Political Randomness

Rip · Post by **Rip** » Tue Nov 17, 2015 7:21 pm

Jindal out!

Defiant · Post by **Defiant** » Wed Nov 18, 2015 9:30 pm

"There was a sort of particularized focus and perhaps even a legitimacy in terms of—not a legitimacy, but a rationale that you could attach yourself to somehow and say, OK, they’re really angry because of this and that," Kerry said of January’s Charlie Hebdo attacks. "This Friday was absolutely indiscriminate. It wasn't to aggrieve one particular sense of wrong. It was to terrorize people. It was to attack everything that we do stand for."

link

AWS260 · Post by **AWS260** » Thu Nov 19, 2015 11:24 am

Pretty entertaining: The corrupt NY State Senate majority leader and his spoiled child.

The son used an anatomical term to refer to Mr. Cuomo, and asked, “How do we beat him, Dad?”

“We will,” the senator replied. “I’m going to run against him.”

“I wish you would, Dad,” the son said, his mood seeming to lift, adding with coarse language that he “would be so proud” if the senator soundly defeated Mr. Cuomo.

“You watch what I’m going to do in the next couple of years with him, especially starting this year,” the senator said. “No more, you know, buddy-buddy and all that stuff,” he continued, and then referred to the governor with an expletive.

Max Peck · Post by **Max Peck** » Thu Nov 19, 2015 8:40 pm

Hrmmm, who would have guessed that if you make a habit of referring to voters who support another party as a "horde" then sooner or later you might generate an unfortunate sound bite. If you're going to be a public speaker, you might want to work on enunciation.

Holman · Post by **Holman** » Sun Nov 22, 2015 12:18 am

Louisiana update:

Bobby Jindal (R-never going to be president in 1,000,000 years), facing his term limit, was such a good governor that he is handing the state mansion over to a Democrat. John Bel Edwards (D-conservative) just beat David Vitter (R-absolutely absurd levels of hypocrisy) by 56-44.

LordMortis · Post by **LordMortis** » Mon Nov 23, 2015 2:53 pm

Is this political randomness or religious randomness?

https://www.washingtonpost.com/national ... story.html

Whodathunk? I always thought of Hamtramck as a Polish city and I would have thought Dearborn to be the first "majority muslim city" in the US. Shows what I know and how much I get out anymore. Still, it's an interesting read when contrasted with all of this fear of them and how the US continues to be a shifting stew and not a true melting pot.

Holman · Post by **Holman** » Mon Nov 23, 2015 10:54 pm

LordMortis wrote: Whodathunk? I always thought of Hamtramck as a Polish city and I would have thought Dearborn to be the first "majority muslim city" in the US. Shows what I know and how much I get out anymore.

Isn't Hamtramck essentially just a neighborhood of Detroit? Wiki tells me its population is 22,000, so it would be easier to establish any sort of majority there than in Dearborn (pop 98,000).

LordMortis · Post by **LordMortis** » Tue Nov 24, 2015 10:30 am

I'm not sure how municipalities work in different states. Other states have burrows and aldermen and I don't know what else. Detroit is its own municipality. The rest of us are just the Metro area. We identify as Detroit because it's easier.

Hamtramck is surrounded by Detroit on like 3.5 sides though and it is tiny.

It would be easier to establish a Muslim majority by brute force of migration in 22,000 vs 98,000 but up until a few years ago, Hamtramck was known for being Polish, whereas Dearborn is long establiished for being a Muslim capitol in the US.

Growing up, this is how you knew you were near Ford World Headquarters and the Fairlane mall

https://www.google.com/maps/uv?hl=en&pb ... gle+Search

Isgrimnur · Post by **Isgrimnur** » Tue Nov 24, 2015 10:40 am

Highland Park and Hamtramck, the Lesothos of Detroit.

LawBeefaroni · Post by **LawBeefaroni** » Tue Nov 24, 2015 10:45 am

LordMortis wrote:Is this political randomness or religious randomness?

https://www.washingtonpost.com/national ... story.html

Whodathunk? I always thought of Hamtramck as a Polish city and I would have thought Dearborn to be the first "majority muslim city" in the US. Shows what I know and how much I get out anymore. Still, it's an interesting read when contrasted with all of this fear of them and how the US continues to be a shifting stew and not a true melting pot.

Hamtramck elected a majority Muslim city council. It's not a majority Muslim population. Dearborn I'm sure has far more Muslims than Hamtram.

Max Peck · Post by **Max Peck** » Thu Nov 26, 2015 1:45 pm

I feel special -- someone finally declared a "War on <something-I-identify-with>" for a change.

The high cost of the low-interest rate war on savers

There's a lot of "Oh, snap" and high-fiving on the internet about Janet Yellen's comeback to Ralph Nader this week. "Ralph Nader wrote Janet Yellen a sexist letter," declared Vox, on its business and finance website. "Her response is a fantastic short lesson in monetary policy." Well, first of all, Nader's letter wasn't sexist. He merely advised the chairwoman of the U.S. Federal Reserve to sit down with her "Nobel Prize-winning husband, economist George Akerlof, who is known to be consumer-sensitive," and figure out some way to help millions of retired Americans.

Let's remember here that Nader, whom I've encountered flying coach and eating a cold sandwich, has dedicated his life to defending ordinary consumers. Let's also remember that Janet Yellen is in charge of an incredibly powerful, secretive government institution that used public money to protect super-wealthy U.S. bankers seven years ago while millions of Americans were ruined or beggared by the reckless pump-and-dump schemes Wall Street had been running.

That Yellen happens to be a woman and Nader a man is irrelevant. What is important, and largely not discussed, is the point Nader was making: that ultra-low interest rates have hurt retirees and savers, not just in America, but in every Western nation that used cheap money to grease the financial system when it was about to seize up.

Kraken · Post by **Kraken** » Thu Nov 26, 2015 2:21 pm

Yup, and that disproportionately affects the elderly and near-retirees whose money is not invested aggressively and who are past our borrowing years.

Some of our retirement savings are in a savings account that's been stuck at 0.75% ever since the crash. Prior to that, I used a CD ladder to earn 2 or 3% on that account. It doesn't go up by much, but it never goes down. Higher rates would be welcome there.

OTOH I refi'd our 5.75% mortgage into a 2.79% variable home equity line last year. Higher rates are not welcome there.

The savings account and the mortgage are almost exactly the same amount, so the benefit and the cost of rising rates ought to more or less cancel out. And since I'm almost exactly one year away from being able to withdraw the savings penalty-free, paying off the mortgage with retirement money will soon be an option if my rate-gamble proves to be wrong. Then I could use the mortgage budget to rebuild the savings account until I actually retire several years later.

Of course, monetary policy is not designed for people like me. We just have to cope with whatever comes.

LordMortis · Post by **LordMortis** » Thu Nov 26, 2015 2:52 pm

Kraken wrote:Some of our retirement savings are in a savings account that's been stuck at 0.75% ever since the crash.

My savings is .09% My retirement savings is all in long term stocks, because it has to be... And it's lost money that makes .09% look good so far. But then I haven't had a retirement saving for but a year and a half. So I wait and watch.

Prior to that, I used a CD ladder to ea ... ome there.

I'd jump on CDs or even corporate bonds in heartbeat but there's pretty much nothing to jump on to.

OTOH I refi'd our 5.75% mortgage into a 2.79% variable home equity line last year. Higher rates are not welcome there.

Depending on how much you owe, that's huge. And where the article has it right and the "college needs to be free!" crowd is off. Housing is still cheap compared to where it was when the bubble burst and interest rates are practically free money. Not to mention, unless they got in a bad deal their college loans are also cheap.

What sucks and what they should really be complaining about are wages.

Of course, monetary policy is not designed for people like me.

You and me both. Shifting monetary policy always seems to benefit a small subset of people who are not in my position at the expense of people who are in my position.

I'm so glad the mortgage monkey is off my back and only hope that I can put enough away to not make it by and that "the market" doesn't totally hose me.

Max Peck · Post by **Max Peck** » Thu Nov 26, 2015 3:39 pm

In theory I'm affected by this, but in practice I'm not. I'm retired, with no debt and with a retirement income that exceeds my expenses by a comfortable margin. My registered retirement savings are getting hammered by current market conditions, but I don't need to touch them for almost 20 years so I can ride that out. My nonregistered savings are earning interest that probably lags behind inflation after taxes (my TFSA is maxed out, so that helps there a little), but I don't actually rely on that interest as income.

Kraken · Post by **Kraken** » Thu Nov 26, 2015 4:19 pm

LordMortis wrote:
I'd jump on CDs or even corporate bonds in heartbeat but there's pretty much nothing to jump on to.

For the past year or more, 1-5 year CDs have been paying 0.70%, vs. 0.75% on regular savings. It's like they don't even want you to lock in your money.

The 0.75 rate is at Capital One 360, btw (formerly ING DIrect). Dunno if it's worth moving your money when the stakes are so low, but 0.75 > 0.19.

malchior · Post by **malchior** » Thu Nov 26, 2015 6:34 pm

The Nader argument is populism at its best. It sounds "consumer" friendly but does not meet reality. The interest rate is practically inflation control at this point so most likely it will go up along with the eventual rise in inflation in general and provide neutral benefit to savers at best. In other words savers are screwed no matter what.

malchior · Post by **malchior** » Thu Nov 26, 2015 6:45 pm

Kraken wrote:I'd jump on CDs or even corporate bonds in heartbeat but there's pretty much nothing to jump

For the past year or more, 1-5 year CDs have been paying 0.70%, vs. 0.75% on regular savings. It's like they don't even want you to lock in your money.

They don't need your money - they are getting it essentially for free at the discount window and maintaining accounts costs them money. It's totally broken but that is the game now. Only 1 or 2 top 10 banks care at all about the interest rate going up (Schwab for sure and maybe Bank of New York - Mellon). Not a lot of pressure on them except from the inflationistas/gold bugs whose influence is basically zilch at this point.

Kraken · Post by **Kraken** » Thu Nov 26, 2015 11:09 pm

malchior wrote:
Kraken wrote: For the past year or more, 1-5 year CDs have been paying 0.70%, vs. 0.75% on regular savings. It's like they don't even want you to lock in your money.
They don't need your money - they are getting it essentially for free at the discount window and maintaining accounts costs them money. It's totally broken but that is the game now. Only 1 or 2 top 10 banks care at all about the interest rate going up (Schwab for sure and maybe Bank of New York - Mellon). Not a lot of pressure on them except from the inflationistas/gold bugs whose influence is basically zilch at this point.

Much of the world economy is grappling with deflation and the US has been skirting it for some time. I don't think the Fed's tightening is going to go far or last long -- unless energy prices spike or the next administration puts another major war on the ol' credit card.

Rip · Post by **Rip** » Fri Nov 27, 2015 3:52 am

The latest episode of Elementary had a story where two guys shared a wife.

Called it.

Isgrimnur · Post by **Isgrimnur** » Fri Nov 27, 2015 10:56 pm

Listening to my mother and MIL talk about immigration, Muslims, and the political candidates is absolutely maddening.

Kraken · Post by **Kraken** » Fri Nov 27, 2015 11:07 pm

Here's an interesting case for why the Democrats should throw the 2016 election (which they appear hell bent on doing anyway by nominating Clinton).

Kraken · Post by **Kraken** » Fri Nov 27, 2015 11:23 pm

Our former governor (and presidential candidate) Michael Dukakis is notoriously frugal. A couple of days ago the Globe ran this story about his passion for turning turkey carcasses into turkey soup. "Throughout the course of the year, once every month or two, he removes one of the carcasses. He gets out a pot. He pours enough water to cover the bones, adds an onion, and lets it simmer for at least three hours. He cleans the meat off the bones, he adds in rice and any assortment of vegetables (“Peas are good. Carrots are good”). " The story ended with "“I’m collecting if you know anybody. People throw this thing out — it’s crazy!” he says.

“Tell your readers under no circumstances should they do that,” he adds. “They should use the carcass. And if they don’t want to, tell them to come to 85 Perry Street in Brookline. We’ll make full use of it, believe me.”"

He got 20 carcasses.

By Friday, he was on CNN discussing his favorite soup — and telling host John Berman that, had he won the presidency in 1988, perhaps millions would have been exposed to his promotion of turkey soup. He said he may mention it to President Obama.

“A lot of people are throwing them out. And they’re missing a fabulous meal,” he said. “So maybe if I’d become president of the United States, we could have had literally thousands — maybe millions — of people out there making themselves turkey soup and sharing it with others.”

“Given the reaction to this,” he added, “maybe I’ll suggest it to the president. Who knows?”

This setup is my gift to Rip.

Rip · Post by **Rip** » Fri Nov 27, 2015 11:33 pm

I would enlighten him to the fact it works with more than turkey.

Michael let me introduce you to Gumbo.

Turkey, possum, that crazy old guy from down the road.

The things you can make a gumbo with is limited only by your imagination.

Disclaimer

I don't eat that shit!

Moliere · Post by **Moliere** » Sun Nov 29, 2015 12:03 am

The Baseball Commissioner Who Made Bush President

How different would the world be if Bud Selig had let Bush Jr. become the Baseball Commissioner?

LordMortis · Post by **LordMortis** » Mon Nov 30, 2015 8:03 am

Why aren't we "as a nation" calling these Extremist Christian acts of terrorism, Extremist Christian acts of terrorism, when we "as a nation" have no problem calling out Extremist Muslim acts of terrorism, Extremist Muslim acts of terrorism?

Isn't there a point where the collective we either take exclamation point off of Muslim or add it Christian? How do you ever address the crazy if you can't find consistency?

Holman · Post by **Holman** » Mon Nov 30, 2015 8:24 am

LordMortis wrote:Why aren't we "as a nation" calling these Extremist Christian acts of terrorism, Extremist Christian acts of terrorism, when we "as a nation" have no problem calling out Extremist Muslim acts of terrorism, Extremist Muslim acts of terrorism?

Isn't there a point where the collective we either take exclamation point off of Muslim or add it Christian? How do you ever address the crazy if you can't find consistency?

Ted Cruz, at least, is unafraid to face facts.

He has declared the Colorado Planned Parenthood killer to be a transgendered leftist activist.

Isgrimnur · Post by **Isgrimnur** » Mon Nov 30, 2015 8:47 am

Because it's easier than addressing the mental health aspect:

Police have not released a motive for the shooting, but Vicki Cowart, the president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Rocky Mountains, said that witnesses to the shooting reported that Dear "was motivated by opposition to safe and legal abortion."

Investigators have not confirmed the claim, but two law enforcement officials told NBC News on Saturday that upon questioning, Dear made a comment about "no more baby parts" in an apparent reference to Planned Parenthood. The officials stressed that Dear's comments were made amidst a flurry of "rantings" that also included statements about politics and President Barack Obama.

People who were familiar with Dear from time he spent living in South Carolina were accustomed to similar rhetoric.

Former next door neighbor John Hood said that Dear hardly ever spoke wit him, but when he did, he would offer nonsensical advice, like recommending that Hood put a metal roof on his house so the U.S. government couldn't spy on him.
...
Whether or not Dear's strange antics should have raised a red flag, sources told NBC News that there would have been nothing apparent in Dear's background — including a felony conviction or previous mental health issue — that would have disqualified him from buying the AK-47 style, high-powered rifle used in the shootings.

LordMortis · Post by **LordMortis** » Mon Nov 30, 2015 9:01 am

Which thing do "we" tend to think about Tsarnaev first? That he was mentally ill or that he was Muslim?

Also again, I'm not even saying the exclamation point should be placed on religion. I only wonder why it seems to be placed on one and not the other. I can't blame the Christian Right for covering up its extremism because it's really a sort of a national viewpoint.

Edit:

And these are examples of what reads as off to me:

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/25/us/ta ... .html?_r=0

http://securitydata.newamerica.net/extr ... tacks.html

Homegrown Extremists Tied to Deadlier T ... Since 9/11

AWS260 · Post by **AWS260** » Mon Nov 30, 2015 11:41 am

Protect America: close the borders of the Carolinas.

This week’s carnage in Colorado brings the death toll from North Carolinian terrorists, including Eric Rudolph, to eight. That’s just one shy of the nine people murdered in Charleston. Throw in the work of a few lesser miscreants, and you’re looking at roughly 20 casualties inflicted by Carolina extremists.

hepcat · Post by **hepcat** » Mon Nov 30, 2015 2:20 pm

I can't endorse that simply because the last time I was there, it appeared that both North and South Carolina had roughly one Arby's for every square mile of land. That level of commitment to curly fries and Jamocha milkshakes should not be punished for the crimes of these madmen.

Enough · Post by **Enough** » Mon Nov 30, 2015 7:26 pm

Holman wrote:
LordMortis wrote:Why aren't we "as a nation" calling these Extremist Christian acts of terrorism, Extremist Christian acts of terrorism, when we "as a nation" have no problem calling out Extremist Muslim acts of terrorism, Extremist Muslim acts of terrorism?

Isn't there a point where the collective we either take exclamation point off of Muslim or add it Christian? How do you ever address the crazy if you can't find consistency?
Ted Cruz, at least, is unafraid to face facts.

He has declared the Colorado Planned Parenthood killer to be a transgendered leftist activist.

He really is a giant pile of excrement.

geezer · Post by **geezer** » Mon Nov 30, 2015 9:52 pm

Enough wrote:
Holman wrote:
LordMortis wrote:Why aren't we "as a nation" calling these Extremist Christian acts of terrorism, Extremist Christian acts of terrorism, when we "as a nation" have no problem calling out Extremist Muslim acts of terrorism, Extremist Muslim acts of terrorism?

Isn't there a point where the collective we either take exclamation point off of Muslim or add it Christian? How do you ever address the crazy if you can't find consistency?
Ted Cruz, at least, is unafraid to face facts.

He has declared the Colorado Planned Parenthood killer to be a transgendered leftist activist.
He really is a giant pile of excrement.

You're too kind. (Seriously).

Enough · Post by **Enough** » Tue Dec 01, 2015 12:40 am

geezer wrote:
Enough wrote:
Holman wrote:
LordMortis wrote:Why aren't we "as a nation" calling these Extremist Christian acts of terrorism, Extremist Christian acts of terrorism, when we "as a nation" have no problem calling out Extremist Muslim acts of terrorism, Extremist Muslim acts of terrorism?

Isn't there a point where the collective we either take exclamation point off of Muslim or add it Christian? How do you ever address the crazy if you can't find consistency?
Ted Cruz, at least, is unafraid to face facts.

He has declared the Colorado Planned Parenthood killer to be a transgendered leftist activist.
He really is a giant pile of excrement.
You're too kind. (Seriously).

And just in case anyone was loony enough to even consider what Cruz said about Dear being a leftist transgendered activist,

An El Paso County clerical error was apparently to blame for Planned Parenthood shooting suspect Robert Lewis Dear Jr. being listed as a woman on his voter registration card - a detail that fueled national speculation over his gender identity.

Ryan Parsell, El Paso County's chief deputy clerk and recorder, said his office incorrectly recorded Dear's gender in October 2014, leading to the issuance of both a driver's license and voter's registration card erroneously identifying him as a woman.

"The Clerk and Recorder's Office processes over 500,000 transactions a year," Parsell said. "Mistakes are going to be made, and it is a reminder to us of the important job that we do to see that a mistake made by us has had national implications."

Isgrimnur · Post by **Isgrimnur** » Tue Dec 01, 2015 9:20 am

I sure am glad that Ted waited until all the facts were in to make a reasoned response, especially since the issue in question happened in a state that he represents.

Enough · Post by **Enough** » Tue Dec 01, 2015 2:10 pm

Isgrimnur wrote:I sure am glad that Ted waited until all the facts were in to make a reasoned response, especially since the issue in question happened in a state that he represents.

Not to worry, after getting every right wing blog to post the story that Dear is a leftist trans activist, Cruz is now taking the "I didn't claim that, I'm just asking questions" defense we all know so well in these parts.

Isgrimnur · Post by **Isgrimnur** » Tue Dec 01, 2015 2:13 pm

To be fair, the language in the original link is more reasoned that we're giving him credit for.

When a reporter reminded Cruz it has been reported Dear made a comment about "baby parts" while being apprehended, Cruz retorted, "It’s also been reported that he was registered as an independent and a woman and a transgendered leftist activist. If that’s what he is, I don’t think it’s fair to blame on the rhetoric on the left. This is a murderer.”

Cruz's claim appeared to be based on a voter registration form that lists Dear's gender as female. "We know that he was a man who was registered to vote as a woman," Cruz said.

Asked if we could call the shooting an act of domestic terrorism — as former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee has — Cruz again urged caution about drawing conclusions from the shooting at this point.

“I would call it a murder, and we’ll see what the facts are," Cruz replied. "It was a multiple murder of what appears to be a deranged individual. And it was horrific, it was evil, and we’ll find out more out about the facts, but I don’t think we should jump to conclusions.”

Isgrimnur · Post by **Isgrimnur** » Tue Dec 01, 2015 4:20 pm

NY

Former New York Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver was found guilty on all counts Monday afternoon in his federal trial on charges of bribery, extortion and money laundering.

As CBS2’s Jessica Schneider reported, Silver was one of the most powerful men in Albany up until about a year ago – along with Gov. Andrew Cuomo and former Senate leader Dean Skelos, who together with Silver were sometimes called the “three men in a room.”

But at 4 p.m., he was convicted of receiving $5 million in improper fees from law firms for referrals. He showed no expression when the verdict was read, Schneider reported.
...
Silver walked out of court just before 6 p.m. He only said that he was disappointed, and that he will fight the verdict on appeal with his attorneys.

He now faces up to 130 years in prison.

Two jurors asked to be excused, one because he leased his taxi medallion from an associate of Silver's, the other because she felt pressure from her fellow jurors. Neither were excused.

Are we going to hear about the evils of juror bullying, now? I'd love to read a Popehat piece on something like that.

Moliere · Post by **Moliere** » Thu Dec 03, 2015 10:20 am

Moliere wrote:Hand out flyers on jury nullification? Go to jail! On felony charges no less.

Felony prosecution for distributing pro-jury-nullification leaflets outside courthouse

Keith Eric Wood is being prosecuted for standing outside a Michigan courthouse and handing out a leaflet that discusses jury nullification. According to Michigan authorities, his leafletting (1) constitutes felony “obstruction of justice,” by “knowingly and intentionally giving the members of a . . . jury pool a pamphlet that encouraged the jurors to violate their oaths and directly contradicted the instructions the jurors would be given thereby tainting the entire jury panel,” and (2) “willfully attempt to influence the decision of a juror in a case [a misdemeanor] by argument or persuasion that was not a part of the proceedings in open court in the trial of the case” (even though the leaflet wasn’t referring to a particular case).

It seems to me that such speech is constitutionally protected, and that the prosecution therefore violates the First Amendment. One can debate whether jury nullification is good or bad for the legal system, but it’s clear that it’s not a crime for jurors to refuse to convict even when the jury instructions seem to call for a guilty verdict. So Wood is encouraging a jury to engage in legal — even if, in the view of some, harmful — conduct.

El Guapo · Post by **El Guapo** » Thu Dec 03, 2015 10:26 am

Yeah, similar to what Volokh is getting at I think there would have to be some indication that Wood is trying to interfere *with a particular case* before the prosecution could even start to be viable. Jury nullification is entirely legal, so he's just communicating with them about conduct that's legal for them to engage in.

Now, if he were speaking with current (empaneled) jurors urging them to nullify in a particular case...maybe I could see this, depending in part on what exactly was said. But if he's just "hey jurors, here's something you can do"...seems like a stupid and harmful prosecution.

Though I'm curious why the guy felt compelled to do this, if not to interfere with a particular case.

Moliere · Post by **Moliere** » Thu Dec 03, 2015 12:13 pm

El Guapo wrote:Though I'm curious why the guy felt compelled to do this, if not to interfere with a particular case.

Jury Nullification is like guns or abortion for some people. It's their thing to scream about.