Juliajms

Not you. I blocked you (and have since unblocked you) unfairly and I admit that. However, there is one obvious troll and one person who has not apologized for the terrible racist comments (calling people animals, saying blacks should stay in their place) they made in the past that are in this thread right now.

Damn right. Also, @Toups we need the ignore function restored. Please. Dear. God.

"We" are using tear gas on families trying to cross the border. This regime just keeps finding new ways to be inhumane. The pictures of those poor, terrified children should haunt Trump voters for life, but of course they don't care. https://www.cnn.com/2018/11/25/us/san-ysidro-port-of-entry-closed/index.html

I suspect a relatively quick reformation could occur. I can't help but note that despite the open white supremacy running through Trump's presidency, he did pretty well with Latinos. He got nearly a third of that vote despite advocating for the wall. Makes me wonder if the GOP can form a new coalition. Unfortunately, I think they can do it if they drop the white supremacy or maybe just expand the definition of white again. Maybe it's just my perception, but that seems to be happening already. I can't tell you how many times I had to remind myself in the last election that Rubio and Cruz were Latino and not just straight up white men. Obviously Democrats have our own problems and I wonder how strong our coalition really is. The whole Bernie Bro situation makes it pretty clear that the party is plagued with misogyny for starters. We might hope that it was specific to HRC and the 30 year hit job the media did on her. That's certainly one factor, but I'm not sure it's the only one. At the same time, I can't help but wonder if the chaos the Trump administration isn't a chance for someone like Kamala Harris.

Looks like France is having it's own troubles with the far right. A deeper explanation of who these protesters are. https://kazolias.com/2018/11/22/yellow-vests-frances-deplorables-explained/

Here's some gallows humor.

^ Ugh. Going after an 80 year old holocaust survivor. They should all be ashamed of themselves.

He's a conman and yet so bad at it. It's really stunning how far he's managed to get, even though so many of us can see right through him.

I'm talking about things like this:https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/911-saudi-government-embassy-dry-run-hijacks-lawsuit-cockpit-security-a7938791.html but maybe in the end it's all just conspiracy theory. I definitely don't have the energy to go down the rabbit hole of figuring it out when so much crazy is happening in the present. Speaking of SA, I hope some hope will come for these women.

But isn't it the case that 9/11 was state sponsored by the Saudi's? I don't think we have the smoking gun on that, but it seems like we've gotten bits and pieces of info on that front over the years. Given how many of the attackers were of Saudi origin it would have made a lot more sense to go after them. It would have made even more sense not to go after anyone, of course. Revenge was in the air back then though, I remember that much for sure. Yes, that's how I see it too. I know GWB seems warm and cuddly now to some (in the press), hell I even feel that way at times because he's not a foaming at the mouth racist, but he is responsible for more senseless death than Trump at this point.

Yes, the personal corruption of the Trump administration might be worse than that of the Bush administration. I really can't say because with Bush being from oil country it's not clear to me how much he and his family benefited from the connection to Halliburton and the oil industry. Let's just say I'm suspicious that we don't know everything there is to know on that front. My real point is that while Trump is personally corrupt, W actually sent us to war with the wrong country to protect the Saudis. How many people died because of the lies that administration told and the misdirection they did concerning 9/11? Some reports say that half a million children died as a result of things like starvation and lack of medical care, when we all know that Iraq had nothing to do with 9/11. That seems worse to me than 45's greed, but at the same time the impunity Trump has given the Saudis is also dangerous and I'm sure a lot of innocent people will pay for that too.

Of course Trump would overlook anything when the people involved have more money than god. At the same time, I'm not sure this is anything worse than what the Bush administration did after 9/11. It's more obvious in the moment though and in that way disturbing, just like so much of what's going on right now. The masks are off and all pretense of moral leadership is gone.

I think this article makes a lot of good points, although I have to admit I fell for the type of thinking that he is discussing initially. By initially, I mean nearly two years. Then I realized I was falling for twitter nonsense. It comes as absolutely no surprise that it's elite white women behind this thinking either. They are so desperate to shame the rabble as a means of distancing themselves. Meanwhile, it's education itself that is the distance and there's no point pretending that gender or race puts us on the same team. That's some good news.

Every once in awhile some twitter famous nerd espouses the idea that we are living in a computer simulation. Usually I roll my eyes at that kind of self indulgence. Then things like this happen and I think they must be right. This reality is a simulation designed to see how much idiocy we can take before we breakdown.

A shooting at a hospital. How awful.

I swear, it's always the biggest losers who start talking about a "master race". They have nothing else going for them, so they need to believe that.

^ Yes, we do. I know voter suppression has always been a problem, but seeing it happen live is so enraging. It's not a party issue to me, even though we all know it's usually rich white Republicans trying to repress the non white vote. And this is the most sickening case that I know of in this cycle. The blatant corruption should not be allowed to stand. I don't know how anyone values democracy can be happy about this.

This is just sad. Hopefully Florida can get it together for 2020.

Dartmouth professors were allegedly raping students. This is really a sick and terrible case if true. https://www.cnn.com/2018/11/15/us/dartmouth-title-ix-lawsuit/index.html

So awful.

I agree. I think he might have been a good high profile lawyer, but he ruined his own chances at that.

I was hoping he would harangue Trump for the next 2 years. Oh well. Hopefully, his ex will recover and get in line to sue his ass.

I don't care for Bill Maher at all, but this is so true.

^ The increase in hate crimes is both disturbing and predictable. It was so obvious that a vote for Trump was a vote for hate. It's sad to think that people are so easily led down the wrong path, but we know from both history and social science that it's true. People can be led to unleash their worst selves by a bad leader. We have got to get ride of him ASAP. Meanwhile, I do wonder what the numbers would be if we took out the hundreds of calls that Israeli Jewish boy made to JCCs. Should it count if the person who made the calls has a mental disorder and belongs to the very group he's threatening? Maybe it should, I'm no expert, but I do feel a little bit better knowing that these statistics The FBI released its annual report on hate crime statistics yesterday. The overall number of hate crimes in 2017 was up 17 percent from 2016, with a 37 percent rise in crimes targeting Jews and Jewish institutions, which was highlighted by the ADL. Last year, 938 anti-Semitic incidents were reported, up from 684 incidents in 2016. were driven in part by someone who couldn't follow through without getting on a plane.

Of all the self serving decision Amazon could have made this takes the cake. Why on earth did they need to choose two of the most expensive rental markets? Well yeah, I know why, but it still makes me sad when I think of the gentrification and housing crunch this will cause. Why not choose places where there is actual land to expand? I suppose Nashville fits that bill, but choosing NYC is just eye roll worthy. Neither NYC nor Virginia/DC should be paying a penny to Amazon.