The All Things Political Topic - Those who do not move, do not notice their chains

[Raithe]

It's basically Jimmy Carr being Jimmy Carr. He pretty much keeps to the equal opportunity offensive wit. You get what's on the tin when you choose to watch / listen to him. He does tend to like to play on the "this is a joke that is offensive and this is why, this is a joke that's considered offensive and this is why it works and this is why it straddles the line.".  He likes really dark humor and heckler interaction, and he takes potshots at pretty much everybody equally when he runs through them all.

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

I absolutely refuse to watch Netflix comedy specials because the quality has gone done the ****ter the last couple of years. No thanks, if I want an hour of snores I'll at least read or watch something educational.

Uhhh politics yeah...in Minneapolis Amir Locke was murdered by police a few days ago. The mayor is halting no knock warrants, something that was at least talked about the last time we saw a high profile police murdered in Minneapolis. I guess maybe we'll have another wave of protests, after which the politicians and bureaucrats will back off and toss some fat stacks to the police for some tanks or something. God's in his Heaven, All's right with the world.

[ShadySands]

I liked the show but I grew up with offensive comedy and comedians and am not really bothered by much of anything. Except unrealistic apartments/living arrangements in sitcoms. There's no way the three of you could afford a place that size in that part of town, not on those salaries.

[Raithe]

1 minute ago, ShadySands said:

Except unrealistic apartments/living arrangements in sitcoms. There's no way the three of you could afford a place that size in that part of town, not on those salaries.

That's pretty much the standard issue of nearly every tv show set in New York isn't it?

[Gromnir]

2 hours ago, Raithe said:

That's pretty much the standard issue of nearly every tv show set in New York isn't it?

yeah, but ordinarily the issue is addressed via an implausible or too convenient hand-wave. X was on the lease when their grandma died, and the lease were rent-controlled back to prehistoric days. kate bishop is an heiress. mabel mora in only murders in the building is renovating her aunt's apartment. etc.

or the issue is inverted

reminded us a smidge o' elwood blues' apartment, though that is chicago... and carrie fisher is also in blues bothers which is no doubt why we were reminded. technical is a hotel room.

Spoiler

curious aside is how the 77 pontiac grand prix, if you purchased in california, got a serious engine upgrade because of ca emissions requirements. no joke. gm went and put big oldsmobile engines in those cars resulting in significant horsepower boost, or such is our recollection.

jessica jones weren't too bad, with her office/kitchen/bedroom setup nowhere near reaching sitcom levels o' spacious. 'course matt murdock got the massive space, but were explained with the billboard across the street, as if that woulda made enough o' a difference to keep people away who could afford blackout curtains for nighttime.  

is only a few shows which get it even close to realistic, but am suspecting is tough to get right nowadays if for no other reason than that is hardly room for cameras and crew to squeeze into realistic apartments along with cast and do scenes which is anything other than filming people from waist up 'cause the camera need be near adjacent to the person being filmed. 

HA! Good Fun!

[Raithe]

https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2022/02/supreme-court-alabama-racial-gerrymander-roberts-kavanaugh.html

On Monday afternoon, the Supreme Court crushed yet another key component of the Voting Rights Act, halting a lower court order that required Alabama to redraw its egregious racial gerrymander. The court’s intervention in Merrill v. Milligan was so radically unjustified that Chief Justice John Roberts—an architect of the judicial attack on voting rights—dissented, alongside the three liberals. The court’s order indicates that the five ultraconservative justices are preparing to dismantle the VRA’s guarantee against gerrymanders that dilute the voting strength of Black Americans. Indeed, by interceding so aggressively in Merrill, these far-right justices have effectively nullified this guarantee for the current redistricting cycle.

[Pidesco]

 

This thread details pretty well why this is terrible and concerning.

[Gromnir]

1 hour ago, Pidesco said:

 

This thread details pretty well why this is terrible and concerning.

have mentioned previous how much o' a concern the shadow docket proliferation is:

(from a may 2021 post)

however, our biggest concern regarding the current Court has gone complete under the radar: the shadow docket.

To get on the shadow docket, any litigant can apply to a single justice, who decides whether to forward the dispute to the full court. Five votes among the nine justices are needed to grant a request. No oral arguments are made but opposing attorneys can file briefs in opposition. To be granted, the request must meet certain criteria, including that the applicants would suffer “irreparable harm” if it is not granted.

The public generally sees the court as sorting out matters of national importance through extensive briefing, oral arguments and lengthy rulings that explain the law. But the number of substantive shadow docket decisions rose dramatically during the Trump administration. In those four years, the government filed shadow docket applications at 20 times the rate of each of the two previous eight-year administrations. The high court granted the government’s requests in a majority of cases.

https://www.reuters.com/article/legal-us-usa-court-shadow-video/the-shadow-docket-how-the-u-s-supreme-court-quietly-dispatches-key-rulings-idUSKBN2BF16Q

with acb's arrival those shadow docket cases is occurring at an increased rate and a majority is being decided 5-4 or 6-3, with no written explanation as to why the Court barred State action, granted relief or even executed a human being for all practical purposes. rulings just kinda happen and most don't know what is taking place or accept meekly the new norm the majority is establishing.

...

am personal a textualist who +90% o' the time were in agreement with J. Scalia, but this Court is...

is no real majority decision here precise 'cause is shadow docket, but Kavanaugh, in a footnote no less, recognized that either side might win if fully argued, which should put the burden on AL and as such complete undermines the granting o' a freaking stay.

most liberals is gonna be enraged 'cause it looks like the Court is trampling voting rights, but this were inevitable as soon as the majority swung right. we tried to warn you all that the Courts which were rejecting trump campaign election lawsuits were gonna be supporting State efforts to marginalize minority voters using many o' the same arguments, so am not the least bit surprised save to note that J. Roberts, who has been 'bout as adversarial towards individual voting rights and fed limits on State efforts to undermine minority voters, is joining the more liberal Justices in dissent. you got no idea how extreme the infractions has gotta be for Roberts to join with Sotomayor on a voting rights case. even so, IF this case had gone through the normal process o' argument the offer o' a written opinion, we would woulda' predicted an AL win. saw this coming.

however, and more concerning, this is yet another shadow docket case which diminishes the Constitutional Rights o' Americans w/o even the offer o' a majority opinion and even Gromnir who were early to raise alarms on this issue is surprised by how common is the occurrence o' what were once considered exceptional. this case is gonna get national attention, but media is gonna focus on the voting rights aspect. Americans got no idea how much o' a paradigm shift is the current exploitive use o' the shadow docket, and is no reason they should be concerned with the issue getting so little attention save from a handful o' con law honks. the freaking Court is arguable going rogue and they is able to do so in plain sight with hardly anybody noticing?  am admitted surprised and inching towards genuine alarm.

Edited February 8, 2022 by Gromnir

[Gromnir]

HA! Good Fun!

[Gorth]

Torches and pitchforks up next up for Mitch McConnell?

 

(probably violating some kind of party constitution when making sense)

[BruceVC]

39 minutes ago, Gorth said:

Torches and pitchforks up next up for Mitch McConnell?

 

(probably violating some kind of party constitution when making sense)

McConnell is one of the good guys in the GOP and I imagine he will get censored and criticized by the Trump supporters

But Pence also finally found some integrity when he publicly stated " he had no ability to overturn the  2020 election " on Friday and several prominent members of the GOP agree with him 

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/hr-mcmaster-pence-trump-2020-election-face-the-nation/

It bodes well for the likely victory of the Republicans in the midterms because hopefully the GOP will have moved meaningfully beyond Trumpism 

 

[Gromnir]

2 hours ago, Gorth said:

Torches and pitchforks up next up for Mitch McConnell?

 

(probably violating some kind of party constitution when making sense)

mcconnell is a naked opportunist who would sell out his own mother if it benefited his political fortunes. "hypocrite" is almost meaningless when applied to mitch 'cause is utter inadequate to describe the degree o' his willingness to contradict what he claimed were bedrock principles only minutes past if he believes he can get away with such w/o consequences. 

so why has mitch sudden decided to defend cheney and kinzinger? why did mitch embrace the "insurrection" descriptor which has curious been verboten for members o' the gop? mitch is incapable o' a come to jesus moment; would require a soul. 

when tucker carlson berated ted cruz for using the terrorist label for january 6 protesters, something the senator had done multiple times previous, ted went to tucker and did his embarrassing genuflection on national tv. do not expect such from mitch regardless o' torches and pitchforks.

mitch always calculates the angles. mitch isn't always right, but he always has a reason and his ultimate goal is benefitting mitch. perhaps mitch knows something most in the rnc does not regarding the viability o' trumpism going forward? maybe is something else? regardless, mitch knew exactly what he were doing when he described the events at the Capitol on january 6, 2021 as a "violent insurrection," waiting one year after the event to do so and seeming in response to a rnc censure action designed to appeal to trump and the trump base. 

HA! Good Fun!

ps is ez to gauge what the trump base feels on an issue. read comments regarding the story as covered by fox

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/mcconnell-rnc-censure-resolution

 

 

Edited February 9, 2022 by Gromnir

[Gorth]

1 hour ago, Gromnir said:

ps is ez to gauge what the trump base feels on an issue. read comments regarding the story as covered by fox

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/mcconnell-rnc-censure-resolution

Ow nooo… come on, I just had a shower!

[Hurlshort]

I'm hoping this is not the death of public education in certain states: https://www.yahoo.com/news/culture-wars-envelop-schools-north-140100682.html

[Guard Dog]

There have been times I really wish I'd had children. And even more when I thankful I didn't. The world we live in these days makes me lean more to the latter. 

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

19 minutes ago, Hurlsnot said:

I'm hoping this is not the death of public education in certain states: https://www.yahoo.com/news/culture-wars-envelop-schools-north-140100682.html

Well you've jinxed it now.

Given the love affair with homeschooling and private schools a certain political orientation has, you do have to wonder if this manufactured CRT panic is designed to weaken/destroy public schools or if that's just incidental. I think that the main push for the CRT astroturf was very much a continuation of the reaction to the 1619 projects infused with fear over the 2020 protests/uprisings against police violence, but the specific targeting of public schools and teachers makes it clear they're at least willing (if not wanting) to burn these institutions to the ground with the teachers still inside. Guess we'll just see what's left standing in a few years after these laws predictably ravage the public school systems.

[Amentep]

I always find it positively fascinating that parents and politicians push for requirements to become a teacher (6 years of school, plus student teaching hours, plus certification, plus background check at least) but then will turn around and immediately follow the suggestions of people (often the same parents or politicans) who have none of those things over the suggestions of the people they've certified to teach.  

That's not to say that there are teachers with bad ideas, but there is usually a mechanism within the educational structure to deal with that.  The general wholesale "when in doubt, throw educators under the bus" strategy is positively baffling.

[Gromnir]

'cause what were the chances they would limit their ignorant lunacy to crt? the they you need worry 'bout is the people. 

1920s-1940s nativism in the US, the culmination o' a civil war era trend, were the result o' many factors not least o' which were historic income disparity. backlash against immigration and modernism perhaps ironic fed by the "science" o' US eugenics movement eventual spread to europe and became a cornerstone o' numerous post ww1 and post spanish flu regimes. is a whole lotta bad history being taught in the US 'cause too few people realize just how divisive were the politics o' the twenties, thirties and early forties in the US. too few is recognizing the similarities and the causes o' early 20th century nativism. is not some kinda illuminati scheme bringing 'bout the maga stoopidity o' the past decade but is a regrettable familiar repeat o' economic and social forces, although we personal didn't see voluntary US embrace o' a demagogue w/o a war or cataclysmic economic upheaval. shame on us.

is not 1920, but in the US we got same/similar fear o' immigrants, same/similar income disparity and same/similar resistance to the all-too-quick changing modern world. is a conceit that we has somehow evolve as a society. the human animal does not evolve near as fast as does technology. we ain't fundamental different today than *insert here whatever is your personal worst case o' human greed, ignorance and violence.* if social and economic conditions replicate, then there is a disturbing high chance we repeat the stoopid o' the past. 

is 2022 and folks in tennessee is burning books and railing 'gainst teachers for making their kids feel guilty 'bout being white... or somesuch nonsense.

so it goes.

HA! Good Fun!

 

[rjshae]

Controversial Kansas redistricting map is likely headed to court after lawmakers override a veto

Quote

 

The Kansas House voted Wednesday to override Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly’s veto of a controversial congressional redistricting plan, which means the map is approved and is likely headed for a court challenge.

The vote in the House followed an override in the Senate and was the last step needed to bypass the veto and overcome Democratic opposition to the plan. Opponents of the congressional map argue it is gerrymandered to hurt Democrats and defeat U.S. Rep. Sharice Davids, the state’s lone Democratic member of Congress.

I see the Big Lie™ about a rigged US election is followed by an actual rigging of an election. The more things change...

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/convoy-protests-ignoring-real-hardships-truckers-face-peel-drivers-warn-1.6340263

Saw this about the Canada Convoy and thought it was interesting.

[Gorth]

3 hours ago, KP the Torque Dork said:

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/convoy-protests-ignoring-real-hardships-truckers-face-peel-drivers-warn-1.6340263

Saw this about the Canada Convoy and thought it was interesting.

"Something else is happening behind the scenes, because the real issues are completely different," Sodhi told CBC News.

 

I think we already covered the "real" issues earlier... i.e. what takes place now has little to do with covid mandates and has more to with whipping up a crowd, encouraging fear and especially anger.

Edit: Because scared and angry people are easier to manipulate.

[Guard Dog]

I was going to put this in the funny things thread but since we're talking about teachers:

I don't know how @Hurlshotand his counterparts do what they do. I couldn't do it. But I am seriously lacking in patience and compassion. 

Edited February 10, 2022 by Guard Dog

[BruceVC]

47 minutes ago, Guard Dog said:

I was going to put this in the funny things thread but since we're talking about teachers:

I don't know how @Hurlshotand his counterparts do what they do. I couldn't do it. But I am seriously lacking in patience and compassion. 

Especially since in many schools corporal punishment has been outlawed, back in my day you had discipline and kids respected teachers 

@Hurlshot You teachers should protest and demand corporal punishment is allowed, that will address many problems 

[BruceVC]

Tonight its our State of the Nation Address by our president

It will much of the same, well meaning promises and goals and our media and political commentators blaming the president for all our woes when in fact not many citizens take personal responsibility for  our numerous societal shortfalls and not supporting government when they want to fix things like critical retrenchments in the public sector and SOE (state owned entities ) which have become one big hole requiring yearly bailouts amounting to billions of rands 

And then some political  commentators talk about how terrible the  SA government  is and how bad our economy is....they clearly havent seen the quality of life in many other African countries or the ME 

[Malcador]

1 hour ago, BruceVC said:

Especially since in many schools corporal punishment has been outlawed, back in my day you had discipline and kids respected teachers 

@Hurlshot You teachers should protest and demand corporal punishment is allowed, that will address many problems 

Just give the teachers a pistol grip pump.