, American Girl describes Z as hailing from Seattle and a 'creative young filmmaker who loves staying connected with friends and sharing a good story through her stop motion videos.

n the last few years, the brand have been making efforts to diversify their range of toys, previously releasing Girl of the Year doll Gabriela McBride, a black poet, and soon to debut Native Hawaiian Nanea Mitchell.

[Meh.]

Could have been worse, at least they didn't make her hobby anime. And I just checked, and she also appears to be the first American Girl doll featuring a prominent facial mole. Killing two diversity birds with one stone... well-played, American Girl.

[Not a True MJG]

She's missing the bottle of Mountain Dew Code Red and packets of Advil.

[Citizen X - #6]

She comes with a coupon code for a free download of a bunch of bonus StarCraft content.

[Entropy Drehmaschine Void]

German Chancellor Angela Merkel is currently in Russia for meetings with President Vladimir Putin.

Yet another Pact of Steel ... watch out Poland.

[widget]

Single payer health care is working its way through the woodwork, like a termite, here in CA. I don't get the vapors about that, by itself, but the proposed law includes provisions for covering illegal immigrants and making it illegal to sell private health insurance. A mine field of moral hazards and turpitude will be laid in it's wake. The conventional wisdom is that it won't pass this time around, but only because we are not yet progressive enough.

[Libertarian]

"French presidential candidate Marine Le Pen has been accused of plagiarism."

Well, if she loses the election on Sunday there's always the U.S. vice presidency.

[Conchfritters]

I'm pretty sure Pence's wife wouldn't allow it.

[Crusty Juggler aka "Chad"]

School Vouchers Aren't Working, but Choice Is

Douglas Harris, a Tulane professor, says the difference between charters and vouchers boils down to "managed competition" versus the "free market." Susan Dynarski of the University of Michigan talks about charters' successfully combining flexibility and accountability. Joshua Angrist of M.I.T. says, "Flexibility alone is not enough."

Crucially, many charters are open to all comers, which means their success doesn't stem from skimming off the best. And the schools' benefits extend beyond test scores to more meaningful metrics, like college graduation

[SIV]

Things cosmotarians say:

"For advocates of limited government, Ryan remains one of the most important allies in Congress."

[Libertarian]

Unbelievable. I think Trump still hasn't realized that his most important battle is with the Republicans in the House and Senate, not the Democrats. He needs to make this realization soon, very soon, like Friday, if he's going to be a catalyst for conservative and/or lasting change to the status quo.

[Ken Shultz]

Y'all keep pounding on the fact that Trump has invited Durete to the White House, but keep leaving off that Trump has also invited Singapore and the junta leader in Thailand to the White House, as well.

The tone I'm seeing in these articles is much like what Democrats used to say back when we'd fight over China's "Most Favored Nation" status--before China joined the WTO.

Did Reason writers at the time object to the U.S. trading with China--because of the Tianamen Square Massacre or because their treatment of political prisoners? They used to routinely execute drug addicts. Doesn't China still routinely execute drug smugglers?

One of the arguments for trade with China was in America's security interests despite China's human rights record, and I think that's been demonstrated. Our trade relationship with China has made direct conflict between us highly disadvantageous to the vicious dictatorship that runs China.

I see security relationships with Singapore, Duerte, and the junta in Thailand the same way.

If you wouldn't break off a trade relationship with China despite their human rights record--because that relationship is in the best interest of the United States--why would you oppose a beneficial relationship with Singapore, Duerte, or the junta in Thailand?

[Ken Shultz]

Tell me that such relationships aren't to our benefit despite the hegemony of China and their using North Korea as a proxy, and I'll be interested to hear that argument. But if it's in the U.S.' interests for Trump to have his picture taken shaking hands with Duerte or Stalin, then as a good President, that's what he should do.

Incidentally, when Trump campaigned that he would put America's interests first, I think this is part of what he was talking about. I have little doubt but that Barack Obama would have put the interests of the Filipino people ahead of our own interests--much like he did in the Paris Climate Accord. To which I say, maybe he should go run to be the President of the Philippines. I expect the President of the United States to press the interests of the American people, and I expect him not to apologize for that.

[Entropy Drehmaschine Void]

Interesting: not one word about hacking attempts on GOP ...

Open question: Did the GOP simply have better cyber security, are the GOP hacks just undiscovered as of yet or was there actual complicity between the Trumpistas and the Puties??

I can tell which way CNet is leaning ...

How US cybersleuths decided Russia hacked the DNC

... and, NO, no Oxford coma here.

[DanO.]

Where did all the commenters go?
Apparently libertarianism is a zero-sum game.

[VicRattlehead]

i blame the reptillians

[Entropy Drehmaschine Void]

DanO.|5.2.17 @ 10:49AM|#|?|filternamelinkcustom

Where did all the commenters go?

Anywhere you are not, DanO.

The intelligent ones, anyways.

[Citizen X - #6]

Poor DanO, nobody will play with it.

[Domestic Dissident]

Why, they all went to

? Glibertarians.com, that's the name, that name again is Glibertarians.com! ?

[Entropy Drehmaschine Void]

Where DanO. is pleasantly not present.