July 20, 2019

Hunter appeals failed motion to dismiss charges to 9th Circuit

A lawyer for Rep. Duncan D. Hunter filed notice on Friday that the Republican congressman from Alpine is appealing a judge’s ruling last week refusing to dismiss the criminal case against him.

In a one-page document, San Diego attorney Devin Burstein informed the U.S. District Court in San Diego that it will challenge Judge Thomas J. Whelan’s decision rejecting Hunter’s motion to throw out the 60-count indictment under a section of the U.S. Constitution known as the speech or debate clause.

There is no legal argument or other narrative included in the filing.

The Constitution’s speech or debate clause is designed to protect legislators from “executive or judicial intrusions,” according to the Congressional Research Service, the U.S. Government office that provides legal analysis to federal lawmakers.

https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/watchdog/story/2019-07-19/hunter-appeals-failed-motion-to-dismiss-charges-to-9th-circuit

July 14, 2019

"The Best and the Brightest" by David Halberstam

It's been on my reading list for years, and I finally got around to it this summer.

It is a remarkably detailed account not only of the political environment in the late 40s/early 50s that created the environment that the USA would step in to after the French defeat (think yammering anti-communist Republicans), but also of the personalities involved in the decisions that led the country into committing to action in Viet Nam. These were well-accomplished people in business, government, and higher education who completely underestimated the resolve of the North Vietnamese to rid their country of foreign domination, and who also ignored the analysis of Asian experts and preferred the assessments of political operatives.

It's both enlightening and depressing to read how the country squandered a great opportunity to fully implement Great Society policies by wasting not only vast funds of money to a futile cause, but also sacrificing government credibility on policy and finances. The country has never recovered from the effects of that war.

July 13, 2019

'It's Not So Bad,' Pence Reports On Conditions Of Detainment Center While Hazmat Suit Disinfected

MCALLEN, TX—Appearing calm and composed after completing a tour of a migrant detention center, Vice President Mike Pence assured reporters Friday that conditions within the border camp were “not so bad” while workers sprayed down his hazmat suit with disinfectant.

“After spending two hours inside this facility, both touring the premises and talking to families, I can assure you, the Democrats’ criticisms are extremely overblown,” said a hacking, coughing Pence, who smiled to reporters before getting whisked away to a nearby sterilization chamber and promptly blasted with antimicrobial agents.

“Thanks to our brave, hardworking border officers, this facility is clean, safe, and totally disease free. If you ask me, all this news of ‘overcrowding’ and ‘inhumane conditions’ is frankly making a mountain out of a molehill.”

At press time, the vice president was approached by several doctors, loaded into a back of a truck, and then driven to a secure location where he was placed in quarantine for at least 48 hours.

https://politics.theonion.com/it-s-not-so-bad-mike-pence-reports-on-conditions-of-1836321070

July 13, 2019

'Well, that was a weird moment' and other signs of dementia family members should watch for

Julie Staple was a child when her dad, Mark Womack, began exhibiting odd behavior. An award-winning violin, viola and cello maker, Womack was not following through for clients nor returning phone calls promptly. He was watching more TV and taking more breaks from work. He began drinking and was quick to become angry.

The behavior lasted years and took its toll. Staple and her mom, Ginny Womack, a professional violinist, thought Mark Womack was depressed.

Her parents got divorced. Mark Womack was fired from two jobs making instruments in Nebraska and Texas. There were other disturbing events. A body shop wouldn’t fix his car because he couldn’t recall insurance information. A drive to his parents’ home that normally took two hours took five. And then came a phone call from his boss to the family — Mark Womack was crying and couldn’t remember how to make a violin. The boss took him to a clinic.

At age 53, Mark Womack was diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer’s in September 2015. Further evaluation a few months back revealed instead a diagnosis of frontotemporal dementia or FTD.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/well-that-was-a-weird-moment-and-other-signs-of-dementia-family-members-should-watch-for/2019/07/12/71fab37a-820c-11e9-bce7-40b4105f7ca0_story.html

As an aside, it looks like Amazon is offering a $30/year Washington Post deal for the next 12 hours or so.

July 13, 2019

Acosta Resigned. The Caligula Administration Lives On.

On Monday, Donald Trump disinvited the then-British ambassador, Kim Darroch, from an official administration dinner with the emir of Qatar, because he was mad about leaked cables in which Darroch assessed the president as “insecure” and “incompetent.”

There was room at the dinner, however, for Trump’s friend Robert Kraft, owner of the New England Patriots, who was charged in a prostitution sting this year. Kraft was allegedly serviced at a massage parlor that had once been owned by Li Yang, known as Cindy, a regular at Trump’s club Mar-a-Lago. Yang is now the target of an F.B.I. inquiry into whether she funneled Chinese money into Trump’s political operation.

An ordinary president would not want to remind the world of the Kraft and Yang scandals at a time when Jeffrey Epstein’s arrest has hurled Trump’s other shady associations back into the limelight. Epstein, indicted on charges of abusing and trafficking underage girls, was a friend of Trump’s until the two had a falling out, reportedly over a failed business deal. The New York Times reported on a party Trump threw at Mar-a-Lago whose only guests were him, Epstein and around two dozen women “flown in to provide the entertainment.”

Epstein, of course, was also linked to the administration in another way. The president’s labor secretary, Alexander Acosta, was the United States attorney who oversaw a secret, obscenely lenient deal that let Epstein escape federal charges for sex crimes over a decade ago. On Friday, two days after a tendentious, self-serving news conference defending his handling of the Epstein case, Acosta finally resigned.

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/12/opinion/acosta-epstein-trump.html

July 13, 2019

The 'Billy Graham rule' doesn't honor your wife. It demeans her -- and all women.

It’s charitable to first assume our fellow humans are acting in good faith, so let’s first assume that Robert Foster genuinely believes he is the hero of this story. Let’s assume that when the Mississippi gubernatorial candidate denied a female journalist access to his campaign because she is female, he truly saw himself as a bulwark against moral decay. This doesn’t make him right, of course, but it does give context to the problem — albeit a context that should terrify us all.

Larrison Campbell, a female reporter with Mississippi Today, revealed this week that she had asked to shadow Foster for a day on the campaign trail. Two of her colleagues were already following other contenders, but Foster turned down Campbell’s request — unless, that is, she brought along a male colleague. The reason? He obeys the “Billy Graham rule,” refusing to be alone with any woman other than his wife, or, as he put it, “avoid any decision that may evoke suspicion or compromise of our marriage.”

Criticism followed, and Foster bristled at it: “The liberal left .?.?. can’t believe, that even in 2019, someone still values their relationship with their wife and upholds their Christian Faith,” he tweeted.

But unfortunately, there’s not a single inch of moral high ground achieved via the Billy Graham rule, which purports to honor marriage vows. In similar fashion, Vice President Pence once said he would not dine alone with a woman to whom he wasn’t married. But rules like these don’t honor your wife. They just presume that your marriage vows are so flimsy that you can’t be trusted to uphold them unless a babysitter monitors you. It’s rather like a thief sanctimoniously announcing that he brings a parole officer every time he goes to the bank to make sure he doesn’t rob it. Good for you, dude, for knowing your own limitations — but it doesn’t make you better than the rest of us, who manage to regularly not steal things even when we’re completely alone.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/the-billy-graham-rule-doesnt-honor-your-wife-it-demeans-her--and-all-women/2019/07/11/c1ac14e6-a380-11e9-bd56-eac6bb02d01d_story.html

July 13, 2019

China using artificial intelligence to build economy, monitor population

Though much of the technology was developed in the United States, President Xi Jinping wants China to be the world’s AI leader by 2030.

https://www.nbcnews.com/nightly-news/video/china-using-artificial-intelligence-to-build-economy-monitor-population-63759941873

This report should disturb everyone about the threat of a government combining AI and surveillance technologies to monitor and control their ethnic populations.

It appears more and more likely to me that China will be the dominant 21st century power.

July 12, 2019

Paul Ryan Lauded For Inspiring Millions Of Young Gutless Fucking Cowards To Take On Leadership Roles

WASHINGTON—Noting the former congressman’s deep, unwavering commitment to shying away from every one of his civic responsibilities, the Heritage Foundation lauded Paul Ryan Thursday for inspiring millions of young gutless fucking cowards to take on leadership roles.

“Thank you, Mr. Ryan, for showing countless milquetoast little weaklings across the United States that if they want a place in politics, they can have it,” said Heritage Foundation spokesperson Katherine Primm, adding that she was grateful so many young candy-ass pushovers had the chance to see someone just like them not just get elected but also become speaker of the House.

“Before Paul Ryan, you’d never see a spineless coward taking charge, but now, faint-of-heart boys and girls will finally have the determination to become leaders and then cower in front of more powerful people and bend to their will. Before, it was just the brave who led—but thankfully, that era is behind us forever.”

At press time, thousands of newly inspired chickenshit Americans had reportedly begun fundraising for congressional runs in 2020.

https://politics.theonion.com/paul-ryan-lauded-for-inspiring-millions-of-young-gutles-1836291461

July 12, 2019

Trump Honors Brave Heroes Who Slept With Wives Of Deployed Soldiers

WASHINGTON—In a special White House ceremony Friday celebrating the ‘much-overlooked’ citizens for their contributions, President Trump honored the brave heroes who slept with the wives of deployed soldiers.

“Despite the considerable risks these men faced, they did not hesitate to rush into the bedroom and lay down our troops’ wives during the country’s greatest hour of need,” said Trump as he placed the Presidential Medal of Freedom around the necks of the many horny men who courageously patrolled bars, streets, and workplaces to service the vulnerable and lonely spouses of the nation’s enlisted men in every war from Vietnam to the recent conflicts in the Middle East.

“Many of these men left their own families behind to heed the late-night phone calls of married women they were seducing without regard to the sometimes dangerous consequences. They have touched countless with their licentious heroics, and, in many ways, inspired me to become the man I am today. For that, we salute you.”

Trump ended the ceremony by delivering a stern rebuke to all the blatant hussies who cheated on their husbands while they were off fighting for this great country.

https://politics.theonion.com/trump-honors-brave-heroes-who-slept-with-wives-of-deplo-1836308926

July 12, 2019

Tesla Model S Beats Chevy, Toyota, and Cadillac for Ultimate Car of the Year Honors

The selection and judging criteria have changed, the trophies have changed, and the vehicles most certainly have changed, but the spirit behind the Car of the Year is the same today as it was in 1949: Identify the most superlative new vehicle introduced each year.

We are confident that, were we to summon all the judges and staff of the past 70 years, we would come to a rapid consensus: No vehicle we've awarded, be it Car of the Year, Import Car of the Year, SUV of the Year, or Truck of the Year, can equal the impact, performance, and engineering excellence that is our Ultimate Car of the Year winner, the 2013 Tesla Model S.

"The mere fact the Tesla Model S exists at all is a testament to innovation and entrepreneurship, the very qualities that once made the American automobile industry the largest, richest, and most powerful in the world," we wrote. "That the 11 judges unanimously voted the first vehicle designed from the wheels up by a fledgling automaker the 2013 MotorTrend Car of the Year should be cause for celebration. America can still make things."

It can be argued, as we still are today, that the Tesla Model S wouldn't exist without the Prius. If Toyota hadn't made green cool, the nascent Tesla Motors—founded one year before the second-generation Prius was named our 2004 Car of the Year—might never have sold an electrified Lotus, much less create a new car that would revolutionize an industry.

https://www.motortrend.com/news/2013-tesla-model-s-beats-chevy-toyota-cadillac-ultimate-car-of-the-year/