Dems Cancel Meeting After Trump Tweets, North Korea Tests Missile, Air Force Failing to Report Convictions to Gun Database: P.M. Links

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  KEVIN DIETSCH/UPI/Newscom

  Congressional Dems Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer cancelled a planned meeting with President Donald Trump after Trump tweeted speculation that the meeting wouldn't accomplish anything. They said they'll try to meet with GOP Congressional leaders to try to avoid a government shutdown.

• North Korea has fired off an "unidentified ballistic missile," their first missile test since September.
• The U.S. Air Force has failed to report dozens of service members convicted of serious crimes to the federal database used to check backgrounds for gun purchases.
• Chinese investors in GreenTech, the electric car company founded by Democratic Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe, are suing, claiming they were lured in by a "scam" targeting Chinese immigrants hoping to come to America. They are asking for $17.92 million.
• It's Bob Dylan vs. Seth MacFarlane at the Grammy Awards. I'm not kidding. They're up against each other in the "Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album" category. See the list of nominees announced this morning here.
• Saved the most important news for last: The cast of Jersey Shore is reuniting!

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Comments

[Fist of Etiquette]

North Korea has fired off an "unidentified ballistic missile," their first missile test since September.

They better not be gearing up to shoot down Santa. Especially not Jap Santa.

[Bacon-Magic glib reasonoid]

Anta Craws?

[Telcontar the Wanderer]

Ta-Claus San.

[gaoxiaen]

It's Craw, not Craw!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YLa83lqBKKU

[Rufus The Monocled]

Hello.

[Red Tony]

Maybe they're getting ready to shoot up Santa. Would that be better?

[JWatts]

They probably don't care about shooting down Santa Claus. But 8 fat reindeer is a lot of meat on the hoof for starving soldiers.

[Fist of Etiquette]

The people who replied to this comment? You're all racist.

[Telcontar the Wanderer]

Nuh-uh, I'm *cultured*.

Also, what did poor Rufus do to deserve that?

[Fist of Etiquette]

Congressional Dems Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer cancelled a planned meeting with President Donald Trump after Trump tweeted speculation that the meeting wouldn't accomplish anything.

To paraphrase Washington: "I cannot tweet a lie!" The president nails it again.

[Dead inside]

Nancy and Chuckie are taking their ball and going home . And telling Mom too!!!

[Red Tony]

This probably is a bad move in that it guaranteed that nothing good would come of the meeting. However, let's take the nth-dimensional chess strategy and try to say why this is a good move.

Firstly, the meeting probably was gonna accomplish nothing anyway, so Trump's tweet, while impolite, was not incorrect. Secondly, by saying this, Trump got ahead of the curve; had the meeting accomplished nothing, Pelosi and Schumer could have come out and said that Trump was just unwilling to compromise, while by doing this Trump puts the onus on Pelosi and Schumer to compromise with him. Thirdly, Trump makes them look like assholes anyway by having them cancel?a position favorable to him because he doesn't pretend to be anything other than an asshole. (At least not successfully.)

Still probably a poor move for getting anything done, but it might be a wash, or even a minor win, when it comes to P. R.

[Tony]

If they manage to blame the coming government shutdown on the minority party in Congress, that will be quite a PR coup. Good luck with that.

[NotAnotherSkippy]

Don't worry, Tony, the NYT will make sure the kulaks get their proper blame.

[MarkLastname]

The minority party was blamed for everything that happened in 2009, why not now.

Besides, with Susan Collins and a couple of Reps voting more like Dems, the GOP's majority in the senate is effectively nonexistent.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Saved the most important news for last: The cast of Jersey Shore is reuniting!

I would have thought they would be too busy with bigger and better things.

[CE]

Can't let the Floribama Shore steal ALL of their spotlight.

[Scarecrow Repair & Chippering]

What's-her-name got implants?

[Citizen X - #6]

It's Bob Dylan vs. Seth MacFarlane at the Grammy Awards.

I just hope Soy Bomb shows up.

[Bacon-Magic glib reasonoid]

Babs and Moobs should be the alt alt-txt.

[Fist of Etiquette]

The U.S. Air Force has failed to report dozens of service members convicted of serious crimes to the federal database used to check backgrounds for gun purchases.

There ought to be a law.

[Unicorn Abattoir]

No military-style assault aircraft until they update the database?

[Fist of Etiquette]

They are asking for $17.92 million.

They're determined to make their nut on this.

[Citizen X - #6]

Congressional Dems Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer cancelled a planned meeting with President Donald Trump after Trump tweeted speculation that the meeting wouldn't accomplish anything.

I'm kinda surprised no one in the administration has figured out how to turn off Trump's Twitter account yet, or filter it, or something. Seems like that would have been a Day One priority.

[MP]

Still...it's inappropriate to respond to a big screaming infant by also acting like infants. Does anyone in Washington have any grace?

Dumb question.

[Eidde]

But this is a clever negotiating gambit straight from The Art of the Deal.

"Once Twitter is invented, I will use it to provoke and confuse my adversaries - it will also be a lot of fun!"

[Red Tony]

"When he goes low, we go lower! And then bitch about how political discourse is descending into the muck."

[BestUsedCarSales]

Out of any major award ceremony, somehow the Grammy's are the least predictive of any trends or quality.

[Eidde]

"It's Bob Dylan vs. Seth MacFarlane at the Grammy Awards. I'm not kidding. They're up against each other in the "Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album" category."

REPORTER: "So, Mr. Baby Boomer, are you rooting for your generational cohort, or are you still mad at Dylan for going electric?"

BABY BOOMER: "No time to talk, the nurse said it's Hamburger Day at the cafeteria."

[BestUsedCarSales]

Shit, that Boomer is right to be excited.

[Careless]

Neither of them are Baby Boomers

[Citizen X - #6]

claiming they were lured in by a "scam" targeting Chinese immigrants hoping to come to America

Damn, that's old school. Was McAuliffe going to make them build railroads or something?

[Fist of Etiquette]

Chinese investors in GreenTech, the electric car company founded by Democratic Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe, are suing, claiming they were lured in by a "scam" targeting Chinese immigrants hoping to come to America.

And to think they could have invested in that Nigerian prince instead.

[Mickey Rat]

Imagine, a car company founded by a hack politician was a scam. It is inconceivable.

[Unlabelable MJGreen]

Here it is: the greatest documentary ever made. I'm sure everyone here will appreciate this trailer. This movie puffs everyone: Rhodes, Powers, Kerry, friggin' Susan Rice.

[John]

Does the guy who made that Youtube video get a cameo?

[Citizen X - #6]

Does Obama drop a bunch of fuck-bombs in an attempt to bond with skeezy bro aides?

[Citizen X - #6]

Anyway, THIS is the greatest documentary ever made, except possibly for Grizzly Man.

[Unlabelable MJGreen]

Heh, that one has also passed through my soft, soft hands on its way to theaters. Russians are weird, man.

[Chinny Chin Chin]

The Final Year: For His Legacy

[John]

Shocking news from the world of science. Some men are apparently gay. NTTAWWT

http://attitude.co.uk/new-stud.....nd-cuddle/

[Eidde]

What do you mean, that's not gay at all!...well, maybe a *little* gay.

[MP]

30 British undergraduate sport students

That's some real statistical certainty right there, by golly.

[John]

Limey, preppy college boys do some really gay shit. Who knew or has ever heard of such a thing?

[Telcontar the Wanderer]

Christopher Hitchens?

[Red Tony]

The British Royal Navy traditionally drew from the working class, so they're probably shocked by rich kids getting in on it too.

[Citizen X - #6]

+1 rum
+1 buggery
+1 lash

[John]

+ 1 It's not gay if it's away.

[Juice]

It's a mystery.

[Telcontar the Wanderer]

"Saved the most important news for last: The cast of Jersey Shore is reuniting!"

"There has been an orange awakening... Have you felt it?"

[Diane Reynolds (Paul.)]

New York Times: All men are Harvey Weinstein.

Through sheer bulk, the string of revelations about men from Bill Cosby to Roger Ailes to Harvey Weinstein to Louis C.K. to Al Franken and, this week, to Charlie Rose and John Lasseter, have forced men to confront what they hate to think about most: the nature of men in general.

[...]

Men arrive at this moment of reckoning woefully unprepared. Most are shocked by the reality of women's lived experience. Almost all are uninterested or unwilling to grapple with the problem at the heart of all this: the often ugly and dangerous nature of the male libido.

[Citizen X - #6]

You know how i handle this? I don't grope, molest, harass or otherwise act like a creep around women. It's easy!

[Domestic Dissident]

Because they all run away before you even get the chance.

[Red Tony]

Projection much?

I mean it's true, but projection much?

[Citizen X - #6]

Holy shit, an obvious but somewhat decent burn from Simple Mikey! You should get yourself a commemorative plaque or something.

[Drake]

It'll be the last one he ever does. This is his equivalent of Al Bundy scoring four touchdowns in a single game; it only goes down from here... 🙁

[Telcontar the Wanderer]

Amateurs.

{adjusts ghillie suit, disappears back into undergrowth next to jogging path}

[Bacon-Magic glib reasonoid]

STEVE SMITH GLAD YOU LIKE UNDERGROWTH, WE'LL WATCH TOGETHER THEN I RAPE WINNER.

[Telcontar the Wanderer]

Nah, I'm just okay with it. It's really BUCS that *likes* it.

[mad.casual]

I don't grope, molest, harass or otherwise act like a creep around women. It's easy!

Just ignore Takei and Spacey.

[John]

It is called impulse control. It is a bit scary to think that this guy finds that mysterious.

[MP]

Yes. And who's actually shocked that a more than marginal number of men lack it?

[Tony]

Or not having the impulse in the first place.

You look across a room and see someone you'd like to fuck. But normal people would prefer to have that person's total consent, even if all you want to do is open your robe at her.

[MP]

There's a difference between the impulse to want to get someone naked and have your way with them vs. the impulse to want to do it against their will.

[Diane Reynolds (Paul.)]

*taking notes*

[Eidde]

Let's see if this article is really as bad as the excerpts make it sound...

[Eidde]

"Meanwhile, sexual morality, so long resisted by liberals, has returned with a vengeance, albeit under progressive terms."

I don't even know what this means, and I'm not particularly excited to find out.

"How are we supposed to create an equal world when male mechanisms of desire are inherently brutal?"

Yes, it's generic maleness abusing these women and girls, good job letting the individual perps off the hook.

"It is not morality but culture ? accepting our monstrosity, reckoning with it ? that can save us. If anything can."

Wait, who are you calling a monster? Only people really close to me get to call it "the monster."

[Bubba Jones]

What they are learning is what conservatives have been saying for years.

The real winners of the sexual liberation movement were young men.

[Eidde]

*very* temporarily.

[Telcontar the Wanderer]

"I don't even know what this means, and I'm not particularly excited to find out."

What it means is: meet the new SoCons, same as the old SoCons.

[Eidde]

If by "same" you mean "worse."

[Telcontar the Wanderer]

Man vs. Pig, Nazi vs. Soviet, Bourbon vs. Jacobin... Makes no difference to me.

[Griffin3]

Deep Dish vs. Pizza?

[Telcontar the Wanderer]

That's more like "Nazi vs. Non-Nazi", or so I'm told.

[Entropy Drehmaschine Void]

The "New SoCons" have vaginas.

That you can't touch.

[Telcontar the Wanderer]

Unless you're trying to *abort* a fetus, as opposed to the old SoCons, who wouldn't let you touch it unless you were trying to *make* one.

[Red Tony]

*Super Freak riff*

[Diane Reynolds (Paul.)]

Yes, it's generic maleness abusing these women and girls, good job letting the individual perps off the hook.

You got your answer on what the 'progressive terms' are.

[Unlabelable MJGreen]

Millionaire titans of politics and Hollywood are indeed a representative cross section of all men. Good work there, brother.

[BestUsedCarSales]

There probably is something to be said about the nature of men, but there's probably more still what this says about the nature of power. And that might be a much harder thing to face.

[Diane Reynolds (Paul.)]

There's definitely something to be said about the New York Times opinion section.

[BestUsedCarSales]

What else were the stories of Little Red Riding Hood or Bluebeard's Castle about? A vampire is an ancient and powerful man with an insatiable hunger for young flesh. Werewolves are men who regularly lose control of their bestial nature.

A lot of those can be taken more literally, as there was a time when people straight up got killed by packs of wolves with some regularity. Vampires are probably traditionally more about a fear of death. Certainly modern versions have played on that, and rape is not some new unknown thing. But I think we can easily find readings for it that are not rape.

[BestUsedCarSales]

The masculine libido and its accompanying forces and pathologies drive so much of culture and politics and the economy, while remaining more or less unexamined, both in intellectual circles and in private life

What world does he live in where that is currently unexamined? I hate this stuff, where someone uses weasel words like "unexamined" or talk about how no one is talking about an issue as a gloss for "people aren't doing what I want them to do."

[BestUsedCarSales]

Sigmund Freud recognized the id, and knew it as "a chaos, a caldron full of seething excitations." But the point of Freud was not that boys will be boys. Rather the opposite: The idea of the Oedipus complex contained an implicit case for the requirements of strenuous repression: If you let boys be boys, they will murder their fathers and sleep with their mothers.

And now he seriously cites Freud. Why did you do this to us Paul?

[Unlabelable MJGreen]

More or less unexamined in intellectual circles, save for this intellectual, whose work is still famous and familiar to laypeople a hundred years later.

[BestUsedCarSales]

I didn't pick up on that, but that's a good point. I was more blown away about how someone was seriously citing Freud still.

[mad.casual]

Citing Freud citing a myth.

[BestUsedCarSales]

He also appears to be taking the "murder fathers, sleep with mothers" idea literally.

[mad.casual]

Right, intentionally, like the story goes 'Oedipus woke one morning with and insatiable desire to murder his father and diddle his mother.'

It, actually, couldn't be much more ironic.

[Eidde]

I mean who hasn't...oops, where's the edit button?

[gaoxiaen]

Take the Krell, for example.

[Eidde]

I recently read some essays by Camille Paglia, there was some examining going on, all right, though some of it was too positive for this guy.

[mad.casual]

Vampires are probably traditionally more about a fear of death.

Prior to the spread of Western medicine, it was not unheard of to bury someone in a shallow grave alive. I could see how being sick, getting put in a grave, and then waking from that grave might give someone a God Complex or at least fuck with their psyche a little bit. Not that the origin and proliferation of vampires is all that mysterious.

[Eidde]

What about fucking with the psyches of everyone else?

"Once [Sipho Mdletshe] was fully aware of his situation he began making loud noises and banging inside the box. Luckily for him, morgue workers heard the commotion and were suitably freaked out. They figured out which cabinet the noise was coming from and pulled it open to reveal a perfectly awake and lucid Sipho Mdletshe. Despite whatever injuries he may have had from the accident he was so happy to alive that he knew the first thing he needed to do was visit his fianc?.

"He made his way to her house and knocked on the door...."

[gaoxiaen]

"...and said "Give me that fucking monkey's paw".

[Diane Reynolds (Paul.)]

Vampires are probably traditionally more about a fear of death.

There was a time in Olde Europe where people genuinely believed Vampires existed. I'd have to go back and read how recently that belief continued, but I believe as recently as the 17th century, there's evidence that people in the aristocracy were genuinely scared shitless of the dead rising from the grave as vampires. I seem to recall a case where a noblewoman was buried several towns over in a very unique way because they believed if she came back, she wouldn't be their problem.

[Diane Reynolds (Paul.)]

Sort of a NIMGY phenomenon.

[John]

Men all have dark hearts and can't be trusted with the power that comes with being a corporate titan but that statement in no way distracts from the Progressive claim that government officials are pure agents of good fit to run every aspect of society. No cognitive dissonance there. None at all.

[Eidde]

We need more women in government and corporate boardrooms, that's what it means, you sexist, now go and make the Feminist Collective some coffee.

[Drake]

By telling him to make some coffee for the Feminist Collective, you're assuming the Feminist Collective WANTS him to make some coffee. PRESUMPTUOUS, PATRONIZING SEXIST!!!

[damikesc]

Funny, I just assume women are weak and powerless and probably should have chaperones at all times to protect them from the mean world.

[Bubba Jones]

Women's sexual liberation has nothing to do with this, right?

[BestUsedCarSales]

My guess is rape is not particularly more or less common since women's lib. And that the underlying power structures are probably not new as well.

[Telcontar the Wanderer]

"Almost all are uninterested or unwilling to grapple with the problem at the heart of all this: the often ugly and dangerous nature of the male libido."

Yes, men tend to be unwilling to "grapple" with fundamental aspects of the male genome and evolutionary pressures.

These people actually think they can make Lust, Wrath and Vanity *go away*, not to mention keep them from intersecting.

[BestUsedCarSales]

And he doesn't examine the bigger commonality here. The power that these people held. Rape does happen across many different groups of men. These continued and long term abuses of authority to rape with impunity are much rarer and concentrated in certain individuals.

Though, that article was very uninsightful overall.

[Telcontar the Wanderer]

Right, but the guy's idea seems to be that if we create a New Soviet Consent-Seeking Man, we won't have to worry about men who gain power abusing it.

[NotAnotherSkippy]

Well if they're women we won't.

[Telcontar the Wanderer]

*if they're *attractive* women we won't

[NotAnotherSkippy]

Beat me. Whip me. Call me Susan? That sorta thing?

[Telcontar the Wanderer]

It would be transphobic to suggest anything else.

[Arizona_Guy]

"lived experience" = anecdotal evidence

[MarkLastname]

=not evidence at all

[MarkLastname]

The collectivism is strong in this one.

[Juice]

Chinese investors in GreenTech, the electric car company founded by Democratic Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe, are suing, claiming they were lured in by a "scam" targeting Chinese immigrants hoping to come to America. They are asking for $17.92 million.

Isn't that awesome how that works? You invest in some very speculative company and when it doesn't go your way (which had about a 90% chance of happening) you claim you were defrauded and sue. And these suits win a lot more often than you'd think.

[John]

I see what you are saying, but if the investment failed, doesn't that mean the company went broke? And if it went bust, what good does it do to win a fraud suit against it? They have no way to pay the judgment.

[Juice]

Beats me. Sell more stock? LOL

[Red Tony]

I dunno, maybe winning the suit puts you farther ahead when it comes to collecting on asset sales? I believe that the investors are the last ones to get paid when a company goes bankrupt and has to sell off its assets, with the stack going (and this is my best recollection since I'm too lazy to freaking google it):

Unpaid Taxes
Unpaid Debt
Unpaid Bills
Unpaid Wages
Investors

So maybe winning the suit moves you into the "unpaid debt" category and makes it so you don't take it in the shorts quite as hard.

[John]

I would have to look but I think a civil judgment, even one for fraud is just another unsecured claim in bankruptcy.

[Diane Reynolds (Paul.)]

Suing over the green energy claims would have been fraud enough.

[Juice]

But they bought it. It was speculation. When you invest based on nothing but pure speculation, chances are that you'll lose. They lost and now they try to blame others for their decision to invest in a pile of garbage even though it's entirely their fault.

[Diane Reynolds (Paul.)]

I'm not disagreeing, I was trying to be snarky. But if you invest in a green energy company, it's almost certain you're investing in snake oil.

[Rich]

The U.S. Air Force has failed to report dozens of service members convicted of serious crimes to the federal database used to check backgrounds for gun purchases.

What we need is common-sense Air Force control.

[H. Farnham]

Have Shackford on PM Links for Reason's National Give-Me-Money Day... Smart.

Now give me a damn Heaton video and I'll think about it!

[BestUsedCarSales]

If I donate 1000$ can I get Heaton to be my best friend?

(Though secretly, I really want an invite to Tucille's secret compound)

[Eidde]

[Insert horrible joke about female staff members, expect them to laugh it off because it's fundraising season]

[Red Tony]

We appreciate everything you do and think your articles are wonderful?

[H. Farnham]

I prefer to keep my fawning admiration at a distance from the man himself, lest the myth be ruined by reality. Plus, he throws like a girl, so having a catch with him would only end in disappointment. (that's not a euphemism btw)

[Mazakon]

Congressional Dems Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer cancelled a planned meeting with President Donald Trump after Trump tweeted speculation that the meeting wouldn't accomplish anything.

I don't recall their previous meetings accomplishing much either. I heard some mumbling that Trump caved on the immigration meeting, but haven't seen anything that actually came about from that. Plus, I highly doubt something that would come about from a meeting with Pelosi and Schumer would be anything positive.

[Microaggressor]

It's Bob Dylan vs. Seth MacFarlane at the Grammy Awards. I'm not kidding. They're up against each other in the "Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album" category. See the list of nominees announced this morning here.

Spoken Word

56. Best Spoken Word Album (Includes Poetry, Audio Books & Storytelling)

? Astrophysics For People In A Hurry
Neil Degrasse Tyson

? Born To Run
Bruce Springsteen

? Confessions Of A Serial Songwriter
Shelly Peiken

? Our Revolution: A Future to Believe In (Bernie Sanders)
Bernie Sanders And Mark Ruffalo

? The Princess Diarist
Carrie Fisher

LOL

[BestUsedCarSales]

The lists depress me further. Chris Cornell's solo album is only on there because he died this year. The metal nominees has August Burns Red (Though props to Meshuggah, even if they are pretty old now).

Super happy to see Kitaro nominated for Best New Age Music, if only because I'm reminded that that goofy fucker exists.

Comedy doesn't have Norm's new special. Fuck them.

[Eidde]

Best New Age Music? Well, I guess competing against each other, a prize gets awarded.

[Diane Reynolds (Paul.)]

Left-of-center female journalists subordinate feminism for general leftism? You decide.

Appearing on ABC's This Week, National Public Radio's Cokie Roberts admitted that "for years" the female press corps has covered up sexual misconduct on Capitol Hill.
While speaking about John Conyers and Al Franken, two Democrats facing numerous sexual misconduct allegations, Roberts let this bomb matter-of-factly drop on the left-wing Sunday show, "I mean, we all talked about for years: 'Don't get in the elevator with him,' you know, and the whole every-female in the press corps knew that, right, don't get in elevator with him."

[BestUsedCarSales]

He made them take the stairs, and made them feel like they were to blame.

[buybuydandavis]

Chinese investors in GreenTech, the electric car company founded by Democratic Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe, are suing, claiming they were lured in by a "scam" targeting Chinese immigrants hoping to come to America.

"Our attempt to buy our way past US immigration law failed. Turned out those we counted on defrauding the US government for us actually defrauded us. Wah."

[I am the 0.000000013%]

I circumvented the whole sexual predator issue by being powerless and poor.

Because of that, I've had women begging to be part of my virtuous lifestyle.