Lurker > Hinakuluiau

What I don't get is how LAW AND ORDER the whole administration is, and suddenly when it comes to sexual assault it's all "hey guys, we gotta make sure we do every possible thing to make sure the people we put away are bad"

Like, it's great to be thorough, but it's odd to pick and choose what gets real investigations and 'innocent before guilty' while other things get fucked over
---

There are some things where I just bypass critical thinking. - ROD
http://error1355.com/ce/Hinakuluiau.html

The idea is that Bev was abused so it was the only thing that made sense to her
But King wrote her backstory, so it's still weird
---

There are some things where I just bypass critical thinking. - ROD
http://error1355.com/ce/Hinakuluiau.html

http://www.npr.org/2017/09/06/548935056/trump-sides-with-democrats-in-deal-on-storm-relief-and-fiscal-deadlines

Democratic congressional leaders announced Wednesday they had reached a deal with President Trump in an Oval Office meeting to pass hurricane relief funding this week, along with measures to push off pressing fiscal deadlines to December — over the apparent objections of Republican leaders.

"In the meeting, the President and Congressional leadership agreed to pass aid for Harvey, an extension of the debt limit, and a continuing resolution both to December 15, all together," House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said in a joint statement.

House Speaker Paul Ryan had criticized the proposal from Pelosi and Schumer on a three-month debt ceiling hike earlier on Wednesday as "playing politics" with the debt ceiling.

President Trump described the meeting to reporters on Air Force One: "We had a very good meeting with Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer. We agreed to a three-month extension on debt ceiling, which they consider to be sacred — very important — always we'll agree on debt ceiling automatically because of the importance of it." Those comments came while the president was en route to a tax reform event in North Dakota, and he did not mention his own party's congressional leaders.


...


Trump also hinted there could be a deal reached to protect so-called "DREAMers," after his administration announced the end to the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program which puts in limbo the fate of 800,000 young people who came to the U.S. illegally as children and now could face the possibility of deportation.

"We discussed that also today, and Chuck and Nancy would like to see something happen, and so do I,"Trump said. "And I said if we can get something to happen, we're going to sign it and we're going to make a lot of happy people."

---

There are some things where I just bypass critical thinking. - ROD
http://error1355.com/ce/Hinakuluiau.html

The Admiral posted...

It shouldn't be a real passage. But it is.

Also, it's amazing that the advice of a guy who is "smart like a computer" was to dress up like a stereotypical cowboy and use words like "varmint." The fact that his name is Robby Mook is just so perfect.

...you do realize this is satire, right?
---

There are some things where I just bypass critical thinking. - ROD
http://error1355.com/ce/Hinakuluiau.html

Skye Reynolds posted...

Can you name a story which features the griffin?

The Life of Apollonius of Tyana

As to the gold which the griffins dig up, there are rocks which are spotted with drops of gold as with sparks, which this creature can quarry because of the strength of its beak. “For these animals do exist in India” he said, “and are held in veneration as being sacred to the Sun ; and the Indian artists, when they represent the Sun, yoke four of them abreast to draw the images ; and in size and strength they resemble lions, but having this advantage over them that they have wings, they will attack them, and they get the better of elephants and of dragons. But they have no great power of flying, not more than have birds of short flight; for they are not winged as is proper with birds, but the palms of their feet are webbed with red membranes, such that they are able to revolve them, and make a flight and fight in the air; and the tiger alone is beyond their powers of attack, because in swiftness it rivals the winds.

And the griffins of the Indians and the ants of the Ethiopians, though they are dissimilar in form, yet, from what we hear, play similar parts; for in each country they are, according to the tales of poets, the guardians of gold, and devoted to the gold reefs of the two countries

---

There are some things where I just bypass critical thinking. - ROD
http://error1355.com/ce/Hinakuluiau.html

A lot do.

Focusing on the minority that don't, the problem is that for a lot of them the jobs don't meaningfully contribute to society and aren't worth being treated like shit for ~8 hours.
If they don't place an emphasis on money or the things money can bring them, what incentive do they have now?
---

There are some things where I just bypass critical thinking. - ROD
http://error1355.com/ce/Hinakuluiau.html

I won't deny it, he is charismatic. Hell, someone I know has met him and says he's really personable (this person is a liberal and met him years before the election) and interesting.
It's just that he seems so hateful. Bragging about sexual assault isn't cool, telling cops to be rough with suspects isn't cool, trying to build a wall that will be a waste of money AND ineffective since illegal immigration isn't from that kind of thing isn't cool, his constant need to lie about things that can easily be verified isn't cool, the constant attacks of the media, democrats, and republicans isn't cool, taking away of certain abortion rights/funds isn't cool, threatening other politicians for not doing what he wants isn't cool, the removing of certain rights given to gay and trans individuals isn't cool, etc., etc.

I wanted to like him. I have a couple friends who voted for him, so we talked before last Nov. about him. Thing is, they regret it now.
The fact that I'm a gay latino is another thing, it's personal. But even still, I hoped he wouldn't be this bad. I was wrong.
At least he's incompetent and is giving the Left a much-needed push, hopefully we don't have another Supreme Court stolen from us before he's out.
---

There are some things where I just bypass critical thinking. - ROD
http://error1355.com/ce/Hinakuluiau.html

Carcassonne
Kingsburg
Lords of Waterdeep
King of Tokyo

@Kerred for more.
---

There are some things where I just bypass critical thinking. - ROD
http://error1355.com/ce/Hinakuluiau.html

tennisdude818 posted...

Hyperinflation can add a lot if notional GDP.

Basic Income would not cause inflation because inflation is a result of monetary policy, not fiscal policy.

There's no way this could cause general inflation of that variety. You could argue that it would cause inflation in certain sectors of the economy, but that is arguable and would most likely be accompanied by deflation in other sectors (e.g., agribusiness and corn in particular would lose value if we did away with food stamps and replaced them with this).
---

There are some things where I just bypass critical thinking. - ROD
http://error1355.com/ce/Hinakuluiau.html

In the mid-1970s, the tiny Canadian town of Dauphin ( the %u201Cgarden capital of Manitoba%u201D ) acted as guinea pig for a grand experiment in social policy called %u201CMincome.%u201D For a short period of time, all the residents of the town received a guaranteed minimum income. About 1,000 poor families got monthly checks to supplement their earnings.

Evelyn Forget, a health economist at the University of Manitoba, has done some of the best research on the results. Some of her findings were obvious: Poverty disappeared. But others were more surprising: High-school completion rates went up; hospitalization rates went down. %u201CIf you have a social program like this, community values themselves start to change,%u201D Forget said.

A basic income might be enough to live on, but not enough to live very well on. Such a program would be designed to end poverty without creating a nation of layabouts. The Mincome experiment offers some backup for that argument, too.%u201CFor a lot of economists, the issue was that you would disincentivize work,%u201D said Wayne Simpson, a Canadian economist who has studied Mincome. %u201CThe evidence showed that it was not nearly as bad as some of the literature had suggested.%u201D

But analysis of pilot programs in which basic income was provided to communities in the U.S. and Canada suggest that it plays out differently than opponents suggest. In those programs, the overall reduction in working hours among those given basic income was extremely low. And the only participants who stopped working fit neatly into one of two distinct demographics: new mothers, and teenagers who had previously been working while attending high school%u2014neither of which are representative of the broader population

http://www.africafocus.org/docs10/pov1006.php

In "Just Give Money to the Poor: The Development Revolution from the South," Joseph Hanlon, Armando Barrientos and David Hulme look at the experience of recent cash transfer programs, in countries ranging from Mexico and Brazil to South Africa, Namibia, India, and Mongolia. The verdict: cash transfers work if they are both fair and assured. If poor people have even small amounts of regular ensured income, they are in general well-equipped to decide how to use it most productively. And the results not only alleviate immediate hardship, but also contribute to longer-term economic development and poverty reduction.

http://mondediplo.com/2013/05/04income

Dewala%u2019s team studied the effects of a minimum monthly income on 4,000 people in eight villages over 18 months. There were no conditions regarding wages, employment, caste, gender or age, and the recipients could use the money as they saw fit. Besides social security benefits, adults received 200 rupees ($3.65) a month, and mothers were given 100 rupees for each child. Four of the villages had had help from Sewa for some years, with the organisation of support groups, savings cooperatives (2), bank loans, training in financial management and support during visits to local officials. Twelve non-participant villages served as controls for comparative study. The initiative, modelled on an urban Sewa project in a district of Delhi, was India%u2019s first applied research on unconditional income. The hypothesis was that direct financial payments would change behaviour and improve family living conditions, especially children%u2019s nutrition and health.

Studies at the beginning, mid-point and end of the project confirmed that, in villages receiving payments, people spent more on eggs, meat and fish, and on healthcare. Children%u2019s school marks improved in 68% of families, and the time they spent at school nearly tripled. Saving also tripled, and twice as many people were able to start a new business.

---

There are some things where I just bypass critical thinking. - ROD
http://error1355.com/ce/Hinakuluiau.html

CircleOfManias posted...

Actual death metal lyrics are more like this. I'm not cherry-picking, this is very typical of the genre.

There is a mask
That covers up one's true intentions
Once removed, things become very clear
Analyze behavior patterns to see beneath
The person that is presented to you
Vulnerable through trust
Life is a twisted maze of obstacles
Presented by people with a secret face

What's on the outside
Is not always all that is real
Live by caution, what I feel
When things are reversed
People are shown for what they are
The truth is revealed
Banish the false
Pacifying moments with an acquired disguise to obtain
The things they want
By the anguish of someone else
Materialistic motives are fulfilled
Cherish the true
Vulnerable through trust
Life is a twisted maze of obstacles
Presented by people with a secret face

So basically /r/im14andthisisdeep
---

There are some things where I just bypass critical thinking. - ROD
http://error1355.com/ce/Hinakuluiau.html

Sayoria posted...

You think she met Harvard's standards on intellect alone?

Like others have said, considering both her parents went there and she most likely received their intellect and work ethic, uhh yeah?
---

There are some things where I just bypass critical thinking. - ROD
http://error1355.com/ce/Hinakuluiau.html

RickyTheBAWSE posted...

although it's more common(for me) to come across White people trying to tell me that being a Mexican American means I'm Latin.

Academically speaking, all of us whose heritage comes from places in Central America and South America are Latino. Hispanic is a bit more difficult, in that it related to our ancestry in Spanish-speaking origins (so just like Latino, except that Spain is included in this and Brazil is excluded).

Unless they're saying Latin = Ancient Rome, in which case lol.
---

There are some things where I just bypass critical thinking. - ROD
http://error1355.com/ce/Hinakuluiau.html

Milkman5 posted...

It's more alpha for a straight man to be a sex slave to another man?

Nothing manlier than fucking a guy
---

There are some things where I just bypass critical thinking. - ROD
http://error1355.com/ce/Hinakuluiau.html

Looking through Steam and they're all super weaboo.
---

There are some things where I just bypass critical thinking. - ROD
http://error1355.com/ce/Hinakuluiau.html

It's funny, I feel the same way about the Right.
---

There are some things where I just bypass critical thinking. - ROD
http://error1355.com/ce/Hinakuluiau.html

Deadpool_18 posted...

This, but you literally have people trying to change the definition of racism to fit their agenda. I've heard multiple people argue that you can't be racist towards whites because they are the majority. This stupidity knows no bounds.

To be fair, there are two definitions of racism.
The common definition would better be off as prejudice, and the academic one is prejudice + power. So then there is an argument, if you use the latter definition, that in mainstream American society you can't be racist towards white people.

Of course if you're using the first definition then of course any race be racist to any other race, and it's dishonest of someone to use the second definition in a discussion where everyone else is using the first definition.
---

There are some things where I just bypass critical thinking. - ROD
http://error1355.com/ce/Hinakuluiau.html

It's worth noting that you are entitled to workers comp in the state of Florida no matter your legal status.
Basically the employee may have been breaking the law by being here illegally, but they are not breaking the law in trying to receive their claims. All we're doing here is enabling scummy employers to break the law twice (hiring illegal workers, not paying out when someone is injured).
---

There are some things where I just bypass critical thinking. - ROD
http://error1355.com/ce/Hinakuluiau.html

cut funding to those groups who fought against them, months ago

See here: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/charlottesville-latest-donald-trump-slashed-funds-groups-fighting-white-supremacy-rally-riot-a7894271.html

The US President froze $10 million (£7.7m) of grants destined to fight violent extremism in the US back in May.

More than 30 organisations had been pegged by former President Barack Obama’s office to receive the funding, but the White House put the grants on hold pending review soon after Mr Trump took office.

...

Former white supremacist Chuck Leek, who has since become a volunteer with Life After Hate - one of the organisations that was due to receive government funding - warned at the time that white supremacy in the US was becoming more active.

...

earlier this year, the Trump administration was pushing to downplay the threat of white extremism by erasing neo-Nazis and white supremacists from the US government’s counter-extremism programme and moving it to focus exclusively on Islamist terrorism.

American officials briefed on the proposed changes said the Countering Violent Extremism (CVE) initiative could be renamed “Countering Radical Islamic Extremism”.

The reclassification would remove its work combatting far-right attacks and mass shootings, such as the massacre of black churchgoers in Charleston, which are rarely classified as terrorism by American authorities.

I remember the topic near May of his presidency when this happened, and a bunch of posters here on CE said "yeah but they're not a real threat," ignoring of course the fact you're more likely to die from one of them than an Islamic terrorist.


This is why the death of Heather Heyer is on Trump's hands, because he willfully took away funds from stopping the spread of white supremacy. That's why it's all a farce and I just feel an immense sadness for those conservatives who are too blind to see reality. That's without going in-depth on his campaign rhetoric inspiring extremists to act on their beliefs.
Fuck Trump. His impeachment can't come soon enough.
---

There are some things where I just bypass critical thinking. - ROD
http://error1355.com/ce/Hinakuluiau.html

Questionmarktarius posted...

intentionally disenfranchises minorities

[citation needed]

The multiple cases of voter disenfranchisement being struck down, with key Republicans admitting they are trying to prevent minorities from voting, don't count?
---

There are some things where I just bypass critical thinking. - ROD
http://error1355.com/ce/Hinakuluiau.html

Capn Circus posted...

One lone wolf, seemingly unaffiliated with Nazis or white supremacists, as the nation's sleuths have yet to produce any evidence of such (as far as I know).

About that
---

There are some things where I just bypass critical thinking. - ROD
http://error1355.com/ce/Hinakuluiau.html

D: All of the above

Kim is to blame for being a troll, Trump is to blame for being baited by the troll, and Obama/Bush/Clinton/etc. are to blame for not taking charge earlier
---

There are some things where I just bypass critical thinking. - ROD
http://error1355.com/ce/Hinakuluiau.html

It's interesting how this narrative has started playing out in the last couple of years or so. The big one of course being Trump asking black people "What have you got to lose [by voting for me]?"
It's not like Democrats have been amazing for black people, but they've generally been better than Republicans have been.

If this is how Republicans plan to get black voters, I don't see why it'd actually work. Much better would be to actually appeal to the conservative religious types, of which many make up the black community.
---

There are some things where I just bypass critical thinking. - ROD
http://error1355.com/ce/Hinakuluiau.html

Well yeah, that's what happens when you have a uniquely unqualified and unpopular president.
Let's see if they can overcome the odds in 2018, and hopefully put up a legitimately progressive candidate in 2020.
---

There are some things where I just bypass critical thinking. - ROD
http://error1355.com/ce/Hinakuluiau.html

No it won't. Please don't spout that bs about how it will make the mother ignore it or whatever.
The best thing to do is to put it into the nest
---

There are some things where I just bypass critical thinking. - ROD
http://error1355.com/ce/Hinakuluiau.html

It's when people from one culture take something from another without understanding what it signifies
It'd be like you walking up to a girl wearing a Mario shirt and saying "my princess is in another castle" and she just looks at you funny, because she doesn't know what Mario is she just likes greasy looking Italian plumbers

More seriously, this could be headdresses or tattoos that signify something important in their history, and a bunch of people not from that culture just wear it because it looks cool

I don't think either scenario is that big of a deal, but that may be because I don't really place an emphasis on my culture / history (Colombian / Incan); I get why people could be annoyed about it though
---

There are some things where I just bypass critical thinking. - ROD
http://error1355.com/ce/Hinakuluiau.html

He's been okay. Definitely a disappointment, but he'll stack up right in the middle of all presidents we've had.

It's easier to address his weaknesses first; he was given a supermajority in the Senate, control of both houses in Congress, and a screaming public mandate....and did nothing of particular consequence with it. He got a watered-down health care bill passed...a bill which he was more concerned with than everything else on his agenda. If the ACA was used as a bargaining chip (including single payer and public options), he could have gotten any number of things done in lieu of passing it. But he didn't. He also didn't really respect the public by prosecuting insurance and banking titans. The public wanted big bankers' heads after the collapse...and instead their businesses were deemed "too big to fail". I personally think the money spent bailing out the financial institutions would've been better off spent by paying off all of the public's loans. The entire public gets what they bought and couldn't pay for, which not only makes the public really happy but also severely punishes the institutions that made those s****y loans.

He also had questionable, if not outright terrible, foreign and military policy his first term. Libya was a resounding disaster, and demonstrated his unfamiliarity with military operations. You cannot just topple the leadership of a country, stick a "mission accomplished" sign on a battleship, and call it a day. There exists a concept called a power vacuum. Google it, it's pretty interesting. He also overestimated the chances of closing Guantanamo. The prisoners there have no home; we can't bring them back to America, we can't let them go home...so what happens to them? That's a pretty big issue he's only recently started to figure out.

But Obama's had some relative success. Even if they're crap jobs, his job creation record has been pretty substantial. Under his presidency, the LGBT community has experienced massive progress. And even though CO and WA were the pioneers of selling legal weed and Obama has continued the war on drugs by supplying local PDs with military-grade weapons, his decision to not prosecute anyone in those two states for pot-related offences opened the gate for discussion, and eventual adoption by other states. He's also been a cunning politician in the last 6 months or so; he was able to put a Republican Congress on tilt almost immediately following the election, and may actually provide a wave of support for Democrats in 2016.

His mere presence has also been a source of conflict...conflict which I'd argue is healthy for the nation. I think the country's really been looking at itself in the last 8 years. Ferguson, Sandy Hook, Aurora, Fort Hood, Dontre Hamilton, Treyvon Martin, and countless other cases have happened in his presidency. I don't necessarily see any institutional changes taking place, but look at what's happening to the millennial generation: We are pretty open and accepting of all races and backgrounds, are pretty anti-violence, and not too gun-crazy. We'll see what comes of his presidency in the years to come, but having the first black president hasn't just been for show.

So yeah, a little mixed. He's had some successes and some failures. Some of the things he considers successes are at best misguided, if not outright failures, but he's also done some legitimate good. Nowhere near the bottom echelon of presidencies, but also far from the top. 200 years from now, I think his place in history will be for the color of his skin and not what he actually did in office.

---

There are some things where I just bypass critical thinking. - ROD
http://error1355.com/ce/Hinakuluiau.html

SSJ-Spiderman posted...

I think a bigger reason she's not president is because she called half the country 'irredeemable'.

She did not. She called half of his supporters that, which means 30 million people which is around 10% of the country


Obviously a stupid fucking thing to say, you don't even need to look back that far to 2012 where Romney made a similar stupid remark, but what she said is not the same as calling half the country that
---

There are some things where I just bypass critical thinking. - ROD
http://error1355.com/ce/Hinakuluiau.html

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/us-muslims-homosexuality-white-evangelicals-lgbt-rights-transgender-islam-liberal-a7873276.html

52 per cent of US Muslims say homosexuality should be accepted by society. In contrast, only 34 percent of white evangelical Protestants felt the same.

Around 52 per cent of Protestants overall said homosexuality was acceptable, along with 66 per cent of Catholics and 63 per cent of the US general public.

Pew:
---

There are some things where I just bypass critical thinking. - ROD
http://error1355.com/ce/Hinakuluiau.html

That's my problem with topics like this and basically all of Trump's lies, it's all easily verifiable.
That's what blows my mind.

When Trump says his inaugural crowd was bigger than Obama's, we can see pictures and compare DC metro traffic.
Trump specifically said his campaign never talked to Russians, something we now know to be completely untrue.
When Trump says he talked with his generals about the trans ban, we can ask them and the Pentagon who all say they never talked with him.
etc., etc.

I'll say it again, you don't cover up benign things because it's never worth it. The cover-up can be worse than the alleged crime.
---

There are some things where I just bypass critical thinking. - ROD
http://error1355.com/ce/Hinakuluiau.html

So far as I understand it, all research shows that diversity is a good thing for people to experience.
If a university wishes to have a diverse student body because of this, I don't really have a problem with them using some kind of point system where racial identity is included
---

There are some things where I just bypass critical thinking. - ROD
http://error1355.com/ce/Hinakuluiau.html

Deadpool_18 posted...

It is funny to me that it's only acceptable when white characters have their race changed just because but the reverse is cause for outrage.

It has more to do with white (and you could include male and straight as well, for those genderbend adaptions) being the 'default' character setting.
Since this usually comes up with regards to comic book characters and their movie/tv adaptions, we can look at when most popular characters were created and see that most were from 50+ years ago. The characters they created were almost always white men. If they weren't white men, their origins / major plots had to do with the fact they were women or minorities. Almost no white male character had a plot point or backstory that hinged on being a white man.

Now granted, there are exceptions. For instance, Captain America is a tall white man with blond hair and blue eyes. He was the perfect Aryan race, yet he fought against Nazi Germany.
Another example would be someone like Batman. The Wayne's are old money. They have to be so rich and connected they exist before the USA was a country. Realistically, this means they have to be white.
Now, both of those examples could be subverted. Captain America and Batman could be titles they pass on. Perhaps Captain America was used in the Pacific Theater and was a Japanese-American. Maybe black people were never enslaved or segregated, allowing a black man with the last name of Wayne to build up a business empire. Or possibly Martha Kane was a black woman who married Thomas Wayne, allowing Bruce to be biracial.
Those could all be possible ways to get around it, but they all start to change fundamental parts of the characters origins. Fun for an alternate universe, but a little far out there for an adaption.

Compare that to someone like Johnny Storm. Nothing about him is that he's white. He has to be a good looking charmer who is cocky. That could be any race. He also has to have a sister, but since Fantastic Four is about family in all forms, having a step-sibling or adoption is just as good.
Or maybe we could talk about someone like Luke Cage, whose origins include the disparity between black prisoners and white prisoners, and how many of the stories he's known for go over police brutality.
And Wonder Woman, whose origins include coming from a woman-only island and her place in a Man's World.

etc.

I guess the point is that for most characters who aren't a minority or female, them being a white man has very little impact on their story. There are those where it does matter, but they're the exception rather than the rule. The opposite is true of female and minority characters, where there are only a few characters whose race/gender could be changed with little problems (Blade comes to mind, for instance).

So in that sense, having accepted that, they move on to realizing that 90% of the popular characters were created as straight white men, and that they could be changed with little issue. Add in that a lot of people do want diversity (or at the least don't care one way or the other), and it seems like a safe bet to change it up a bit.
The usual answer is 'why not just create new characters who are minorities?'
And the answer is always the same: new characters are almost never popular. Kamela Khan is the most popular new character, and she's a legacy character. X-23 is the same (and wasn't even created in comics).
Deadpool is very popular, but he's from 20 years ago.

I don't know. I think it's overblown anyway, cause adaptions are never 100% and characterization bothers me more than appearances when changed. Plus, if I wanted more of the same I can just read my comics.
---

There are some things where I just bypass critical thinking. - ROD
http://error1355.com/ce/Hinakuluiau.html

SSJ-RingoStarr posted...

If Alaska isn't interested in working with the party, why do we have to keep them as a state?

Senators should represent their state first and their party second.
This whole "party-before-country" shit is getting old very fast.
---

There are some things where I just bypass critical thinking. - ROD
http://error1355.com/ce/Hinakuluiau.html

Y'know what my favorite part of when Trump does something crazy? The 20 minutes or so afterward where his rabid supporters are silent, trying to see how Trump/Fox/Breitbart spin it so that they can have their opinion made up for them.
---

There are some things where I just bypass critical thinking. - ROD
http://error1355.com/ce/Hinakuluiau.html

Bullet_Wing posted...

He's too ineffective to actually get things accomplished.

Doom_Art posted...

He's so mind-blowingly awful that he's energized the left in a way i haven't seen in my lifetime.

---

There are some things where I just bypass critical thinking. - ROD
http://error1355.com/ce/Hinakuluiau.html

This is not normal. Moreso than it is usually is.
We have weekly testimonies on Russian collusion (massive one this week, https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/07/bill-browders-testimony-to-the-senate-judiciary-committee/534864/ ), bills passing to impose sanctions on foreign adversaries because the president won't (can't wait to see him veto them!), constant turnover within his cabinet, impromptu (and unprecedented) military bans on active service members with no preparation for said ban (and with the joints of staff saying they're doing nothing because a tweet shouldn't be policy), his department of Justice saying that sexual orientation doesn't give you protections (those last two together... so much for being "the best LGBT ally president" like he claimed), bills to prevent obstruction of justice pardons, and now bills to prevent a firing of Sessions and the special counsel.

Also more random things:

Joint Chiefs to troops: 'No modifications' to transgender policy - http://www.politico.com/story/2017/07/27/trump-transgender-military-ban-no-modification-241029

Trump lying again, "I consulted the military about the transgender ban." Military: "no, you didn’t." - https://www.vox.com/world/2017/7/27/16051892/trump-transgender-ban-army-chief-staff

Trump's Mar-a-Lago trips cost more than trans soldiers' health care -
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/onpolitics/2017/07/27/transgender-soldiers-cost-u-s-less-than-trumps-mar-a-lago-trips/515058001/

An article about the insane late-night ramblings of Anthony Scaramucci (the new White House Communications Director) -
http://www.newyorker.com/news/ryan-lizza/anthony-scaramucci-called-me-to-unload-about-white-house-leakers-reince-priebus-and-steve-bannon

Scaramucci also had a huge meltdown on CNN - https://thinkprogress.org/scaramucci-cnn-meltdown-39c64badff56

Also right after quoting an anonymous source, Scaramucci admits the source was Donald Trump - http://thehill.com/homenews/sunday-talk-shows/343373-scaramucci-outs-trump-as-anonymous-source-on-russian-intel

Trump Jr. meeting was a Kremlin-backed affair, lawyer testifies - https://news.vice.com/story/don-jr-meeting-was-a-kremlin-backed-affair-lawyer-testifies
and again - http://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-jr-s-meeting-with-russian-lawyer-was-about-sanctions-financier-tells-senate-panel/

Rex Tillerson Debates Quitting After ‘Unprofessional’ Trump Bashes Jeff Sessions - http://www.newsweek.com/rex-tillerson-could-quit-over-unprofessional-trump-bashing-jeff-sessions-641038

Trump speaks to advisers about firing Sessions - https://apnews.com/966ae4f389064b2b90d84b03d260730e/AP-sources:-Trump-speaks-to-advisers-about-firing-Sessions

Trump talks privately about the idea of a recess appointment to replace Sessions -
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-talks-privately-about-the-idea-of-a-recess-appointment-to-replace-sessions/2017/07/26/2a347d32-723c-11e7-9eac-d56bd5568db8_story.html

Lindsey Graham (R): "If Sessions is fired, there will be holy hell to pay" - https://www.axios.com/sen-graham-if-sessions-is-fired-there-will-be-holy-hell-to-pay-2466194175.html

Oh but don't worry, at least Trump is holding to his promises of not taking a salary, donates $100K to Education Dept. after cutting $9 billion - http://www.msnbc.com/all-in/watch/trump-donates-100k-to-education-dept-after-cutting-9b-1010826307840

All the while a significant portion of America thinks "this is fine" because they're fed a narrative from places like Fox.
---

There are some things where I just bypass critical thinking. - ROD
http://error1355.com/ce/Hinakuluiau.html

From what I understand, the TPP and Paris Accords were not favorable to the USA in their official capacity, but were useful to us in the sense that it allowed us to have control, input, and guidance on a world stage.
Throwing that away in some effort to sabotage Obama's legacy or a "take that, liberals/globalists" just seems short-sighted.
---

There are some things where I just bypass critical thinking. - ROD
http://error1355.com/ce/Hinakuluiau.html

Skinny repeal will still go through and we'll have another recession, just in time for Dems to sweep in 2020 and be blamed for it all
---

There are some things where I just bypass critical thinking. - ROD
http://error1355.com/ce/Hinakuluiau.html

SSJ-JohnLennon posted...

So what's the point in buying insurance if they're just going to take it away from me?

This is why the pre-existing conditions clause is something that should transcend political parties, it's such an obvious fix to a loophole the insurance companies exploited before the ACA. The GOP doesn't care though because they want to hurt Obama's legacy instead of looking at what works and is popular.
The catch is that the mandate and penalty has to accompany this, otherwise people would not buy insurance until they needed it

Of course you could avoid both problems with a single-payer system / UHC while also saving taxpayers money, but too many congressmen are paid by healthcare and insurance companies to make that a reality.
---

There are some things where I just bypass critical thinking. - ROD
http://error1355.com/ce/Hinakuluiau.html

Milkman5 posted...

I love how TFA was so terrible now the narrative is star wars has always been horrible.

No, that was how it's always been. Don't put your own narrow experiences onto the rest of us.
---

There are some things where I just bypass critical thinking. - ROD
http://error1355.com/ce/Hinakuluiau.html

We've only had one great Star Wars movie. (V)
We've had two okay Star Wars movies. (IV, VI)
We've had three whatever Star Wars movies. (III, TFA, RO)
We've had two bad Star Wars movies. (I, II)

In conclusion, with eight movies and less than half of them being ok (and only one of them actually being legitimately good), I don't think people will turn away from the franchise.
---

There are some things where I just bypass critical thinking. - ROD
http://error1355.com/ce/Hinakuluiau.html

Pretty much every brand has really stepped up in the last five years
---

There are some things where I just bypass critical thinking. - ROD
http://error1355.com/ce/Hinakuluiau.html

Talking about how disappointed he was with Sessions recusing himself, getting scared when he found out Mueller is going through his tax returns, trying to figure out if he can pardon himself, and his crisis manager resigned today citing "couldn't believe how White House operated and had never seen anything like it."
Trump is panicked and doesn't want anyone testifying next week. Shit is hitting the fan now faster than ever. I don't give him until Labor Day at this rate.
---

There are some things where I just bypass critical thinking. - ROD
http://error1355.com/ce/Hinakuluiau.html

So now the president is having secret meetings with Russians
And not just any old Russian, literally Putin and his translator

If Trump isn't guilty, he's certainly trying very hard to look like it


They behave close to exactly how we'd expect if there were an explicit quid pro quo and/or kompromat. Repeatedly.

So, after having met with Putin at a two-hour official meeting that went long by an hour, Trump nevertheless felt there was still more to discuss. Knowing the first, official meeting was being examined under an electron microscope by the entire world, he then meets informally with Putin again.
Secretly.
For an hour.
Without preparation.

With only Putin's translator present--and no (American) records of the meeting to do a readout of what was discussed beyond his own (failing) memory.

And then, he omits the meeting from the super-high-profile public discussions of the first meeting's aftermath.

C'mon now, this is ridiculous
---

There are some things where I just bypass critical thinking. - ROD
http://error1355.com/ce/Hinakuluiau.html