Wednesday Open Thread

What's on your mind?

Comments

[Mr. Bumble]

CECOT, the Hotel California of prisons.

[not guilty]

How is your dog, Mr. Bumble?

[Mr. Bumble]

Not getting better or younger but hanging in there. He's not in pain (that's good) and still eating and drinking. Just hoping that when the time comes it's peaceful and at home.
Thanks for asking.

[not guilty]

I hope that he and you do well in his remaining days. The loss of a beloved pet can be quite distressing.

[Martinned]

Funny how human empathy works.

(See also JD Vance's dispute with the late Pope a month or two ago.)

[Speaking for normal people]

As a longtime reader of St Augustine V.'s harangue about Ordo Amoris is dead on. IF I rush into a burning building and save the cat but not my child I do NOT deserve praise but condemnation.

Pope and Vance answer to Church teaching

we rank our love of others based on likeness and union. You are more responsible for your family than your co-workers. You should love your countrymen more than people in a nation you have no connection with.

[Dr. Ed 2]

As a Puritan (i.e. Protestant Congregationalist), I look at it as who is a saint and who isn't -- St. Augustine *is* and Pope Leo is merely a recently-elevated Cardinal. And as to Cardinals, I remember 20 years ago when there was discussion of an extradition treaty with the Vatican so as to extradite Cardinal Law to Massachusetts to stand trial relative to the pederasts in the priesthood.

A lot of mixed marriages go Catholic because the Catholic church is more like McDonalds with a national structure while Protestant churches are independent (some more than others depending on the denomination, but most hire and fire their own ministers).

Vance is Scotch-Irish -- an actual Orangeman -- and those are the Protestants in Northern Ireland. I can see the couple going Protestant if the Pope attacks him enough -- it will be his wife's decision.

[Martinned]

That, right there, has always been the problem with the American free market for religion. It means that American clergy have to tell their congregations what they want to hear, otherwise they go to the church next door. And that doesn't seem like how you'd want to run a religion.

[Bwaaah]

It's comforting to have a dog in a home so you'll always know there's at least one good person in the house.

[Commenter_XY]

NG is right about the emotional impact of losing a dog. They're a family member with 4 feet, and a personality of their own. Hope your family does well when death comes.

Why not write a letter to your dog, and seal it? After 1 year has passed, open it up and read it on the dog's yahrzeit.

You will be very surprised at how you have changed. If you are a retiree, think long and hard before getting another dog.

[Brett Bellmore]

I still recall as a child huddling with my dog while he had seizures from the cancer that was killing him, just wishing I could take that pain for myself. I think I might have been 10 at the time? A few days later I came home from school and my parents told me he'd been put to sleep.

It was a long time after that before I had another dog, and then it wasn't even my idea, my wife wanted one. Then we ended up having to adopt him out when I was forced to move South; You can't take a Jack Russell raised in the country on 16 acres, and stuff him into an apartment. We wound up giving him to a family that raised Jack Russells for acrobatic shows; They were impressed with how high up he'd scratched out the screens on our house! 😉

Family tradition is to bury the dog and plant an apple tree over it, in memory. You can remember the dog every time you pick one of those apples.

[bernard11]

Nice tradition.

[Mr. Bumble]

Welcome South African refugees.

[Martinned]

...only the white ones, of course.

[Frank Drackman]

Pre-Judge much?

[hobie]

Oh? Were black Africans also included? If so, Martin apologizes

[RedheadedPharoh]

Were there any black farmers being genocided by militant black Leftists?

[Speaking for normal people]

There's racist Martin deciding who is officially white ???
So predictable. Any interracial marriage involving a white Martin will attack even if the spouse is Black. Is that racism, readers?

[Riva]

Is that the way to show you're not a vile racist? By being a vile racist? Similar to how democrats showed their support for democracy. By trying to jail their main political opponent.

[EllaWilson]

I did not vote for "judge" boasburg.

[Kazinski]

Absolutely excellent inflation report yesterday:

"The consumer price index rose a seasonally adjusted 0.2% for the month, putting the 12-month inflation rate at 2.3%, its lowest since February 2021.

The core CPI also increased 0.2% for the month, while the year-over-year level was 2.8%.

Egg prices tumbled, falling 12.7%, though they were still up 49.3% from a year ago."

https://www.cnbc.com/2025/05/13/cpi-inflation-april-2025.html

2.3% inflation is getting very close to the Fed's target, although their preferred measure of PCE hasn't been released yet.

[Mr. Bumble]

Still waiting for Paul Krugman's "recession".

[Kazinski]

Krugman got this wrong in 1998:

"By 2005 or so, it will become clear that the Internet's impact on the economy has been no greater than the fax machine's."

But to be fair, I don't think cat photos and videos were a thing yet in '98. That changed everything.

[Mr. Bumble]

You could crash the server listing things that Krugman got wrong.
He's the Paul Erlich of economics.

[Martinned]

Are you sure he was wrong about that?

[Michael P]

Yes, we're sure: https://money.usnews.com/investing/articles/magnificent-7-stocks-explainer

You just have to keep Democrats away from the presidency: https://www.bls.gov/productivity/

[Martinned]

Imagine thinking that the stock exchange measures "the economy"...

[Mr. Bumble]

Seems Estrogon said that yesterday.
See inflation reports, employment etc.

[Michael P]

Why should we share in your putrid imagination? Nobody here said it did.

[Martinned]

Then why did you bring it up in the middle of a conversation about the economy?

[Michael P]

Internet-based companies have large economic impacts, in ways that fax machine companies do not. The stock market doesn't measure the economy generally, but it does reflect economic conditions and drivers. Which, again, include the Internet but not fax machines. Or Paul Krugman.

[Martinned]

Internet-based companies have large economic impacts, in ways that fax machine companies do not.

Well, that was exactly the question. If you assume that, it's easy to prove that your claim is true.

The stock market doesn't measure the economy generally, but it does reflect economic conditions and drivers.

It reflects *future* *expected* cash flows, and not just in the US but everywhere where the company operates, yes.

[Kazinski]

Well things are different here where we do have a functioning private sector, but its not just the Wall Street its Main Street too.

[TaioF920]

One place where we agree. The stock market doesn't measure Main Street or the general economy. Since 2009, all it measures how much the top 1% feels the government and fed will bail them out.

[Brett Bellmore]

There's an element there that represents accumulation of profits that were never disbursed, though. One of the maybe unanticipated consequences of using stock options to incentivize management is that they prioritized raising stock values over distributing profits to shareholders.

[TaioF920]

To a point, yes. Buybacks and the lack of dividends means higher share prices. But it doesn't change the fact that since the bailout regime started, stocks have traded at double their historic valuations.

[Brett Bellmore]

I didn't mean that as a positive thing. It's actually pretty distorting in its own way.

[TaioF920]

Got it. The "hate Trump at any cost" mainstream media combined with the "We need to gaslight America into thinking that a rising stock market is a good thing for all Americans, and not just the top 5% or so" financial media have tricked people into thinking that it is a good thing. But clearly most people don't care about the stock market, or 70% of Americans wouldn't have said the economy was poor in November 2024, leading to Trump's re-election.

[Speaking for normal people]

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

Okay !!!!

[Armchair]

Yes, we're sure...

How does the internet impact the economy? Numerous ways, but let's start with a few.

1. Online shopping. By far, it exceeds any "fax based shopping".
2. Remote working. By far, it exceeds any "remote working" facilitated by the fax.
3. Online media. When's the last time you got a full newspaper through the fax.

There are plenty more.

[Brett Bellmore]

That's "impact", but admittedly a lot of that is displacement of otherwise existing economics, not an addition to the total, which is another way of measuring "impact" that's more favorable to Krugman.

I think he was still wrong even by that measure, but not AS wrong.

Krugman is a typical left-wing economist, he likes regulation. So he was hardly going to anticipate the explosive growth of the internet, that came about largely because... it wasn't yet regulated!

[TaioF920]

It's also completely destroyed print media and many online producers, as Alphabet and Meta have basically monopolized the advertising market.

[Dr. Ed 2]

Back in the 1990s, all of UMass Amherst only had ONE T-1 line connecting it to the internet. That was 64 pair copper wires back then, now there is fiber and compression and you can have the equivalent of a T-1 in your house.

HAD fax bandwidth expanded to the same extent (and paper/toner costs not been an issue) you COULD have the entire newspaper faxed to you.

I believe that the large national newspapers (e.g. NYT) was already doing regional printing in the '80s -- dead trees are heavy and dragging them around the country is expensive...

[Dr. Ed 2]

What none of us expected was that credit cards could (or would) be used to pay for things on the internet. When people started talking about doing this in the '90s, I thought they were insane and said "I never would" and now do.

That said, what is Amazon or Walmart on-line but a quicker version of what Sears or Montgomery Ward was circa 1960. Remember that Oswald bought his rifle, surplus Italian military, from Montgomery Ward's catalog and they mailed it to him.

The only difference is that instead of sending a hand written letter to Sears with the item numbers and a check to pay for it/them, you now send that electronically with an electronic check.

While this is more efficient than having someone manually read incoming faxes, had the payment been addressed, ecommerce could have been done with faxes. Heck, I think you can still send in a LLBean order by snailmail...

[bernard11]

Oh gee.

He made a mistake 27 years ago. What a moron.

[Commenter_XY]

S&P 500 now up for the year. Economic ignoramuses hardest hit.

[Martinned]

It's May. If the market is going to achieve its required return on equity for a beta of one, it'd better be up by now.

[Commenter_XY]

You're one of the economic ignoramuses. 😉

[Martinned]

I'm not the guy reading Newsmaxxx

[TaioF920]

That's because Trump largely caved, as the Wall Street shills and apologists got to him.

[jb]

Well it is true that if Trump keeps reversing his really dumb policies then the general market dynamics that were in place before he was elected will allow the economy to continue to grown and for companies to be successful, just like before he took office.

[Speaking for normal people]

jb, you might as well wear a sign, I hate facts
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MIkwIzpuRYE

[jb]

What facts do I hate? I agree she's put her finger on a problem, but (a) tariffs aren't going to fix it, and (b) my whole point is that Trump keeps undoing his tariffs so even if you believe that they're the right tool they're not doing anything right now.

Brett may be onto something when he says the tariffs are just a negotiating tactic, but what does Trump have to show for his negotiations so far? Other than a super fancy private jet and various places for him to develop new Trump properties...

[Dr. Ed 2]

I have an issue with the jet.
Would we accept one from Israel? (And Israel has enough money to buy one...)

NB: I support Israel, but I would say "thank you, but no....)

[Brett Bellmore]

You know, I kept saying that the plan wasn't to keep the really high tariffs in place long term, that they were just an incentive to get other countries to the negotiating table, and would be coming back down again.

I thought that much was pretty obvious.

[David Nieporent]

Not only was it not obvious, but not true. The plan was to raise enough revenue to cut income taxes. The plan was to establish such high import taxes that companies would build factories in the U.S. And the plan was to use them as leverage. Yes, all of those are contradictory, but all of those were stated justifications for the taxes.

[bernard11]

Sure, Brett, and Trump has made hundreds of trade deals since.

Man, you are good at self-delusion.

Look, Trump does not remotely understand tariffs, or trade. He thinks the exporter pays the tariff, so we can raise trillions (I think he's said we've already done that), and that when we import goods and pay for them we are being ripped off.

He's said those things, multiple times. They are really stupid, but somehow he's got a terrifically clever (actually rather juvenile and transparent) plan for negotiations.

[TaioF920]

Except the economy was only "growing" for the top 5-10%.

[David Nieporent]

False.

[TaioF920]

Not false. Nearly all of the "wealth" gains of the past 20 years went to the top.

[Martinned]

Well yes. If there's one thing the people making investment decisions in the real economy love it's government policy that goes back and forth wildly on a daily basis.

[bernard11]

If you think a .1% gain over 4 1/2 months is a wonderful return, you're one of the ignoramuses.

[TaioF920]

Not "absolutely excellent." Core services was at 3.6%, and sticky inflation in services is much harder to get down than durable goods.

Inflation still a major problem.

[Stephen Lathrop]

One more objection to the Air Force One fiasco. Trump has a model on display in the Oval Office, to show what he wants in a paint job for his new personal toy. It is nothing like the current color and design. The current color and design have become a brand. They brilliantly announce to the world the arrival of the President of the United States. It is a brand for the United States, not for any particular POTUS. Trump is looking to change it, because he wants a personal brand instead. The existing design is a work of graphic genius which never gets old. To throw it away would be an act of vandalism.

[Kazinski]

I'm glad you have something less important to worry about than what's usually on your mind.

Not that airplane paint isn't important, I don't think I have ever felt so humiliated in my life as when I found out I had to fly back into the United States from Taiwan on a jet with a Hello Kitty paint job.

[Mr. Bumble]

I didn't know Buttigieg had his own plane.

[Frank Drackman]

I think Booty-Judge prefers Trains

[CountmontyC]

Off by one letter.

[Commenter_XY]

lathrop shouldn't stress on it too much, at age 79, he doesn't have a hell of a lot longer to contemplate the AF1 paint job. There are far more important issues to be contemplating.

But, to each their own.

[hobie]

Classy. You keep descending lower every week, XY

[Mr. Bumble]

"The existing design is a work of graphic genius which never gets old."
Everything gets old.
Good thing he isn't looking at a 24 karat paint job.

[Martinned]

Imagine being to the right of Laura Loomer...

https://edition.cnn.com/2025/05/12/media/maga-media-shapiro-loomer-levin-trump-qatar-plane-gift

[Moderation4ever]

I cannot think of anything more Trump than accepting that plane. It does a better job of encapsulating his corruption than any court case.

[Krayt]

Like Relativity, Quantum Mechanics, and the Theory of Evolution, my Fundamental Theorem of Government makes another successful prediction, passing all tests thrown at it.

"Corruption is not an unfortunate side effect of the wielding of power. It is the purpose of it from day one."

[Dr. Ed 2]

Gerry Ford did the same thing -- Ford repainted it with a "Spirit of '76" color scheme to recognize the Bicentennial.

I can't remember if it was Carter or Reagan who changed it back, and by 1977 the Bicentennial was over anyway.

[Krayt]

"In 1977, with the Bicentennial, the associated Freedom Train, and first ever national million dollar bicentennial lottery shrinking fast in the rear view mirror, Americans' attentions were about to be overrun by a new pop hit, the likes of which had never been seen before. For young men, anyway everyone! They said it!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6gtQck24Nf8

[Riva]

Confine yourself to nonsense like this in the future to fully cement your party's descent into irrelevance.

[Riva]

Such idiocy deserves one more response. "The current color and design have become a brand. They brilliantly announce to the world the arrival of the President of the United States." Uh no. What announces to the world the arrival of the President of the United States is the President of the United States, usually through his press secretary. Planes can't speak.

[Kazinski]

I oppose Trump's tariffs, but they do have one positive side effect:

Record $16B tariff inflow helped ease the US budget deficit rate
The April receipts saw the federal government post a $258B budget surplus for April, up 23% from a year earlier

https://www.foxbusiness.com/politics/record-16b-tariff-inflow-helped-ease-us-budget-deficit-rate

Of course the surplus isn't just due to the increased tariff income, and April usually sees a surplus.

Doing the math a 23% increase in the April surplus is 59billion so the extra tariff revenue is only 13.5% of that, so I guess the other 86.5% is due to spending cuts.

I'd prefer to just cut more spending and forego the tariff revenue.

[TaioF920]

Right, tariffs are a tax on corporations. So why do you oppose them?

[SRG2]

tariffs are a tax on corporations.

Passed onto consumers

[Mr. Bumble]

Then why do Dems always call for increasing the taxes on corporations?

[SRG2]

Ask them

[TaioF920]

No, that's the media's lie, which you've bought hook, line, and sinker.. For things with huge margins and elastic demand curves, they almost definitely cannot be passed on to consumers. If consumers are price insensitive, why aren't companies raising their prices even more?

[SRG2]

You must have stayed awake for econ 101 and fallen asleep thereafter.

I don't need the media to tell me how to think about economics -I am satisfied with my own competence.

You are failing to distinguish between an exogenously-compelled price rise to which every company in an industry is subject, and how competition functions without such compulsion. Yes, in a market with little competition - an oligopoly - inelastic demand leads to higher prices even in the absence of an explicit cartel - but where there is competition, inelastic demand within an industry does not translate to inelastic demand for a specific company. Further, theory suggests that even in a market with little competition, current prices will already reflect what companies can charge.

[Commenter_XY]

Maybe the AEA is properly invoked...

https://www.newsmax.com/newsfront/aea-venezuelans-gangs/2025/05/13/id/1210819/

Legally, what constitutes 'notice'.

Could DHS run newspaper ads nationwide and call that notice?
Send a nationwide text message?
Make a statement from the Oval Office in Prime Time?

[Mr. Bumble]

"Could DHS run newspaper ads nationwide and call that notice?"
Newspaper ads? How quaint. One assumes people can read and two how many languages would the courts require?

[Commenter_XY]

Could be a bi-lingual commercial ad?

[Dr. Ed 2]

Massachusetts welfare stuff has to have "this is important, have someone translate it" in something like 20 different languages with everything they mail.

They DON'T include it in Mass DOR (state income tax) stuff....

[not guilty]

"The fundamental requirement of due process is the opportunity to be heard 'at a meaningful time and in a meaningful manner.'" Nathews v. Eldridge, 424 U.S. 319, 333 (1976), quoting Armstrong v. Manzo, 380 U.S. 545, 552 (1965). "This right to be heard has little reality or worth unless one is informed that the matter is pending and can choose for himself whether to appear or default, acquiesce or contest." Mullane v. Central Hanover Bank Trust Co., 39 U.S. 306, 314 (1950). "An elementary and fundamental requirement of due process in any proceeding which is to be accorded finality is notice reasonably calculated, under all the circumstances, to apprise interested parties of the pendency of the action and afford them an opportunity to present their objections. . . . The notice must be of such nature as reasonably to convey the required information, . . . and it must afford a reasonable time for those interested to make their appearance . . . The means employed must be such as one desirous of actually informing the absentee might reasonably adopt to accomplish it. The reasonableness and hence the constitutional validity of any chosen method may be defended on the ground that it is in itself reasonably certain to inform those affected." Id., at 314-315.

On April 7, 2025, the Supreme Court ruled that detainees subject to removal under the AEA “are entitled to notice and opportunity to be heard.” Trump v. J.G.G., 604 U. S. ____, 145 S.Ct. at 1006 (2025). Specifically, they “must receive notice after the date of this order [April 7, 2025] that they are subject to removal under the [AEA],” which “must be afforded within a reasonable time and in such a manner as will allow them to actually seek habeas relief in the proper venue before such removal occurs.” Id. The Court held that habeas relief must be sought in the district where the alien is in custody, and accordingly vacated the order of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, which had enjoined the Government from removing these aliens, since they were not in custody within the territorial jurisdiction of that district court. Id.

More recently, on April 19, 2025, the Supreme Court enjoined the deportation of a putative class of detainees confined in the Northern District of Texas under the Presidential Proclamation and AEA, citing the All Writs Act, 28 U.S.C. § 1651(a). A.A.R.P. v. Trump, 145 S.Ct. 1034, 1034 (2025).

Commenter_XY, what do you fancy that your rhetorical questions add to this discussion?

[Drewski]

For immigration court proceedings, notice may be accomplished electronically, by hand-delivery, by U.S. Postal Service, or by commercial courier.

[David Nieporent]

Legally, what constitutes 'notice'.

Could DHS run newspaper ads nationwide and call that notice?
Send a nationwide text message?
Make a statement from the Oval Office in Prime Time?

No. The notice has to be given to the specific person that he or she personally is being targeted as one of the president's victims. A general announcement that the government intends to use AEA to kidnap TdA members is not notice, because it would not inform any person that the government considers him or her to be a TdA member and intends to use it.

[Michael P]

ACLU dismissed its lawsuit falsely accusing DHS of deporting a US citizen: https://www.dhs.gov/news/2025/05/10/aclu-supported-lawsuit-over-false-claims-ice-deported-us-citizens-dropped

[Kazinski]

Honest mistake I'm sure.

A cynic might think they were hoping the right judge would issue an injunction not allowing deportations of Parents with children who are citizens.

[Mr. Bumble]

David Notsoimportant, Estrogon and Zarniwoop(?) hardest hit.

[tylertusta]

I don't think even the ACLU would be so stupid as to bring such an incendiary and meritless claim that they knew was false.

I think it's more likely that the plaintiffs lied to their own attorneys, and once DHS showed the ACLU evidence that the mother opted for the child to remain with her that the ACLU realized that having a hearing on May 16th was going to result in them getting a beat down by the judge for wasting everybody's time.

The disappointing thing about this ordeal is that half of the country (including the judge!) is so primed as to believe anything that the case got as far as it did with just a wild accusation alone.

What's next? Another alleged pee tape?

[Martinned]

I can see how you'd be confused by someone admitting they were wrong.

[Michael P]

As usual, you are the only one who is confused here.

[Joe_dallas]

Western district of Louisiana
perhaps they didnt get an anti trump administration judge

[Life of Brian]

Ah, thanks. I saw the parties had jointly moved to dismiss a few days ago, but didn't surface this when looking around for the back story.

Figured the wheels had to have come off in some spectacular way, since it was dismissed just a few days before the evidentiary hearing that the usual suspects around here were gleefully anticipating.

[SRG2]

What they should have done was said, yes, we made a mistake, but we're not going to reverse it because FYTW. That's the approach the cultists would have approved of.

[Michael P]

Like father, like daughter?

https://nypost.com/2025/05/08/us-news/georgia-dalton-state-college-student-ximena-arias-cristobal-faces-deportation-after-arrest-for-running-red-light/

[Martinned]

I hope you're having fun living in a police state.

[Mr. Bumble]

Is that why you left the UK?

[Martinned]

No. In the UK most police don't even carry guns, and (at least until this week) they weren't constantly threatening to deport people. Why would I worry about UK police?

[Kazinski]

It looks like Kier Starmer has had a change of heart about how loose immigration and work visa laws should be.

I'm sure that had nothing to do with Reform leading in the polls now, although he certainly doesn't have to worry about an election anytime soon.

[Martinned]

That strategy makes absolutely no sense.

[Kazinski]

Perhaps it doesn't, but when a leader sees headlines like this:

Reform would now beat Labour to be largest party, poll shows
Pollster predicts Nigel Farage’s party would win 180 seats at a general election, with Labour and Conservatives tied on 165 seats each
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2025/04/20/reform-labour-more-in-common-opinion-poll-largest-party/

Then he starts thinking about how to co-opt the other parties biggest issue.

Nobody believed this either but she tried it and probably was forced into it by the political hacks:

Kamala Harris tough migration pitch border points shifting national mood
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2024-election/kamala-harris-tough-migration-pitch-border-points-shifting-national-mo-rcna172850

[Martinned]

He might start thinking that, but that would be dumb. You don't win elections by saying your political opponent is right, you win elections by moving the conversation to the topics where you are strong.

Kamala Harris losing is, of course, an illustration of my point.

[Mr. Bumble]

"Which neatly distills the twin trends in the non-law enforcement that afflicts that benighted country: the less attention the coppers pay to anything that matters - smartphone snatching, vehicle theft, house burglary, glassing, grievous bodily harm, rape, murder - the more time it frees up for policing your tweets. In the latest indictment of the UK's execrable plods, Kent Police came round to one of their own - a retired septuagenarian special constable called Julian Foulkes [top right] - and pronounced that his bookshelf looked "very Brexity".....
"The "policemen" examining Julian Foulkes' "very Brexity" household goods then handcuffed him and put him in a cell for eight hours."
https://www.steynonline.com/15295/england-police-state

[Michael P]

https://nypost.com/2025/02/21/world-news/germans-cant-insult-politicians-which-is-why-we-need-to-protect-free-speech-in-the-us/

https://www.gbnews.com/news/free-speech-row-kent-thought-crime-tweet-police-brexit-books

You seem to be confusing enforcement of immigration laws with actual police states. Not surprising, given your history.

[Martinned]

No amount of misrepresenting or misunderstanding stories from other countries will change the fact that the US is on a rapid descent into fascist police state.

[Michael P]

"The dark night of fascism is always descending in the United States and yet lands only in Europe." - Tom Wolfe

[Martinned]

Yes, you said that. And then I pointed out that this year it seems to be landing pretty heavily in the US too.

[Kazinski]

That's actually pretty funny considering that some of your fellow commenters on the left side have been dinging Trump, at least until lately for lagging Biden and Obama in deportations.

Which is it, lax enforcement, incompetence, or a draconian fascist dragnet?

Moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue.

[Martinned]

I'm only left from the perspective of a commenter who is to the right of Laura Loomer.

[Kazinski]

She is hardly right or left, but loony.

[Martinned]

That just suggests that you're more of a loon than she is, which hardly seems like something you'd want to brag about.

[Commenter_XY]

Adios, amiga.

[Mr. Bumble]

Wrong place, wrong time. If it had been TN and she had 8 people in the truck she would have been on her way after a few hours.

[Dr. Ed 2]

If she'd actually HAD her International driver's license, that probably would have been the end of it. And if she had obeyed the traffic laws, she'd never have been stopped...

[Dr. Ed 2]

The OK City bomber was caught when stopped for not having a license plate. The Son of Sam killer in NYC was caught with a parking ticket.

If you are breaking the big rules, you want to be cautious about not breaking the little ones.

[Martinned]

Despite what American fascists like to claim, free speech is alive and well in Europe. (Although this case might not quite give a compete picture of how free Russians are.)

On March 3, 2025, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) released its final judgment in Yevstifeyev and others v. Russia. The decision concerned two applications against the Russian government, claiming that the domestic authorities had failed to comply with their obligation to “respond adequately” to homophobic messages and thus violated the applicants’ right to private life under Articles 8 and 14 of the Convention. One of the complaints involved a homophobic video of a satirical nature. It was submitted by an openly gay Russian activist who claimed that the video “provoked in him feelings of humiliation, anxiety, and fear.” The application was rejected on inadmissibility grounds, with the Court explaining that the video “must be considered as a political satire on a matter of public interest,” and the applicant “cannot therefore be considered a victim of the alleged violations.”

https://verfassungsblog.de/yevstifeyev-ecthr-humor-free-speech/

[Kazinski]

Because they knew Russia would laugh at them.

In the UK that complaint wouldn't get to the ECHR because who ever made the video or posted it would already be in jail.

[ThePublius]

"Despite what American fascists like to claim, free speech is alive and well in Europe."

Does "Europe" include the U.K.? If it does, then you are sorely mistaken. People are being jailed in England for tweets and FB posts. There's no more freedom of speech in England.

[Martinned]

Does "Europe" include the U.K.?

It does. Here, have a map of Europe: https://www.loc.gov/item/2004621193

There's no more freedom of speech in England.

Keep saying that, if it makes you feel better about the dismal state of free speech in the US. It isn't true, but if it makes you feel better who am I to deny you that little comfort?

[ThePublius]

"dismal state of free speech in the US."

More unsubstantiated America hatred from you. We have genuine freedom of speech here. And, they do, indeed, jail people for speech in the U.K. that would be quite benign and even ignored in the U.S. Why do you lie about this?

[Sarcastr0]

We don't have free speech here. Not if you're a federal employee, or a law firm, or here on a visa, or a university, or a news channel.

If you truly believed in America as the home of the free, you wouldn't be supporting Trump.

But you do, so going at the UK hits pretty hypocritical.

[ThePublius]

That's nonsense. To argue that there is more freedom of speech in the U.K. than the U.S. is patently ridiculous. And to say that if you support Trump you don't believe America is the home of the free is equally ridiculous. You can only make your supposed points by being ridiculous, I guess.

I'm not "going at" the U.K., I'm simply refuting the assertions that there is free speech in the U.K. and that the state of free speech in the U.S. is dismal. Just look at the evidence, at the record. Can you be arrested in the U.S. for silently praying in your own home? Will the police knock on your door, search your house, and arrest you for a social media post lamenting increased antisemitism? Be real.

[Sarcastr0]

It's not a one-dimensional problem - regulations come in all shapes and sizes.

But no, we don't have free speech here; we're cracking down incredibly hard on quite quite a few groups' speech and choice, as I noted above.

I'll admit it's a pretty impressive cognitive feat to ignore America's assault of freedom of people who aren't you, while getting very mad on behalf of third parties an ocean away.

But then you want the left delt with while worried about swears on this website bringing down the tone...so you're kinda used to very weird priorities.

[ThePublius]

You're delusional. Do you realize that just things said in these blog comments could get your thrown in jail in the U.K.?

Lay out the supposed assault of freedom of speech in the U.S. for me. I must say it's a pretty impressive cognitive feat on your part to assert "we don't have free speech here." Utter nonsense.

[Sarcastr0]

No, you are taking anecdotes and generalizing. As planned for suckers like you.

We have a guy living in the UK who posts in this blog regularly.

I laid out the assault in my post of groups whose speech is being openly curtailed above.

[ThePublius]

So, are you saying that speech is more free in the U.K. than the U.S.?

[Sarcastr0]

"It's not a one-dimensional problem - regulations come in all shapes and sizes."

[Stephen Lathrop]

ThePublius, read the op ed published in a college newspaper by Rümeysa Öztürk. That got her snatched off the street in Massachusetts, and held without due process in detention in Louisiana for more than six weeks, until a judge ordered her freed—over the objections of the Trump administration.

Many comments on this blog have gone farther than anything Öztürk said. You apparently think this nation enjoys expressive freedom so long as you do, and care not a bit whether everyone has it.

That is the thinking of pro-police state advocacy. Police states cannot gain a foothold by oppressing everyone. To get started they need a constituency. They begin by suppressing some people to advantage others. In short, the very political practices you have been supporting.

[Brett Bellmore]

The "nation" doesn't enjoy expressive freedom, the citizens enjoy it.

But expressive freedom has never been a thing when it comes to an employee's work related speech, so spare me the outrage over the government telling its own employees and contractors what they can say on the job.

That said, Trump has gone a bit too far in targeting legal immigrants for non-criminal speech. Just a bit, so long as they haven't been naturalized. I'm never going to give up on my position that the rights of citizens and aliens are NOT the same.

Maybe I'd be more shocked if cancel culture hadn't been a thing already for so long, but that doesn't make it good. I'd much rather Trump stuck to more defensible actions.

[ThePublius]

"Over time, Britain’s speech authorities have become more powerful while the offenses have become more vague. According to Rowley, prohibited communications include “incitement, stirring up racial hatred, [and] numerous terrorist offenses regarding the publishing of material.” In practice, this has led to thousands of arrests and prison sentences for social media posts, publicly displayed signs, shared memes, personal insults, and even prayers by pensioners." [emphasis mine]

Free Speech Wobbles in the U.K.
https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/news/articles/free-speech-wobbles-uk

[ThePublius]

I'll let you know the next time someone in the U.S. gets a door knock by the police for a Facebook post. Yet this happens with increasing frequency in England, and even results in jail time for some. Like the retired cop:

"Julian Foulkes, a 71-year-old retired special constable from Kent, England, was arrested in November 2023 and had his home searched after one of his posts on X was reported to law enforcement, according to the Daily Mail."

https://www.foxnews.com/media/retired-uk-police-officer-suing-after-being-arrested-over-thought-crime-post-social-media

[tylertusta]

... free speech is alive and well in Europe ...

If you define 'free speech' downwards like Europe is doing, then even the Soviet Union had free speech.

[Sarcastr0]

Again, look at this country. And all the people who don't get free speech now because of their job or immigration status.

We're defining *people* down. Binding all the outgroups, protecting the few and the proud.

I'm not saying the UK is off the hook, but we have a huge mote-beam problem and you don't get to ignore it.

[TaioF920]

Not having free speech because of a non-citizen immigration status is entirely legitimate.

[ThePublius]

"Despite what American fascists like to claim, free speech is alive and well in Europe."

By the way, who are these "American fascists" of whom you speak? And what makes them fascists?

I suspect you are just throwing the term around as a general insult, without really knowing or appreciating what the term even means. You know fascism is a phenomenon of the left, don't you, that it's an outgrowth of, and extension of communism? Or do you subscribe to the leftist nonsense, the leftist projection, that fascism and Nazism are right wing phenomenon? Much like the false narrative of the Democratic and Republican parties switching in the South with the civil rights movement? That the KKK wasn't a Democratic party movement, at least not now, since they 'flipped?'

You guys are so desperate and full of it that you have to invent history that never occurred to cover your atrocious pasts and rationalize your current hate.

[Stephen Lathrop]

ThePublius — You are an American pro-fascist. A point which ought at least to satisfy you that you are mistaken in your stupid assertion that fascism is communism.

[ThePublius]

I am not a pro-fascist. And name calling or branding one's opponent isn't a logical approach to argument. Just make your case.

Benito Mussolini was a socialist and journalist before he became a fascist. He was initially a socialist politician and journalist at the Avanti! newspaper, later founding and leading the National Fascist Party (PNF). While he eventually embraced and became the dictator of Fascist Italy, he had a socialist background before that.

Read up on the beginnings of fascism, the invention of fascism in Italy.

[Sarcastr0]

This is really funny and all, but you don't get your own words. I think you're saying authoritarianism=the left? Unless you're just saying political things you don't like=left.
Either way, you're profoundly ignorant.

Fascism was on the right. Everyone said that *at the time* and didn't stop, even if Jonah Goldberg tried real hard.

When you get a chance, look at how the words left and right for political ideologies. Bad news for monarchical outgroup-targeting folks like yourself!

But most importantly, you want the left 'taken care of.' I'm not one to overuse the word fascist - it's got some pretty particular historical specificity. But if anything today is fascist, your bloody purge politics is.
So is your fragility about properly not swearing.

Oh, and I didn't forget you were the main 'Haitians are eating the pets!!' shit-pusher. Not really fascist, more you generally being a gullible racist.

[Brett Bellmore]

It's really a stupid argument, as though there were a material difference between 'left' and 'right' by the time you arrive at totalitarianism. The necessities of being totalitarian force all totalitarians to converge on basically the same set of behaviors, regardless of where they approached it from.

The NAZIs were to the 'right' of the Communists, but it was arguably just a factional dispute on the left, as you can see by the name: "National "Socialist"".

That said, 'fascism' as an economic doctrine is not distinctively right or left-wing. It basically just stands for the idea that it's more efficient to let the private owners of the means of production keep at least nominal ownership of those means, while the government takes control of those means through regulation, not assuming nominal ownership as the socialists advocate.

Economic fascism was all the rage before WWII, a lot of FDR's economic program was frankly fascist, the left in America are fascist, not socialist. They're quite content to let the private sector "own" things as long as the government is calling the shots.

That's not enough to make them "right wing", as the right has largely rejected that level of government control in favor of free market economics.

[Sarcastr0]

a lot of FDR's economic program was frankly fascist

You don't get your own words.

[ThePublius]

So I'm a profoundly ignorant fascist shit-pusher. That's your compelling argument, eh? Jerk.

[Sarcastr0]

you want the left 'taken care of.'

[Kazinski]

Last week the Trump issued a new Executive Order titled “Fighting Overcriminalization in Federal Regulations.” The order is aimed at curbing the overuse of criminal penalties in federal regulations by requiring agencies to spell out just what would trigger criminal penalties in the regs.

I can't imagine anyone would be against this, but I am sure they are probably quite a few.

"The purpose of this order is to ease the regulatory burden on everyday Americans and ensure no American is transformed into a criminal for violating a regulation they have no reason to know exists.

Sec. 2. Policy. It is the policy of the United States that:

(a) Criminal enforcement of criminal regulatory offenses is disfavored.

(b) Prosecution of criminal regulatory offenses is most appropriate for persons who know or can be presumed to know what is prohibited or required by the regulation and willingly choose not to comply, thereby causing or risking substantial public harm. Prosecutions of criminal regulatory offenses should focus on matters where a putative defendant is alleged to have known his conduct was unlawful.'

[Martinned]

As per Monday's Open Thread, when our friend Brett mentioned this EO, it certainly did make me wonder what happened to Trumpists' anger about prosecutorial discretion. Is prosecutorial discretion OK, or does the DOJ have a legal duty to prosecute any and all crimes that it can prove?

In any case, if Trump thinks there are too many crimes I'd agree, but I'd suggest giving Congress a list of criminal statutes that it might want to repeal. After all, Congress is in charge of lawmaking last I checked.

[Mr. Bumble]

Congress ceded that to the courts and the executive.
Mostly they just like to preen before the cameras as they hold hearing, promise to do their job and raise money to be re-elected.

[Martinned]

That sounds like one of those "only when Trump is in the White House"-sorts of arguments. At least, I don't remember you talking like that under Biden or Obama.

[Kazinski]

Well if you read the EO it applies to regulations which have the force of law, not to actual statutes.

Some courts have held that the rule of lenity applies strictly to regulations, that no deference is due to the government when there is an ambiguity in a regulation, but this does seem to go further in making it clear that while people are presumed to know what the law is, its too much to expect they will know every federal regulation.

[Martinned]

I did read the EO, when Brett mentioned it. If Trump thinks there are too many regulations that are enforced with criminal sanctions, he should instruct the agencies to start the process of repealing them. But he didn't do that.

[Michael P]

Regulations can be backed by civil enforcement, not only criminal enforcement. The process of repealing bad regulations entirely takes a long time, but the process of using only appropriate and authorized enforcement mechanisms is much easier.

[Commenter_XY]

That distinction escapes Martinned.

[Martinned]

I understand that distinction just fine. Does Trump?

[Martinned]

Regulations can be backed by civil enforcement, not only criminal enforcement.

Yes, I know that. But the EO only talks about the latter.

The process of repealing bad regulations entirely takes a long time

All the more reason to start sooner rather than later.

the process of using only appropriate and authorized enforcement mechanisms is much easier

Yes, simply not prosecuting people is much easier. But I thought Trumpists were against that sort of thing? Or are you only against prosecutorial discretion when it concerns "those people"?

[Michael P]

Donald Trump didn't tell regulators to stop pursuing civil enforcement, or even all criminal enforcement. The EO was narrower than that. You keep trying to make it about something quite different. You should spend more energy on reading comprehension and less on desperately looking for things to be angry about.

[Sarcastr0]

I don't think the EO does anything; it's already the norm to not reach for criminal penalties if at all possible.

DMN thinks the EO is an invitation for corruption - Trump's friends get to avoid criminal charges; everyone else gets The Law.

That does seem to have plenty of precedent.

[Stephen Lathrop]

(a) Criminal enforcement of criminal regulatory offenses is disfavored.

Yup. Got it. Knew it since Inauguration Day, but the forthright statement is useful, however mendacious. Left out the selective targeting. Ask Harvard.

[Martinned]

Meanwhile, in "this is what the rule of law looks like"-news: the Commission decision refusing a journalist of The New York Times access to the text messages exchanged between President von der Leyen and the CEO of Pfizer is annulled

The Court recalls that the purpose of the Access to Documents Regulation is to give the fullest possible effect to the right of public access to documents held by the institutions. Thus, in principle, all documents of the institutions should be accessible to the public.

[Commenter_XY]

Syria to join the Abraham Accords?

https://www.jpost.com/breaking-news/article-853885

US President Donald Trump urged Syrian President Ahmed Al-Sharaa to sign the Abraham Accords with Israel during their meeting ahead of the GCC summit in Riyadh on Wednesday.

[Martinned]

Hang on, I thought that the talking point was that Syria had no government? Or at least that the US considered the Syrian government a bunch of terrorists that it would not negotiate with?

[Michael P]

I was told not to worry about Hogg doing crazy things because he might just buckle down and focus on parliamentary procedure or whatever. How's that working out?

https://www.politico.com/news/2025/05/12/dnc-panel-opens-the-door-to-removing-david-hogg-from-his-national-post-00343653

I think his recent observation that the Democrat Party is abandoning young men was true, but that seems to have been a bridge too far for the party mandarins. Or maybe it was his threat to primary so many incumbents in "safe" districts (and risk turning them into battleground districts). If he was spending time on parliamentary procedure, it isn't evident.

[Brett Bellmore]

Who told you something that silly?

Putting Hogg in that position was an obvious self-own by the Democratic party. I guess they were reasoning that the other side hated this guy, so he had to be alright despite all contrary indications?

But it's still hilarious seeing them eject him over something like this.

[Michael P]

I think Sarcastr0 was the one who claimed David Hogg might focus on being a good parliamentarian. Maybe it was Nieporent. It was laughable precisely because Hogg's likely path was patently obvious from the moment he was selected.

[Sarcastr0]

I said get mad at him for things he's done, not things you'll be he will do.

So far you still don't seem mad at him for anything he's done.

You do seem pretty obsessed with him, though. I don't hear much about him at all except from you.

Shades of AOC...much bigger on the right than the left for a while. Nowadays it's equalized.

[Michael P]

I wasn't mad about anything. I thought it was funny because I fully expected things like this to happen. And I did give him credit for observing that Dems insist on alienating men -- which they proceeded to demonstrate in even more hilariously ironic fashion.

[Sarcastr0]

Maybe not mad, but certainly weirdly focused on the dude.

alienating men
Big Tate fan?

[Michael P]

I don't think David Hogg is a fan of either Andrew or Tristan Tate. Do you, or are you just weirdly focused on the dude(s)?

[Brett Bellmore]

I was mad at the time over things he'd done, (That you probably liked.) and just predicted that he'd do more of the same in his new position. "The enemy of my enemy is my friend." is a really stupid way to pick important policy making positions.

No, sometimes the enemy of my enemy is just a loose cannon.

[Brett Bellmore]

"Hogg's likely path was patently obvious from the moment he was selected."

Some of it was patently obvious, but I didn't see him making sensible observations about why the Democratic party was losing young men.

[rloquitur]

https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2025/05/released-from-custody.php

Because they release aliens who killed someone's mom.

[David Nieporent]

Or maybe it was his threat to primary so many incumbents in "safe" districts (and risk turning them into battleground districts).

He did indeed receive a rebuke for that, as being against party rules.

But the redo of his election is based on silly rules about gender balance (which, to be clear, the RNC also has).

[apedad]

"Ahead of a Gulf Cooperation Council meeting (Tuesday) morning, Trump held a half-hour meeting with the new president of Syria, Ahmed al-Sharaa, who came into power after the fall of the Assad regime in 2024."

al-Sharaa? You mean this guy?!?

A former Al Qaeda commander who "was arrested by American forces while planting explosives[26] and imprisoned for over five years in various detention centres,[28] including Abu Ghraib, Camp Bucca, Camp Cropper and Camp Taji prisons."

And, "(a)fter the start of Operation Inherent Resolve, the U.S.-led coalition's airstrike campaign against the Islamic State in Syria, al-Sharaa, in a rare public declaration, described the airstrikes as an assault on Islam, and warned the Western public: "This is what will take the battle to the heart of your land, for the Muslims will not stand as spectators watching their sons bombed and killed in their lands, while you stay safe in your lands." In his audio message, released five days after the U.S. strikes, al-Sharaa said: "Do not let the West and America take advantage of the injustice of the Islamic State upon you … Those who are unable to repulse the Islamic State or others, then let them do so without being a partner with the crusader alliance." Al-Sharaa also warned that al-Nusra will fight any group which takes American cash and weapons, condemning "the traitorous factions that were bought by the West with some money and ammunition so as to be a pawn in its hands."[64] In an audio statement released on 28 September 2014, al-Sharaa stated that he would fight the "United States and its allies" and urged his fighters not to accept help from the West in their battle against the Islamic State.[65]" wiki

[Bob from Ohio]

The French President welcomed the dude to Paris last week.

Sometimes in diplomacy you have to meet with bad people.

[Michael P]

apedad will be shocked when he finds out which US former elected official studied at the knee of the Weathermen and told his leftist acolytes to bring guns to a knife fight.

[John F. Carr]

Massachusetts now allows tenants to seal most records of eviction cases. If the tenant wins or is evicted not for cause (e.g. landlord wants the unit back) the record can be sealed as soon as the judgment is final. If the eviction is for unpaid rent, the record is sealed once the rent is paid. If the tenants can't pay back rent, the record is sealed after four years. Otherwise, if the tenant is at fault, the record is sealed after seven years.

https://www.mass.gov/news/sealing-eviction-records-coming-in-may-2025

It is illegal to include a sealed case in a credit report. If a case is not sealed a credit report must disclose whether the eviction was for cause. Tenants need not include information about sealed cases when filling out an application form. I believe (by negative implication) that interviewers and references are not bound by sealing. You can call up a tenant's former landlord and get all the dirty details.

[Dr. Ed 2]

"It is illegal to include a sealed case in a credit report. .... I believe (by negative implication) that interviewers and references are not bound by sealing. You can call up a tenant's former landlord and get all the dirty details

So if the landlord goes to court and the tenant successfully disputes rent being owed, it can't go into the credit report, but where the slumlord merely puts it on the tenant's credit report, it can be?

And what real redress would such a tenant have? Statute of Limitations on libel is one year (?), or would it being reported be considered an ongoing libel? And then the tenant shows up as someone who sued a landlord...

IANAA but wonder about employers calling landlords, past or present. If you can't use credit reports for employment, how can you use the underlying data (if you admit it)?

[Sarcastr0]

Nick Bagley on the Trump administration's bill that attempts to let you pay to get out of judicial review of your environmental impact statement:
https://blog.dividedargument.com/p/defanging-nepa

He's no fan of NEPA (actually, neither am I!) but cash to get out of judicial review is a level of pay-for-play thusfar unseen. Luckily it's incompetently drafted.

[Frank Drackman]

It’s just AlGores “Carbon Offsets” with a different name

[Brett Bellmore]

"And so a law that was supposed to protect the environment has become one of the chief impediments to the transition to renewable energy."

LOL! The chief impediment to the transition to renewable energy is that it's, technologically, just not ready for prime time. It sucks on important metrics like reliability and dispatchability. It would never be adopted if it weren't so heavily subsidized and mandated. Outside niche applications, of course.

If 'renewable' energy were ready for prime time, it wouldn't NEED help taking over!

The pay to play aspect is not, by the way, so much paying to get out of judicial review, as that they had to make the avoidance of judicial review look like a revenue source to shoe horn it into reconciliation. Otherwise I think they'd have been glad to hand it out for free.

[Sarcastr0]

Neato off topic rant. Not going to take the bait.

You can not like NEPA - even I think it's not worthwhile! - and still think that a legal regime that lets you buy your way out is awful policy.

they had to make the avoidance of judicial review look like a revenue source to shoe horn it into reconciliation
Don't be an idiot. Paying to fast-track is a common thing and would have answered that mail.

Your made-up apologias are getting dumber by the day.

[Brett Bellmore]

Somebody didn't read his own link, I guess.

"The language is crafted like this to wedge it into the rules governing reconciliation. By creating a fee, the House Natural Resource Committee can say that the bill will affect the budget. "

[Sarcastr0]

Read the very next paragraph.

[Dr. Ed 2]

Gaslighto, what is the difference between paying $100K to a lawyer and paying $10K to the government? Other that the govt gets $10K?

[Frank Drackman]

Got this from the late great Vin Scully (Lefty btw) that as a typical baseball game has around 300 pitches each with multiple outcomes(called strike, swinging strike, ball, hit by pitch, foul ball, and that’s not even considering the different hits, pickoffs)
The number of possible different baseball games is more than 5 times the total number of Atoms in the Universe
You can make a similar argument for NBA games, but they suck

Frank

[Brett Bellmore]

And, as a first approximation, all of those different games will be boring.

[Frank Drackman]

Boring? That's what Queen(ie) Elizabeth said after attending a Baseball game,(I believe the exact quote was "Nothing much happened, did it?") you have to look at the game behind the game, like when the catcher drops a handful of dirt on the plate, the ballet-like dance of runner and shortstop on a slide into second, Dallas Green scratching his balls waiting for the new pitcher to come in.....
OK, watching 20 minutes of a parade of tattooed freaks shooting free throws (badly) for the last minute of an NBA game.......

Frank

[Brett Bellmore]

I understand that somebody who's into baseball won't find it boring, somehow. 😉

No, really, just like there are an astronomical number of losing hands in poker, that differ from each other in no way that makes any real difference, and a much fewer number of winning hands, most of those differences in that calculation are differences that won't make a difference, and so will go largely unnoticed.

It reminds me of the time baseball statistics nearly killed me. I was doing the long drive from Michigan to Florida, to visit my mom for Christmas, and had a book on tape to keep me awake, Gould's "Wonderful Life".

Everything was fine until he launches into this endless digression on baseball statistics in order to illustrate a point about the evolutionary implications of expanding into a larger state space that I had gotten immediately, thank you, and about 15 minutes later the rumble strip woke me as I was going off the road. I'd fallen asleep, it was so boring.

[Stephen Lathrop]

Bellmore — Good advice: if someone invites you to play poker, do not take a seat.

For a writer who makes baseball statistics interesting, go with Bill James.

[Brett Bellmore]

I'm not much for games of chance as a usual matter, though in college I had the President of the chess club for a room mate one year, and we'd alternate at chess and backgammon.

He'd win the chess, of course, though occasionally I'd pull off a stalemate. I generally won the backgammon. For some reason he just couldn't reason out strategy in a probabilistic game.

I was never into poker, though.

[Armchair]

NIH director temporarily closes NIH lab.

Those dastardly Trump administration officials! Why would they do that! They hate science!

"“About three weeks in, I got a report that there was a lab—a BSL four lab, that is a high-security lab that deals with, like, really nasty bugs, you know, Ebola, whole bunch of other bugs—that there had been a safety incident…[that] involved a contractor cutting a hole in the bio containment suit of another worker with the intention of that, getting that worker sick with some nasty bug and potentially spreading it outside of the lab itself,” Bhattacharya said,

https://justthenews.com/nation/science/nih-director-says-confrontation-between-lab-contractors-precipitated-fort-detrick

Oh..

[Sarcastr0]

What’s your point here? That sometimes bad shit happens and it’s not Trumps fault?

[JoeFromtheBronx]

Also, we had some "got to give Trump credit" stuff in which his role in the positive developments (to the degree they were) were far from clear.

[jb]

You know, it's the very definition of a strawman to bring up a topic, invent a reaction to it that no one actually made, and then "successfully" beat back that argument.

But have fun debating with yourself, I guess.

[Swede425]

A group of 4 Amish guys, with 1 Mennonite who could drive the truck and trailer, cut down 106 very tall red pines on my property. It took them all of one day and 3 hours the following day and they had the trees cut down, topped, cut to length, horse dragged to the truck, and back to their sawmill. They piled the tree tops in several large piles (which I'm using for deer bedding on other parts of the property), and paid me in cash. The commercial guys came out and would only take the job if they could cut at least 20 acres of trees. But they'd pull stumps and get rid of the tops. Glad I went with the Amish.

[Armchair]

Biden family gravy train running dry...what are the risks?

Well, now that Joe's out of office, there's no influence left to sell.

"During the Thursday edition of his podcast, The Morning Meeting, veteran journalist Mark Halperin reported that, according to a source “very familiar with the Bidens,” the family’s financial machine known as “Biden Inc.” has dried up. “The trough is empty, the spigot is turned off,” he remarked.

Halperin continued, “Biden Inc. has collapsed. All those Biden grandkids had a lavish lifestyle which they very much liked. Hunter made … millions of dollars. Joe, as a former president is not in a position to get the same kind of paid speeches, corporate boards, book deals.”

The source told Halperin that the family “needs a source of revenue” because “Joe’s earning power is not sufficient” and “Hunter does not have great earning capacity.”"

https://legalinsurrection.com/2025/05/report-biden-familys-financial-pipeline-has-run-dry/

Hmm. But Joe may have all those classified documents left "around". Should we be worried that China or Russia will offer some money for them?

[Brett Bellmore]

You'd think they'd have seen this coming, realized that the track the gravy train was riding had an obvious end, and banked most of it. Instead of acting like the train ride would go on forever. They could have been quite comfortable, still, and had a big pile of annuities.

I don't know that Joe actually has all that many classified documents at this point, and certainly not documents that haven't already been leaked. There came a point in the program to go after Trump over HIS retention of documents, where they had an "Oh, shit!" moment, and realized their exposure on that front.

I think at that point they got rid of most of them. At the very least, after the 2024 election they would have, in anticipation of a vengeful Trump having the DOJ available to sic on them.

If Joe has any now, it's just because he genuinely forgot about them.

[CountmontyC]

Why do you think Hunter and Jill wanted him to run so badly despite his obvious mental infirmities? They knew that the gravy train was over as soon he was out of office ( he can't even give speeches for money because nobody would pay to hear his addled thoughts).

[tylertusta]

Now that Biden's usefulness has ended, reality is now winning against politics. It turns out that the emperor wasn't wearing clothes after all!

And people wonder why trust in the media is so low.

[SRG2]

Of course, when Trump continues to enrich his family as president, that's (R)ighteous

[Mr. Bumble]

Now tell us the story of how a poor bi-racial kid from a broken home went on to become a multi-millionaire.

[CountmontyC]

To borrow a phrase from many on the leftist commentators.
That is pure WHATABOUTISM!!!!

[hobie]

I find it amusing you hayseeds are still flogging Hunter and his 10 million and his oil paintings. A normal person would find it quaint compared to the massive, multibillion dollar influence peddling operation of the Trump crime family. I know you're hoping you'll win the lottery and get that Wonka ticket for access to the new Qatar jet along with the paying crypto sheiks, but I wouldn't hold my breath if I were you

[CountmontyC]

More whataboutism.

[apedad]

Do you point out whataboutism from the right too?

Michael P 3 hours ago
Flag Comment
Mute User
apedad will be shocked when he finds out which US former elected official studied at the knee of the Weathermen and told his leftist acolytes to bring guns to a knife fight.

Or are you just a Trump sychophant?

[jb]

Wrong place!

[tylertusta]

A follow-up to Monday's thread about Xi trying to mediate peace between India and Pakistan.

Some commentators here believed that Xi was somehow behind the peace deal.

In response to their statements, I brought up that in 2020, India and China fought a battle in Kashmir. I used this as evidence that India would not accept Chinese mediation in the recent Pakistan-Indian conflict as China does not have clean hands in the region.

To prevent any border clashes from escalating, both sides deliberately patrol the border without firearms. Instead, troops bring sticks, clubs, or other blunt instruments. Occasionally troops will skirmish each other at the high altitudes, bringing in reinforcements from nearby encampments.

Yesterday, a Chinese soldier posted to Twitter a picture of him and a broom that he carried in 2020 in the battle against Indian troops, where he was involved in the capture of several Indian soldiers. It was a sort of "and I still have the broom!" moment of pride for the Chinese.

https://x.com/OedoSoldier/status/1922288507487154593

This would be funny, except that ≈50 men died in the skirmish.

An analogous event occurred in 1976 when US Army soldiers were attacked by North Koreans armed with clubs and axes, resulting in the deaths of two US Army officers in the DMZ.

[Sarcastr0]

I said China *wants* to be seen as a peacemaker.

If you thought I was sharing the China Times for the truth of what it asserts you need to go to remedial media literacy training.

I also know enough about foreign policy to know none of what you described matters if things get serious, the US isn't there, and China is.

[hobie]

Nothing I like better than a Spanish tortilla. I par deep fry the potato and onion slices until just tender, then combine them and the beaten eggs and chives into the skillet and slosh it all around until the eggs are half cooked...folding and folding the whole time. Then into the oven until set. In Spain, they are absolutely nuts about having mayonnaise with everything, so I whip up garlic aioli for the condiment. Yum

[Sarcastr0]

I know it's authentic, but I don't care for corn flour tortillas.

Gringo wheat is my jam though.

[hobie]

Both have their places

[Dr. Ed 2]

An ethics question for the law professors:

Mass Bar Rule 4.3 reads (in part)
"The lawyer shall not give legal advice to an unrepresented person, other than the advice to secure counsel, if the lawyer knows or reasonably should know that the interests of such a person are or have a reasonable possibility of being in conflict with the interests of the client."

Would that include a demand (i.e. threat of lawsuit) that a third party do something that (a) is beneficial to the client and harmful to the client, (b) that there is absolutely no basis for demanding, and (c) is based on a complete ignorance of both the facts and law involved?

In other words, if a mentally ill client somehow manages to convince a lawyer to send a letter threatening litigation to a third party on the basis of facts which don't exist and some legal myth that a nominee trust with succession language instead expires on the death of the first trustee, and neither advises the party to obtain legal representation nor gives the person time to do so (i.e. expects action within four business days), is that outrageous enough to justify a BBO complaint?

I know the joke about lawyers wearing ties is to prevent their foreskins from showing, and know that his client is mentally ill (and has been on SSDI for over 30 years), but where is the line between a lawyer being an A-hole and a lawyer being unethical?

(NB: I know there are also rules 3.1 & 4.1 but I am leaving as much out of this as possible because I am asking an ethical question here -- when is a lawyer being too much of of an A-hole to be accepted by his peers?)

[ReaderY]

You appear to be referring to a specific case rather than some sort of general hypothetical. Since any answer would depend on the facts of the case, it might be best to share the case and its details.

And of course, nobody here could give you legal advice, just a general opinion.

[David Nieporent]

This is an oddly specific and yet totally vague question. Threatening someone with a frivolous suit would not be a violation of 4.3, no. It might be a violation of other rules (or even, as Prof. Volokh has noted in the past, a violation of criminal laws against, e.g., extortion).

[ReaderY]

A totalitarian takeover needs an organization of loyalists outside the state and its controls; a loyal paramilitary; a secret police; a network of concentration camps outside the prying eyes of the regular law; and a slush fund of money outside regular controls and accountability available for personal disposal.

We have the outlines of most of these elements. We have DOGE as an extra-state quasi-governmental organization staffed with personal loyalists: folks like the Proud Boys who organized January 6 as the outlimes of a loyal paramilitary; ICE as the cadre of a secret police trained to work outside the restrictions on regular police; and a network of concentration camps in El Salvador.

My question for the Conspiracy is, where is the slush fund? Is Trump redirecting money saved from refusing to spend it as Congress provided? From outside schemes like his cryptocurrency? From gifts from foreign leaders and other donors? Where is the money coming from?

Or perhaps he doesn’t need a private slush fumd. Maybe he can spend government money on ICE, the El Salvador camps, rewarding his supporters, etc.

[Brett Bellmore]

I think as a starting matter you need to distinguish between "totalitarian" and "authoritarian". Authoritarianism is much more likely in the US than totalitarianism, we have too many competing power centers outside of government, and they are not all loyal to the same political causes, and so will not unite in favor of one faction. So there really is little prospect of all power being united in government.

Even authoritarian governments are pretty reliant on the absence of substantial power centers outside of government, and some pretty important non-governmental power centers hate Trump's guts.

So, while I certainly think it's possible Trump will continue our drift towards authoritarian government, he's certainly not going to achieve it himself, and totalitarian is right out. And that's without even addressing some of your hilarious misconceptions.

[Sarcastr0]

I think as a starting matter you need to distinguish between "totalitarian" and "authoritarian".

Not how you start a winning defense of Trump!

[hobie]

You forgot antipathy towards - and sidelining of - the press. As well as compromising the judiciary with insurrectionists. Let's hope we don't see that.

[Life of Brian]

<ctrl-f>predatory *BEEP*
<ctrl-f>Pennsylvania *BEEP*

No hotheaded screed from Ilya yet.

Am I overreading yesterday's decision?

In light of all of the foregoing, this Court reaches the following definition of "predatory incursion" under the AEA: "a hostile entry into the United States by a cohesive group of individuals, such as a military detachment or a designated Foreign Terrorist Organization, who are united by a common goal of causing significant disruption to the public safety — whether that be the safety of persons, property, or pecuniary interests — of those within the United States.” The Court finds that that definition is faithful to the meaning of "predatory incursions" in 1798, but it also accounts for new applications given "changes in the world."

When this Court applies that definition to the Proclamation and its finding that TdA is committing a "predatory incursion," the Court holds that the Proclamation complies with the AEA.
* * *
Second, the Court finds that the Proclamation and the documents it references support the finding that TdA is committing a "predatory incursion" as that term is defined in the AEA. Indeed, an FTO is a cohesive group of individuals united by a common goal of causing significant disruption to the common safety of the public..."
* * *
Therefore, for all of the foregoing reasons, the Court finds that the Proclamation meets the definition of "predatory incursion" under the AEA, and the Court finds that A.S.R. has not shown a likelihood of success on the merits on this issue.

[David Nieporent]

It was discussed in a thread yesterday (probably the Monday Open Thread). Bottom line is that while the judge found that the administration was lying about some things relating to the plaintiff himself, she decided that she had to accept the lies in Trump's proclamation as true. And she decided that if those statements were accepted, then there was a "predatory incursion." (She rejected the administration's definition of predatory incursion,¹ but found that even under a less crazy definition it qualified — again, assuming the proclamation — not to mention the designation of TdA as a terrorist organization — wasn't just lies.)
​
​
¹Which literally was — paraphrased — "any person coming into the U.S. who we don't like."

[JoeFromtheBronx]

"Menendez Brothers Are Resentenced to Life With Parole, Paving Way for Freedom"

They have been in prison for 35 years. That's a long time.

People who commit horrible crimes should get long prison sentences unless there are extenuating circumstances.

Maybe, we will advance as a society when putting people in cages isn't the way to address the situation. But we aren't there yet.

If they get out soon, it would not be appalling to me. Richard Glossip also should just be released. He was in prison for a long time & his case was repeatedly screwed up. Cut bait.

[rloquitur]

Until it's your kid that gets offed. Glossip is so guilty.

[ThePublius]

Yea, I don't think the Menendez brothers should be in prison for life, I think they should have been executed.

"Putting people in cages" - ha, you are ridiculous! How about not murdering your parents? That would be a better way to address the situation.

[rloquitur]

https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2025/05/released-from-custody.php

You can never ever ever hate Democrats enough.

[jb]

You're mad a prosecutor was trying to keep a criminal in jail?

[rloquitur]

I think you need to read the link a little more closely. The prosecutor argued for bail because he was afraid the feds would take this drunk driving POS into custody. The guy had already skipped bail.

Once again, you can never ever hate Democrats enough.

[jb]

Bzzt. Here's the quote the article is using for rage bait:

“The state was concerned there was ‘significant risk the federal government may take’ Llangari Inga if he is released from jail.”

See? That's an argument against bail.

[Brett Bellmore]

That is misreading things, but he got the fundamental right: The prosecutor WAS trying to keep the feds from taking said POS into custody.

And the conditions of release were starkly insane for somebody who has already skipped bail once. Insane enough that you wonder if it's actually intended that he skip town to avoid that custody.

[jb]

The prosecutor was trying to make sure that the guy was around to be prosecuted. The Feds deporting him is the same as him leaving town to get away, as far as the prosecutor is concerned.

I agree the conditions of release seem pretty lenient. Would be interesting to hear the judge's rationale, but obviously that's left out of the blog entry because they're trying to trick dummies like rloquitur into thinking that's what the prosecutor was asking for.

[rloquitur]

"The prosecutor was trying to make sure that the guy was around to be prosecuted. The Feds deporting him is the same as him leaving town to get away, as far as the prosecutor is concerned."

That's an awfully generous assessment. Feds aren't gonna deport some dude who killed someone until he serves his time. What would happen in a sane prosecutor's office is that they'd just want the feds to hold him until trial. Don't have to worry about bail.

[hobie]

How's all that hate working out for ya, bro?

[rloquitur]

Works quite well. Democrats love alien criminals.

And as for the Ecuadorian criminal, um, the prosecutor was obviously NOT asking that the criminal be held without bond. He's just concerned that he'll face federal consequences.

This is a problem, and here's the deal, if this guy harms someone else, while on bond, it should happen to those who support this crap. Hopefully, Bondi and crew will make an example out of this fucker after he serves his state time. Hopefully, he will be returned to Ecuador as a senior citizen.

[hobie]

Letters from a Cleveland Jail:

Some of the things you hayseeds have pre-supposed about black people are true. Like Orthodox Jews and hillbillies, they have tons of kids, they don't work and they're all on the dole.

But the presiding tenet here is: trust nothing. All windows in every house are covered in black out curtains. No one sees in. No one sees out. Entering a home is like entering a tomb. As a white man, I have zero curtains and it freaks everyone here out. They are legitimately scared for me. 'Ain't you afraid people will know your business?!!'. 'No. I like sunlight and I like to see out.'

In fact, I'm so famous for this that last yer - at a convenience store 30 blocks away - two teenage girls in line said to me, 'Excuse me, aren't you the guy with no curtains?' Same with their cars. No one wants to be seen.

I was also surprised to find that many households here wash both their meat and vegetables in soapy water. Food deserts are real, and the few supermarkets and the food in them are so exorbitantly overpriced and near rancidity that it kinda makes sense.

Few people know the actual first names of their neighbors, and hardly anyone knows the last names. Nicknames are de rigueur even with the grandmas.

No one cares. Trash is dropped from the hand without a thought. Pajamas worn to the store. Sagging. When society has no expectation of you, you don't have it for yourself.

These are the people and this is the culture you hayseeds have cultivated from centuries of hate and subjugation. A permanent class of insecure, frightened people. Hate on them all you want, but YOU did this

[Swede425]

Is there a gas leak where you're at?
Because I think there's a gas leak where you're at.

[ThePublius]

You don't have both skates on the ice, buddy.

[Brett Bellmore]

"When society has no expectation of you, you don't have it for yourself."

Or maybe the causality runs in the other direction? Probably both directions, actually.

What you're looking at are the consequences of the 'war on poverty'.

In the normal course of things, if there is no work to be had in an area, people move out, because, what else are they going to do, starve to death? So the persistent existence of places with lots of people who don't have jobs is fundamentally unnatural. As a temporary thing during economic upheavals, sure. But persistently? Not normally a thing... absent the dole.

But if you subsidize them, they can afford to stay where there is no work. And while the people who find being on the dole intolerable will move out anyway, the people who stay will be the people who didn't find that intolerable. And the next generation grow up seeing it as normal, and lacking role models for self-sufficiency.

Like cave fish ending up blind, because traits that aren't needed atrophy, after a few generations the traits necessary to be gainfully employed atrophy, it's cultural evolution. People aren't born with some instinct to show up on time, and so forth. They have to be raised to it.

Once that has happened, what can you do? That's a serious question, what CAN you do with people who are acculturated to be unsuitable for employment?

And this didn't happen on account of "centuries of hate and subjugation". Blacks were coping with that, it was horrible, but it wasn't the sort of horrible that turns people into what you're seeing.

It happened after the subjugation ended, because indiscriminate kindness can be more destructive, in the long run, than hate.

[Magnus Pilatus, MBA, MD, JD, PhDx2]

So a group governed by and beholden to Democrats for generations is failing and that's somehow the fault of us 1776 Patriots?

In the immortal words of Kanye. NHH

[ThePublius]

Episcopal Church Bishop Sean Rowe: "It's against what we stand for to help white refugees fleeing South Africa."

Isn't that blatantly racist? What is he thinking?

[hobie]

Nobody wants refugees from shithole countries

[Estragon]

What is the source for that quote please?

[ThePublius]

The video he posted:

https://x.com/EndWokeness/status/1922522083566715080?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1922603133345104003%7Ctwgr%5E32ae83724dbbb076393b535ec4757213855643b8%7Ctwcon%5Es3_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Finstapundit.com%2F719549%2F

He's a flat-out racist.

[jb]

Seems pretty weird to put some words in quotes and attribute them to someone if that person didn't actually say those words.

[ThePublius]

It's paraphrased. Watch the video I linked above.

[Magnus Pilatus, MBA, MD, JD, PhDx2]

There's a video posted of the dude saying it one comment above yours.

[ThePublius]

I have transcribed his statement in the video:

"We can't be ourselves in the Episcopal Church and take this step of resettling White Afrikaners from South Africa. Our church has a long commitment to racial justice and reconciliation, and we have historical ties the Episcopal Church of South Africa. Desmond Tutu has been a partner in this work for us, so we're just not able to take this step. It's not in line with anything that we're about and...."

[Estragon]

“Taking sacks of goodies from people who support Hamas, Muslim Brotherhood, al-Jazeera, all the rest, that’s not America first. Like, please define America first in a way that says you should take sacks of cash from the Qatari royals who are behind al-Jazeera. It just isn’t America first in any conceivable way.”

[hobie]

Don't forget Qatar is a Shia ally of Iran who would love to hack his crypto and Stuxnet the new brib...er...jet

[fatnastyretiredguy]

What? No comments about J. Luttig's opinion piece in The Atlantic, "The End of the Rule of Law"

[Magnus Pilatus, MBA, MD, JD, PhDx2]

News Headlines No Democrat Has Heard, Part Deux

Over a Recent Two Year Period, The Artic Gained TWO HUNDRED BILLION TONS of Ice.
After Provided National Security Information, Judge Rules AEA is Lawful For Deportation TdA (Current Democrat Heroes and Voters)