Octopus Overlords

Introducing a bill that allows federal worker's pay to be set at $1 is an interesting strategy, House Republicans.

The Holman Rule, which was written up in 1876, was approved on Tuesday as a provision in a larger legislative package that was largely ignored due to timing, as Republicans pushed to gut the House ethics office.

I'm sure there's a perfectly logical reason they'd do this...now.

Lots of possibilities but I can see it to kill the bureaucracy. Set a bunch of open positions salaries at $1 and you don't have to worry about anyone ever accepting the spot. As people age out - the spot gets set to a $1. Maybe we'll truly get small government now (naturally in functions where the nihilists think the government is superfluous - like the EPA).

Or only super rich people that don't need the salary will take the post?

Accepting it? How about no more employees - instead we're just appointing new people and giving them a stipend. Because apparently the GOP is all about rubber-stamping appointments now.

Tucker Carlson -- still hurting America.

So, new BS propaganda sites are beginning to show up in my feed. I hate to block friends but I do not hesitate to pull the trigger on the shit they link to.

Is it better to just silently plonk propaganda links or explain why you are plonking them? I had done the former with a great deal of satisfaction but recently I've felt a compelling to say "These are the actual facts that your picturebook site link is misrepresenting and I am plonking them." It feels douchey but at the same time, if feels necessary. The barrage of what only seems like intentional lies was supposed to go away after the election. And to my surprise, these posts are mainly all coming from the left, where they are taking legit grievances and then just making shit up to outrage people at how stupid they are compared to us.

malchior wrote:Lots of possibilities but I can see it to kill the bureaucracy. Set a bunch of open positions salaries at $1 and you don't have to worry about anyone ever accepting the spot. As people age out - the spot gets set to a $1. Maybe we'll truly get small government now (naturally in functions where the nihilists think the government is superfluous - like the EPA).

And the IRS, the SEC, the FCC, the FTC, the FEC, the Dept of Education, NASA Climate studies, etc.

Basically I expect it to be used for political witch hunts.

Pyperkub wrote:Basically I expect it to be used for political witch hunts.

This move paired with the requests from Trump for lists of people involved in specific projects or subject areas certainly leads me to think so.

LordMortis wrote:So, new BS propaganda sites are beginning to show up in my feed. I hate to block friends but I do not hesitate to pull the trigger on the shit they link to.

My nephew proclaimed himself an Intelligent Design convert because Stephen Hawking had renounced atheism in favor of ID. This seeming dubious to me and Snopes coming up empty, I asked him for a cite. He linked to a fake news site. I knew it was fake because it had a disclaimer page saying as much. Sorry to embarrass the poor kid in front of his FB friends, but people gotta learn. I don't care what he believes as long as it's not based on blatant bullshit.

This was my first personal encounter with blatantly trumped-up news that isn't obviously played for laughs, like the Onion.

Skinypupy wrote:

Pyperkub wrote:Basically I expect it to be used for political witch hunts.

This move paired with the requests from Trump for lists of people involved in specific projects or subject areas certainly leads me to think so.

I guess we can count ourselves lucky that our Stalinist purges are gentle.

I am certain that the IRS auditor handling Trump's taxes is administration enemy number one -- dollar.

LordMortis wrote:So, new BS propaganda sites are beginning to show up in my feed. I hate to block friends but I do not hesitate to pull the trigger on the shit they link to.

Is it better to just silently plonk propaganda links or explain why you are plonking them? I had done the former with a great deal of satisfaction but recently I've felt a compelling to say "These are the actual facts that your picturebook site link is misrepresenting and I am plonking them." It feels douchey but at the same time, if feels necessary. The barrage of what only seems like intentional lies was supposed to go away after the election. And to my surprise, these posts are mainly all coming from the left, where they are taking legit grievances and then just making shit up to outrage people at how stupid they are compared to us.

If you are in a position to help someone (most certainly an acquaintance) realize they are wrong, you are duty bound to do it - not sure if that's what you are asking. (not sure what 'plonk' means)

Unagi wrote:(not sure what 'plonk' means)

Kill file 'em.

Unagi wrote:

LordMortis wrote:So, new BS propaganda sites are beginning to show up in my feed. I hate to block friends but I do not hesitate to pull the trigger on the shit they link to.

Is it better to just silently plonk propaganda links or explain why you are plonking them? I had done the former with a great deal of satisfaction but recently I've felt a compelling to say "These are the actual facts that your picturebook site link is misrepresenting and I am plonking them." It feels douchey but at the same time, if feels necessary. The barrage of what only seems like intentional lies was supposed to go away after the election. And to my surprise, these posts are mainly all coming from the left, where they are taking legit grievances and then just making shit up to outrage people at how stupid they are compared to us.

If you are in a position to help someone (most certainly an acquaintance) realize they are wrong, you are duty bound to do it - not sure if that's what you are asking. (not sure what 'plonk' means)

Plonking is to ignore by means of pushing a button. I think it's suppose to represent the sound of you making them disappear. Facebook over the last six months or so has given you the opportunity to ignore walls your friends share, rather than ignoring your friends. It's helped people like me not rage quit facebook over that period of time. I have used this feature liberally (no pun to be insinuated) in the past and it's totally culled the bullshit I see when I'd rather see ... funny stuff, actual news, social things, real opinions, etc...

I'm not entirely sure the people who post propaganda captioned pictures from propaganda newsfeeds are interested in their factual lies, even if they are otherwise friends. Pointing out that their sources for sharing opinions are not only propaganda but easily verified as ridiculous feels the same as having someone respond with nothing but and yet I'm feeling compelled to do it anyway.

... Also as example the last time I did this was for picture of truck with a trump flag, and 13 colonies flag, and a confederate battle flag flying from the bed with a caption that reads "When you are complete idiot and just have to show it.... (the truck is a Nissan if you take the time to look) with a truck made in Japan"

Before plonking the wall my friend linked to, I informed him that Nissan trucks sold in the US are manufactured in Tennessee and Mississippi and that you don't need to lie with the second statement to somehow make the first statement more meaningful.

Ontario

The Canadian authorities have suspended a judge for wearing a cap with Donald Trump's campaign slogan "Make America Great Again" in court after November's US presidential election, local media reported on Friday.

Ontario Court Judge Bernd Zabel "stopped being assigned to preside in court December 21, 2016," court spokeswoman KateAndrew told the local daily The Hamilton Spectator without commenting about his future.

The decision comes after the court received a series of complaints about Zabel's vocal support for the US president-elect. His official position requires displaying political neutrality.

Zabel - who was appointed in 1990 - entered a courtroom in the Lake Ontario port city of Hamilton the day after the November 8 election wearing the Trump campaign's trademark red cap.

He explained his decision later, saying it was a response to criticism from colleagues who "all voted for Hillary" Clinton, Trump's Democratic rival, the Toronto Star reported him as saying.

"I was the only Trump supporter up there but that's okay," he said.

Zabel later apologized, citing a "lapse in judgment" for a "misguided attempt to mark a moment in history by humor in the courtroom."

There's your voter fraud by illegals.

That's odd. Doing something offensively asinine, then apologizing and saying it was intended as a joke usually works, doesn't it?

At any rate, for the benefit of future American poll-watchers, if you see someone trying to vote who is dressed like this, be sure to alert your local Drumpfstaffel contingent to the presence of a possible illegal Canuckistani legal beagle:

Trump has his first imitator on the left

U.K. Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has signed off on a plan to adopt Donald Trump-style media tactics in a bid to turn around his poll ratings, according to a senior party official familiar with the initiative.

WaPo

The author of source material on two Texas standardized tests says she can’t actually answer the questions about her own work because they are so poorly conceived. She also says she can’t understand why at least one of her poems — which she calls her “most neurotic” — was included on a standardized test for students.

The author is Sara Holbrook, who has written numerous books of poetry for children, teens and adults, as well as professional books for teachers. She also visits schools and speaks at educator conferences worldwide, with her partner Michael Salinger, providing teacher and classroom workshops on writing and oral presentation skills. Her first novel, “The Enemy: Detroit 1954” will be released March 7.
...
The tests on which Holbrook’s poems appeared are the STAAR, the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness. The questions were released by the Texas Education Agency. Teachers use past test questions to prepare students for future exams.

Click through to read her reactions in her own words.

I don't know why any of that matters, since "because Jesus said so" a perfectly legitimate answer to any question on a Texas standardized test.

Somehow I doubt this would have happened if Trump hadn't won the GOP Nomination. It's a bit frightening how he has empowered the worst of us:

“Crichton boastfully told me he would be happy to go to jail over the issue and proudly admitted to calling Ford a n——. He added that he is ‘fed up with black people,’ ” and described an incident in which two “of them” were in his restaurant squirting ketchup all over the floor, according to the officer’s report.

“During the course of my conversation with Crichton, he used the word ‘n—–‘ freely to describe black people,” the officer continued.

At least some people in power won't condone these actions:

On Friday, Dairy Queen announced that it was closing the location in Zion, Ill., and that it was terminating Crichton’s franchise rights.

Skinypupy wrote:I don't know why any of that matters, since "because Jesus said so" a perfectly legitimate answer to any question on a Texas standardized test.

That was also the exact answer when, given to me as a child, made me an Atheist.

Pyperkub wrote:Somehow I doubt this would have happened if Trump hadn't won the GOP Nomination. It's a bit frightening how he has empowered the worst of us:

“Crichton boastfully told me he would be happy to go to jail over the issue and proudly admitted to calling Ford a n——. He added that he is ‘fed up with black people,’ ” and described an incident in which two “of them” were in his restaurant squirting ketchup all over the floor, according to the officer’s report.

“During the course of my conversation with Crichton, he used the word ‘n—–‘ freely to describe black people,” the officer continued.

At least some people in power won't condone these actions:

On Friday, Dairy Queen announced that it was closing the location in Zion, Ill., and that it was terminating Crichton’s franchise rights.

And I'd bet my house that the former owner blames the loss of his franchise squarely on "those n---".

I do think we have to be careful about assigning blame for something like this to Trump. Sometimes a racist asshat that makes the news is actually just a racist asshat that's managed to stay off the radar until now. If we blame Trump and his supporters for every transgression, we risk losing the high road when awful things connected to him actually do occur.

hepcat wrote:I do think we have to be careful about assigning blame for something like this to Trump. Sometimes a racist asshat that makes the news is actually just a racist asshat that's managed to stay off the radar until now. If we blame Trump and his supporters for every transgression, we risk losing the high road when awful things connected to him actually do occur.

Well, the racist asshat in question did invoke Trump.

She wrote a post describing what had happened. She described how she had asked for the owner’s name after recovering from her shock so she could report him to Dairy Queen’s corporate office. He replied “Bill Clinton then said better yet I’m Donald Trump,” Ford posted.

hepcat wrote:I do think we have to be careful about assigning blame for something like this to Trump. Sometimes a racist asshat that makes the news is actually just a racist asshat that's managed to stay off the radar until now. If we blame Trump and his supporters for every transgression, we risk losing the high road when awful things connected to him actually do occur.

Oh, I'm not blaming Trump, I'm blaming the collective Id which got him nominated and elected. What I hold him responsible for is enabling it and not doing anything to rein it in. If anything, he does the opposite and tacitly encourages it.

Max Peck wrote:

hepcat wrote:I do think we have to be careful about assigning blame for something like this to Trump. Sometimes a racist asshat that makes the news is actually just a racist asshat that's managed to stay off the radar until now. If we blame Trump and his supporters for every transgression, we risk losing the high road when awful things connected to him actually do occur.

Well, the racist asshat in question did invoke Trump.

She wrote a post describing what had happened. She described how she had asked for the owner’s name after recovering from her shock so she could report him to Dairy Queen’s corporate office. He replied “Bill Clinton then said better yet I’m Donald Trump,” Ford posted.

Dave Chappelle something something ISIS something something Wu Tang Clan.

Max Peck wrote: Well, the racist asshat in question did invoke Trump.

He mentioned Trump's name, as well as Bill Clinton's, as a joke name. That's hardly an invocation. If he'd gone on a tirade about how Trump's election signaled a new world order, I would agree with you.

NPR

On behalf of the U.S. State Department, John Kerry has issued a formal apology for the department's pattern of discrimination against LGBT employees during a period beginning in the 1940s and stretching for decades.

Sen. Ben Cardin, D-Md., had asked the secretary of state for such an apology in late November, calling the historical discrimination "un-American and unacceptable."

The Washington Blade reported on Cardin's request in early December, noting at the time that the State Department said it was preparing a response.

The mass purge of gay staffers during the mid-20th century was known as the "Lavender Scare," which coincided with the "Red Scare."
...
In 1953, years after the State Department began firing gay employees, Dwight Eisenhower instituted a nationwide ban on gay men and lesbians working for the federal government. Purges lasted for decades. Careers were destroyed, and some employees committed suicide, Johnson says.
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Cardin said that more than 1,000 people were dismissed from the Department of State for their alleged sexual orientation, and "many more" prevented from joining the department through discriminatory hiring practices. As recently as the 1990s, he said, the State Department drove out personnel thought to be gay, calling them "security risks."

hepcat wrote:

Max Peck wrote: Well, the racist asshat in question did invoke Trump.

He mentioned Trump's name, as well as Bill Clinton's, as a joke name. That's hardly an invocation. If he'd gone on a tirade about how Trump's election signaled a new world order, I would agree with you.

Perhaps, but I believe that his choice of those politicians for his little "joke" provides some insight to his thought process. YMMV.

Bill Clinton ran a campaign based on racism?

hepcat wrote:Bill Clinton ran a campaign based on racism?

If I were a racist asshat that was too chickenshit to give my own name (and too stupid to realize that DQ knows who owns the franchise), then giving the name of a politician that I despise might well be the first thing that crossed my mind. Followed by the name of the cool new kid on the block that tells me that it's AOK to say what I feel about those who I see as my lessers.

You may well feel that this douchebag would have treated these people in the exact same way if Clinton had won instead of Trump. I think he might have continued to keep his hatred bottled up inside, as he apparently had done until now, but I may be wrong -- I often am. But such is my belief, and in the age of Trump what one believes is more important than what one knows.

Man celebrating vote to repeal Obamacare learns he is on Obamacare.

I wonder how prevalent the thinking is that Obamacare is not the ACA? And how many of those on the ACA are cheering the repeal? My cynical side is thinking "a lot more people are going to be shocked and upset".

"Voter who wanted to 'Make America Great Again' learns what was meant by 'Great.'"

I seem to remember at least a couple of folks here going off about Podesta using "password" for his gmail password and geeze, what a dummy, of course he got hacked! Any body up for offering a mea culpa?

Further, Podesta was using a Gmail account, and Google doesn’t allow users to make their passwords "password."

Go try for yourself.

I'm surprised they waited this long, if they were going to do anything at all.

US watchdog to probe FBI Clinton email actions

A US government watchdog has launched an investigation into actions taken by the FBI during the election campaign.

FBI director James Comey's decision to reopen an investigation into Hillary Clinton's email server 11 days before the election shook up the race.

The Department of Justice (DoJ) Inspector General Michael Horowitz said he would look into "certain actions" by the FBI and DoJ.

Mrs Clinton was cleared of any wrongdoing days before the US voted.

Her campaign team has blamed the FBI announcement as a key factor why she lost the election to Donald Trump.

The announcement on Thursday does not mention Hillary Clinton by name but refers to public disclosures by Mr Comey.

Mr Horowitz said his review would look at a news conference in July 2016 when Mr Comey said he would not recommend charges for Mrs Clinton.

A letter to Congress on 28 October, in which Mr Comey said there were more emails to look at, will also be subject to this new inquiry.

Max Peck wrote:I'm surprised they waited this long, if they were going to do anything at all.

US watchdog to probe FBI Clinton email actions

A US government watchdog has launched an investigation into actions taken by the FBI during the election campaign.

FBI director James Comey's decision to reopen an investigation into Hillary Clinton's email server 11 days before the election shook up the race.

The Department of Justice (DoJ) Inspector General Michael Horowitz said he would look into "certain actions" by the FBI and DoJ.

Mrs Clinton was cleared of any wrongdoing days before the US voted.

Her campaign team has blamed the FBI announcement as a key factor why she lost the election to Donald Trump.

The announcement on Thursday does not mention Hillary Clinton by name but refers to public disclosures by Mr Comey.

Mr Horowitz said his review would look at a news conference in July 2016 when Mr Comey said he would not recommend charges for Mrs Clinton.

A letter to Congress on 28 October, in which Mr Comey said there were more emails to look at, will also be subject to this new inquiry.

It will also address concerns expressed by Republicans that some lower-level FBI officials may have improperly shared information with the Clinton campaign.

Switzerland

A woman has been denied a second application for a Swiss passport after local residents took offence to her rejection of traditions and her “annoying” campaigning.

Nancy Holten, 42, who was born in the Netherlands, moved to Switzerland when she was eight. She is fluent in Swiss German and her children have Swiss citizenship.

The animal rights activist has campaigned publicly against the local traditions of putting bells around cows’ necks and piglet racing, according to The Local.
...
“The sound that cowbells make is a hundred decibel. It is comparable to a pneumatic drill. We also would not want such a thing hanging close to our ears.” she reportedly told the media.

“The animals carry around five kilograms around their neck. It causes friction and burns to their skin,” she has said in interviews, according to the Daily Mail.

In Switzerland, local residents have a say in a person’s passport application. Ms Holten’s first attempt at naturalisation was made in 2015, when she was approved by local authorities but rejected by 144 out of 206 residents in a vote.

Your neighbors get to vote on whether you get a passport?

Wiki: Swiss nationality law

Swiss nationals are citizens of their municipality of origin, their canton of origin and the Confederation, in that order
...
Regular naturalisation is granted not by the central government but by the cantons.
...
Citizenship in Switzerland may be obtained by a permanent resident who lived in Switzerland for at least 12 years (any years spent in Switzerland between the 10th and the 20th years of age count double) and lived in the country for 3 out of the last 5 years before applying for citizenship. One should be able to speak in at least one of German (preferably Swiss German), French, Italian or Romansch (depending on the canton or municipality) and show the following:

• integration into the Swiss way of life;
• familiarity with Swiss habits, customs and traditions;
• compliance with the Swiss rule of law;
• no danger to Switzerland's internal or external security.

NYT, 2008

On Sunday, Swiss citizens are voting in a referendum on whether to give municipalities the final say on granting citizenship, and allow townspeople to vote in secret on whether foreign members of their community can receive Swiss passports.

Such votes were declared unconstitutional in 2003, but the practice continues in some pockets of the countryside, according to several lawyers. The ballot measure would also make it unnecessary for elected officials or townspeople to justify their decisions, and would deny rejected applicants any recourse.

Some lawyers fear that if the referendum succeeds, more random decisions and discriminatory rulings will occur.

Wiki

In July 2003 the Swiss Supreme court blocked the holding of popular votes by local communities to decide on the naturalisation of immigrants who live in that community. The Supreme Court acted after a vote in Emmen in which eight Italians were approved but 48 Eastern European and Turkish candidates were rejected. The court ruled that they had been discriminated against on religious and ethnic grounds and said that all applicants had the right to know the reason for rejection.

The Swiss People's Party (SVP) brought an initiative forward to permit such popular votes to take place.
...
The government and the four other main political parties opposed the naturalisation referendum and preferred the existing system where elected bodies took the decision and where there is a right to appeal.
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In order for the initiative to pass a majority of Swiss cantons would have had to support it as well as a majority of voters. In the end only one of the 26 cantons, Schwyz, supported the initiative. Some cantons, such as Geneva and Vaud, had up to 82% of voters against the measure.