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Eugene Volokh | 10.1.2025 3:00 AM
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Did the government shut down yet? The world has not ended, so I figured I'd ask. 🙂
FAFO
You can negotiate and find a solution that satisfies as many segments of the electorate as possible, or you can go full blast "give Trump what he wants or GTFO". Your choice.
Yes, by all means....let's find out, eurotrash.
Pink slips go out Friday.
Not my problem. At this point, the rest of the world only benefits when the US Regime undermines its ability to do anything. US state capacity is bad for the rest of the world, so the less of it the better.
Of course, it would be nice if eventually the Regime were removed from power. And it would be good if, at that point, there were still some US state capacity left.
It’s like the Ojibes say, you Eurotrash go around in Pity while a great (Amurican) wind carries you across the Sky. Only reason you’re not speaking German in Greater Germany is millions of Amuricans died getting you your country back, same with Russian, can’t wait until Putin cuts off your Natural Gas this Winter. How much does Belgium produce? (Or Luxemberg, what ever insignificant shithole you call home)
Frank
Actually the USA was so superior on the field of combat that we only lost around 400,000 dead. We also liberated Jews from death camps ( including quite a few sent there by the supposedly "superior culture" of the Netherlands). Oh and Martinned weren't your ancestors NSB who helped send Jews to Nazi death camps?
I agree that the world was better when the US still thought that fascism was bad.
Fascism is a European thing created by an Italian socialist.
Yes. And then we decided it was bad and tried very hard to banish it from our societies.
And then we had a visit from a fascist US Vice-President who came here to tell us that we should spend more time listening to fascists.
I believe that dismissing people, dismissing their concerns, or, worse yet, shutting down media, shutting down elections, or shutting people out of the political process protects nothing. In fact, it is the most surefire way to destroy democracy. And speaking up and expressing opinions isn’t election interference, even when people express views outside your own country, and even when those people are very influential. And trust me, I say this with all humor, if American democracy can survive 10 years of Greta Thunberg’s scolding, you guys can survive a few months of Elon Musk. But what German democracy — what no democracy, American, German, or European—will survive is telling millions of voters that their thoughts and concerns, their aspirations, their pleas for relief are invalid or unworthy of even being considered. Democracy rests on the sacred principle that the voice of the people matters. There is no room for firewalls. You either uphold the principle or you don’t. Europeans, the people have a voice. European leaders have a choice. And my strong belief is that we do not need to be afraid of the future. You can embrace what your people tell you, even when it’s surprising, even when you don’t agree. And if you do so, you can face the future with certainty and with confidence, knowing that the nation stands behind each of you. And that, to me, is the great magic of democracy. It’s not in these stone buildings or beautiful hotels. It’s not even in the great institutions that we have built together as a shared society. To believe in democracy is to understand that each of our citizens has wisdom and has a voice. And if we refuse to listen to that voice, even our most successful fights will secure very little.
I don't get it, what's fascist about that?
This is dumb, Mussolini was expelled from the socialist party and was very critical of them when he created fascism.
https://www.history.com/articles/mussolini-italy-fascism
Fascism is still bad - its just that you dont recognize the much higher level of fascism from the left - simply because you agree with that fascism.
I would suggest a mirror, though it would shatter from the extreme level of hypocrisy from woke leftists
This is to be stupid. Fascism is an ideology on the right full of bad things. There are also ideologies on the left that are full of bad things. No need to co-opt the first for the latter.
Do you have any concept of fascism?
The left has been proactive with censorship The left has been proactive encouraging illegal immigration The left has been proactive in impeding the enforcement of illegal immigration laws. The left has been pro active in encouraging riots. The left has been proactive in supporting the side who is actively committing genocide. The left is proactive in it condemnation of the side trying to prevent actual genocide
enforcing democratically enacted laws is not fascism Quelling riots is not fascism.
It’s you that demonstrates a questionable grasp of fascism. Fascism historically is very nationalistic and opposed to immigration on ethnic grounds. It’s a movement that prizes militarism, nationalism, glorifying the national past and such. That’s not the left. And rioting is not uniquely fascist.
No it’s going to be the democrats’ problem. I hope they enjoy their little elite vacation in California wine country. President Trump on Democrats: "We can do things during the shutdown that are irreversible that are bad for them and irreversible by them, like cutting vast numbers of people out, cutting things they that they like, cutting programs that they like."
Oh and fun fact, when they fly out, assuming they’re not using their own private jets (so much for the climate change bullshit), they won’t have to worry about the Quiet Skies program used by Biden to spy on political opponents. The Trump administration has discontinued that, along with other gross abuses of power this country endured during the Biden years.
“We can do things during the shutdown that are irreversible that are bad for them and irreversible by them, like cutting vast numbers of people out, cutting things they that they like, cutting programs that they like."
Yes, that kind of talk is going to play very well with the “don’t blame the GOP, the other side is taking the government hostage” lines!
"or you can go full blast "give Trump what he wants or GTFO". "
Of course, in this case it's more a matter of full blast "Give Schumer what he wants or GTFO"...
Didn’t Trump cancel negotiations?
I hope traffic will be lighter this morning.
It did.
See: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AhGeNPJlIK4&list=RDNSAhGeNPJlIK4&start_radio=1
"No more dudes in dresses" -- I love this. What scares me though is he sounds like he's thinking WWIII.
Yes, it was definitely necessary to summon all these people from all over the world to a single room so that their idiot boss could tell them they were fat.
That said, I recognise that my contributions on Monday and yesterday didn't take into account the other possibility that always exists with the US regime: that they're idiots. Hegseth clearly thinks that he's the CEO of the second biggest chain of furniture stores in Wisconsin, who periodically needs to gather his regional salesmen together for an inspirational speech.
What it was not was a demand for a loyalty oath. That was just nonsense. Leftist fabulism.
Indeed. Silly us for thinking that fascists were gonna fascist.
Leftists project. It's almost all they do between the rioting and looting.
Martinned, there is no way you could have watched Hegseth's remarks (about 48 minutes) and come to the conclusion that he's an idiot. It was a brilliant speech, and the direction he's leading the armed forces is exactly what is needed. The armed forces have become bloated, literally and figuratively, have lowered standards over the last 40 years, and in particular over the last 10, they are corrupt at the highest levels, and it is time for an overhaul, which is what he's doing.
You just hate America and everything about it, apparently, and your constant droning on about US fascism and corruption and idiocy is really annoying, and not at all enlightening. You're not convincing anyone, you're playing to your echo chamber on here, and annoying everyone else.
A brilliant speech if you like trying to parade a tough guy persona in a federal cabinet level official, yeah. It reminded me of the stereotypical speech the rogue cop makes in so many action movies.
Command staff following the orders of the commander in chief. Pretty sick huh? Please explain to me, what do you dislike about civilian control of the armed forces? Would it stand in the way of authoritarian agendas you like?
What happens to troops that develop bone spurs? Should they just suck it up?
They shouldn’t take Tylenol!
One of my employees father is a retired f15 lt col. ret (2015). One of the comments he made was that the military brass were adopting quite a few policies (woke policies) that greatly impeded effective fighting. Woke policies such as dei, military planning based on future conflicts caused by climate change, military logistics based on increased use of bio fuels and renewable energy. etc. The afghan fiasco is an example. Other comments were that military brass were too focused on politics instead of core mission. He also mentioned the purging of military brass who didnt conform to the woke. (purging may be a little strong) Though a high priority for promotion was placed on compliance with woke concepts throughout the obama years.
Youngest Daughter flies F-16's with the Air Farce, she's about as "Woke" as Louis CK, and only stays in because you don't get to pull 7G's in 757's. Get's about 20hrs/month, that's alot with Fighters as every hour in the air requires 1-2 hrs of preflight briefing, and 1-3 hrs post flight de-briefing, she gets more flight time than alot of the dudes/beeotches because she's never sick and would rather fly than do her (redacted) ground job. Older Daughter flies F-5 Tiger II's on weekends with the Marine "Aggressor" Squadron in Yuma (and 737's fulltime with Delta) she's a bit more Diplomatic, but went to the Reserves/Airlines because she'd rather fly a Jet than a Desk. And it's pretty rare when you have to land a 737 on an Aircraft Carrier.
That was another comment he made - something about having no interest in landing on a carrier.
and F-15's are the ultimate Fighter, that's all they were built for, to shoot down Enemy (and occasionally Friendly) Fighters. "Not a Pound for Air to Ground" was the Motto, of course it didn't take long for them to build a Ground Attack Version (the "Strike Eagle" or "Mudhen") Even the landing gear's the bare minimum to support it's weight. It's why they're still making them, in a 1v1 vs an F35 (I'd tell you....) my money would be on the Eagle
The point the lt col / f15 pilot made was that the top brass is heavily infested with woke ideas and ideals that impede effective military operations.
Thus its time to weed those out. Reports are that the Generals dont like new chief where as the lt cols and below are quite enthusiastic.
I think a significant part of the motive for this meeting was to identify anybody who didn't think they had to show up if their boss called a mandatory attendance meeting.
The Onion and The Babylon Bee both took on this speech, each in its own way.
The Onion: Hungover Hegseth Struggling To Remember How He Ended Up In Room Full Of Generals. The Babylon Bee: 10 Changes Hegseth Is Making To Military Health Requirements.
You obviously weren’t listening, you prepare for WW3 so you don’t have to fight one.
Will hamas take the deal offered to end their war? No chance.
Why? They will never agree to disarm, leave, and never return.
Am I wrong about that?
'Deal' doesn't include recognition of Palestinian state, so why should they accept?
Will hamas take the deal offered to end their war? No chance. Why? They will never agree to disarm, leave, and never return. Am I wrong about that?
You're both right! Hamas are not freedom fighters. They are dictatorship-kleptocracy fighters, to lord over a new, proper Palestinian state some day.
If they leave, no palaces for them! And if there's no state, nothing to lord over, and again, no palaces for them!
Why wouldn't they? Hamas never keep their promises anyway. It's just like Trump, who also doesn't understand the concept. They might as well promise stuff left and right. And they do.
Well right now Israel is losing the high ground. Now, Hamas never had the high ground. It the absence of real military objectives Israel's continuing the conflict seems unnecessary and pointless. Hamas has lost but its adversary is losing ground so it not really likely to take the deal.
Fox News [from 2 AD to 2025 AD] - 'Kneegroes cause crime. Mexican rapist immigrants bring crime. The Left has a violence problem.'
Don Lemon [last week] - "White men, something is broken. Something is cracked deep inside when so many of you believe the answer to fear, to loss, to change, is violence."
...and in one of the most severe pearl clutches of all time...
Also Fox News [yesterday] - "Don Lemon Makes Disgustingly Racist Comments About White People And Violence"
https://www.outkick.com/culture/don-lemon-white-men-violence-claim
Any argument where one of your major premises has to be a lie is a bad argument...
As somebody pointed out recently, Lemon's remark last week is pretty hard to square with actual murder statistics, which have black men committing murder at about 5-7 times the rate white men do.
Here's a chart from 2019. For reference whites were 58.9% of the population, blacks 12.6%. The only crimes for which us white guys outperformed black guys were DUIs, drunkenness, and liquor laws in general.
Which really suggests that if there's some correlation between 'being broken inside' and color, it ain't us white men who are broken. Though maybe we're lousy at holding our booze.
"...which have black men committing murder at about 5-7 times the rate white men do"
Correction, 'black men getting charged more for murder' [exonerations often follow]
And, yes, kneegroes commit murder. Mexican-rapist-antisemitic-terrorist immigrants also commit murder [except the ones picking radishes in Iowa]. But guess what? White men also commit murder.
What % of the Kneegroes charged with murder are Innocent? It’s like Vertical Jump, Rhythm, and Penis Length, some Races are better at things than others, it’s just with the Kneegroes it includes Violent Crime.
There's only the tiny detail that crime correlates with income and wealth, and that structural racism in the US means that people of colour are disproportionately poor.
Except for those Damn Asians. And it’s “Colored People” not what you said. Frank
That's a fair comment, except for the idiot "structural racism" bit.
Must be a coincidence that black people are still disproportionately poor, a century and a half after slavery ended...
It can not be coincidence, AND not be "structural racism", you know.
The "War on Poverty" did enormous cultural damage to people living in communities where jobs were leaving, by enabling people to remain anyway. It is historically the case that blacks were, disproportionately, living in those places, but the whites who lived there ended up just as damaged.
and the Vietnamese refugees aren't, yes, a big coincidence.
Correlation is also not causation. People who are likely to commit murder are also more likely to be poor, because they have low executive function or other common-cause characteristics.
On top of that, the fact that Blacks are about 1/8 the population and Whites are more than half means that there are a lot more White people in poverty than Black people in poverty, so poverty (or any other income or wealth quantile) isn't sufficient to explain the differences in murder rates.
You may want to think about that one again. And, in doing so, pay attention to the fact that you ended that sentence with "murder rates". (As opposed to "absolute numbers of murders".)
The difference in murder rates is starkly worse than the difference in murder counts. That's why there are more total murder victims and murderers among Blacks than among Whites, even though there are about twice as many poor Whites than poor Blacks.
Yes. I believe that if you correlate all murders by all races, you'll see that probably 95% of all murders are committed by poor folks
Yes, they are. I don't believe that financially secure blacks are any more likely to commit murder than financially secure whites. Blacks are just a lot more likely to live in the circumstances that lead to high murder rates.
But there are historical path dependent reasons that led to that, it's not a product of racism TODAY.
If you look at victimization surveys, too, no. It's committing.
Never said every race doesn't commit murder. Just that it's hard to square whites being the "broken" race, when blacks are outperforming whites in every area of crime except getting drunk.
So why is Don Lemon's comment 'disgusting racism'?
You mean besides the fact he's a Disgusting Race-ist? Doesn't he have a Malaysian Airlines Flight to catch?
It is encouraging to see you against racism, Frankie.
From judge Young's judgment, on masks:
And there’s the issue of masks. This Court has listened carefully to the reasons given by Öztürk’s captors for maskingup and has heard the same reasons advanced by the defendant Todd Lyons, Acting Director of ICE. It rejects this testimony as disingenuous, squalid and dishonorable. ICE goes masked for a single reason -- to terrorize Americans into quiescence. Small wonder ICE often seems to need our respected military to guard them as they go about implementing our immigration laws. It should be noted that our troops do not ordinarily wear masks. Can you imagine a masked marine? It is a matter of honor -- and honor still matters. To us, masks are associated with cowardly desperados and the despised Ku Klux Klan. In all our history we have never tolerated an armed masked secret police. Carrying on in this fashion, ICE brings indelible obloquy to this administration and everyone who works in it. “We can not escape history,” Lincoln righty said. “[It] will light us down in honor or dishonor, to the latest generation.” Abraham Lincoln, Second Annual Message to Congress (Dec. 1, 1862).
https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.mad.282460/gov.uscourts.mad.282460.261.0.pdf
Not so long ago I had to wear a mask to get on an Airplane. Until they brought me my drink, then you could take it off. I sat next to people who fell “Off the Wagon” purely because of the (redacted) Masks. Now some peoples actually have a good reason to wear one and they can’t? (Redacted) that
Do you have to wear the pointless apparati in the OR, Frankie?
Yes, because of Tradition like how they have to wear Caps in MLB and not in Softball. Difference is everyone knows it’s Bullshit.
"Difference is everyone knows it’s Bullshit." Have anyone over the last hundred years ever done a study of surgeries with masking vs without?
Only a few thousand, they not have AlGores in your Ghetto?
Here's one study, ask one of your Homies if you can borrow their Internets. "Clinical relevance of masks in the operating room? A systematic review" Clinical Infection in Practice Volume 12, November 2021, 100087 Abstract Background Face masks are recommended for sterile procedures, while the data supporting this recommendation is lacking. Here we systematically review randomized control trials on mask efficacy in the operating room as a means to preventing surgical site clinical infection. Methods PubMed, Google Scholar, Web of Science, and National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health Publications and Products were searched and articles were included if they fit the criteria of 1) randomized control trial, 2) clinical patient outcomes, 3) mask efficacy, 4) surgery setting, 5) in vivo, and 6) article was in English. Results The results indicate no difference in surgical site infections between the operations where masks were worn versus the operations where no mask was worn. Conclusion With such limited evidence and the great cost that accrues from purchasing face masks for all surgical staff, we hope for larger, well designed randomized control trials to evaluate the true clinical efficacy of surgical masks in the operating room.
You see, Frankie. Isn't it much nicer to lead with facts?
One should definitely take medical advice from someone who Writes like )This
I thought one benefit of surgical masks is that the workers are less likely to have blood spurt into their mouth or nose. Is there evidence about that, or about indirect benefits of it (less patient-to-physician infection)?
Not so much the spurting blood (not as big a problem with the move to Laparoscopic/Endovascular Procedures, there's still spurting Blood, but it stays safely inside the Victim, I mean Patient.) And of course it's always "Anesthesia's Fault" the Blood wouldn't spurt so high if you'd let the Blood Pressure drop like the Surgeon intended. And it's long been a joke that we wear Gloves/Masks to protect us from you unhygienic nasty Rubes, not the other way around, I remember some of the older Docs in the 80's, trained when Gloves weren't disposable, would just examine Patients with their bare hands, (and not wash them afterwards, I kept track, One Surgical Attending examined every single patients feet and belly's on rounds, 20-25 Patients, didn't wash his hands until the end (he was scrubbing for Surgery)
surgical masks have a benefit from a reduction in transmission of bacteria. Respiratory virus not so much due to inability to get a good seal, thus basic fluid dynamics means the air flow bypasses the masks and goes out the sides.
Well, spurting fluids; I still vividly recall flushing out a hemotoma on my father's shin with saline, and ending up with saline spraying into my foolishly hanging open mouth.
Being a rational guy, I waited until I was done before running to the bathroom to gargle... I knew quite well that saline was sterile.
Judge Young was overly dramatic. "This case -– perhaps the most important ever to fall within the jurisdiction of this district court".
An attitude I wish more litigants and judges would take: "The plaintiffs can challenge the implementation of an Executive order without challenging the order itself." (pp. 126-127, cleaned up) These lawsuits should not all be captioned Guardians of Democracy v. Trump. Trump is not subject to injunctions (p. 158). Trump is not an agency. Sue the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Rendition instead.
Part of plaintiffs' problem is that the policy being challenged is not written down. The written orders do not say "criticism of Israel is forbidden." The DC case against ICE has the same difficulty because there is no written directive saying "arrest people without probable cause." Judge Young was convinced the policy was not too slippery to get a grip on.
Eugene Volokh's case NRA v. Vullo makes an appearance.
Is there another case that's been heard in the Federal District Court for Massachussetts that you would rate as more important?
To start answering my own question, the Wikipedia page of that court lists two notable cases:
- Ghen v. Rich (1881) (a whale is the property of the whaler who killed it, and not the person who found it dead on the beach). - 2019 college admissions bribery scandal (2019)
Neither of those immediately strikes me as more important than this free speech case.
The busing case, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boston_desegregation_busing_crisis
This case seems likely to join Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard as a case where D. Mass. gets overturned on appeal. A case like that is important even when the district court gets it wrong.
What's the over/under for federal worker layoffs announced this week*?
If I were setting the line, I figure it should be about 200k.
And were I betting, then I would take the over.
I think they will probably be front loaded towards the beginning of the week to get them in before the shutdown can end.
* that doesn't include the 100k who accepted the February or April buyouts, and who got officially separated at mitnight.
Kaz, I'll gladly agree with you on the over. DC might become a deserted wasteland after the shutdown RIFs. Oh, what will those K street lobbyists do with themselves? 😉
Pink slips go out Friday. For the about to be unemployed, call Chuck Schumer's office, and tell him what you think. In great detail.
You can find Schumer's DC office number easily enough.
Oh, what will those K street lobbyists do with themselves?
Bribe Trump, just like now, presumably.
Homans can carry the bags!
A lawsuit has been filed to stop layoffs. There is a distinct possibility of a nationwide injunction against termination.
Here is the lawsuit: American Federation of Government Employees v. OMB.
"the administration has threatened to inflict punishment on, and further traumatize, federal employees throughout the nation."
Bit there is no injunction yet, and almost all the injunctions forbidding layoffs have been stayed.
And the Supreme Court has pointed out the remedy is not in federal courts but the Merit System Protection Board, so it probably won't take too long to get the Supreme Court involved.
The Real (Redacted) is every time a new General/Admiral takes over their new Unit, they have the same kind of talk with all of their Underlings. The Army currently has 218 Generals, at the end of WW2 there were 181, there’s certainly a lot of extra “Weight”.
Oh yeah, the Army of WW2 included the Air Farce, so the difference is even more stark. USAF currently has about 200 Generals, so the Army/Air Farce of WW2 had 181 Generals, today over 400. And that was with an Army/Air Farce of 11 million, compared to the under a million of today.
In fairness Frank, look at the number of men it took to crew a Battleship during WWII and then look at the number of men it took to crew the same battleship in the 1980s. (About a third less.)
And then look at the number of (small) aircraft carriers we had during WWII versus the number of big ones today, the number of bombs a WWII bomber could carry versus a bomber today, our ability to bomb Iran with planes based in Missouri, etc.
Killing has got more efficient, except where it hasn't, Enola Gay had a Crew of 12, took out 150,000 Japs (Feel bad for the Airman who had to paint 150,000 Jap Flags on the Fuselage afterwards) Minuteman Missiles have a 2 man crew controlling 10 Nuke-ular Missiles from their underground Launch Control Center, above ground there are 5 or 6 Security/Maintenance guys/gals. Still, it was a guy with a Machinegun who gave Obama Bin Laden a 5.56mm Lobotomy.
Yeah, it’s not like there’s been a general (no pun intended) increase in specialized areas in those decades, that’s why the number of general practitioners in the medical field is the same as it was back then! Lol, what a dolt.
Even for you that doesn't make any sense.
Increased areas of specialization leading to an increase in managers of these specialized areas is as mysterious as the basic rules of English writing to Francis.
Sure you don't have a touch of the Ass-Burger's yourself? Worrying about (redacted) Grammatical Rules is like complaining that your Cardiologist is wearing Flip Flops, you're going against the grain of History. Purpose of the Military is to Kill People and Break Things, (HT Rush Limbo) certainly there are various ways to accomplish that, and there is a need for "Beans, Bandages, and Bull-wets (HT E. Fudd)" to Feed, Bandage, Supply the guys/girls doing the Killing/Breaking, but no way a Military that's 1/10 the size of the one that beat the Japs/Huns needs more Generals/Admirals. OK, I know you've got your Panties in a Wad because Pete called out "Dudes in Dresses" and "Beard-O's"
Seems as if being promoted to flag rank has become a participation prize.
The military, like most modern organizations, has become more specialized and thus there are going to be more managers because there’s more areas to manage. This isn’t rocket science or even bottle rocket science.
That’s probably the case — every time the Pentagon funds something new it usually creates another oversight layer, and at that scale it tends to mean a general or flag officer slot. Recent examples include the Army’s next-gen command and control push, USCYBERCOM’s expanding mission set, Pacific Deterrence Initiative projects like the Tinian upgrades, and big joint exercises such as Northern Edge and Super Garuda Shield. Specialization plus new programs naturally drives more GOFO billets, even without growing the overall force.
Transcription of the rant of that guy pushing a shopping cart full of his stuff in it.
People wounded today live -- during WWII they died.
During Corea they died, during Vietnam they died, in Beirut they died, "Battlefield Medicine" didn't really advance until the "Unpleasantness" of the last 25 years. One of the few good things to result from 9-11. OK Losers, go ahead and say I said some good things resulted from 9-11. It's the Ass-Burgers, we're the ones who'll say the Baby's Ugly.
Only thing missing from Hedge-Sexes “Come to Jesus” talk was “Put that Coffee down, Coffees for Closers”
And random capitalizations is for morons or sad, pathetic internet buskers.
Or, in Fakeman speech:
and Random Capitalizations is for Morons )or Sad, Pathetic internet Buskers)
You don't win the Steak Knives. And I done tole' you, done lost my job, how I sposed to pay dis Rent? Can you let me slide it on? I'll have it for you tomorrow, next week, I don't know.
He didn't mention sodomy.
You would be the one to notice that.
Yes, because I supported the ban -- "don't ask don't tell" was a fair comprimise
Wonder how the folks that were insisting that Hyundai and LG Follow. The. Law. are going to react to this news:
The U.S. has agreed to allow South Koreans to work to set up facilities at U.S. investment sites under existing temporary visas and open new channels to help its ally send workers to do business there, Seoul’s foreign ministry said on Wednesday.
So, the Trump administration is allowing Korean companies to do exactly what they just arrested and publicly humiliated a bunch of Korean engineers for. Not that surprising, since Trump already offered to let them stay after he realized what a dumb move that was. But of course his cheerleaders here were insisting that the arrests and deportations were the right way to do things the whole time. Will be curious to hear the latest spin now that Trump has changed his mind!
I thought the whole premise of 'national emergency' was that these antisemitic-terrorist-rapist Koreans were here raping and antisemitizing. Have to update my list on immigrants that are no longer raping:
Radish pickers in Iowa...check Mar a Lago tween masseuses and dishwashers...check Koreans...aaaaaaaaaaaaannnd check
The Asians do mostly contribute, if it wasn't for the Quotas they'd be 95% of Med School Classes instead of 20%. It's almost like they come from a Civilization that goes back a few thousand years.
A couple awful mass shooters recently, not much discussed here. Let’s take the first.
One suit, filed in May, claimed the Generations Church was behind a “civil conspiracy” masterminded by the LGBTQ community and white supremacist pedophiles to kill Edge because he’s “a straight man.”
https://nypost.com/2025/09/29/us-news/southport-mass-shooting-suspect-nigel-edge-was-decorated-marine-and-purple-heart-recipient/
What do you think Kaz, did he do it because a Democrat state rep voted to cancel benefits for illegal aliens? Or joe dallas, was he trans?
And the second.
With flags flying from the back as Sanford drove it through town, “you couldn’t miss the truck,” Allen said. Sometimes, he said, Sanford would “switch one of his flags out for a ‘F*** Biden’ flag.”
A Google Street View photo from June 2025 shows a “Trump Vance” campaign sign on his home’s fence, and a social media photo from 2019 showed Sanford wearing a Trump shirt.
https://www.cnn.com/2025/09/28/us/thomas-sanford-michigan-shooting-suspect
Clearly trans or upset about immigrants getting their benefits cut, amirite Kaz & joe?
More rightwing trannies shooting things up
More like Combat Vet's with TBI's and prescribed multiple Psychotropic medications. Surprising it doesn't happen more often. And they really hate little Worms that steal Valor and call them Rightwing Trannies.
Would these TBI’s cause symptoms like random capitalizations, disjointed sentence structure, lack of punctuation and such?
Why Frankie, I don't think you've gotten the MAGA memo. All recent left-wing violence is tranny related
Stolen any Valor lately?
Francis was injured in service (janitor at a government building) in Baghdad (FL).
How should we count "no longer pretending to be royalty" in terms of stealing valor?
Be careful Malka, you may find feminazis involved.
Pray tell?
Who broke up the engagement.
I've been lurking around a few comments threads here, and just wanted to observe that:
"We invite comments and request that they be civil and on-topic"
and
"We do not moderate"
are not really compatible. Yes, it would sure be nice if everyone looked at that first part and decided to be civil and talk to each other like actual human beings, but it doesn't work. The comments that are thoughtful and civil get drowned out by idiotic, hateful trolling, and people responding to that with more of the same. It's an absolute garbage fire, on a site called "Reason" of all things.
There is a "report abuse" bottom, but if I used that on every comment I thought was abusive or uncivil, I'd be flooding that email inbox haha.
Anyway, I have no real opinion about whether you *should* moderate comments or not. It's not an easy thing to do! But if you don't, you are at least partly responsible for the kind of community that decision creates, even if you're not legally responsible for the bile that community generates.
Here's hoping this open thread goes better!
'Here's hoping this open thread goes better!'
Will you stop posting? That would be a start.
Are you serious? That's like asking Shit not to stink.
I use the "report abuse" button in cases of spam. Spam is sometimes removed. I use the "mute user" button in cases of overly annoying people (based on my own inconsistent and unreviewable subjective judgment).
In other news, in New York a black female journalist was assaulted and sucker punched, requiring hospital time, stitches, and more than $3,000 in bills. Since the entire thing was caught on video, it seemed like an easy case.
The attacker was charged with assault. But then the charges were somehow dismissed as the prosecutors failed to turn over the evidence on time.
https://www.foxnews.com/us/da-braggs-office-drops-case-against-woman-who-allegedly-sucker-punched-pro-life-activist
Huh. OHH... The reporter was a pro-life supporter. Guess that makes sense why it wasn't a priority to prosecute her assailant.
Why mention “black female” when the attacker appears to have been the same?
So you're saying it's OK to drop charges when the victims are black, as long as the attacker is also black?
That explains so much....
lol, that’s pathetic. I’m saying what I said, so why not try to answer it?
Malika's point really does deserve talking about.
Violence against journalists is never good. But especially against our minority populations, which often have much higher crime rates, this is something to be especially cognizant of.
But Malika's immediate point was "But the attacker is black".
Does that matter? Not really to the oppressed. But it mattered to Malika. Since the attacker was black, the crime was of less interest to her. And I have to wonder, how many other people share her convictions? How many prosecutors? They see a white person assaulted, and it's important. They see a black woman assaulted by a white guy...and it's a priority. But they see a black person assaulted by another black person. And it's...eh, push it down the priority stack. Not important. Just another day.
That makes a difference in how minority communities see law enforcement. If they come, and the prosecutors just drop cases because "well, the attacker is black, meh"...what does that do their communities?
Items to consider.
“But especially against our minority populations, which often have much higher crime rates, this is something to be especially cognizant of.”
Seems woke to me.
One of the differences between "woke" and honestly caring about our minority populations is looking at some of the core issues facing our minority populations.
Being "woke" focused on finding differences to politically exploit. "Defund the police" was a key example of this. Politically useful. In practice, it was disasterous towards these populations.
Honestly caring about our minority populations understood that intra-racial violence was a major contributor towards systemic issues. Polls demonstrated African Americans wanted the same amount or more police presence by an 81:19 ratio. More African Americans wanted MORE police, not less.
Being "woke" and "defund the police" didn't care about that. And as Malika's comment pointed out, because the attacker was Black...the violence wasn't as important to her. It couldn't help politically to exploit it. But actually addressing it, would help the African American community as a whole.
“Being "woke" focused on finding differences to politically exploit.”
Like highlighting the victim’s race and gender?
You used "Gender" incorrectly, the word you're supposed to use is "Sex" It's natural, it's good, not everybody does it, but everybody should. OK, well maybe not you.
Is Gender a town or something? If you mean gender, then no I didn’t misuse it.
There is an "Intercourse" Alabama, I went there once but it was just "In and Out"
It's really no surprise from the left. They have to keep Those People on the plantation. See also up-thread, where someone else seems to think that we should look at total murder counts, rather than per capita rates, when comparing different populations (because using rates would make Black people look worse).
Why call her a reporter when the very article you link to calls her an activist?
Why call you coherent when every post shows you to be anything but?
Is he saying )Something incoherent Francis ?
There's a difference?
It’s the same reason he highlights her race and gender, it’s a pathetic “political judo” attempt common to right wing trolls. They think “oh, these lefties value minorities, women and journalists so much, how do they like it when the worm is turned?” It’s obviously disingenuous.
Reporters can't be activists?
Next you'll tell us professors can't be activists.
I thought the left was all about intersecting identities. Is DaMN suggesting that being an activist should disqualify someone from also being a reporter (or professor or whatever else)?
Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) and House Republican leaders refused requests from Democrats to swear in Rep.-elect Adelita Grijalva (D-Ariz.) on Tuesday, saying she will be sworn in when the House returns to regular session.
The move deprives a petition of the last signature it needs to force a vote on a bill to release files related to Jeffrey Epstein, a push that Republican leaders and President Trump oppose.
https://thehill.com/homenews/house/5529055-republicans-grijalva-swearing-in-house/amp/
She can sign it just as easily when the House is in session.
Not today she can't.
Technically she "can" sign it today, just doesn't mean much.
But a couple days until the House is in session and she can be formally sworn in, isn't really that big a deal.
So you don't think the question of whether the President of the United States is a paedophile "isn't really that big a deal"? Wow...
No, these files have been sitting around for literally years.
Another 3-5 days won't make a difference
"Listen, that Jeffrey Epstein story is a big deal, please do not let that story go. Keep your eye on this,"
Dan Bongino
We must honor Charlie Kirk's wishes and release the files
I'm gonna get Will Smith to slap Charlie Kirk's name out of your mouth.
"Why don't you let it go?" -- Fox "Benghazi" News
There is no evidence that Trump is a pedophile unlike bill clinton
Then why is MAGA working so hard to keep the files secret?
Only a big deal because it shows that Trump and Johnson will use any tool available to them to avoid releasing the Epstein files.
I hear a lot of people are calling him Pedo Prez these days.
I hear they've released two red state versions of Encanto.
'We don't talk about J6, no, no' 'We don't talk about Jeffrey, no, no'
Delay, delay, delay. And work on the three Republicans during that time.
50% of immigrants in one metropolitan area seem to have committed immigration fraud. Was Ilhan Omar one of the ones with a sham marriage?
https://nypost.com/2025/09/30/us-news/bombshell-ice-sweep-in-minneapolis-st-paul-finds-50-of-immigrants-had-committed-immigration-fraud-after-massive-arrival-uptick-from-somalia/
So brotherfucker is the new pejorative?
I don't recall anyone ever accusing her of consummating that marriage.
Whelp...Democrats shut down the government. They tried to hold the government hostage, and demanded more than a trillion in new spending as a condition to keep the government open for 7 weeks at current funding levels.
This never works. Didn't work when the GOP tried it (and at least when they did, they had at least one house or branch of government). Not going to work now when Dems are fully in the minority.
And yes, government shutdowns are unproductive.
And no, our resident trolls don't have good arguments. Nor links to them.
Are you high?
I’m not sure not accepting the Republicans take it or leave it offer is taking the government hostage.
Tell that to the hundreds of thousands of government contractors who may not get paid.
I would, I’d say the Republicans refused to even pretend to negotiate.
You don't negotiate with Terrorists.
Is that a band, “the Terrorists?”
No, but there was one honoring you, "Anal Cunt" Do you get residuals?? And I mean the money you get when they play a song you wrote not your residual AIDS related Dementia/Bowel Disease/Cancer
Don’t you mean the “Money?” That TBI Francis got in Baghdad (FL) must’ve been something!
Frank, those eight letters are inappropriate.
I'm a Contractor for the VA, I get paid. Nice to be an "Essential" person, my question is, why pay the Non-Essential in the first place??
Medicaid recipients are not contractors.
Talk about your random non pertinent statements, you're right, and not many 62 yr old Physicians are on Medicaid. OK, some of the Pediatricians/FP's maybe.
No one thinks you’re a doctor, Francis. Quincy is more real than that fictional character you portray.
Keep telling yourself that, maybe you'll believe it some day. And was "Quincy" his first name or last name? I always figured it was his last name, because not like that Prick Detective who was always busting his Balls, and Quincy's Boss "Dr. Astin" would be on first name bases with him. Almost went into Pathology, people said I had the perfect personality for it.
Frank "these damn Patients never say anything!"
Pretty easy to believe a person who can’t write as well as a third-grader isn’t an MD.
You'd like Pathology, it's got a "Y" but it's not the one you're familiar with.
Shouldn’t that be the One, Francis?
The Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts ruled in favor of a selective enforcement defense. The defendant argued that Lowell police were targeting black people on Snapchat. Police would pretend to be fellow black residents, become online "friends", and use incriminating statements.
In short, the defendant's claim that his Snapchat account was monitored at least in part because of race falls squarely within the scope of Long's selective enforcement framework. [...]According to census data credited by the second judge, Lowell's population during the relevant time period was approximately fifty percent nonwhite and approximately fifty percent white. Yet, one hundred percent of those ensnared by Lowell's Snapchat monitoring were nonwhite.
The defendant is entitled to an evidentiary hearing where the trial court judge will decide if the selective enforcement defense is viable.
The SJC also rejected a claim that the gun licensing scheme at the time of the offense was facially unconstitutional. At least some of it holds up, the ban on felons getting gun licenses.
A Florida man killed, cooked and ate two of his pet peacocks amid a feud with one of his neighbors, according to law enforcement officials.
The man, Craig Vogt, 61, of Hudson, Fla., was arrested on Sept. 23 and charged with a felony count of aggravated animal cruelty after he placed a letter in a neighbor’s mailbox telling her that he had killed two of his peacocks “because she continued feeding them,” according to an affidavit prepared by the Pasco County Sheriff’s Office.
According to the affidavit, Mr. Vogt described killing one of the birds by “cutting the peacock’s neck with a knife and then cooking it in a frying pan.” He delivered the letter to his neighbor’s mailbox to “prove a point that he will continue to kill his pet peacocks if she continues to feed them,” the document states.
While he was being taken to jail, Mr. Vogt said that “upon his release, he plans to kill all his pet peacocks to prevent anyone from taking custody of them,” according to the affidavit.
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/29/us/florida-pet-peacocks-killed-cooked.html
We all love peacocks but I m guessing that eating them is not illegal and it doesn't sound like he did anything different than killing a chicken or turkey. He does however sound a bit nutty. Not sure I would much care for a neighbor like him.
Most Cereal Killers began by killing defenseless Animals (Including Dexter Morgan, the Cereal Killer who only kills other Cereal Killers) I'd like a "Dexter" who kills people who kill defenseless Animals (Unless they're delicious(the Animals, not the people) Remember that Matador who took a Horn to the Chin*? (Horn entered under the Chin, exited the Creep's mouth, knocking out a bunch of his teeth, and like "Tony Rocky Horror" the guy developed a bit of a Speech Impediment) Loved the story last week of the 2 Great Hunters struck by Lightning in Colorado, Jay-Hovah works in strange and mysterious ways. Wait a minute, was expecting a Lightning Bolt.
*Julio Apricio Diaz, 2010, still living, of course the poor Bull was killed.
Frank, "cereal" is a grass cultivated for its edible seed, e.g. wheat. "Serial" means in sequence, i.e. one after another.
What part of "stop feeding my fucking birds" did his neighbor not understand?
Yeah, sure, but what a crazy response!
I expect there's more to the story, but I really don't see how it's a crime to slaughter your own poultry.
I wouldn't think killing and eating your own poultry would be a crime at all. Maybe the guy is an antisemitic terrorist Haitian. We apply different standards for them.
There are reports of hundreds of inmates missing from ICE detention centers. Lawyers are required to talk to their clients in person and give advance notice of appointments, and then the appointments are cancelled on grounds the clients were moved. It appears some have gotten deported entirely without contact with lawyers or legal process. Others may simply be “disappeared” and kept from contact with the outside world.
There appear to be the makings, still on a relatively small scale, of a complete bypass of the judicial system. This is what a true concentration camps is. A concentration camp is a place that lies entirely outside the legal system, where inmates have no legal rights, no contact with the outside world, and are completely at the mercy of the guards.
There are also reports of beatings and abusive behavior by guards as well as miserable conditions. Perhaps some inmates are being kept incommunicado and beaten until they “voluntarily” agree to be deported.
"There are reports..." Voices in your head?
https://amp.miamiherald.com/news/local/immigration/article312042943.html
As of the end of August, the whereabouts of two-thirds of more than 1,800 men detained at Alligator Alcatraz during the month of July could not be determined by the Miami Herald.
"We aren't competent reporters" should hace been the lede.
"It’s possible that some of the men who couldn’t be located were still at Alligator Alcatraz. Unlike most immigration detention centers, Alligator Alcatraz is state-run and detainees often do not appear in the database run by the federal agency. Florida does not maintain a system to look up those detained at the site either."
Military training in American cities? Hope that Jake Tapper is out there working his sources for his next book. So be an interesting read.
"The demands reportedly being made by Democrat leaders to keep the government open, including healthcare for illegal aliens and funding for public broadcasting stations that consistently peddle harmful falsehoods about conservatives, are unpopular and unreasonable requests."
I do not want my tax dollars going to fund healthcare for illegal aliens. Period. Reason enough to let the government shut down. I support the administration in this. This is what I voted for.
With Congress at an impasse over federal spending, Republicans have emerged with a new and misleading talking point: Democrats are shutting down the government to fund free health care for unauthorized immigrants.
It is a message repeated by Vice President JD Vance, the official X account of Senate Republicans and Speaker Mike Johnson.
The Democrats’ budget proposal seeks to extend Affordable Care Act subsidies set to expire at the end of the year, and roll back Medicaid cuts in the tax cut and domestic policy law signed by President Trump in July. But the proposal does not provide free health care for unauthorized immigrants.
Unauthorized immigrants are largely barred from federally funded health care programs. They cannot buy health care plans on government exchanges set up by the Affordable Care Act and therefore cannot receive any subsidies. They are also ineligible for Medicaid, Medicare and the Children’s Health Insurance Program. The Democrats’ budget proposal does not make them eligible for these programs.
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/29/us/politics/republicans-shutdown-fact-check-health-immigration.html
Let's ask Grok. Since this AI has been programmed to skew white supremacy/MAGA, this should be a satisfactory answer:
"For the purposes of the government shutdown, are the Democrats proposing free healthcare for immigrants?"
"No, Democrats are not proposing free healthcare for undocumented immigrants as part of the government shutdown negotiations. This claim, amplified by President Trump, Vice President JD Vance, and other Republicans, is false and stems from a misleading interpretation of Democrats' push to extend Affordable Care Act (ACA) subsidies and reverse certain Medicaid cuts."
There you go, Pubes. Nothing to worry about.
To be clear, this "healthcare for illegal aliens" thing is 100% made up. (Not by ThePublius.) Not, "Well, if you squint you could see where they're getting that," but just fabricated out of whole cloth. Democrats are not seeking any such thing.
Following the top brass meeting, evidently there's a new Department of War rule : no general or admiral may be fatter than the Commander-in-Chief.
Those cultist who think that the mere suggestion that the meeting might require a loyalty oath was incontheivable are, of cuorse, wrong. We know that Trump prizes loyalty ahead of any other virtue and there was no obvious mechanism to forestall such a request. Still, at least XY said he'd disapprove - though not a single other cultist had guts emough to agree with him.
What we got was worse - Trump's statement that US cities will be training grounds for the military. That is utterly wrong on a number of levels, e.g., that law enforcement does not require the same skills as military invasion and occupation, and that sending troops in against American citizens en masse is dictatorial - not that his cultists mind that.
There was, of course, some authentically Trumpian egregious stupidity and ignorance, like his complaining about the appearance of stealth vessels https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-goes-off-about-ugly-stealth-warships-us-military-summit-2025-9
I will give Trump credit that he seems willing to to deploy in cities in Republican led states as well as Democratic ones.
All Democrat run cities though. Thats why they are so crime ridden Trump has to do something to protect people.
I guy with multiple deferments telling troops to toughen up.
Where are the loyalty oaths? I was assured that there would be loyalty oaths.
Will loyalty tests do?
https://apnews.com/article/trump-loyalty-white-house-maga-vetting-jobs-768fa5cbcf175652655c86203222f47c
not much different than the woke loyalty oaths during the Obama and Biden administration , albeit informal loyalty oaths , but adherence to woke policies none the less
Who knew that being Des Moines Public Schools superintendent was one of the jobs Americans won't do?
I wouldn't want to be a school superintendent in Des Moines.
Obliviously he made a good impression on the Des Moines school board. Doesn't sound like he was on welfare. Wondering if he was doing a good job? I don't think he be my first choice to deport and wondering they have all the criminals yet.
In other immigration enforcement news, the Second Circuit heard oral arguments yesterday in the Mahdawi and Ozturk cases. The court will decide whether the District Court had jurisdiction over their habeas petitions. This is not supposed to be a decision on the merits of petitioners' detention. One judge appeared likely to side with the government.
https://www.wbur.org/news/2025/09/30/ozturk-mahdawi-appeal-hearing https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/69936547/ozturk-v-hyde/
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Eric Boehm and Peter Suderman | 10.1.2025 9:00 AM
Joe Lancaster | 10.1.2025 8:00 AM
Marc Oestreich | 10.1.2025 7:00 AM
Katherine Mangu-Ward | From the November 2025 issue
Charles Oliver | 10.1.2025 4:00 AM
