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Eugene Volokh | 9.1.2025 3:00 AM
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On December 15, 1938, after the annexation of Austria and Kristalnacht, former Kaiser Wilhelm wrote an article anout Herr Hitler.
“There is a man alone, without family, witjout children, without God. He builds legions, but he doesn’t build a nation. A nation is created by families, a religion, traditions; it is made up out of the hearts of mothers, the wisdom of fathers, the joy and the exuberance of children. For a few months I was inclined to believe in National Socialism. I thought of it as a necessary fever. And I was gratified that there were, associated with it for a time, some of the wisest and most outstanding Germans. But these, one by one, he has got rid of or even killed…He has left nothing but a bunch of shirted gangsters! This man could bring home victories to our people each year, without bringing them either glory or danger. But of our Germany, which was a nation of poets and musicians, of artists and soldiers, he has made a nation of hysterics and hermits, engulfed by a mob and led by a thousand liars and fanatics.”
Mr. Trump is not exactly like Herr Hitler. Nor has he followed exactly the same path. But to read the comments on this blog is see the just how closely Mr. Trump has made this coumtry resemble, in its basic atmosphere of communication and discourse, the sort of country the Kaiser described Mr. Hitler as having turned Germany into.
“A nation of hysterics and hermits, engulfed by a mob and led by a thousand liars and fanatics.”
Look around you. Listen. Stop looking at issues for a moment and focus on how we relate to and what we say about each other. Isn’t this exactly what we have become?
The Kaiser saw that Herr Hitler was no conservative; he had merely fooled conservatives into thinking that he was. Mr. Trump is no conservative either.
"“There is a man alone, without family, without children, without God"
Trump has all three. BIG difference!
Missing the OP's point - unsurprisingly.
The central lesson of the Holocaust must not be wasted. It must become the military policy of the United States. When a group does not recognize the humanity of another, and expresses an intent to rid the world of it, believe them. The Jews could not have taken on the German Army. Instead, they should have listed the political hierarchy, the intellectual leaders, the religious leaders, the financiers. Get the addresses of their families. Kidnap their families first, down to the law kitten. Send vids of body parts being removed. If the message in not received, kill the entire leadership of the adversary. These people should always be the very first casualties of war. Yet, the scumbag lawyer profession has made them immune from any form of attack. Get rid of the toxic, scumbag lawyer profession to end wars. The dirty lawyer profession wants millions of working people killed, and $trillions in damage of infrastructure to protect these elites. One's own lawyers may have be the first targets of this self defense campaign.
Had the Jews killed the Nazi hierarchy in 1933, they would have saved 7 million German civilians, and a million captured Nazi officers from the Russian front.
Hi, Y. Your comparison to Hitler implies the remedy I reviewed above. I consider you a threat to the President, you dirty Democrat demon. Trump is the greatest President in history, greater than Washington.
Godwin much?
Comparisons to Hitler are not invariably a bad thing. Do you know who said the following about Godwin's Law?
I urge people to develop enough perspective to do it thoughtfully. If you think the comparison is valid, and you’ve given it some thought, do it. All I ask you to do is think about the human beings capable of acting very badly. We have to keep the magnitude of those events in mind, and not be glib.
It was some chap named Mike Godwin. https://time.com/4837881/godwin-law-interview-2017/
Even Mike Godwin can fall prey to the fallacy that his law describes. The people saying Trump is like Hitler in any meaningful way have failed to develop the degree of perspective that Godwin endorsed.
Joe Biden did more autocratic, repressive things than Donald Trump has done. Biden's administration enlisted more companies to enforce social policies.
To paraphrase Governor George Wallace:
Whataboutism now! Whataboutism tomorrow!! Whataboutism FO'EVAH!!!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6C-kBVggFrs
We could do the same thing with Keir Starmer and his jackbooted Starmtroopers.
Your analogy falls apart when one examines it even lightly or briefly. So of course you complain about "whataboutism" rather than the factors that led you to make such an awful analogy.
I went to High Screw-el in Ali-Bama(HT K. Jackson) (can you tell?) College in Ali-Bama, Med-Screw-el in Ali-Bama. I knew George Wallace, George Wallace was a friend of mine (well, he signed my College Diploma), You, Suh, are no George Wallace!!!! Who was a DemoKKKrat by the way, and don't tell me he'd be a Repubiclown today, he wouldn't (he's been dead 27 years) and he wasn't an Outkast (love that last escalator to Baggage Claim at ATL, voice of Mayor Dickens greeting you home, with "Hey Ya" (Arista Records) playing in the background. George McGovern visited him in the hospital after he was shot in 1972 (Wallace won the Maryland Primary), Jimmuh Cartuh sought his endorsement in 1976, and he was erected to his last term as Governor in 1982 with 99.99999% (Exaggerating, I'm Exaggerating, but not by much) of the "Nigra" Vote. Be careful citing Historical Figures you know nothing about, because people like me will call you on your Moronic-ism
Frank
Governor Wallace was much more an opportunist than a true racist. After losing the 1958 gubernatorial primary (where he had the support of the NAACP) to John Patterson (who was endorsed by the Ku Klux Klan), Wallace vowed, "I'll tell you here and now, I will never be out-niggered again." https://web.archive.org/web/20090117154628/http://www.neh.gov///news/humanities/2000-03/wallace.html
To his eternal credit, Wallace in later life repented of his racial hatemongering.
Sounds like LBJ, but without the repentance.
LexAquila, that is batshit crazy, pure and simple.
Lyndon Johnson, first as Senate Majority Leader and then as President, broke filibusters to pass the Civil Rights Act of 1957 (which established the United States Commission on Civil Rights and the United States Department of Justice Civil Rights Division), the Civil Rights Act of 1960 (which established federal inspection of local voter registration polls and introduced penalties for anyone who obstructed someone's attempt to register to vote), the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (outlawing racial segregation in schools and public accommodations, and employment discrimination), the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (that prohibits racial discrimination in voting), and the Civil Rights Act of 1968 (enabling federal enforcement of fair housing).
Lyndon Johnson did more to eliminate racial discrimination in America than any other public office holder since the Civil War.
Except for the whole, "Replacing non-discrimination with reverse discrimination" thing, of course. LBJ was largely responsible for affirmative action coming to mean racial quotas.
Here is Brett with more BMW racial politics: bitch, moan and whine, white dudes!
Easy to forget that white dudes are not allowed to have an opinion in ng's world.
damikesc, everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but as Daniel Patrick Moynihan memorably said, not to his own facts.
And opinions are much like assholes. Everyone has (at least) one, they often stink, and neither one's opinion nor one's asshole should be offered casually.
Except for the whole, "Replacing non-discrimination with reverse discrimination" thing, of course. LBJ was largely responsible for affirmative action coming to mean racial quotas. So he betrayed what he stood for.
LBJ still pissing off the same kind of people as he did when he was in office.
ME nearly calling him a race traitor, lol.
Sarcastro nearly, but not quite, resisting the temptation to make up what other people think.
Governor Wallace was much more an opportunist than a true racist.
You know what we call someone who opportunistically employs racism? A true racist.
Accusations of whataboutism is a piss poor attempt to hide what leftists have actually done. Fascism from the left vastly exceeds anything Trump has done.
For a completely batshit definition of fascism, perhaps. But you have to be a far right wingnut to have that definition if fascism.
So you’re right on brand, Joe.
Even Mike Godwin can fall prey to the fallacy that his law describes.
He can not, if for no other reason than that he didn't identify it as a fallacy. His law is just an observation: every online conversation will eventually involve a Hitler reference. He didn't say it was wrong.
Joe Biden did more autocratic, repressive things than Donald Trump has done.
Minus trivial things like rounding people up with secret police and putting them (the people, not the police) in camps. With alligators. Or putting troops on the street. Or attempting to overthrow the government. Or dismissing all criminal charges against all of his violent supporters. Or illegally sending people to foreign gulags. Or deciding that he could unilaterally tax the country. Or… well, I could go on, but you're not listening anyway.
Which government did Trump attempt to overthrow?
Stealing the 2020 election from Biden would have been tantamount to overthrowing the legitimately elected government.
So the Democrats' stealing of the 2020 election was overthrowing the government.
Ejercito, are you as delusional as Publius?
Wow, I thought that fantasy had been relegated to thr “we pretend we never said that” area of the GOP. You can’t fix stupid.
well, I could go on, but you're not listening anyway.
You’re right David because it’s glaringly obvious you have a massive blind spot when it comes to the autocratic actions of the Biden administration. And you equally exaggerate everything done by the Trump administration.
Just a few things you missed from your cherished Biden administration: - labeling Catholics as domestic terrorists - using the IRS to attempt to intimidate journalists - creating a network of “NGOs” and government roles to suppress speech the administration found unfavorable - using the FBI to intimidate parents by creating a ruse with the NSBA and bypassing career attorneys - continuing to spy on former Trump administration officials and Trump campaign officials - distributing COVID and farmer relief funds with blatantly racist conditions - weaponizing the ATF to intimidate legal gun owners and FFLs, including killing at least one innocent citizen
I could go on, but I’m sure you won’t acknowledge anything that lays your hypocrisy bare.
“ - labeling Catholics as domestic terrorists”
Biden said he was a domestic terrorist? Weird that no one noticed that happening except the lunatic right fringe.
“ using the IRS to attempt to intimidate journalists”
Also didn’t happen.
“ creating a network of “NGOs” and government roles to suppress speech the administration found unfavorable”
Gee, what a surprise. Another right wing fantasy.
“ using the FBI to intimidate parents by creating a ruse with the NSBA and bypassing career attorneys”
And again.
“ continuing to spy on former Trump administration officials and Trump campaign officials”
A two-fer of lies. They never started spying on any Trump officials, but they did investigate criminals (which are as thick as flies on shit in any Trump endeavor).
“ distributing COVID and farmer relief funds with blatantly racist conditions”
When I started this I assumed that at least one of your points would just be partisan rhetoric, but not an outright lie. So far, I am wrong.
“ weaponizing the ATF to intimidate legal gun owners and FFLs, including killing at least one innocent citizen”
Damn, that was impressive. You lied every single time. Not one point was even slightly accurate. Astonishing, in a sad and pathetic way.
It is quite telling that the left continues again to embrace the Hitler hysteria. In addition to obvious projection of their own repulsive agenda, it tells the world that the democrats are collapsing as a party. The public has rejected their insanely radical policies. But they are unable to change course. So, as they have in the past, most recently the failed Harris embarrassment, it’s back to all Hitler all the time. Sad but good that they remain oblivious. Democrats are amusing in the minority. Dangerous when in power.
You can shoot down the messenger all you want, but you can’t deny the truth of the message.
I personally never thought Trump was a conservative, and said as much quite often. In fact, my greatest fear when he was elected the first time was that he'd return to his roots, and pivot left.
Fortunately, Democrats burned all their bridges to him in a most spectacular way, making sure that wouldn't happen.
What I saw in Trump was a guy who wanted to go down in history as a great President, and who had decided to do it by making conservatives very happy with him. So he made conservative promises, and then, shockingly, tried to fulfil them!
The utter novelty of that last will cause actual conservatives to cut him a lot of slack. Not infinite slack, but a lot.
Unfortunately, what I failed to account for was that, not being an actual conservative, he'd use liberal means to advance conservative ends. That's been pretty ugly.
I also failed to realize just how determined the GOP establishment would be to make sure those promises didn't get kept. That really crippled his first administration, and has been driving him to even more work around Congress in his second.
There's a serious lack of historical perspective here. Compared to Presidents in the early 20th century, Trump is practically laid back. His efforts to deport illegal aliens are mild compared to Operation Wetback. FDR had people so legitimately scared that, as soon as he was safely dead, they amended the Constitution to add Presidential term limits!
I think the bait and switch the GOP has been running on its own base since Reagan left office might be responsible. Democrats got used to the US having a 1 1/2 party system, not a two party system, and a Republican President not being Democrat lite has them shocked. How dare he actually attempt to govern, and not the way THEY want!
Let's drop the hysteria. Trump is pretty laid back by historical standards, and he's old enough that, even if he were so inclined, he doesn't have the TIME to be as frightening as FDR, let alone Hitler.
It's an interesting question what sort of GOP will remain after he's gone. Not the same, but I'm guessing, not terribly conservative, either. I think Republicans were finally persuaded that classical conservatism simply wasn't going to work, you can't play by the rules when the other guy won't.
Yep. Trump is too old. He doesn't want to be remembered as Hitler.
I do not believe you. I think that what you saw in Trump was someone who would piss off the people you don't like, who would appeal to your authoritarian instincts, who would turn your grievance into vengeance, who would show those "liberal elites" what's what., and you have been engaged in rationalisation ever since.
Fine, don't believe me. It's been what I've been saying consistently for about 9 years now, but just go with your need to believe your political foes are evil, it's a very comforting belief.
Projection much, Brett?
just go with your need to believe your political foes are evil, it's a very comforting belief.
Self-awareness score: 0
Brett, read your own comments. If anyone here consistently views their political foes as evil, it's you. I'm sure you find it comforting.
Love how SRG knows you better than you know you, Brett.
What is with the mid-reading. Like S_0, you invent what a commenter says and then rebut you fantasy. That was fine back in your college dorm room with buddies drinking beers, but it is tiresome outside of that context.
Classic Brett. Every bad thing Trump does is really a liberal approach. So liberals are entirely responsible for his abuses. How convenient for you.
Also a nice dissonance reduction technique.
Consider:
A. Trump is wonderful. B. Trump does terrible things.
How can I reconcile these two propositions?
Ah. The terrible things he does are actually ugly "liberal means." You're a fucking joke.
a Republican President not being Democrat lite has them shocked.
This is Brett's version of, "How did McGovern lose? Everyone I know voted for him?" (BTW, which 1972 candidate was right about Vietnam?) A wonderful example of the "No True Republican" fallacy.
he made conservative promises, and then, shockingly, tried to fulfil them!
Horseshit. He kept talking about how easy it would be to balance the budget, and how quickly he would do it. So he pushes for his BBB, which blows it up instead.
More Trump is Hitler nonsense.
You've been making this bit about every Republican who's been President since Reagan.
Since Eisenhower!
Although he lost to Truman it at least goes back to Dewey. "PRESIDENT LIKENS DEWEY TO HITLER AS FASCISTS' TOOL; Says When Bigots, Profiteers Get Control of Country They Select 'Front Man' to Rule DICTATORSHIP STRESSED Truman Tells Chicago Audience a Republican Victory Will Threaten U.S. Liberty TRUMAN SAYS GOP PERILS U.S. LIBERTY" https://www.nytimes.com/1948/10/26/archives/president-likens-dewey-to-hitler-as-fascists-tool-says-when-bigots.html
Ummm…I realize I’ve kept my identity quiet. But I don’t think it will he saying too much to reveal that my name is not Harry Truman, and moreover, I’m not dead yet. So no, that’s not a quote from me.
Uhh..the Internet didn’t exist when Reagan was President, and Professor Volokh wasn’t even born when Eisenhower was President. So I couldn’t possibly have been commenting on this blog since you claim. If you’re saying I’ve said similar things about them, find a quote from me about Reagan or Eisenhower that’s even remotely similar to back your claim up.
"Uhh..the Internet didn’t exist when Reagan was President"
Sure it did. Al Gore invented it in 1983.
"Of Gore's involvement in the then-developing Internet while in Congress, Internet pioneers Vint Cerf and Bob Kahn have also noted: As far back as the 1970s Congressman Gore promoted the idea of high-speed telecommunications as an engine for both economic growth and the improvement of our educational system. He was the first elected official to grasp the potential of computer communications to have a broader impact than just improving the conduct of science and scholarship ... the Internet, as we know it today, was not deployed until 1983. "
But, more pointedly, it's not you in particular, but "you" in a general type of person.
Democratic Rep. William Clay of Missouri charged that Reagan was ‘trying to replace the Bill of Rights with fascist precepts lifted verbatim from Mein Kampf.“’
After Republicans took control of the House in the mid-’90s, Rep. John Dingell, D-Michigan, compared the newly conservative-controlled House to ‘’the Duma and the Reichstag,’
"About President George W. Bush, billionaire Democratic contributor George Soros said, ‘’(He displays the) supremacist ideology of Nazi Germany,’’
There's a fair amount more there. It's a tired trope at this point.
https://www.reporternews.com/story/opinion/columnists/2016/12/01/democrats-and-nazi-card/94603274/
These general types exist only in your head. For years, nobody who read my posts claiming liberal Supreme Court decisions like Roe were wrongly decided (long before Dobbs came out) ever accused me of being a Democrat. You have no basis for quoting somebody else and claiming the opinion has something to do with me.
At first I thought MAGA was just an ordinary political flex, but all the things it is doing and the ways it is doing it, suggest this is actually a massive white supremacy flex. One fascinating aspect is that it is being fueled by America's billionaire class. Today's billionaires have more money and clout than the US nation itself. And it is pretty obvious MAGA is a cover for their takeover of the nation. And MAGA don't mind because power is their opiate
That's nutty. There are more billionaires supporting Democratic and progressive candidates and causes than for Republicans and conservatives. And there's no white supremacy "flex" to the MAGA movement; note all the African Americans at Trump rallies.
And there's no white supremacy "flex" to the MAGA movement; note all the African Americans at Trump rallies.
There were Jews who initially supported Hitler.
So you're saying Trump is a racist who wants to eliminate blacks? How crazy is that?
What's crazy is that this is what you understood from my post.
Of course Trump is a racist; he has been so for decades. Eliminate blacks? No. He's not an ideological racist; he's a casual racist. He doesn't have some grand theory of racial hierarchy; he's just a garden variety bigot who holds stereotypical views of various racial/ethnic groups
Of course Trump is a racist
More vibes - definitive vibes, at that - from someone who ignores the actually racist policies of his cherished Biden administration.
He holds stereotypical views of Jews too. He just admires them for it.
Yes and there are Jew who are now Hamas supporters. And you point is?
And you point is
obvious to anyone with adequate comprehension.
Go ahead with your stupid insults. I did address your "point" which was pretty dull at that.
I did address your "point" which was pretty dull at that.
You didn't - so my insult was accurate and hence not stupid
You didn't address his point so much as bolster it.
There are more billionaires supporting Democratic and progressive candidates and causes than for Republicans and conservatives.
[Citation needed.]
note all the African Americans at Trump rallies.
All two of them?
"note all the African Americans at Trump rallies.
All two of them?"
That's a lie and you know it.
I can tell you straight from the neegro's mouth. This whole 'The South Shall Rise Again' MAGA platform ain't sitting well my neegroes.
Your "neegros " Massa?
That's his impression of Frank Drackman's retarded nephew.
I was being charitable. One.
The Publius was talking about Trump rallies, not Whitelandia.
"[Citation needed.]"
I'm sure you just overlooked it but you forgot to demand a cite from Hobie when he made the opposite claim.
Reader Y is verklempt. This is just hate speech. He is a dirty denier of the achievements of Trump. Trump is the greatest President in history, greater than Washington.
No further questions of the witness, Your Honor. I rest my case.
Hi, Y. Trump stopped 6 wars, surged the economy, dropped crime in Washington, saving 10 black lives last week, brought in $2 trillion in new investments, closed the border to invading cheating Democrat voters, dropped fentanyl deaths by a half from projections. It's been 6 months in office. What other President has this achievement record?
But to read the comments on this blog ...
The comments on this blog are mild as mild can be. Even on the rest of Reason you will find things a lot nuttier and more vitriolic. I accept that the sober legal discourse which characterized this blog say ten years ago has been replaced, to some extent, by more excitable stuff. But that is also what has happened outside this blog and the reason is pretty straightforward. People of a conservative bent are talking back.
No doubt Trump is partly to blame, as he has set the example in the political sphere. Until Trump, politicians on the right, even if not RINOs, tended to bend the knee to the lefty received wisdoms and quack nostrums that were the Overton Window of the day. Obviously, to lefties, righties beginning to talk back is discomforting and disorientating and can produce an effusion of lefty froth, fury and silliness (or as I should say an even greater froth etc.) I for one do not regret the passing of the conservative bended knee. The Overton Window has moved and that is a good thing. There are quite a few silly and excitable posts, from righties and lefties. If it’s too nutty for you, just skip on by. I have hardly blocked anyone. Two I think, but there are some I skip past without reading 90% of the time.
Yes some people are inclined to glorify political leaders who are on their side, and it’s a natural tendency. In a battle, it helps if you have faith in your General. But as to politicians there is a wiser source than the Kaiser to fall back on.
"Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help. "
He quotes a war criminal about a "nation of hysterics" when he and his side have had their hair on fire since Trump came down that escalator.
"nation of poets"
The University of Leuven library says otherwise.
You are quoting Kaiser Bill, the second worst rule in German history, who wanted his soldiers to act like Huns.
Any port in a storm I guess.
Part of the point of quoting someone like him was that this was no left-wing Democrat talking.
As to the Kaiser’s remarks, let’s get things in perspective historically. In December 1938, Hitler’s tyranny was utterly milquetoast compared to the Soviet Union. His body count wouldn’t have rivalled a wet weekend’s work in Moscow. In the list of terrible tyrannies of the 20th century, the Third Reich 1933-38 probably wouldn't make it into the top 25. The idea that he – in 1938 - was uniquely appalling, and should serve as a terrifying lesson for us, is absurd.
Churchill’s relentless, and prescient, warnings were not principally about domestic tyranny in Germany, still less about explosive or deceitful rhetoric, but about the military threat. Germany was a military threat to Britain and others, because of its geographical position and its belligerent government. Not because it was a loudmouthed dictatorship.
The Kaiser, if he chose, could truthfully have said much ruder things about Stalin in 1938 than he could about Hitler. But he was concerned reasonably enough with Germany, not Russia. But if we’re concerned about the soberness of political discourse, Hitler is hardly the most obvious bad boy. Lenin frothed crazy, violence obsessed, nonsense for decades. As did many other socialist and communist and anarchist rabble rousers. Crazy political ranting did not arrive in the world – or in Germany in particular – with Hitler. The Weimar Republic was an infected boil of wild talk, from right and left. The Kaiser was not bemoaning Hitler’s destruction of the longstanding politically moderate and sober tradition of democratic politics and measured political discourse in Germany. There was no such tradition to destroy.
It’s perfectly reasonable to use the Hitler of 1941-45 as the ne plus ultra of crazy tyranny, but the Hitler of 1938 as the inventor of political ranting – hardly. Likewise with the supporters in thrall to the Master. Hitler did not invent that.
But there weren’t two or three or four different Hitlers. The Hitler of 1930-1932 was on a path to becoming the Hitler of 1933. The Hitler of 1933 was on a path to becomng the Hitler of 1934-1938. The Hitler of 1934-1938 was on a path to becoming the Hitler of 1941-1945. His nature didn’t change. He merely got more opportunities as he got more power. Some people were simply more prescient about his potential than others. Moreover, the change in German culture and discourse that the Kaiser talked about came quite early.
Kaiser Wilhelm died in 1937.
Not unless he had a body double hanging around until 1941.
Died 4 June 1941 (aged 82) Huis Doorn, Doorn, Netherlands
According to some people we're currently living through the dictatorial reign of someone who is as bad as or maybe even worse than Hitler. Hmmm...I mean its not perfect but things don't seem THAT bad. If Hitler truly was a little bit better than or about equal to the guy we have now, like they claim, I don't see what everyone was complaining about with him to quite the volume we have now.
The other thing about the Wiemar Republic was the Communists.
We don't have MAGA and Commies shooting it out with rifles on streetcorners -- Wiemar Republic did.
It’s “Weimar” you magnificent nincompoop
"Yet".
Brett our Civil War 2s Ed.
Oh, you don't need a hot civil war for the MAGA and Antifa to get into a gun fight. The Weimar Republic wasn't having a hot civil war when that was going on before WWII, either.
Antifa! LOLOLOLOL!!!
Rapes reported in 2000:
England and Wales: 8593 Germany: 8133 France: 7500 Poland: 2399
2023 Rape statistics
England and Wales: 68,109 Germany: 39,029 France: 42,400 Poland: 1,127
https://x.com/DefiantLs/status/1961903976695115970?t=g31NeZhIrBjCobzJA59Mpw&s=19
All of those countries have taken in significant immigrants and refugees in the past few years, but unlike UK, France and Germany, the vast majority of refugees the Poles took in are from Ukraine.
This is the sort of thing that makes women to have a man willing and able to protect them, not a beta male feminist.
Pretty naive to ass-ume it’s all Male on Female Rape, we’re talking Moose-Lums here, like Amurican Jocks, they prove how Heterosexual they are by engaging in Homosexual Sex. Heck, it makes me want to have a man willing and able to protect me, I have 2, Smith, and Wesson.
The usual talking point especially in regards to places like Sweden having a skyhigh sexual assault rate is its actually a good thing because this means empowered women are reporting it rather than hiding it like the poor oppressed women in countries with lower reported rape rates. Never mind they use reported crime rates at face value for when it favors them.
The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) scores are depressing. "1 in 4 eighth graders were "below NAEP Basic" in math, meaning that they didn't even have "partial mastery" of the skills necessary to succeed in eighth-grade math. Around 1 in 3 eighth graders were below "NAEP Basic" in reading."
A Federal Judge has said 600 unaccompanied Guatemalan children can't be returned into their parents in Guatemala for at least 2 weeks:
"Deputy Assistant Attorney General for the Department of Justice's Office of Immigration Litigation, Drew Ensign.... also told Justice Sooknanan, a Biden appointee, that the Guatemalan government had requested the return of the children to their home country and that all the children's parents had requested their removal from the U.S."
https://www.npr.org/2025/08/31/nx-s1-5524312/federal-judge-block-guatemalan-children-deportation
Elian Gonzales couldn't be reached for comment.
It's beyond time to start reigning in Federal Judges.
Wholesale pro-forma impeachments come to mind.
It’s “reining in” like you’d do with a Horsie(ht Mrs Drackman) Jesus, I’m supposed to be the one with the malapropisms on this blog!
Frank “it’s reining men!”
From Bill Glahn at Powerline:
"It’s Sunday. But a federal judge substituted her judgement for the judgement of the parents and the judgement of their home country. NPR quotes an attorney for the children,
'The government is trying to spin this as child protection, but it’s not, it’s child abuse.'
What? Let’s back up. How did these children (numbering some 600) come to have legal representation, anyway? Who are these lawyers? Who hired them? Who is paying for them?"
"What? Let’s back up. How did these children (numbering some 600) come to have legal representation, anyway? Who are these lawyers? Who hired them? Who is paying for them?"
What does any of that matter?
Some evil person, or people, want(s) to keep these children from their homes and their parents. It's reasonable to ask who that is. Are we still in the days of "residential schools" and forced adoptions for minorities?
Evil, you say? Making some large assumptions, are we?
Residential schools are an example of feel-good policy having bad results.
I understand what the advocates were thinking. the alternative to residential schools was scratching dirt under a hot sun for twelve hours, or working inside a hot, stuffy Gilded Age factory for twelve hours.
So because residential schools happened, the people legally representing these children are evil?
There seem to be some connections missing between the two. Like all of them.
Of course the "residential schools" were hardly schools at all.
They were a "feel-good" policy only to those who didn't know how they ran.
"What does any of that matter?" Were they hired by 600 children to represent their (the children's) interest? Doubtful, so whose interest are they representing?
A lawyer is required to represent his clients' interests regardless of who hires or pays him.
Who decides what’s in the kid’s interest?
Good question. Who is so invested in these children not being sent home to their parents.
The same people who want to keep Kilmar in Maryland?
I'm pretty sure that it's Abrego Garcia who wants to stay in Maryland. Do you think Abrego Garcia has any particular opinion about these children?
Sexual fantasies? "This individual was a known human smuggler, MS-13 gang member, an individual who was a wife beater, and someone who was so perverted that he solicited nude photos from minors." Kristi Noem (edited out of the CBS interview).
not guilty 3 hours ago Flag Comment Mute User "What? Let’s back up. How did these children (numbering some 600) come to have legal representation, anyway? Who are these lawyers? Who hired them? Who is paying for them?"
NG - you know the answer to the question! The question is whether the attorneys are actually representing the children for their benefit or representing an unrelated third party seeking a political agenda.
Since they have to represent their clients, for their clients’ benefits, or lose their law license, only a conspiracy-theory-oriented partisan hack would ask that question.
Still on-brand, Joe.
You can find out for yourself if you actually care to know, but the assumption would be some version of child protective services or child advocate legal services from the government.
The insinuation of the Angry Paleocon Brigade is that it is someone with a nefarious purpose, which is about as sensible as most paleocon beliefs.
That DoJ lawyer is lying, Kaz.
“ Lawyers for at least some of the children say that’s untrue and argue that in any event, authorities still would have to follow a legal process that they did not.
One girl said her parents, in Guatemala, got a strange phone call a few weeks ago saying the U.S. was deporting her, said one of the plaintiff attorneys, Efrén C. Olivares.
The 16-year-old, who’s been living in a New York shelter, said in a court filing that she’s an honors student about to start 11th grade, loves living in the U.S. and is “deeply afraid of being deported.”
https://apnews.com/article/immigration-unaccompanied-children-trump-deportations-guatemala-3790909d69f19fd8cd8edffb6b3215c3#
Wee hours of the morning on Labor Day weekend? Yiu think that bespeaks legitimacy? This is trying to get away with defying the courts mandated process and even your apologist ass has to see that.
How do you know it's not the illegals attorneys that are lying?
"The 16-year-old, who’s been living in a New York shelter, said in a court filing that she’s an honors student about to start 11th grade, loves living in the U.S. and is deeply afraid of being deported.” Nice sob-story for the holiday. She belongs back in her own country with her relatives.
Why are you so sure she belongs there?
Do you know anything about her relatives, or what situation she would face?
I don't, myself, but isn't worth at least listening to her?
Am I supposed to care? Maybe she doesn't belong there, but she certainly doesn't belong here.
Do you have any evidence of that?
Your anecdote confirms the lawyer is telling the truth. They called her Parents in Guatemala.
Its exactly what the DOJ lawyer said.
The girl may well not want to go home, but she is here illegally.
"The girl may well not want to go home, but she is here illegally."
How do you claim to know that, Kazinski? The AP article that Sarcastr0 links says nothing about where the child was born nor anything about the circumstances of her entry into the United States, if she was born in another country.
Don't be obtuse, they have already determined her Guatamalan citizenship with both her government and her parents, no evidence has been presented about any legal US status.
You are making an argument her lawyer isn't even making.
The judge finds the record doesn’t line up with what the government is saying.
You believe whatever you need to.
But even if you do this running around and trying to get one over on the judge behavior is indefensible.
It's Drew Ensign; that's overdetermined.
More from the article:
The administration insisted it was reuniting the Guatemalan children — at the Central American nation’s request — with parents or guardians who sought their return. Lawyers for at least some of the children say that’s untrue and argue that in any event, authorities still would have to follow a legal process that they did not.
....
Other children — identified only by their initials — said in court documents that they had been neglected, abandoned, physically threatened or abused in their home country.
“I do not have any family in Guatemala that can take good care of me,” a 10-year-old said in a court filing. A 16-year-old recalled experiencing “threats against my life” in Guatemala.
“If I am sent back, I believe I will be in danger,” the teen added.
Sunday’s court hearing came in a case filed in federal court in Washington, but similar legal actions also were filed elsewhere.
In a lawsuit in Arizona, the Florence Immigrant & Refugee Rights Project said one of its clients is a 12-year-old asylum-seeker who has chronic kidney disease, needs dialysis to stay alive and will need a kidney transplant. Two other plaintiffs, a 10-year-old boy and his 3-year-old sister, don’t have family in Guatemala and don’t want to return, according to the group.
Is that supposed to buttress the policy arguments against deporting them? Is a 12 year old who needs expensive medical care someone who America should be taking in? We're not morally or legally required to provide charity to the world's sick and downtrodden.
It seems that the operation was hurried and no guarantees that the children would be reunited with their parents or guardians - a point that the cultists here seem to have missed.
You cultists really do believe that the regime can do what it likes.
Does the word cultist absolve you of applying actual reason to the comment? The children do not belong here in an alien society.
Funny how you don't address the point.
I said: It seems that the operation was hurried and no guarantees that the children would be reunited with their parents or guardians
What is wrong with taking steps to ensure that the children end up with their parents? Or that they want to return?
* the government had not obtained legal permission to remove the children,
* "On just a baseline, you want the person on the other end to know when to pick them up," Wolozin said. "This was an enormously rushed, middle-of-the-night operation."
For all we know, the government would just have dumped the kids on a tarmac at some airfield in Guatemala and left them. Now they can't.
Would you have posted here criticising the government if that is what they'd done? Or would you post here saying that once the kids were in Guatemala, the US government had no further responsibility?
Guatemala has a government, and they have consular representation that is requesting their return.
And that should be sufficient IF the commenter actually believed in the "rule of law' which is clearly only a slogan for him or her.
Is that your professional analysis of the applicable immigration statutes, or are you just talking out of your ass? No, that is not "sufficient" for anyone who "believes in the rule of law." U.S. law gives protection to unaccompanied minor immigrants so that they cannot be summarily deported.
Whether they want to return is immaterial. They are here illegally. Capisce? They belong in their own country of which they are citizens.
And there is a process for returning them that is not being complied with and does not involve midnight arrangements. Capisce?
The children do not belong here in an alien society.
Freedom may be alien to you, but that doesn't mean it's alien to them.
No process. Lying to a judge. Doing this to children.
This isn’t about deporting illegals. This goes well beyond that. This is nakedly about getting off on cruelty.
Kaz, Ed, Bumble, Michael P. Don Nico, the Antisemite guy.
Sarcastr0 3 minutes ago "Kaz, Ed, Bumble, Michael P. Don Nico, the Antisemite guy."
Sacastro - that is a complete ass - hole comment. None of those mentioned have made any antisemite comments even remotely close to what you and other leftists have written.
I thought I was among the muted. Just how did these unaccompanied minors get into the US?
Little to Gaslighto the crypto anti-Semite. "nakedly about getting off on cruelty." As usual, no real content, just ad hominem slurs,
And also as usual the claim that only he knows truth and justice. That is just arrogance.
If ICE is returning them to their parents, then ICE should have the paperwork to show this is true. Absence the paperwork then ICE is just a bunch of sickos dumping children. They are no better than a parent abandoning a child in a store or leaving the kids in the car while the parent goes into the bar to drink.
"sickos dumping children" You are the sicko, being duped by the previous admin. Get real. They are here illegally. Have you any idea what illegal even means?
Yes, I understand illegal. It a word people like you made up to clear your conscience. It just like calling Germans krauts, Japanese as Japs, or a hundred other names used so you don't have to admit that they are fellow humans. They are not illegals they are children.
Consider yourself lucky if we are never again in a balls out war, where complete demonization of the enemy is useful.
I assume you will have support for the insanely overpowered US military, so no one can ever challenge again.
No, in fact, "illegal alien" is a term used in the law, and it means just that, and doesn't discriminate based on age.
There seems to be some difference in opinion on whether the trm "illegal alien" is in fact used in law?
see; https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2018/may/09/steve-mccraw/illegal-alien-legal-term-federal-law/
But hey, if using the rationalization for children get you through the night, that is fine.
That article you cited gives specific examples of the use of the term "illegal alien" in Federal laws, showing that it is used. Why did you cite it?
Judge with stripper name.
Funny how an immigrant from South America just happens to get assigned this case.
Black female sorority sister gets assigned Lisa Cook's case.
Seems like the clerk's office needs some investigation.
Maybe her parents were Dick Tracy fans.
Sparkle Plenty's husband was named B. O.
I thought that was her father.
You are right. I stand corrected.
B. O. Plenty was married to Gertrude ("Gravel Gertie") Plenty, Sparkle's mother.
Before I deconstruct your nonsense: I dare you to read out what you wrote to a black female lawyer. In front of your colleagues.
“Judge with stripper name.”
Bob being racist and sexist. Should bookmark this next time you get on your high horse about people being sexist to judges you like, you utter hypocrite.
Also Trinidad and Tobago isn’t in South America, dumbass.
“Black female sorority sister gets assigned Lisa Cook's case.”
More racism. They were both members of a nationwide historically black sorority, Delta Sigma Theta. It has 1000s of chapters and hundreds of thousands of members and alumni. Dr. Cook was a member when she was at Spelman College which she graduated from in 1986. Judge Cobb, who was born in 1980, was a member while at Northwestern.
So what relevance does being a sorority sister have, unless you think all black people know each other and reflexively defend each other?
Would you EVER say this about a white judge who was in the same fraternity 20 years apart at a different school from a party in front of them?
“Seems like the clerk's office needs some investigation.”
For what? Because you don’t like black judges? You are an utter blight on the bar.
She has no business being a judge, but not for any of those reasons. As part of the Biden administration in the AG’s office, she pushed the DOJ Civil Rights Division to find any law the administration could wield to persecute parents as part of the NSBA scandal. Fortunately, the CRD rebuffed her lawfare.
There's that inability to understand the meaning of the word "scandal" that we all know and love from jay.tee.
Also, I'm trying to figure out how to parse what he wrote, because she was never "part of the Biden administration in the AG's office," (whatever "in the AG's office" even means).
I thought the name might be from My Little Pony.
According to the initial coverage Judge Sparkle was on duty as the emergency judge over the weekend. Any urgent request would go to her first. If we believe the plaintiffs' story that this case could not have been brought during regular business horus, choosing the District of Columbia left them with no choice but her. I don't know if they could have or should have filed in another district.
RE: Grand Jury nullifications in DC
Suppose it is 100% true, just for the sake of argument...The GJ's in DC are in fact engaging in jury nullification.
My response: So what. (meaning, if a GJ rejects charges, 'dems the breaks, make a better case next time, wink, wink). The accused walks free. Civil suits are the available remedy from that point, as I understand it.
Tell me why that is a problem, constitutionally.
Why is anarchy a constitutional problem?
Remember that _Romeo & Juliette_ was about more than love.
And on a practical sense, you rape my daughter and the GJ nullifies. Fine, I blow up your house with your entire family inside. See how this can spiral out of control?
Dammit, it’s “Juliet”, now I’m sounding like Queenie. Did you know when she says “Wherefore art thou Romeo?” She’s not asking where he is, but rather commenting on the irony of her love being from the hated Montague clan. “Wherefore” is an underused word, and will eventually wither away, like the sacrifice bunt, I’ve tried bringing it back for years, with obvious lack of success
Frank “Daughter, wherefore returneth thou home at such an ungodly hour?”
The sacrifice bunt will never wither away entirely, but it is already becoming rare. The DH injured it gravely, but the ghost runner may help it survive.
Too bad, in a way, since it was sometimes a dramatic moment. Among other things, the stolen base seems to be, usually, a better strategy.
Juliette
It is just amazing how bad Dr. Ed is at anything resembling accuracy.
It's my text editor, you freaking imbecile.
What’s your excuse for every other post you make?
Oh it’s “Constitutional” like Slavery, Poll Taxes, and Legislatures electing Senators was until they pass an ammendment. Just don’t complain when I “nullify” charges against someone who shoots an Abortionist, it’s “Constitutional”!
That depends on whether you think the (federal) government is constitutionally required to have certain (criminal) laws in place. If there is a constitutional right to property (which, in the simplest form, there isn't), does that mean that the law has to offer some kind of remedy against trespass?
In Ireland they call this constitutional torts. If tort law doesn't give a solution when the constitution requires that there must be one, the courts will base one directly on the constitution. But I've never seen the issue raised under criminal law.
If jury nullification means that your property can be trespassed upon by anyone who feels like it without consequences, that might well be a violation of your right to property. (And likewise with other rights, arguably.)
They got rid of the "property", in Life, Liberty, and Property, and replaced it with the alliteration of "Pursuit of Happiness" because they were afraid future politicians would argue it is a right to be provided property by government, not that there is no such right.
It is fully recognized not just from context, but in requirements limiting seizure to particular emminent domain reasons, with fair market value, and in the right to have your property protected from searches and seizures.
You demonstrate both flawed principles, accurately prognosticated dangers by the Founding Fathers.
And, as usual, I will continue to remind people to the point of nausea that the important part of property is not a slip of paper in a cabinet, but the right to use the property asyou see fit. To say, "there is no right to property" has no meaning whatsoever other than that you want to come take others' stuff away so you cab use it.
No, congenital thief. Civilization is the thwarting of the hunter gatherer impulse, so people can have their stuff and use it without fear someone will twaddle along and help themselves.
Excellent, XY.
You seem to understand the GJ better than most of the cultists here.
A question for the engineers -- a tank of compressed GAS (not liquified) at 2000 psi is 80 degrees (F).
If the gas is released slowly, it will cool the metal tank down. If released rapidly, frost (ice) will form on the tank.
It's NOT a phase change, i.e. liquid evaporating, so where's the heat going?
Into the surrounding atmosphere, I only know because of this advanced high tech device I have in my house, we call it an “Air Conditioner”
Frank “I’ll gladly pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today”(ht J.W. Wimpy)
As the question in SI and then maybe you'll get an sensible answer.
Love in the New England Journal of Medicines "Case Presentations" they report all of the lab values in SI Units, which nobody uses in actual practice and it's not like we're using Drams and Schmidgens, for example, the Blood Glucose values everyone uses are given in mg/dl, normal fasting is 70-110 (your local lab may vary) the "SI" unit is millimoles/Liter, with normal being 3.8-5.1. Highest Glucoses I've ever run into have been in the 800 range, which is bad, because the extra Glucose osmotically lowers your Sodium, which can eventually lower your Brain Stem through the Foramen Magnum, and then lower you into the ground... So every Doctor/Nurse/PA knows a Glucose of 800 is bad, which in SI units would be 44, "Doctor!!!! the patients glucose is 44!!!!!! should we start an Insulin Infusion????" "What?? 44?? give him my Mountain Dew!!!!"
I thought the real problem was the glucose bonds between proteins stiffening your tissues.
There was an experimental drug years ago, ALT-711, that broke those bonds. It was supposed to lower blood pressure by reversing the stiffening of your blood vessels those cross links caused. Didn't work well enough, but you know what it WAS really good for?
Cleaning your teeth. The bacteria that cause tooth decay use glucose bonds to stick to your teeth, and it cut them. I was in a group testing it for that purpose, and, MAN, was it ever effective! I'd go to my regular tooth cleaning, and the hygienist would ask why I was even bothering.
But, regulations. Couldn't get it approved for that, either.
Both mg/dl and millimole/L are SI units.
Doesn't need to be in SI. Physics works the same, no matter the units you're in.
but "Foot Pounds" for Torque and "Horsepower" for power is so much more descriptive than SI's "Newton-Meter" and Kilowatts. Wooderson describing the power of his 1970 Malibu in Système international d'unités just wouldn't be the same... " Let me tell you what Melba Toast is packin' right here, alright. We got 411 Positrac out back, 750 double pumper Edelbrock intakes, bored over 30, 11 to 1 pop-up pistons, turbo-jet 300 Kilowatts, 675 Newton-Meters, We're talkin' some f***in' muscle."
Imagine saying 372 trillion kilometers instead of 12 parsecs.
Parsec is a unit of time, not distance, you tool. Hint, the "sec" in it is the same sec in "second"!
Er no. Think first, speak second.
If it wasn't about time why did Han Solo brag about the Millenium Falcon making the Kessel run in less than 12 parsecs?
Because there is a discontinuity in the spacetime continuum where folk who can do sums go one way and folk who can't, go the other way. The second lot finish up writing movie scripts, flipping burgers, or advising on government grants.
Yes Second as in Arcsecond: "defined as the distance at which one astronomical unit (the average Earth-Sun distance) subtends an angle of one arcsecond."
Wrong, it's a measure of distance, like a "Light-Year" it's 3.26 Light-Years by the way, I think I ran one of those races in College.
A parsec (pc) is an astronomical unit of length, approximately equal to 3.26 light-years or 30.9 trillion kilometers, used to measure the vast distances between stars and other celestial objects. It is defined by trigonometric parallax, specifically the distance at which one astronomical unit (the distance from the Earth to the Sun) subtends an angle of one arcsecond. Astronomers use parsecs because their direct relation to the parallax method makes distance calculations simple: a star's distance in parsecs is the reciprocal of its parallax angle in arcseconds.
Heat is energy, Ed. And one definition of energy is "force across a distance".
As the gas escapes, it expands, that's distance. And the pressure is force. Expanding gas does work, consumes energy, and where did that energy come from?
The heat the gas originally had.
An expanding gas "absorbs" heat from the environment. It's how air conditioning works.
This is physics, not necessarily engineering. Or Physical Chemistry at best.
Another way to look at it is the combined gas law. PV / T = K.
If the Pressure lowers, the temperature must also lower. (Or the volume must increase)
This is physics....or physical chemistry at best
Everything is math. However, that's a lot to handle so some people only try to understand the math that applies to tangible things, and call it physics.
Chemistry is merely a branch of physics applied to interactions between atoms and molecules. Organic chemistry is subset of that.
Biology is merely a simplified special case of organic chemistry, for people too lazy or incapable of understanding all of organic. The really narrow and ignorant ones don't do all of biology, just zoology.
If zoology is too much for you, you study just one species, man. But if you still find that overwhelming, you can give up understanding man fully and just focus on doing repairs on men when something goes wrong. Temporary repairs at that. People who do this are called medical doctors. The least ignorant are GPs but then you have some that only do neurosurgery.
For some reason neurosurgeons get paid more than mathematicians.
We know all that. Where's the intuitive notion in terms of billiard balls bouncing around?
I had a similar question to my physics prof back in high school. Water falls over a waterfall, and its temperature increases because of the work. It was distinctly different from the water churning and gaining a little frictional energy. It was supposed to happen to calm water in a bucket lowered on an elevator.
He didn't know the answer.
Like as the elevator starts descending, there's a little sigh in the water as the gravity is briefly slightly attenuated, leading to a touch of friction? And same when it oofs, arriving at the bottom?
He didn't know.
I then realized the lowering bucket already in motion should continue the temp increase, with no sighs or oofs involved at all.
Puzzling.
Apparently the reports of Mr. Trump's illness or death have been greatly exaggerated.
And even when he does die, he’s only going to be dead for 3 days
"And even when he does die, he’s only going to be dead for 3 days"
Which would be well and good, if his kingdom were not of this earth.
I predict that on the other side, Donald Trump will run against Satan for President of Hell, and then bitch, moan and whine when he loses.
Of course it's hard to beat Ted Kennedy (who left a young......) what is he now, in his 4th term down there?
NG - you have serious trump derangement issues
Exaggerated illness? Really? I can detect his mitochondrial challenges just by glancing at him!
And if it were me, I might be just the slightest bit perturbed about JD openly licking his chops in USA Today interviews…
"Apparently the reports of Mr. Trump's illness or death have been greatly exaggerated."
The White House is now using its laser pointer, using old golf pictures. The cats cannot resist.
On yesterday's open thread, I called out Donald Trump's yapping and yammering about charging George Soros and his son for RICO violations:
“George Soros, and his wonderful Radical Left son, should be charged with RICO because of their support of Violent Protests, and much more, all throughout the United States of America,” Trump said in a post on his Truth Social platform. “We’re not going to allow these lunatics to rip apart America any more, never giving it so much as a chance to ‘BREATHE,’ and be FREE. Soros, and his group of psychopaths, have caused great damage to our Country! That includes his Crazy, West Coast friends. Be careful, we’re watching you! Thank you for your attention to this matter!”
“George Soros, and his wonderful Radical Left son, should be charged with RICO because of their support of Violent Protests, and much more, all throughout the United States of America,” Trump said in a post on his Truth Social platform.
“We’re not going to allow these lunatics to rip apart America any more, never giving it so much as a chance to ‘BREATHE,’ and be FREE. Soros, and his group of psychopaths, have caused great damage to our Country! That includes his Crazy, West Coast friends. Be careful, we’re watching you! Thank you for your attention to this matter!”
https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/5474433-trump-soros-racketeering-charges/
I challenged the MAGAts who comment here to identify the factual predication for any criminal RICO investigation of Soros and/or his son:
What facts and legal theories are there that even a buffoon like Donald Trump could think would support a RICO prosecution of George Soros and his son? (Trump did not specify which of four sons that he referred to.) What is the "enterprise" for purposes of 18 U.S.C. § 1961(4)? A RICO enterprise is “a continuing unit that functions with a common purpose.” Boyle v. United States, 556 U.S. 938, 948 (2009). An association-in-fact enterprise must have a structure. In the sense relevant here, the term “structure” means the way in which parts are arranged or put together to form a whole and the interrelation or arrangement of parts in a complex entity. Such an enterprise must have at least three structural features: a purpose, relationships among those associated with the enterprise, and longevity sufficient to permit these associates to pursue the enterprise's purpose. Id., at 945-946. An “enterprise” must have some longevity, since the offense proscribed by § 1962(c) demands proof that the enterprise had “affairs” of sufficient duration to permit an associate to “participate” in those affairs through “a pattern of racketeering activity.” Boyle, at 946. Moreover, the existence of an enterprise is an element distinct from the pattern of racketeering activity and “proof of one does not necessarily establish the other.” Id., at 947, quoting United States v. Turkette, 452 U.S. 576, 583 (1981). What predicate acts evince the “pattern of racketeering activity” within the meaning of §1961(1) and (5) as required for a criminal conviction? When, where and by whom were such predicate acts committed?
What facts and legal theories are there that even a buffoon like Donald Trump could think would support a RICO prosecution of George Soros and his son? (Trump did not specify which of four sons that he referred to.)
What is the "enterprise" for purposes of 18 U.S.C. § 1961(4)? A RICO enterprise is “a continuing unit that functions with a common purpose.” Boyle v. United States, 556 U.S. 938, 948 (2009). An association-in-fact enterprise must have a structure. In the sense relevant here, the term “structure” means the way in which parts are arranged or put together to form a whole and the interrelation or arrangement of parts in a complex entity. Such an enterprise must have at least three structural features: a purpose, relationships among those associated with the enterprise, and longevity sufficient to permit these associates to pursue the enterprise's purpose. Id., at 945-946.
An “enterprise” must have some longevity, since the offense proscribed by § 1962(c) demands proof that the enterprise had “affairs” of sufficient duration to permit an associate to “participate” in those affairs through “a pattern of racketeering activity.” Boyle, at 946.
Moreover, the existence of an enterprise is an element distinct from the pattern of racketeering activity and “proof of one does not necessarily establish the other.” Id., at 947, quoting United States v. Turkette, 452 U.S. 576, 583 (1981).
What predicate acts evince the “pattern of racketeering activity” within the meaning of §1961(1) and (5) as required for a criminal conviction? When, where and by whom were such predicate acts committed?
Since no MAGAt stepped up to the plate, I will repeat the challenge here. Have at it, folks.
So you threw out stinky bait yesterday, no one responded to your trolling, and now you repeat it with the addition of more inflammatory language.
There's a relevant aphorism about insanity here that is often, but wrongly, attributed to Albert Einstein.
Typing out what Trump said and asking if it’s legal is bait?
I tend to think an inventive prosecutor could come up with something, but let the DOJ do the work, I'm not doing it for them.
The general outline is obvious: Soros runs various outfits, they support movements that commit criminal acts.
I mean, get real, you don't assemble a huge mob to try to set fire to a federal court house without some degree of organization, and too many of the mobs show up equipped.
Biden had no interest in tracking down who was organizing and funding it, but that doesn't mean that tracking down was impossible to do. Maybe the Trump DOJ finally followed the money, and it led to Soros.
Or maybe not; Trump may not be BSing all the time, but he is a lot of the time.
lol Bretting so hard.
At first I thought it was sort of cool having a nemesis, but, nah, it's just creepy.
In response to what law was broken, you say it doesn’t matter and then launch into vibes based Soros Biden BLM fan fiction to explain what even you say is maybe true.
Do you see why people mock you?
OTOH, people mock Sarcastro because they are jealous of his brilliance.
Twisted does as twisted is.
When God was handing out self-awareness, Sarc was too busy with other things, standing at your feet barking. He thinks that humiliates you.
Yappy little dog. Il Douche.
Liberal rioters go after the judicial branch. Conservative rioters go after the legislative branch.
If we can ever find enough libertarians to put together a decent riot...
JFK would have had the CIA terminate Soros with extreme prejudice.
Just sayin.
It is just trolling. If no one wanted to discuss then the troll failed. That's life on the internet.
Michael P, if you have no defense of Donald Trump's batshit crazy rhetoric, then man up and say so.
Bot guilty, we know your sealion shtick. It's stupid, uninspired and at this point extremely old. Don't expect us to fall for it.
To paraphrase Patrick Henry, if this be sealioning, make the most of it.
But it is not. I make no pretense of civility toward the MAGA rabble, and I don't feign ignorance of the topics as to which I raise questions. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sealioning#/media/File:%22The_Terrible_Sea_Lion%22._Wondermark_comic_strip_No._1062_by_David_Malki_(19_September_2014).png
Ron White said it well about the MAGA cult:
But let me tell you something, folks. You can't fix stupid. There's not a pill you can take. There's not a class you can go to. Stupid is fo'evah!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QDvQ77JP8nw (It's no coincidence that he begins that riff talking about boobs.)
Excellent grammar and formatting, as always.
★★★
He's dropped all pretense of having any dignity.
You should drrop the "MAGAt" thing, it makes you sound like a shrieking teenager.
One more time, ThePublius. https://linguaholic.com/linguablog/a-hit-dog-will-holler/
As the grizzly bear said to the hunter, you're not here for the hunting, are you? https://www.jokebuddha.com/joke/The_Hunter_and_the_Bear_1
It's always amusing to watch MAGA complain about pejoratives
Yes, it is just like the constant "Racist!" meme from the left. Both are tiresome.
Now do "Antisemite!" from the right.
Neither of those apply to my motivation for my comment. It's just that it makes you sound unserious, and diminishes the dialogue. That's all.
A guy who supports Trump is worried about the discourse. In other news, Barry Bonds fan worried about use of performance enhancing substances in sports.
Do you think that discourse here should be conducted at a more elevated level than presidential announcements?
ThePublius, do you prefer the MAGA cult?
You're an idiot.
I tend to think that judges in English-speaking countries have/take more freedom to speak publicly than I would think is ideal. My sense is that in civil law countries judges avoid public speaking engagements (and written publications) except the most mundane, like a laudatory speech on the occasion of someone's retirement.
Here is an interesting case of this becoming an issue. Even apart from the fact that it's about Israel, I can imagine that different people will have different views about this case.
In early August, Judge Julia Sebutinde of the International Court of Justice (known as the ICJ) gave a speech at Watoto Church in Uganda, her home State, during which she referenced her dissenting opinions in both the South Africa v. Israel genocide case, and the Legal Consequences arising from the Policies and Practices of Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem Advisory Opinion. She was reported as saying that “The Lord is counting on me to stand on the side of Israel”, and that the “whole world was against Israel, including my country.” These statements, as reported, appear to contradict the requirement that Judges remain impartial.
https://verfassungsblog.de/from-one-icj-to-another/
Incidentally, the question of whether a complaint about a lack of impartiality is itself a threat to judicial impartiality is also an important one. In England last week there have already been formal complaints abou the alleged lack of impartiality of one of the appeals judges in the Epping asylum hotel case, where the complainant almost certainly does not care one bit about judicial independence unless the judge in question gives a judgment they don't like.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-15051667/Judge-ruled-Epping-migrant-hotel-remain-open-reported-conduct-office-historic-links-left-wing-organisations.html
Seems to match what I've been seeing as well. Maybe it's related to how judges are appointed in the first place. US (and I believe England) judges are experienced attorneys, so they always have some profile; Japanese judges are just like any other employment in Japan. You pass the bar, apply for a judicial position with zero attorney experience, and you'll serve until you resign, reach the retirement age, or are refused renewed appointment because you are a member of a left-wing organization (yes, that happened before).
Yes, that definitely has something to do with it. You can tell from judges like those on the German constitutional court, who are usually experienced law professors. They tend to keep having public opinions while they're on the court.
At least in continental Europe it's also a question of collegiality. In many countries cases aren't decided by individual judges unless it's small claims court or something like that, and often the judgment isn't signed by an individual judge. The ability to achieve consensus is valued much more than in English-speaking countries, where judges have a personal jurisprudence that they care about.
Indeed there is much to be said about the Continental practice of judges being specifically trained to serve a magistrates who must work in a collegial fashion in contrast to the US system in which judges are appointed by politicians or (even worse) who run for election to the bench.
Volkswagen Brazil was found guilty on Friday of subjecting workers to conditions “analogous” to slavery between 1974 and 1986 on a vast cattle ranch in the Amazon and ordered to publicly acknowledge the abuses and pay more than $30 million in damages….
The judge ordered that the $30 million in damages be paid not to the former laborers but to a fund in Pará that is focused on promoting dignified working conditions and eradicating slave labor in the state.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/08/30/brazil-volkswagen-slave-labor-amazon/
"The judge ordered that the $30 million in damages be paid not to the former laborers but to a fund in Pará that is focused on promoting dignified working conditions and eradicating slave labor in the state."
So, it was just a shakedown.
It was 40 years ago. You seem to come down in the side of enslavement going unpunished.
No, I'm coming down on paying the damages out to the damned victims, not some third party NGO.
I don’t think this makes it a shakedown but I agree the actual victims should have got something (at least).
I don't know how much each would get divided by thirty million, but $0 is currently not even as good as the average class action in the US, where the lawyers get millions, the principles a new car, and the multitudes of victims get a coupon for a free fries at their next visit.
Obama's DOJ was doing the same thing here. That's one of the reasons our country went to shit so fast. Obama and the Democrats put their foot on the gas.
Trump’s is too (for example in the administration’s settlement with Brown University the school will pay millions to non-profit workforce development organizations in RI),
Yeah, that's part of what I mean about Trump, disturbingly, trying to advance conservative causes by using 'liberal' means. Political mimicry gone bad, Trump doesn't really understand conservatism.
He understands ballrooms.
It doesn't seem like that to me, at all. It seems he's complaining that the victims didn't get the money, and that the government sued just to fill government coffers.
Not even the government. Some "non-profit". Wonder how much their CEO is being paid.
He didn’t just complain about the remedy, he delegitimized the whole proceeding.
Sarcastr0, the fact that they're calling it 'reparations', but none of the money is going to the actual victims, does make it look like a shakedown.
Your proof is weak. You don’t care for the remedy so you insist the whole thing is bad. You seem to be defending the poor company that enslaved people.
You've always read a lot more into what people wrote than they actually wrote, but at this point you're doing it to a degree that's just flat out pathological. You're becoming a parody of yourself.
What remedy?
Can't get past the paywall, but the quoted text makes it sound like the money went to an NGO, not the government.
No, he's coming down on the side that it's a shakedown.
Many of these people may still be alive. At the very least, their families should be identifiable. If they were illegally exploited, then they should get compensated.
Instead, a non-profit gets all the compensation. Furthermore, these individuals are exploited again, and can't even bring a case in the future
May be!
Lotsa work being done here.
Not much talk about the company enslaving people.
Your priorities are unsurprising. You like to say other people support slavery, but when the rubber meets the road…
Finger wagging and Komment Karening.
That's all you ever do.
Hey, he's proud that he is consistently hypocritical and one-sided about it. Don't forget that!
His parents told him he was special and he believed them.
"Not much talk about the company enslaving people."
No...there was plenty of talk. The talk was how the people who were enslaved should be the ones compensated. To "compensate" someone else entirely just exploits the people again.
Let's use an example. Imagine a criminal breaks into your own and steals your stuff. The a "non-profit" sues the criminal, and gets a monetary reward for the criminals actions against you. They keep the money.
You're just exploited twice over. Not only did you lose your stuff, you also lost the legal right to sue for your stuff. You're just exploited.
That's what's going on here.
I’m…not sure you know what slavery means.
I'm quite certain, and I know the current situation.
In this particular case, a ranch owned by VW (Why VW owns and operates a ranch in Brazil...don't ask), was attracting people to work. But when they got there, they needed to buy everything from the company store. Where they racked up a debt, and then the debt they owed was used to force them to work even longer. The workers were exploited, no doubt. Their labor was stolen from them. They deserve recompense, at the very least.
But not only was their labor stolen from them, their legal right to compensation was just stolen from them as well. They SHOULD have gotten the money in an civil judgement against the company. Instead, someone else entirely got it. And it's not like they can sue VW again...
And that's wrong.
So you don't like a government conducting a shakedown, eh?
No, actually I don't. Not even if it's Trump doing it.
Didn't stop you voting for him, though.
Well, against his opponent, anyway.
They even blame Biden for forcing them to vote Trump
My favorite example of this phenomenon comes from last week, when conservative commenter Erick Erickson went on his radio show to bemoan his wife’s inability to get a COVID vaccine:
“My wife has Stage 4 lung cancer. She is one of the people the COVID vaccine actually helps. Thanks to the current mess at HHS, CVS is unable to get her the vaccine.”
You’ll never guess who he blames for this!
The mind boggles!
Except, according to CVS, it’s not true:
the FDA has approved the 2025/2026 COVID-19 vaccine for use in individuals who are: 65 years or older OR 6 months (SpikeVax), 5 years (Comirnaty), 12 years (mNEXSPIKE) to 64 years of age with at least one underlying condition that puts them at high risk for severe outcomes of COVID-19 disease
the FDA has approved the 2025/2026 COVID-19 vaccine for use in individuals who are:
65 years or older OR 6 months (SpikeVax), 5 years (Comirnaty), 12 years (mNEXSPIKE) to 64 years of age with at least one underlying condition that puts them at high risk for severe outcomes of COVID-19 disease
Cancer is listed as an applicable underlying condition. https://www.cvs.com/immunizations/covid-19-vaccine
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/28/well/cvs-pharmacy-covid-vaccine-16-states.html
“ CVS and Walgreens are now requiring a prescription or are not offering COVID-19 vaccines in some states as the companies attempt to follow state guidelines that require approvals from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The Food and Drug Administration has approved vaccines from Pfizer, Moderna and Novavax for all seniors, but only for younger adults and children with health conditions.”
Yes, and? The statement “Thanks to the current mess at HHS, CVS is unable to get her the vaccine” is still untrue.
"Volkswagen Brazil was found guilty on Friday of subjecting workers to conditions “analogous” to slavery"
German company using forced labor. I'm shocked!
No Ordinary Opinion Announcement
Next Term, the Supreme Court will rule on the legality of the Administration's tariffs. This will be a market moving event, to say the least. Elsewhere I've pointed out that the usual practice of issuing merits decisions at 10AM without notice will be a disaster for this case. The Court should either give notice of the decision day or do what amounts to the same thing by scheduling the announcement before or after market hours.
The precedent here is the Gold Clause Cases. At a certain point after argument, the Court scheduled an opinion day and announced that those opinions would not be coming out that day. When the next opinion day was scheduled, they made no such announcement. Thus, everyone knew that the decision was coming then. The Court should follow that example or something comparable in this unusual situation.
https://balkin.blogspot.com/2025/08/no-ordinary-opinion-announcement.html?m=1
What was the last time such an economically significant case was before the Court? I guess NFIB v. Sebelius?
Good pull.
When they announce it, if they rule against Trump, they will stay the decision, probably under the guise of sending it down to the lower court to craft a remedy.
Its going to be at least two years before any decision takes effect.
Stay what? The Federal Circuit already vacated the injunctions, leaving only declaratory relief, which, if affirmed, would be available to any party to use as precedent for a refund application. This would be enough to kill the tariffs.
I just ran across an interesting YouTube video that describes some ways that the struggle for racial equality became the preeminent domestic political issue in U. S. history, including multiple insidious ways that racism still rears its ugly head. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M3xSyO7z5eQ
I’d bet it was two things, there’s an inherent tension between slavery (and then Jim Crow) and Christianity and the Declaration of Independence. Bigotry and economic concerns could overcome that tension but it was going to be there and eventually prodded us to respond to the better angels of our nature, for the most part.
Jefferson said, "Indeed I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just; that his justice cannot sleep forever; that considering numbers, nature and natural means only, a revolution of the wheel of fortune, an exchange of situation is among possible events; that it may become probable by supernatural interference! The Almighty has no attribute which can take side with us in such a contest."
Yeah, they knew they were doing wrong, they just didn't want to pay the price of setting it right, thought that they could kick the can down the road and slavery might die a natural death. If not for the cotton gin, it might have.
It's worth realizing that we're probably no less guilty of monstrous evils some future generation will see clearly and criticize us for. And no more lacking in people complaining today of them.
Yes, abortion.
Dr Ed equates black people with zygotes, I’m shocked.
Yeah, there were people who were shocked at abolitionists equating black people with whites, too.
I don't know if it will be abortion. If cryonics works in the end, it might be our funeral practices...
The difference between a zygote and a born person is astronomically beyond what even racist slavers thought the difference between what blacks and whites was then.
Perhaps the most salient similarity between those who would abolish abortion rights and those who fought to preserve slavery is a desire to maintain women as breeding stock with no personal autonomy regarding whether to give birth.
Is it that hard for them to not get pregnant?
The female slaves had no agency in the matter.
And my point above was about those of today's abortion rights opponents who want women to be nothing but brood mares. A considerable share of those who want the government to ban abortions oppose contraception as well. Twenty-first century slavers.
ng, minimizing slavery as per usual to pwn the conservatives.
Tool. You're a less erudite Rev. Kirkland.
How do you surmise that I have "minimiz[ed] slavery" by pointing out that the slavers controlled the female slaves, including impregnating them, damikesc?
Are you drunk?
Keep on comparing abortion policy to slavery. It's working wonders.
Next, compare waiting in line to the Holocaust. Or your favorite dish being out of stock at a restaurant to the Holomodor.
Some would point all they were all zygotes once.
+1
I think the current way that we treat immigrants will be viewed with shame. It will be right up there with Jim Crow and the treatment of Japanese Americans during WWII.
Agree 100 percent.
"It's worth realizing that we're probably no less guilty of monstrous evils some future generation will see clearly and criticize us for. And no more lacking in people complaining today of them."
Indeed, there is no shortage of complainers. Like Strom Thurmond kvetching about the horrors of miscegenation and Ted Haggard condemning buttsex.
There's also Hollywood making a movie praising female Africans fighting against Europeans, ignoring that the women were fighting to PROTECT slavery while the Europeans were fighting to end it.
Slavery did not end due to any desire of Africans. In spite of it, to be exact.
Wow, ahistorical bullshit from ng. This is truly shocking.
Drive three hours south out of Anchorage, through two mountain passes, down a highway dotted with rural churches and the occasional moose, and you’ll arrive in Kenai, a seaside town world famous for its salmon fishing. But in Alaska, the area is also known for a specialty made at the 50-year-old butcher shop called Echo Lake Meats.
On the package, the dip is labeled “World Famous Jalapeño Cheese Spread,” but in Kenai and the neighboring town of Soldotna, people refer to it as “Echo Lake cheese dip.” To everyone else in the state, it’s just “Kenai dip.”
“You find very few people of any age bracket that haven’t had it or don’t love it,” said Erick Watkins, who owns the shop with his wife, Holli.
Even Mr. Watkins doesn’t know the exact proportions of the half-century-old recipe — that knowledge resides with just one of his longtime employees — but the basics are Cheddar cheese, mayonnaise, jalapeño and liquid smoke. A mouth-tingling, mayo-forward cousin of pimento cheese, it travels well and is usually served with sturdy tortilla chips or crackers.
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/29/dining/kenai-cheese-dip-alaska.html
OK, I'll admit, sounds better than whatever Kill-more Garcia's is having in Uganda, where the local restaurants "Catch of the Day" is which ever Tourist was stupid enough to stop there.
I think you have Uganda confused with Haiti.
https://pjmedia.com/vodkapundit/2024/03/12/there-is-no-cannibalism-in-haiti-or-at-least-some-n4927220
Nope, I remember how when Ugandan President (Dr) Idi Amin Dada had his opponents over for a private dinner, it was really a private dinner.
Do Ugandans know the third grade English rules about capitalization of proper and improper nouns?
Probably because until recently English was the official language of Uganda.
Woosh!
Queenie loves that sound. Reminds "her" of when "her" boyfriend pulls out after giving her the hot beef injection.
That’s worse scrambling than I saw from Arch Manning this weekend!
Also, a guy who showed here he doesn’t know how blow jobs work like Bumble you’d think would avoid sex jokes.
Yadda, yadda, yadda....
When I was in Africa our host at dinner one evening informed us that, in Africa, the word "beef" was very broadly defined.
Thanks for the link - gonna try this one.
It appears Florida has a rainbow memorial crime problem
Needs more leprechaun.
As he sought to recapture the White House in 2024, Donald Trump promised to "put a temporary cap on credit card interest rates at 10%." During his presidency, bipartisan lawmakers have introduced bills to cap credit card interest rates, but they've failed to advance…. One possible factor these bills have languished: Trump has not weighed in on the bipartisan credit card interest rate bills recently
https://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/promises/maga-meter-tracking-donald-trumps-2024-promises/promise/1635/put-a-temporary-cap-on-credit-card-interest-rates/article/3194/
Well, I'm kind of glad they didn't, because price controls always backfire, no exceptions.
How do you suppose capping rates would "backfire" and is it really a price control?
Presumably Brett is worried that poor people won't be able to borrow as much. (Given that credit card debt is pretty much already the debt of last resort, so it's not like people can switch to an even worse form of borrowing.)
Poor people borrow too much as it is, but emergencies DO come up when it's unavoidable.
And, yeah, actually there ARE worse forms of borrowing, they're just not legal.
Lenders are the "poors" friends.
When it comes to emergencies.
Payday loans.
credit card debt is pretty much already the debt of last resort, so it's not like people can switch to an even worse form of borrowing
Ever heard of payday loans, or pawn shops?
(Given that credit card debt is pretty much already the debt of last resort,
Credit card debt is nowhere near the debt of last resort. It's actually the debt of first resort.
it's not like people can switch to an even worse form of borrowing
CC debt auto-worsens. The business model is to get you trapped, then facete you're a higher risk, and that justifies 30% interest rates, forever trapping you with almost no principle paydown.
As this is core to the business model, it is a kind of fraud.
See also banks "helping" you with $30 overdraft charges "but being nice, no reporting it to a credit rating agency, see, we're your friend!"
It would only backfire if you consider the wholesale elimination of credit cards from the economy bad. What bank will loan a regular person unsecured money at 10% interest?
Credit cards for every Tom, Dick and Harry has only been a thing for the past 50 years or so. How did anyone survive before that? (They didn't send money they didn't have)
Past 30.
Capping rates backfires because then nobody with less than stellar credit can get it.
The way it is now most people with good credit don't pay credit card interest, they pay off their card every month, its the people that can't afford to pay off their card every month that will get their credit cards cancelled.
Your point is good but I think you mean "pay the minimum" rather than "pay off". The credit card companies really really like people who run a large balance and just pay the interest. That might even be the core of their business model.
The people who would lose their cards with a rate cap are those with a risk level, measured as a percent chance of the bank losing the whole balance, that exceeds the cap. And the number of such people increases sharply as the cap goes down.
The banks are really good at making that risk assessment and only getting better with the help of AI.
No the people with good credit, don't pay just the minimum, they pay it all so they don't have to pay interest.
The people that just pay the minimum usually have much poorer credit ratings.
Interest charges are the bulk of their profits, but if you cut CC interest rates from 25% to 10% their margin will probably go to zero or less than zero, considering fraud and defaults on top of cost of funds.
Then their only major source of profits is transaction fees, and they will jetison all the risky accounts.
Interestingly many lost their shit about Harris’ price controls (was that the “price gouging” stuff?) but I don’t remember this being talked about at all. Trump gets favorable treatment because it’s assumed he’s a loose cannon and loon.
So even though Trump promised this, you think it is wrong and you supported him. Why?
Well, for one thing, Biden promised to attack the 2nd amendment, and I believed him.
You said the same thing about Obama. And Hillary.
One might suspect your paranoia about guns is just a way to be a GOP tool.
Well, Obama DID attack the 2nd amendment. Hillary would have, but Trump beat her.
You're perpetually in "who are you going to believe, me or your lying eyes?" mode, demanding that we ignore the evidence of our senses.
Democrats are almost uniformly hostile to the 2nd amendment. Wasn't always the case, maybe someday it won't be the case anymore, but right now?
Voting for a Democrat is voting to have your 2nd amendment rights attacked.
So another promise he didn't try to fulfill. (And rightly so, IMO)
Well, it's Labor Day the traditional end of Summer and a time when gas prices usually drop, so I was surprised this morning to see that they went up in the last day or so by six cents at my local station. Wondering what triggered that.
I told you last week and also a month or so before. It wasn't Trump. It wasn't Biden. We reduced well output 70% starting in June. Our motto is not drill-baby-drill. It is reduce-baby-reduce.
US oil companies have very little pricing power. 90% of gasoline prices fluctuations is due to the fluctuations of world crude prices. What you are describing is your company reacting to prices not setting them. And sure worldwide producers do reduce output when prices are too low, but you see the same behavior among farmers when corn prices are too low.
"When we compare the global benchmark Brent crude oil spot prices with retail gasoline, the correlation is almost perfectly linear at 0.89. This means that when crude oil prices increase, it is pretty predictable that retail pump prices will follow suit."
https://www.transportationenergy.org/resources/the-commute/fuels-prices-in-context-not-hype/
Here is an 2014 Obama Administration EIA study with a graph that shows the correlation since 2000, least you don't believe the industry study:
"Prices of Brent crude oil, an international benchmark, are more important than the price of West Texas Intermediate (WTI), a domestic benchmark, for determining gasoline prices in all four U.S. regions studied, including the Midwest. The effect that a relaxation of current limitations on U.S. crude oil exports would have on U.S. gasoline prices depends on its effect on international crude prices, such as Brent, rather than its effect on domestic crude prices. Gasoline is a globally traded commodity, and prices are highly correlated across global spot markets."
https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php
Likely just local conditions, I saw an article Friday saying Labor Day gas prices are the lowest they've been in 5 years:
"$3.16, $3.79, $3.77, $3.29, and a projected $3.15" "The projected $3.15 in 2025 represents the most affordable Labor Day weekend at the pump in the past five years."
However in 2020 during the Pandemic they were $2.20.
Thanks Hobie.
We do it every year. Our cover - as always - is "Peak Summer Travel Season". But this year we're extending it into winter because, like I said last week, you MAGA ain't gonna raise a peep about high gas prices. Do you wanna know our target price for this year? $3.80. Do you boys think you can handle that without squawking? We think you can.
Yeah, see my comment above about how much pricing power US oil companies have.
You may have a forecast for 3.80, but you don't have a target because you don't have any apparatus to hit a target.
The only way you can hit 3.80 is if Trump puts secondary sanctions on Russian Oil, the Iranians getting frisky in the Persian Gulf or some other supply shock, and that's definitely not under the control of US oil companies.
Iirc during Covid, the demand had collapsed so completely, at one point oil was negative dollars a barrel. Who would not just give you barrels of oil for free, but actually pay you to take it?
Well, the whole pipeline had become clogged, so there was nowhere to move anything along to. All tankers, intermediate storage tanks, everything was full, with very little draining out the end. It was worth it to just push it along rather than stall your billions in equipment and facilities.
I suspect they'd drop after Labor Day weekend, when the last big wave of vacationers return home, and not during it. You'd want that last crush before vacation travel demand reduces.
I have no idea if this is what happens though.
Not this year. It ain't gonna happen.
My US-based friends may want to stock up on some groceries:
‘It’s like when you see the tsunami coming in’: Agricultural economists are sounding the alarm about produce prices doubling Milk prices jumping from $7 to $14, strawberries that feel like luxury goods, and a switch to processed food: This is the six-month outlook economists studying labor and agriculture see for consumers. Yet these consumers “don’t have a clue what’s going on,” Raymond Robertson, a labor economist at Texas A&M’s Bush School of Government who has advised U.S. agencies on trade and labor policy, told Fortune. Instead, Robertson said, voters are distracted by the political noise of President Donald Trump’s policies, while the real drivers of grocery sticker shock—labor shortages and tariffs—continue to tighten their grip. Deportations have thinned fields and stripped farms of undocumented workers, who “overwhelmingly” make up the agricultural workforce. At the same time, new tariffs on staples like tomatoes, coffee, and orange juice are pushing up costs on imports, leaving few affordable alternatives. “The impacts are unambiguous,” Gordon Hanson, an economist and expert on Mexican trade at Harvard Kennedy School, told Fortune. “It’s upward pressure on those prices.“ The White House did not immediately respond to Fortune’s request for comment. The only question, Hanson added, is how much of the pain farmers, wholesalers, and retailers can absorb before it lands on the grocery aisles and in consumers’ carts. Winter grocery chill The first wave of grocery-price increases will likely hit this winter. Roberson predicted produce prices could rise 50% to 100% by early next year as inventories clear and new contracts kick in. And unlike past decades, when Washington would quietly ease border enforcement to keep fields staffed, today’s political environment suggests no such check. “This is like when you see a flood coming, the tsunami is coming in, and the water’s gone up two inches,” Robertson warned. The reason for the labor shortage is American-born workers simply do not want to do manual work at the wages typically offered to foreign-born, undocumented workers, Robertson said. Undocumented workers are used to getting paid around $18 an hour to pick strawberries—the type of wage American citizens can get working at an ice cream shop. You would have to pay American citizens “$25 to $30 an hour” to get them in the fields, Robertson said, an unfeasible cost for most agricultural producers. The shortage is already visible on the ground. In Dover, Fla., Matt Parke of Parkesdale Farms told The Daily Adda his family business is leaning heavily on the H-2A visa program—designed particularly to support foreign agricultural labor—to fill the gaps. Economists, however, say the program is too small and too cumbersome to solve the crisis on its own. Hanson noted while H-2A has expanded in recent years, guest workers still account for “a small fraction of the total” farm labor force. “It would have to be much, much larger, in the millions rather than the hundreds of thousands, to meet U.S. demand,” Hanson said. The visas also expire each season, requiring repeated applications, housing, and transportation costs for every worker. “If you want to hire that same worker five years in a row, you have to get five different visas,” Hanson added.
‘It’s like when you see the tsunami coming in’: Agricultural economists are sounding the alarm about produce prices doubling
Milk prices jumping from $7 to $14, strawberries that feel like luxury goods, and a switch to processed food: This is the six-month outlook economists studying labor and agriculture see for consumers.
Yet these consumers “don’t have a clue what’s going on,” Raymond Robertson, a labor economist at Texas A&M’s Bush School of Government who has advised U.S. agencies on trade and labor policy, told Fortune.
Instead, Robertson said, voters are distracted by the political noise of President Donald Trump’s policies, while the real drivers of grocery sticker shock—labor shortages and tariffs—continue to tighten their grip. Deportations have thinned fields and stripped farms of undocumented workers, who “overwhelmingly” make up the agricultural workforce. At the same time, new tariffs on staples like tomatoes, coffee, and orange juice are pushing up costs on imports, leaving few affordable alternatives.
“The impacts are unambiguous,” Gordon Hanson, an economist and expert on Mexican trade at Harvard Kennedy School, told Fortune. “It’s upward pressure on those prices.“
The White House did not immediately respond to Fortune’s request for comment.
The only question, Hanson added, is how much of the pain farmers, wholesalers, and retailers can absorb before it lands on the grocery aisles and in consumers’ carts.
Winter grocery chill The first wave of grocery-price increases will likely hit this winter. Roberson predicted produce prices could rise 50% to 100% by early next year as inventories clear and new contracts kick in. And unlike past decades, when Washington would quietly ease border enforcement to keep fields staffed, today’s political environment suggests no such check.
“This is like when you see a flood coming, the tsunami is coming in, and the water’s gone up two inches,” Robertson warned.
The reason for the labor shortage is American-born workers simply do not want to do manual work at the wages typically offered to foreign-born, undocumented workers, Robertson said. Undocumented workers are used to getting paid around $18 an hour to pick strawberries—the type of wage American citizens can get working at an ice cream shop.
You would have to pay American citizens “$25 to $30 an hour” to get them in the fields, Robertson said, an unfeasible cost for most agricultural producers.
The shortage is already visible on the ground. In Dover, Fla., Matt Parke of Parkesdale Farms told The Daily Adda his family business is leaning heavily on the H-2A visa program—designed particularly to support foreign agricultural labor—to fill the gaps.
Economists, however, say the program is too small and too cumbersome to solve the crisis on its own. Hanson noted while H-2A has expanded in recent years, guest workers still account for “a small fraction of the total” farm labor force.
“It would have to be much, much larger, in the millions rather than the hundreds of thousands, to meet U.S. demand,” Hanson said.
The visas also expire each season, requiring repeated applications, housing, and transportation costs for every worker.
“If you want to hire that same worker five years in a row, you have to get five different visas,” Hanson added.
https://fortune.com/2025/08/28/tsunami-inflation-grocery-prices-tariffs-deportation-trump/
It will take a few years to replace the illegal laborers with a combination of farm automation and high enough wages Americans will take the jobs. But we'll be better off in the end for it, cheap labor is a drug.
"The reason for the labor shortage is American-born workers simply do not want to do manual work at the wages typically offered to foreign-born, undocumented workers, Robertson said. Undocumented workers are used to getting paid around $18 an hour to pick strawberries—the type of wage American citizens can get working at an ice cream shop."
Sound familiar?
And, if we end slavery, who's going to pick the cotton?
It’s always interesting how many MAGA slavers don’t get consent.
I don't even know what that means, except that it is meant as some kind of insult.
Don't you get the concept of virtual slavery as opposed to literal slavery? Sure, illegal immigrant farm workers choose initially to come here and do that, but they get 'trapped,' economically, and are at the mercy of their employers. Paid poorly, often (usually?) off the books, no benefits, long hours.
Virtual slavery! You sound like a Marxist slaver going on defending minimum wage and other laws because there was no free work contract because of unequal bargaining power. A tough job=slavery. No matter that the tough job is, to them, a significant upgrade that they chose.
If you have to put a qualifier in front of the word slavery you’ve lost what was so fundamentally evil about it.
Cut the shit with the slaver stuff. If you have to name-call in your argument, you have no argument.
Have you met the President you support? Clutch your pearls elsewhere.
The point is your lack of appreciation for autonomy and consent. Typical slaver stuff.
You brought up slavery above….and now you are tone policing it?
I'm not "tone policing" slavery, you dick.
You called it name calling,
Do you have some disease where you can’t read or remember you own recent posts?
Both of you are wrong. I made an analogy of illegal immigrant labor to slavery, which is a quite common analogy. That doesn't make me a slaver, by any means. If you mention dog shit, does that make you dog shit? Holy cow, you guys are pathetic.
And it isn't even that ---- what percentage of the total cost is the picking? What percent of the total grocery store price goes to the farmer, and what percent goes to everyone along the line?
Your average grocery store DOUBLES the price it paid -- a lot of it goes for expenses, you'd be amazed at what the electric bill alone is, but doubling the farm price of strawberries will not double the retail price unless everyone along the line doubles what it charges.
Focusing on doubling is stupid, increased labor costs being passed on to consumers is pretty ECON 101. This is the state intervening in consensual economic matters.
You should talk about Econ 101! In this case wages for fruit pickers is a relatively small part of the value chain of growing fruits and vegetables, getting them off the vine, and getting them to market. How sensitive is retail price to picker's wages? Since you're such an economics expert and pedant maybe you can enlighten us.
Wow, you’re exactly like the minimum wage proponent! “The wealthy capitalist can afford to increase the pittance to the poor worker, they can and should absorb it, not pass it along to the consumer!”
You apparently don't understand the concept of value chain, and market pricing. Retailers price according to what the market will bear, considering their margins and volume. They seek to maximize revenue, and if they have to adjust price considering volume they will do it. There are many, many factors.
I don't really understand your minimum wage comment in this context.
If we eliminate illegal immigrants as farm workers, and the costs increase due to the higher pay demanded by legal immigrants, e.g., H2-A visas, or citizens, and that results ultimately in higher prices at the grocery store, I'm fine with that.
There are many factors, but increasing labor cost will work to increase prices, that’s ECON 101 and basic common sense. Could other factors mitigate that? Sure. And a restaurant might choose to not increase costs when they have to pay a higher minimum wage, because maybe they find savings elsewhere, but there’s no doubt it is a factor pushing to increase prices. Which you are fine with, because slavers usually are when government hurts people by interfering in free markets.
Get lost with the slaver stuff. You just have to name call because you have no argument.
How is government interfering in free markets by enforcing immigration law? I guess that's a liberal/progressive stance. But it's nonsense.
Sure, increased labor costs can drive prices higher, but as I said, there's a lot more in the value chain, and picking fruit and vegetables is a small fraction of the cost. Consider everything that has to happen to get a crop in the ground and finally get it to market. I'll bet that transportation costs far outweigh farm labor costs.
Google AI:
"For most produce, farm picking labor represents a small single-digit percentage of the total retail cost paid by consumers. Picking costs are a much larger proportion of the farmer's expenses, but retail prices include substantial additional costs from marketing, transportation, and processing."
A small, single-digit percentage of the total retail cost paid by consumers.
So, double picking labor cost and what you have is a doubled, yet still single-digit percentage of the total retail cost paid by consumers.
Get a brain.
These morons are calling you a slaver for not wanting a permanent underclass of brown workers.
How is government interfering in free markets by enforcing immigration law?
You cannot be so dumb that you think this is an intelligent question. The government is telling buyers what suppliers they can buy from.
So we should do away with the minimum wage? That would reduce labor costs in a lot of places. And if someone wants a job bad enough to consent to work at below the minimum wage why should the state get involved?
Hi Mr. Mamdani!
Yes.
"Your average grocery store DOUBLES the price it paid"
Given the razor-thin profit margins and actual competition, few things typed have been less accurate than this.
"Milk that jumps from $7 to $14"
Umm... Milk is currently just like $2-$3 a gallon in much of the US. That's 3.7 Liters for the metrically inclined.
In Amsterdam, milk is like ~$1.50 a liter or $5.55 a Gallon.
Maybe the US is just doing things better.
A few days ago I saw a documentary on milk production. The farmers interviewed said that enforcement of the H-2A visa program requires the meskins (who make up 95% of the workforce) to work 9 months on then return to Meskiko for 3 months. The problem is cows need to be milked 365 days of the year. This year we'll be calling that $35 Christmas pint - MAGAnog!
Even Ignoring the racist undertones of your post, you’re incorrect.
Per USCIS:
H-2A classification may be extended for qualifying employment in increments of up to 1 year each. A new, valid temporary labor certification covering the requested time must accompany each extension request. The maximum period of stay in H-2A classification is 3 years.
https://www.uscis.gov/working-in-the-united-states/temporary-workers/h-2a-temporary-agricultural-workers
And even if the temporary workers were limited to 9 months, farmers would simply stagger their workforce to ensure coverage.
Well, all these MAGA farmers (who presumably have been doing this for many years) made no mention of all these workarounds you claim.
Besides, doing your math would mean the farmer would have a double workforce for 6 months of the year, unless you are suggesting that Pedro would come all the way up from Mexico just to work for three months
About that Fortune article - it's a bunch of fear-mongering bullshit. $7.00 to $14.00 dollar milk? I get milk now for $3.22/gallon. Where the hell is milk $7/gallon???
It's all anti-administration speculation. No current truth in it at all. Typical of Fortune.
I just paid 3.89 for TWO gallons of whole milk at my local Costco.
I haven't seen 7 dollar milk since 2022, let alone 14 dollars.
For my Labor Day cook I'm making my favorite taco of all time: tripa. You whiteys probably assume incorrectly that pork small intestines (chitterlins) - which are plentiful - are used, when in fact it is beef intestines. No one carries them so I have to special order. The opening of the tripe is the perfect size for fitting over the kitchen sink spout for flushing purposes.
Boil for 45 minutes, drain, then fry in oil until crispy. Serve with tomatillo salsa (tomatillos, onion, garlic, poblano, serrano, lime). For this taco, flour tortillas are best. Another thing whitey doesn't know is that all tortillas are sold half cooked. You MUST finish cooking them. I throw mine on the gas stove burner until they blister and puff. A proper, crispy tripa is a flavor somewhere between liver and pork skins. Deelicious!
Thank you Talcum X.
Why do you assume that we "whiteys" know nothing of Mexican cuisine? Aren't you a whitey? Do you think you are unique in some way?
By the way, while beef intestine is most common, it can be almost any farm animal intestine.
And, yes, I love having a gas range in my new house for this very reason. You libs can have my gas range when you pry it from my cold, dead fingers.
On the tortillas, it's like bread anywhere outside of NYC or San Fran; it's not fully baked! Even the stuff that's presented as fully baked isn't. I miss the great bread in NYC, the great Jewish and German bakeries, the bagels, challah, rye. San Fran sourdough. Sigh.
Whole Foods makes a pretty good round sourdough loaf.
I'll have to check it out, but I generally avoid "Whole Paycheck." 🙂
Love Hobie-Stank pretending to live in the "Hood" but shops at Whole Foods, he's really in the Ghetto, he'd be lucky to find a Dollar General.
My experience with Whole Foods bread is not great.
They have a lot of trouble getting a nice crust. It's usually either too tough or soggy.
Had pork intestines cooked that way, only as chips, with vinegar to dip, not as tortillas. They were OK, but nothing to write home about. Just not my favorite.
My wife used to make bachoy, though: It's a spicy Philippine stew of pork tripe, spleen, liver, kidney, and heart. Quite good.
Haven't had it in a while, we don't have the reliable supply of offal since we moved down South.
I thought it was batchoy.
Bondi Win: No More In-State Tuition Discounts for Kentucky Illegal Aliens https://www.breitbart.com/education/2025/08/31/bondi-no-more-instate-tuition-discounts-kentucky-illegal-aliens/
"At least 24 states, plus the District of Columbia, offer in-state tuition or financial aid to undocumented immigrants who meet certain criteria, such as attending high school in the state for a specific number of years. Key states providing this access include California, Colorado, Illinois, Maryland, New York, Oregon, and Washington."
This is grossly unfair to U.S. citizens.
Now do Rhode Island. My son moved to Rhode Island to attend URI. He got a RI driver's license, registered his car in RI, and RI was where he received his mail and paid his rent and utility bills. Yet, even after five years of this URI refused to recognize him as a RI resident, and charged him out-of-state tuition, while offering in-state tuition to illegal immigrants. He continued in school to get his PhD, and they never recognized him as a resident, even after nearly 10 years (he did a research internship). It's criminal, in my opinion.
I don't see what this has to do with the Epstein Files.
I bet some conservative legal group would pick up a case like that to challenge the disparate treatment under a Fourteenth Amendment equal-protection theory.
This has been going on for a long time, I imagine some conservative group has already thought about that. States will say that their lack of including citizenship along with other rational criteria does not a violation make, and there’s that pesky “persons” language in the EPC.
This is an area I’ve long said I agree with Trumpers, having said that do undocumented people have to go through the same residency process as out of staters? Iirc some states make you show you plan to make your home there, not just be there for educational purposes.
In that vein do you go along with the MAGA line that your son shouldn’t have been able to vote where he went to school?
The whole time I was in college I voted absentee in my home town. Why is that a problem?
Talking about voting where you go to school and live most of the time, re the discussion about Publius’ son and in-state tuition.
He moved to RI and became a RI resident, as I explained in the OP. I don't know if he voted, but I'm pretty sure he was registered to vote in RI.
So was that right or not? The same logic used to deny his in-state eligibility is what MAGAns trot out as to why college kids shouldn’t be allowed to vote where they go to school.
You can vote where yo.u live, right? That he went to school there, too, is immaterial to his voting
See Bumble below for this usual MAGA line.
Unless college students have changed their permanent residence to where they are going going to school, they should not be voting there. Gee, you'd think they were Lisa Cook with three primary residences.
He did change his legal residence, as I explained. He moved there, paid his rent and utilities there, got a RI drivers license, and registered to vote there. What's the problem? Isn't that clear? BTW, he still lives in RI, works in RI, and owns a house in RI.
I was responding to Queenie and not referring your son's situation. However, college students who do not change their legal residence to the locality where they are attending school should not be allowed to register and vote in that location. That's the purpose of absentee ballots.
I agree. But it's well known that they often vote in both places.
Why not. Surely they should be allowed to vote in state and local elections, since those elections decide who is going to govern them.
I understand a special legislative session may be called in Minnesota. I urge Republicans to propose repealing the perverse law banning conversion therapy. Westman was obviously disturbed but specifically “regret[ted] being trans” and wished he “had never brain-washed,” according to the New York Post. As a minor, the sick law would have prevented him from receiving anything but “affirmation” of his disturbed identification. As a “vulnerable” adult, it would have limited his right to receive help. So much for democrat concerns about keeping the government out of the physician-patient relationship.
I think the MN law is to ban conversion into a religion. The shooter was educated under Catholicism thusly gaining his hatred of others and gun lust. Simultaneously (owing to the reported self-harming scars he had throughout his youth) he was likely tormented and humiliated by Christian adults and the children they raised.
"Let’s look at the law — Minn. Stat. § 214.078 — with the Westman case in mind. As it applies to minors, the Minnesota law bans therapy “that seeks to change an individual’s sexual orientation or gender identity, including efforts to change behaviors or gender expressions …” If Westman had been troubled by the feelings that led to his identification as a girl and wanted to confirm his masculinity, or reconcile himself to his physiological sex, the law would have prevented him from receiving help from mental health professionals to do so. So-called gender-affirming care is the only legal treatment." https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2025/09/conversion-therapy-repeal-the-ban.php
Another woosh. He’s saying one could as likely posit the Catholicism that was pushed on him messed him up as much as any lack of availability of conversion therapy.
What possible basis could support your sick contention, apart from your perverse hatred of Catholicism? And speaking of sick and perverse, and putting aside your bigotry, the law exists and would have denied help to this disturbed individual and does deny help to all similarly situated victims of the trans groomers.
I was explaining what I thought hobie’s argument was, but what possible basis could there be that hate of one’s Catholic schooling and/or upbringing might be related to….shooting up a Catholic Church school that one went to and whose mom worked at?
And to top it off mentioning groomers in a post about a possible anti-Catholic hate is the lack of self-awareness cherry on top (hint, that organization has kind of been having some issues there).
You really are a bot!
It isn't a post about Catholicism. Catholicism is at issue only insofar as the victims of this disturbed individual were Catholic. Again, as noted below, "a mentally ill person was not given proper treatment and was told that his delusions were a reflection of the evil patriarchy and a terrible traditional society….And the consequences were murder. This implicates our institutions. It implicates our schools. It implicates our medical institutions. It implicates state legislatures."
But what it most fundamentally does NOT implicate are the tenets of the Catholic faith. That's only your bigotry. And it's pretty ugly. And your stupidity. Just plain, good old fashioned, dumb as hell stupid.
Again, he went to school there, his mom worked there, and he chose it as his target. I don’t think Catholicism or trans (if bots had bigotry that’d be yours here) caused his evil act, he did. But if you’re going to suppose there was a basis for his act in him being trans and not getting conversion therapy (the ban wasn’t in effect when he was a kid iirc) there’s as much basis that he hated that school because of his time there.
That’s just more of the same “the motive was a mystery” BS. Again, as noted below “[t]his is not a gigantic ‘mystery wrapped in an enigma.’ ” You (and many in the media) are “trying to cover up the reality of the situation in which a mentally ill person was not given proper treatment and was told that his delusions were a reflection of the evil patriarchy and a terrible traditional society….”
Hardly.
"The shooter was educated under Catholicism thusly gaining his hatred of others and gun lust."
hobie, that's scurrilous bullshit. Catholicism doesn't teach anything like hatred for others, in fact, quite the opposite.
Matthew 5:44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;
And gun lust? The Catholic church is decidedly left, liberal, and that includes anti-gun.
In fact:
VATICAN CITY — Pope Leo XIV on Sunday called for an end to the “pandemic of arms, large and small,” as he prayed publicly for the victims of a shooting during a Catholic school Mass in the United States.
https://www.nbcnews.com/world/pope-leo-xiv/pope-prays-victims-minn-school-shooting-rcna228274
Catholics have taken a hard right over the decades. The supremes, Vance, abortion. About the only thing they (other than the ones mentioned supra) share with us libs is charity for the immigrant
That's bullshit. "Catholics" are the leadership: the pope, the cardinals, bishops, the priests. They have not taken a hard right, in fact, they've probably moved more left.
There is no “hard right” from the Church on abortion you ignorant clown. The Catholic stance has remained consistent for 2000 years. Life begins at conception. Period. Paragraph. End of story.
That law wouldn’t have been in effect when he was a kid. I also wouldn’t take his self-diagnosis as to why he was what he was very seriously. But bots usually give facile analysis.
Speaking of analysis, Ben Shapiro has a good take:
If you listen to the media, the shooter was a woman. The headline from the New York Times … read “Minneapolis suspect knew her target, but motive is a mystery.” The amount of Orwellian doublespeak here is insane. Respect the killer’s preferred pronouns but pretend that the “motive is a mystery.” We know exactly what the motive was, because it is spelled out in all of the journals and the YouTube videos and on the guns themselves.
This is not a gigantic “mystery wrapped in an enigma.” This is the media trying to cover up the reality of the situation in which a mentally ill person was not given proper treatment and was told that his delusions were a reflection of the evil patriarchy and a terrible traditional society….
And the consequences were murder.
This implicates our institutions. It implicates our schools. It implicates our medical institutions. It implicates state legislatures.
The American Medical Association has been promoting exactly the kind of fake medicine that leads to the abandonment of people who are truly psychologically suffering. That fake medicine which masquerades as empathy is not, in fact, medicine.
It is, in fact, an ideologically driven crusade to pretend that men and women are identical and can switch bodies at will. And it is a lie…. This is not a fringe thing happening at a few schools. It is happening at public schools across the country.
“And the consequences were murder.”
So when conservatives shoot up a place is it because of delusional conservative misinformation that should have been countered with some kind of therapy?
And what was spelled out in many of his weapons was anti-Semitic hate. And he shot up….a Catholic school. Westman was just nuts
Shapiro is a joke.
We don’t need your facile hypotheticals. This was a real incident by a genuinely disturbed individual who pointedly did not receive the treatment he needed. Quite the opposite. He was mistreated in the name of the trans cause. And it isn’t the first such case.
I blame the psych drugs
What strikes me as completely contradictory is that a law that prohibits conversion therapy only prohibits it in one direction. Isn't 'gender affirming care' conversion therapy? Why is that legal, but going back isn't?
"Isn't 'gender affirming care' conversion therapy? Why is that legal, but going back isn't?"
How on earth is care provided in order to support and maintain a client's existing gender identity "conversion therapy"? (Outside of the Ministry of Truth in Winston Smith's native Oceania, that is.)
As a Middle Tennessee preacher from my youth was fond of saying, "That doesn't even make good nonsense."
It means exactly what I said it means. Is not gender affirming care for one transitioning genders conversion therapy? If you believe that one can transition from male to female, for example, then you must believe they can transition back from female to male. Otherwise you are being inconsistent, disingenuous. And going either way is a conversion, assisted by therapy.
Apparently someone's gender identity can change, and change more than once.
Yeah, right. "Gender affirming" does not mean what you seem to think it meas.
"War is peace. Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is strength." G. Orwell, Nineteen Eighty-Four (1949).
Maintaining one's existing gender identity is converting one's gender identity. ThePublius The Volokh Conspiracy (September 1, 2025).
That's not what I said. And since "gender identity," in the current vernacular is fluid, it can change back and forth ad infinitum. Because it is a made up thing. The only truth is the sex one is born with. All of this other gender stuff and transitioning stuff is bullshit.
You lie. You put 'gender affirming care' in scare quotes upthread. The meaning thereof is therapy and medical treatment intended to support and maintain the client/patient's existing gender identity, where such identity is incongruent with physical anatomy.
"Conversion therapy" is typically offered to effect a change in sexual orientation. Your curious conflation of sexual orientation and gender identity notwithstanding -- transgenders can be either hetero or homo, just as cisgenders can be -- changing and remaining the same are antonyms. As the Sesame Street jingle goes, one of these things is not like the other.
I don't think I said anything about sexual orientation. So how. could I have conflated them?
If it doesn't seek to change sexual orientation, it isn't conversion therapy, doofus.
Where the hell do you think the phrase came from?
Gender identity and sexual orientation are orthogonal, doofus.
"Gender identity and sexual orientation are orthogonal, doofus."
Huh? If the two intersect or lie at right angles to one another, so what?
What does that have to do with conversion therapy?
Orthogonal in this context means that one has no relation to or effect on the other. You're the one who brought up sexual orientation, not me.
"Orthogonal in this context means that one has no relation to or effect on the other. You're the one who brought up sexual orientation, not me."
You lie. You initially brought up conversion therapy, which necessarily relates to sexual orientation and not to gender identity.
You initially brought up conversion therapy, which necessarily relates to sexual orientation and not to gender identity.
Only when you try to redefine words to accommodate your warped world view and want to avoid honest debate that exposes your lies.
As I quoted from the statute (see below), the statute defines conversion therapy as "any practice ... that seeks to change an individual's sexual orientation or gender identity."
1984 was written in 1948 -- 0rwell reversed the digits.
It was published in 1949, which is the date I referenced.
Is not gender affirming care for one transitioning genders conversion therapy?
Not under this statute:
"Conversion therapy" means any practice [...] that seeks to change an individual's sexual orientation or gender identity. [...] Conversion therapy does not include counseling, practice, or treatment that provides assistance to an individual undergoing gender transition.
I would think "gender transition" would cover both female-to-male and after that going back from male-to-female.
Yes, it makes sense anti-science legislators would want to club together something that obviously should be banned, sexual orientation conversation therapy, with something that should be encouraged to treat those with gender dysmorphia, gender identity conversion therapy.
Kind of like the idiotic legislators that deem semiautomatic rifles as “assault weapons.”
Interesting: In an effort to look back at some comments in 2016, I searched for Volokh posts here in that year.
The comments are now all missing! I haven't done a detailed check yet, but it's starting to look like all the comments prior to 2018 are gone.
Looks like they're still there for 2018, though.
They've buried the evidence, Brett.
Freeing up server space for all of the open threads.
How do you know there were Volokh posts back in 2016? You could be remembering wrong.
In 2016 the VC was still hosted at the Washington Post.
It is Labor Day and I wonder what is the fate of labor with the advance of AI technology. AI has the potential to take over so many jobs and there is little to suggest all the lost jobs will be replaced with alternate jobs. There is a lot of discussion about socialism and I wonder if AI will advance socialism as larger groups of people are out of work requiring welfare to survive. Any thoughts?
Call AI when you need a plumber.
People would have said the same thing about a truck driver 20 years ago.
Wouldn't be surprising if mobile home manufacturers are already doing some automation on the plumbing, it's an easy case since the locations and sequence are planned and repetitive.
I give it 20 years more to have robot plumbers, carpenters, and electricians for general new construction. 30 years to have them above repairing existing homes. Assuming the world doesn't collapse before then.
I guess if a non English speaking Sikh can get a CDL so can a robot.
Would you be more accepting if we promised to program the robots monolingual English with patriotic MAGA values and acknowledging Jesus as their personal savior?
Yea, and when do we get our flying cars and moving sidewalks?
...and electricity too cheap to meter.
Both were feasible 50 years ago, we don't have them because really weren't great ideas. Many people skip the moving walkways in airports, and flying to work doesn't have a lot of advantages over driving there.
OTOH, robotic roofers, at least, would be a great idea. It's unpleasant work (too hot or cold in half the country at any given time), and repetitive enough that it's a good candidate for automation. MAGAs like yourself should support it because roofers are often immigrants but you aren't really willing to climb up there and do it yourself.
Moving sidewalks? I take it you have never been in an airport.
Hardly ubiquitous.
Because the airport doesn't have to pay travelers $25/hour to walk from one gate to another. If they did, they'd be ubiquitous and they'd force you to use them.
A self-driving package for a commercial truck that costs $100K to install and $10K a year to keep updated and connected to high speed data service could pay for itself in a year. They're already running on I-45 between DFW and Houston.
A plumber that makes house calls is an order of magnitude harder, but if they can get the price under $500K and the warranty over 5 years it could happen.
"People would have said the same thing about a truck driver 20 years ago."
And....how's your AI driven truck today?
Since you asked....went to visit my brother-in-law two weeks ago. He's got one of those ugly ass Tesla trucks, and subscribes to the self-driving option with software that updates over-the-air once a month.
On one trip it drove us about 30 miles over mountain roads around Ruidoso. Several incidents where it had to automatically adjust for something another vehicle was doing, and it handled it well. Recognized when it was safe to pull out from a side road onto a highway. In two places it wanted to take a steep shortcut that the truck could handle but he thought would scare the passengers, so he overrode it and told it to take the main road.
The more impressive one was only 5 miles or so, but it was in El Paso on a busy commercial strip during the lunch rush, with some construction going on. *Most* of what it was doing was not lane keeping, it was dealing with obstructions, other cars changing lanes, etc.
It still needs help in a parking lot, and my brother-in-law says it's fairly heartless about letting people merge. However, he sees improvement month to month.
Right now the inside camera watches the driver's eyes and does a warnings and an eventual stop if it thinks the driver isn't paying attention, so you can't sleep and let it take you home. However, at the rate it's going he expects they'll let up on that next year.
You don't keep up, do you?
I keep up plenty...
Your "AI driven truck" has to have a person at the wheel paying attention. Truck driver is still a major occupation because...AI just can't do it all.
Even if the AI manages to do 99% of what a person can, it won't be enough. Because that last 1% ends up with the truck crashing, or stopped and waiting for someone to come fix it, or hitting someone, or... The number of big haul semis run just by AI can be measured on less than one hand.
And that's before people start getting creative.
Your problem is imagination. What you are talking about is AI oversite and that can be achieved easily by remote monitoring something very common. Imagine you had a fleet of 200 long haul trucks and instead of needing 200 drivers you had a small control room with 5 to 10 people monitoring those trucks. Those AI trucks don't need to stop for bathroom breaks, for food, nor for sleep. You can run them 24/7 by just changing the control room staffing. You just cut you labor cost from 200 to maybe 25 people working three shifts.
As you found out there are already no-human-backup semi trailers cruising up and down I-45 from DFW to Houston.
https://www.ridetexas.com/driverless-big-rigs-are-running-on-1-45/
There's nothing particularly special about I-45 and nothing special about the company, except that they're the test case. Once that passes, and it will, there will be more segments of interstate opened up and other companies will do it. We could do a long-term wager if you and I live long enough: I'd bet in 10 years its routine and there are 10,000+ trucks on the road for the long haul parts. Maybe human drivers to bring them into the city.
that last 1% ends up with the truck crashing
Real people crash trucks. We've got a whole industry in S. Texas centered on lawyers who sue trucking companies for 8 and even 9 digit jackpots. Literally one billboard per mile, one of them boasting about a $750M settlement.
Once the stats clearly show that the AI driver is *far safer* than the human, and that will probably happen well within our lifetime, the insurance company pressure will be to dump the humans. Stage I is when the AI isn't as skilled but wins on overall risk due to unlimited attention span and no heart attacks or strokes while driving. Stage 2 is when the AI is better than an attentive, highly trained human in his prime and trying to win a John Henry type field test on a short run obstacle course.
Sorry but that's how it's going to be unless we have a TEOTWAWKI-style socioeconomic collapse (which is a possibility) or there's a political movement to deliberately stop technology development (likely to run but unlikely to win).
Indeed. Seems like a good time to pick up a trade.
Always was. Mike Rowe has it right.
Don't know why people imagine "trades" will be exempt in general. Some are still safe for a few more decades, but I can't think of a trade than an 18 year old could count on lasting until they retire.
Or that an eighteen year old can do until he retires. One aspect of trades is that the labor is hard and can only be sustained for a limited period of time. You can be a framing carpenter at 18 but you will likely not be doing that work at 60.
It is very likely that you will be calling AI because the office will likely be run by AI. The plumber stills comes to you house. But no secretaries or office staff. Unless all the office staff becomes plumbers. Plumbing and other trades will be flooded and the wages will all drop.
Automation has tended to shift the negotiating power in employer/employee negotiations towards the employer, because an ever larger percentage of the production is actually due to capital, not labor. But labor has continued to get a significant share of the production on account of remaining essential anyway, human labor has been the 'glue' that holds the parts of the production process together.
The coming wave of automation, though, will increasingly render human labor no longer essential. That will reduce the negotiating strength of labor to approximately zero, at least in a mass production context.
So, the owners of capitol will increasingly not need the teaming masses, except as customers.
What do the masses retain in this scenario?
Well, it's hard to automate the production of one off and small quantity runs. But this only helps artisans, not the teaming masses who lack specialized skills. Well, the unskilled can still provide the artisans some help.
In democracies, the teaming masses retain the numbers, they can vote themselves a share. But without those masses having any power aside from their vote, democracy becomes kind of foundationless, you know what I mean? I doubt it's stable in a world where most people are not economically productive.
In the end, I think things get pathological if the productive capital is not widely owned. And I mean widely directly owned, not sham public ownership through government, where the government itself accrues the advantages of ownership, not the people.
In the end, real power comes from being able to do something other people actually NEED. Either positive, or negative. (Maybe they just need you to leave them alone, and so pay you the Danegeld...) People, for their own sake, need to be needed.
Hm, maybe that's why most nations are just bandaging over the birth dearth with immigration, instead of really trying to solve it? They expect automation to shortly render most of the population redundant?
There would be a lot of political pressure to ban the use of labor-saving technologies.
I wonder what the results would be if the use of labor-saving technologies for commercial purposes were banned.
An economic collapse? The entire economy is based on them, without them we'd be limited to a pre-industrial revolution economy.
Yea, let's start by banning sewing machines.
The fact that people have been saying this constantly since the Industrial Revolution and have been wrong every time does not mean that you're wrong now — but that's the safe bet.
Some random stuff:
One obvious thing is to gradually eliminate the idea that 40 hours is standard. That in turn requires going back to paying with money rather than benefits, so that employers aren't trying to recover the fixed cost of a benefits plan. If we're all paid cash they'd be more open to more people working fewer hours.
Right now the thing people worry about affording is health care, which is super expensive mainly because of third party payments, but also because the science and technology are at an unfavorable point where there's a huge amount of procedure we can do on people but it involves a huge swarm of highly (over?) paid medical personnel. Once we automate nursing and doctoring, and go back to fee for service as the default with insurance only as backup, we'll be in zone where costs come down dramatically.
Perhaps coders should learn to pick cotton.
Trump wants to close ABC and NBC
He said the FCC should revoke their licenses to operate, because, he said, these networks publish “97%” bad stories about him.
Indefensible - yet will be defended.
Trump says they are very unfair, but my prediction is the cultists will explain how he really meant something else. And the other thing (which he definitely meant) shows that the President of the United States should (perhaps must!) shut down news networks who don't do his bidding.
"yet will be defended"
Just ignored. Except by cats like you chasing the pointer.
It is difficult to know when Trump actually says something truthful
I agree, it could be to deflect from the Epstein files - thanks for reminding us.
USA Today reports:
President Donald Trump said he will issue an executive order mandating voter identification for every voter, an announcement that follows his move in March requiring proof of citizenship in federal elections and baseless claims of voter fraud to argue the 2020 presidential election was stolen from him. "Voter I.D. Must Be Part of Every Single Vote. NO EXCEPTIONS! I Will Be Doing An Executive Order To That End!!!," Trump said on Truth Social on Aug. 30. "Also, No Mail-In Voting, Except For Those That Are Very Ill, And The Far Away Military."
President Donald Trump said he will issue an executive order mandating voter identification for every voter, an announcement that follows his move in March requiring proof of citizenship in federal elections and baseless claims of voter fraud to argue the 2020 presidential election was stolen from him.
"Voter I.D. Must Be Part of Every Single Vote. NO EXCEPTIONS! I Will Be Doing An Executive Order To That End!!!," Trump said on Truth Social on Aug. 30. "Also, No Mail-In Voting, Except For Those That Are Very Ill, And The Far Away Military."
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2025/08/31/donald-trump-voter-identification-executive-order/85923864007/?utm_source=usat-DailyBriefing&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=daily-briefing&utm_term=hero&utm_content=8872UT-E-NLETTER02
The President has no authority to direct states by means of an executive order. Let's recall what Donald Trump's handmaid John Roberts wrote last summer:
No matter the context, the President's authority to act necessarily "stem[s] either from an act of Congress or from the Constitution itself." Youngstown [Sheet & Tube Co. v. Sawyer, 343 U.S. 579,] 585 [(1952),] 72 S.Ct. 863. . . . If the President claims authority to act but in fact exercises mere "individual will" and "authority without law," the courts may say so. Youngstown, 343 U.S., at 655, 72 S.Ct. 863 (Jackson, J., concurring)
No matter the context, the President's authority to act necessarily "stem[s] either from an act of Congress or from the Constitution itself." Youngstown [Sheet & Tube Co. v. Sawyer, 343 U.S. 579,] 585 [(1952),] 72 S.Ct. 863. . . .
If the President claims authority to act but in fact exercises mere "individual will" and "authority without law," the courts may say so. Youngstown, 343 U.S., at 655, 72 S.Ct. 863 (Jackson, J., concurring)
Trump v. United States, 603 U.S. 593, ___, 144 S.Ct. 2312, 2327, 219 L.Ed.2d 991 (2024).
The Constitution provides that manner of voting is the province of the states, with input from the Congress, per Article I, § 4:
The Times, Places and Manner of holding Elections for Senators and Representatives, shall be prescribed in each State by the Legislature thereof; but the Congress may at any time by Law make or alter such Regulations, except as to the Places of chusing Senators.
The issuance of an Executive Order here would be an ultra vires action.
Surely this must be another emergency, requiring special emergency powers for the executive.
I think it's a good policy. It's a good policy that is entirely and completely outside of his power, though.
The best part of the policy is that it will likely be successful as there is no real problem now and so nothing to solve.
If there's no real problem, why the ferocious defense against it?
It is a libertarian, you don't make laws and regulations where they are not needed.
It is a real problem. People are voting illegally, either illegal immigrants, or people voting multiple times in different precincts, or voting for someone else, including dead people.
The complaint is like when Dems said that no illegals were receiving Medicaid, and then objected to enforcement efforts.
Policy by asserting need with no evidence.
Useless, except for showing the weird stuff people have talked themselves into believing,
Fear of illegals is a common theme.
What a load of crap. Did you hear that on NewsMax, or Fox, or Powerline? What evidence did they provide? That a lot of people drive through downtown Atlanta?
It's bullshit, and you're a gullible fool for believing it.
More than there was of attempts to suppress voting that Dems tend to go on about every single election.
Remember how Georgia's election law was going to suppress the vote? Jim Crow 2.0 and all? How, uh, did that turn out?
You're right, the Democrats do have a pattern of exaggeration and occasional outright lying about voter suppression. They use language intended to call up a vision of the 1950s South when more often than not it's a minor change to polling hours and locations.
One example was New York politicians criticizing Texas for reducing hours for early voting, even though the reduced hours were something like double what New York had. Another was a big lie campaign about voters having to go to one location in the county to turn in their mail-in ballot, when in fact you.....mail it in. A Democrat I knew personally was taken in by a DNC fundraising call about it; she refused to mail in her ballot and ended up killing a day to go submit it person.
But having said that: there's lying about voter suppression, and then most everyone gets to vote anyway. Then there's lying about voter fraud, and people doubt the validity of the election.
The second lie is far more harmful.
Of course there is some person somewhere who voted illegally. But the notion that it's a problem is ludicrous. There's just no incentive for someone to commit a felony like that. 99% of the time when it happens it turns out that someone voted on behalf of his recently deceased spouse or something like that. In particular, why would an illegal alien want to call potential attention to himself by illegally voting, when he has nothing to gain from doing so?
I've been an election judge for many years, and talked to many people as they vote. While I agree with you that there is no need for voter ID in terms of the non-existent problem of voter impersonation, I think that voter ID does increase general confidence in the election process for most people. I was against these laws for many years, but now I'm on the fence.
Basically like taking off your shoes at the airport. It's a ritual we all go through to make a small number of people feel safer.
Voter ID isn't a big deal, and would be well worth it if it caused the doubters to "OK, now I'm satisfied and I'll stop saying the election was stolen".
But it won't work for many of them because (a) there's a whole mini-industry devoted to election denial that'll just move on to saying the IDs are fake or the election judges are accepting bad IDs, and (b) they simply can't believe that they could lose an election.
I understand the thinking but truth should matter more than the jawboning of the deluded.
For one thing they won’t ever actually be satisfied. They will be told of some new fake problem. Because the real war is on voting in general.
I think it's just about the stupidest possible hill for liberals to die on, probably only after letting men play women's sports, It's terrible politics to oppose voter ID, and there's no practical gain from opposing it. (The notion that there are significant numbers of eligible voters out there who are prevented from voting if ID laws are in place is as dumb as the idea that there are significant numbers of illegal voters out there who voter ID laws will stop.) I agree with you that it increases confidence (though as we saw in the last decade, facts have nothing to do with MAGA takes on election integrity).
Actually it's likely to be an own goal, due to a combination of innumeracy and believing their own lies.
It's true there are some false mail-in ballots. And it's such a large country that somewhere there might even have been an in-person impersonation at a polling place.
What's much more true is that mail-in voting is preferentially used by people who have jobs, and small business owners who can't afford to shut down to go stand in a line on election day, especially one that's made longer by intensified ID checking. In other words, mail-in voting incrementally helps the MAGA base, but they want to abolish it.
Because they distrust numbers and statistics, they don't understand that if there's even 1% partisan differential in willingness to stand in line, that would completely outweigh the tiny change due to less fraud.
There are still partisan-but-rational Republicans running some state election offices and they're begging the administration not to do this. Not even because they care about voters, but because they know it will harm Republican totals.
Blanche asked Maxwell whether people around Epstein – including the numerous high-profile and powerful men who had known him – were associating with him for the purpose of sexual encounters. In her reply Maxwell said that some of the “cast of characters” around Epstein were “in your cabinet, who you value as your co-workers”
Imagine getting that answer and asking zero follow up questions. You may deposit your guesses as to who she might be referring to below, I’ll go first:
Steve Witkoff RFK
Dershowitz said he got a rubdown but that he never removed his underwear
Ugh.
To be clear, though, Epstein didn't only employ underage girls. For example, Sarah Ransome is one of the women who has accused Epstein/Maxwell of abusing her — but she was 22 years old when her interactions with them began.
Dershowitz never removed whose underwear?? Ha! so who's the "Rube" now Bee-Otch?? caught you in Fag-rente-Dilecto with an indefinite pronoun!
Frink
Trump's former defense attorney is not exactly the person I would trust with obtaining a non-biased and full interview in this context.
Don't assume Maxwell was talking about clients only, it could also be personnel.
Two cabinet members were in Florida at the time in question and their jobs (lawyer, city councilman) allowed a flexible schedule.
I caught an episode of WoodSongs, a "celebration of grassroots music," on an arts channel. They also have episodes honoring child performers. Archive here; also can be found on YouTube.
https://www.woodsongs.com/archive-2/
https://pbswisconsin.org/news-item/federal-judge-rejects-dugans-motion-to-dismiss-charges-in-immigration-crackdown/
In her motion, Hannah C. Dugan cited Floyd v. Barker, 77 Eng. Rep. 1305, 1307 (Star Chamber 1607), which actually held there was at least some criminal immunity for judicial acts. Immunity for judicial acts in inherited from the common law.
One reason criminal immunity for judicial acts has not been widely explored is because no prosecutor (outside of the context of contempt proceedings, or bribery charges, or 18 U.S.C § 242 ) was reckless enough to argue that sentencing people to death was attempted murder, nor that overturning a conviction was obstruction of justice.
However, there will be little to sday about judicial immunity in this case, as personally escorting someone through a courthouse is not a judicial act.
“personally escorting”
That is very much not what the video shows. But whatever, you knew that already.
So her defense lawyers claim.
and they will get to make that claim during the trial.
MAGA is always whining about removal of Confederate Monuments. So I’m extremely glad that the Trump Administration, instead of “erasing” history is, today in the year 2025, directing the NPS to restore and install the statue of Confederate General Albert Pike in Washington.
Because that gives us an opportunity to reflect on Gen. Pike. Messed up at Pea Ridge. Arrested and charged with Treason by his superior officer for misappropriating money and materiel from his department. Drummed out of the CSA in 1862 and spend time as a fugitive in backwoods Arkansas. After the war, he hung out with Bedford Forrest a lot and he had things like this to say:
"the white race, and that race alone, shall govern this country. It is the only one that is fit to govern, and it is the only one that shall."
"If it were in our power, if it could be effected, we would unite every white man in the South, who is opposed to negro suffrage, into one great Order of Southern Brotherhood, with an organization complete, active, vigorous, in which a few should execute the concentrated will of all, and whose very existence should be concealed from all but its members."
Did you know that as late as 1915 there was a KKK chapter in Illinois named after this guy? MAGA gets the heroes they deserve, but I do concede it is important to remember, and not “erase” what kind of person is seen as worthy of veneration.
KKK?? I'm trying to remember that West Virginia Senator who was a member, Barry Hussein even gave him Oral at his funeral
The Jews are using the Blacks as muscle! Wellll, what are ya gonna do about it...whitey?!
"Did you know that as late as 1915 there was a KKK chapter in Illinois named after this guy?"
And I'd wager that most of them were Democrats.
Yes, exactly, that’s why Democrats are putting this statue back up 110 years later
Who took down he statue?
Why would MAGA actively try to resurrect the statue of an avowed white supremacist?
Thank you, Steven Halbrook. "America's Rifle" just killed two more children in Minneapolis. Second amendment fetishists have even more blood on their hands
Which children would they be?
Still beating that drum?
Funny how "america's rifle" is the tool of the trade of the gang member!
Not so. The Glock seems to be. But that's irrelevant. The AR-15 is the most commonly owned rifle in the U.S.
Didn't realize Trannies were considered a "Gang"
""America's Rifle" just killed two more children"
The tranny shooter was just not a part of this equation, eh?
Weird how the gun I own has never managed to shoot anybody.
because violent rioters took it down.
Surely you are not on the side of rioters, are you?
Oh heavens no, not at all. As I said in my original comment, which apparently you did not read very carefully— I’m glad the MAGAs are putting this statue back up. I’m Also glad for the dittoheads who rush here to openly and enthusiastically come here and self identify! Bless your heart.
"Dittoheads"?? Rush Limbo died in February 2021, but apparently he's still living (Rent Free) in your head
There's a statue of Woodrow Wilson??
They'll be coming for you next, Frankie. Always have. And they're better armed
Umm, I doubt that.
Violent rioters tore down the statue, so it needs to be restored as a "Fuck You" to these criminals.
“needs to be restored”
No, it does not. But it is instructive to see who you consider worthy of veneration.
You support riots.
I support MAGAs putting up statues of white supremacist KKK founders who were also crappy generals. By your deeds you shall be known.
Why do you support rioters tearing down statues?
Who said that?
"I support MAGAs putting up statues of white supremacist KKK founders"
You misspelled "Democrats" there.
Riots >>> treason.
(Especially treason in defense of slavery.)
I do not think that individuals should unilaterally decide to tear down public statues; that decision should be up to the public collectively. But I do think that the public collectively should decide that this statue, like every other confederate memorial, is to be melted down and turned into a set of urinals. There should be exactly as many statues of confederate figures as of Benedict Arnold, Tokyo Rose, and the like.
With all this veneration of historical racial and ethnic puritans, it is amusing to me how they cannot seem to comprehend the Nazi comparisons.
I mean, dudes, own it. Be proud. You're already 90% overt.
Don’t you see Hobie? Unless we re-erect statues to racist KKK-founding traitors— THE RIOTERS WIN!
Remember the long game here, Estragon. We cannot let the UNION win
Closest to a Nazi is your Man-Crush Zoran Ramadan-damn-ani
Don't worry, Frankie. I'll be fine. I'm a non-affiliated white in a sea of neegroes no one cares about. No one will touch me. But all white nationalist movements worldwide eventually go after Jews in the end. Normally I decry that kind of thing, but I'll make an exception this time. When the MAGA boxcars come for you, I may entertain your lamentations and grant you sanctuary, but you'll have to live amongst the brothers
One side would be happy to see every Jew killed.
That side ain't MAGA.
As it is with you, tell me again about the Acts and Works of the Holy Saint Floyd George???
You say "as late as 1915"! Ha, ha, nice troll.
Interesting argument that the woman in the upcoming conversion therapy case does not have standing.
https://ffrf.org/news/releases/ffrf-supreme-court-brief-asks-to-dismiss-colo-suit-alleging-free-speech-harm/
Courts regularly reach out on standing when it suits.
Given I expect the state to lose, I doubt SCOTUS will find it suits them to deny standing. Plus, is the standing question different than it was in 303 Creative?
Plus, is the standing question different than it was in 303 Creative?
On paper, at least, yes. Though some have doubted its sincerity, 303 Creative alleged that it did intend to make wedding websites; this woman apparently says that she doesn't intend to do conversion therapy.
The appeals court decision said Chiles:
does not seek to “cure” clients of same-sex attractions or to “change” clients’ sexual orientation; she seeks only to assist clients with their stated desires and objectives in counseling, which sometimes includes clients seeking to reduce or eliminate unwanted sexual attractions, change sexual behaviors, or grow in the experience of harmony with one’s physical body.
The opinion said the statue defines conversion therapy to include:
efforts to change behaviors or gender expressions or to eliminate or reduce sexual or romantic attraction or feelings toward individuals of the same sex.
Sounds like she may already be using "conversion therapy."
So Trump has announced that his tariffs have brought in trillions of dollars in revenue already.
The actual figure is $96B since they took effect in April.
The man is demented.
$96B straight from the coffers of China. Not too shabby
He can't really read the reports so all he has is what his sycophant staff tell him. He fired the last person who gave him numbers he did not like, so what would you tell him? I tell him trillions and trillions and can I please keep my job.
Here's a picture of today's menu at a cafe in the little Portuguese village where I lived. The 'pratos do dias' prices were about 8euros pre-2020. So they've gone up considerably. However, as with all daily specials throughout Portugal, the price covers the couvert (which is pickled carrots and garlic, a small cheese wheel, sardine pate, butter, and tons of crusty bread), your main, a dessert, a beer or wine, and coffee.
https://scontent-ord5-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t39.30808-6/542760292_10235708821415156_3987315819314163018_n.jpg?stp=cp6_dst-jpg_p526x296_tt6&_nc_cat=108&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=833d8c&_nc_ohc=fG2G7iVVetIQ7kNvwFwbTvZ&_nc_oc=AdlDgwS1ZdJB6cXFV58-IBuH1nz-vYPrI8tsRhgDKyZ7os0-QsUrFFRG3xonIZ_iGH3jfVUS5hsEjSwtaKPoh1-6&_nc_zt=23&_nc_ht=scontent-ord5-1.xx&_nc_gid=XNUrnGvYr5Lf9rJ3EahEBw&oh=00_AfWn9rcRDG5DLNmsdSukauiJD9IdQyXHnwBq2ECvDJeJZA&oe=68BBABA8
Who took over as Idiot when you left?
On Nov. 9th 2016 at 6am I walk into the local village coffee house. I'm the token Yank of the area, so I'm known. Every Portuguese head swivels in unison and everyone says to me in unison: 'TRUMP???!!!' I look at them bewildered and shrug my shoulders. You would have loved it, Frankie: A bunch of nervous brown people. You know, Frankie, I think MAGA's unofficial slogan should be: "Crush your enemy, see them driven before you, and hear the lamentations of the brown people!'
I always knew you weren't White.
Jeez, you're dumb. I mean...really dumb
Yes! That is Best!!! but you left out "The open steppe, a clear day, and a swift horse under you,"
Since when are Portuguese not white? I live in a city that's 47% Portuguese, and some are white, some are brown, some are black. It doesn't matter to me.
I am reminded of an old Wizard of Id cartoon
Flack: what do you think of our king? Peasant: He was a good man. I'm sorry he's dead Flack: He's not dead. Peasant: He should drop dead!
Loved that strip "Sire! The Peasants are Revolting!!" "What else is new??"
Rudolph Giuliani reportedly was injured in a motor vehicle collision over the weekend. https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/01/nyregion/rudy-giuliani-car-accident-crash.html
I'm not a fan of his, but I wish him a full and speedy recovery.
Before the crash, Mr. Giuliani’s car had stopped on the side of the highway to help a woman who had flagged them down during a reported domestic dispute on the south side of Route 93, Mr. Ragusa said. Mr. Giuliani and Mr. Goodman waited for the police to arrive, then pulled back on to the highway and were hit from behind by Ms. Kemp, Mr. Ragusa said. He said that “they were going too slow.”
The article suggests he is doing okay.
“I have some healing to do, but I’m otherwise in great shape,” Mr. Giuliani said, according to Mr. Aidala.
It is kind of you to say that, NG.
The notion that there are significant numbers of eligible voters out there who are prevented from voting if ID laws are in place is as dumb as the idea that there are significant numbers of illegal voters out there who voter ID laws will stop.
Adjectives are somewhat hard to quantify, but lawsuits and research have provided evidence that voting ID laws have blocked some people from voting. A trivial amount? Let's see how Democrats with their base will do handwaving when a few elderly black ladies can't vote because they lack the proper identification.
It is also a type of tax, especially depending on the identification necessary. When this was brought up before, this was somewhat handwaved by stating something like "well, it might cost $25, but."
Well, that's a poll tax. Lots of people already don't vote. Some additional barriers will be one more reason not to do so. Okay. Just make everything free! That would be fine, though it is not the case in all jurisdictions. The time and effort, including for those who don't bring the right i.d. to the polls, will still be there.
It's acknowledged that the laws aren't necessary to stop illegal voting. Encouraging identification, including helping people obtain identification for other uses, has some value. NYC established a convenient local photo identification that also brings benefits such as discounts at museums and so forth.
Voting identification -- which often does not require photographic identification (still another layer of regulation & the lack of a photograph lessens the alleged value of the regulation) -- might also help you gain votes for voting rights laws. And some political credibility as a "moderate." So, there is some value for Democrats, though a libertarian might find it bad policy.
OTOH, its p.r. value is limited. Not that many people care about the issue. If they are educated about the issue, they know voter identification isn't necessary.
So, you are likely to have a large segment of people who are conspiracy theorists or inclined not to trust vote integrity overall. They will find something to complain about.
Also, Democrats and those who support them have a reason to mistrust the good faith of supporters of voting identification laws.
Ignoring that, ignoring that there is no significant need for them (and the chance that once you give in, it will just encourage the "need" for more unnecessary voting regulations), noting that there will be some people for whom the identification will involve at least a minor amount of bother (and a few that will have more) ... well, yes, I can see why Democrats are wary about supporting them.
I personally think it might be useful if something was obtained in return & if there is a grace period, but I understand the concern.
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Jacob Sullum | 9.2.2025 12:01 AM
Jacob Sullum | 9.1.2025 4:45 PM
J.D. Tuccille | 9.1.2025 7:00 AM
Katarina Hall | From the August/September 2025 issue
Katherine Mangu-Ward | From the October 2025 issue
