Octopus Overlords

hepcat wrote:It's telling that the only sincere messages for McCain are coming from Dems...

Defiant wrote:

El Guapo wrote:Not to be grim, but FYI apparently the rules in Arizona are that if a senator leaves office mid-term, the governor appoints a replacement and then a special election is held the next time that Arizona holds a statewide general election. Which means that if McCain leaves office within a year, there would be an appointed replacement then a special election in 2018. Which would put two Arizona senate seats on the ballot (since Flake is already up that year).

msteelers wrote:

El Guapo wrote:Not to be grim, but FYI apparently the rules in Arizona are that if a senator leaves office mid-term, the governor appoints a replacement and then a special election is held the next time that Arizona holds a statewide general election. Which means that if McCain leaves office within a year, there would be an appointed replacement then a special election in 2018. Which would put two Arizona senate seats on the ballot (since Flake is already up that year).

That doesn't sound like a good idea. Presumably states don't want both senators running for election in the same year, and this would go on indefinitely.

El Guapo wrote:

msteelers wrote:

El Guapo wrote:Not to be grim, but FYI apparently the rules in Arizona are that if a senator leaves office mid-term, the governor appoints a replacement and then a special election is held the next time that Arizona holds a statewide general election. Which means that if McCain leaves office within a year, there would be an appointed replacement then a special election in 2018. Which would put two Arizona senate seats on the ballot (since Flake is already up that year).

That doesn't sound like a good idea. Presumably states don't want both senators running for election in the same year, and this would go on indefinitely.

The person who won the special election would serve the rest of McCain's term. So anyone who won in 2018 in this hypothetical would serve until 2022 (when McCain's current term runs out). Or if McCain left office in 2019 then (as I understand it) an appointee would serve until a special election in 2020, the winner of which would serve until 2022.

msteelers wrote:

El Guapo wrote:

msteelers wrote:

El Guapo wrote:Not to be grim, but FYI apparently the rules in Arizona are that if a senator leaves office mid-term, the governor appoints a replacement and then a special election is held the next time that Arizona holds a statewide general election. Which means that if McCain leaves office within a year, there would be an appointed replacement then a special election in 2018. Which would put two Arizona senate seats on the ballot (since Flake is already up that year).

That doesn't sound like a good idea. Presumably states don't want both senators running for election in the same year, and this would go on indefinitely.

The person who won the special election would serve the rest of McCain's term. So anyone who won in 2018 in this hypothetical would serve until 2022 (when McCain's current term runs out). Or if McCain left office in 2019 then (as I understand it) an appointee would serve until a special election in 2020, the winner of which would serve until 2022.

That makes more sense.

Isn't the Nevada governor completely against the Republican health plan?

Max Peck wrote:Your government is keeping you safe.

The FIRST Global Challenge robotics competition is making headlines again after six teens from the team representing Burundi disappeared. The mentor and chaperone for the team, Canesius Bindaba, informed FIRST organizers on Tuesday evening that he could not find the two girls and four boys, whose ages range from 16 to 18. They were last seen at 5 p.m. Tuesday, right before the competition’s closing ceremony. FIRST President Joe Sestak subsequently called Washington police, who began searching and tweeted out missing persons notices.

Metropolitan Police spokeswoman Aquita Brown said Thursday morning that two of the teens, 16-year-old Don Ingabire and 17-year-old Audrey Mwamikazi, have been sighted crossing the border into Canada. Police do not suspect foul play.
...
The tournament received considerable media attention when a team of six girls from Afghanistan were twice denied the U.S. visas needed to attend. Upon learning of their predicament, President Trump reportedly intervened with the State Department to let the girls into the country. The team from Gambia’s applications for visas were also initially denied, but the department reversed its decision in the weeks leading up to the competition.

El Guapo wrote:

msteelers wrote:

El Guapo wrote:

msteelers wrote:

El Guapo wrote:Not to be grim, but FYI apparently the rules in Arizona are that if a senator leaves office mid-term, the governor appoints a replacement and then a special election is held the next time that Arizona holds a statewide general election. Which means that if McCain leaves office within a year, there would be an appointed replacement then a special election in 2018. Which would put two Arizona senate seats on the ballot (since Flake is already up that year).

That doesn't sound like a good idea. Presumably states don't want both senators running for election in the same year, and this would go on indefinitely.

The person who won the special election would serve the rest of McCain's term. So anyone who won in 2018 in this hypothetical would serve until 2022 (when McCain's current term runs out). Or if McCain left office in 2019 then (as I understand it) an appointee would serve until a special election in 2020, the winner of which would serve until 2022.

That makes more sense.

Isn't the Nevada governor completely against the Republican health plan?

Yes, as are most governors as I understand it. Though it would be the Arizona governor who would appoint a temporary replacement if it came to that.

In a vote which has been described as an assault on democracy by European officials, the Polish senate is expected to approve a rushed and controversial law on Friday which would retire all Supreme Court judges and allow the president to replace them with more favorable alternatives.

Proposed by the ruling right-wing Law and Justice (Pis) party, the legislation has been widely condemned as the most worrying development in a country in which democratic institutions are under mounting pressure. If passed, the changes would constitute “an unprecedented attack on judicial independence,” according to a joint statement by leading judges from the neighboring Czech Republic.

It is only the latest of many unprecedented attacks.

Only two years ago, Poland was widely considered a success story which had managed to seemingly leave behind its communist past, and turned into a “robust” role model democracy praised by officials across the European Union.

Now, it is becoming a case study for why liberal democracy should not be taken for granted. The Polish government has pursued a number of strategies to weaken its opponents and democratic institutions, including repressions against journalists or judges and the dissemination of conspiracy theories, which preceded Friday's vote.

Isgrimnur wrote:All those squarish desert states look alike.

El Guapo wrote:Yeah, the situation in Poland is incredibly depressing. Also this backdrop is another reason why Trump's visit to and speech in Poland recently was so alarming.

Also of note is that the European Union is threatening to strip Poland of its voting rights in the EU (which is provided for in Article 7 of the EU constitution) over this law if it goes through.

Following tumultuous protests, and warnings from the European Union, Poland’s president vetoed two proposed laws on Monday that would have given the right-wing governing party direct control of the judiciary.

The two proposed laws he vetoed — one that would have forced the resignation of all Supreme Court justices, with their replacements to be selected by the justice minister, and another that would have given government-appointed members effective veto power in the council, which selects judicial candidates — will be sent back to Parliament. Mr. Duda urged lawmakers to rewrite them within two months.

Defiant wrote:Snopes is in danger of closing, and has started a gofundme

According to the Snopes founder, Proper Media has not honored its contract, which allows Snopes' parent company Bardav to move its web development, CMS, and other services away from Proper Media if it decides to terminate its contract.

Meanwhile, several Proper Media founders relocated to Puerto Rico, which Green said is part of a tax avoidance scheme, and which Kronenberg said is a business development strategy.

Mikkelson claimed that Proper Media was regularly late with sharing its ad revenue with Snopes, and has not shared any revenue with the site since February, several weeks before Mikkelson gave notice to terminate Snopes' contract with Proper Media.

A court is set for August 4 to hear competing motions from Proper Media and its two majority equity holders and Mikkelson and Bardav. Proper Media is aiming to remove Mikkelson from the company, while Mikkelson said he is seeking to allow Snopes to stop using Proper Media for web services.

Florida Democratic Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz’s top information technology (IT) aide was arrested Monday attempting to board a flight to Pakistan after wiring $283,000 from the Congressional Federal Credit Union to that country.

He attempted to leave the country hours after The Daily Caller News Foundation’s Investigative Group revealed that he is the target of an FBI investigation, and the FBI apprehended him at the airport.

Credit union officials permitted the wire to go through, and his wife has already fled the country to Pakistan, after police confronted her at the airport and found $12,000 in cash hidden in her suitcase but did not stop her from boarding, court documents show.

“On January 18, 2017 at 12:09 pm, an international wire transfer request form was submitted [at the Congressional Federal Credit Union] at the Longworth House Office Building in the District of Columbia, in the amount of $283,000.00, to two individuals in Faisalabad, Pakistan,” according to an affidavit obtained by TheDCNF.

Imran Awan, a Pakistani-born IT aide, had access to all emails and files of dozens of members of Congress, as well as the password to the iPad that Wasserman Schultz used for Democratic National Committee business before she resigned as its head in July 2016.

Awan, a longtime IT staffer who worked for more than two dozen House Democrats, has been at the center of a criminal investigation on Capitol Hill for months related to procurement theft. Several of his family members, also IT staffers at the time, were implicated in the ongoing investigation.

Most Democratic lawmakers cut ties with Awan and his family after the criminal investigation came to light in early February. But Awan has continued to be employed by Wasserman Schultz, although it’s unclear what his job duties are given he has been barred from accessing the House IT system for months.

Defiant wrote:An article on moderate Republicans in congress

Pity Paul Ryan: Moderates adopt Freedom Caucus tactics
Centrist Republicans are banding together and undermining House GOP leaders.

Resistance from moderates almost torpedoed the House Obamacare replacement this spring, and resulted in billions in additional funding to help people with pre-existing conditions — a requirement for some centrists' support, via an amendment introduced by a 'moderate', which revived the bill that will likely end insurance coverage for tens of millions of people. Earlier this month, they banded with Democrats to sink two controversial amendments overwhelmingly supported by their GOP colleagues, including one barring the Pentagon from spending money on gender reassignment changes for troops, before Trump announced plans to bar transgender people from the military altogether..

Defiant wrote:It's a sign that they're starting to grow a spine. I take that as a positive thing.

Moliere wrote:Given his stance on so many issues I haven't heard a single good thing about Sessions. What do you like about him?

Moliere wrote:Given his stance on so many issues I haven't heard a single good thing about Sessions. What do you like about him?