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Algernon Moncrieff
Algernon Moncrieff's Journal
Algernon Moncrieff's Journal
January 14, 2016
Every Mayor in America Should Look at What Just Happened in St. Louis
Link to article at Mother JonesOn Tuesday, the league's owners voted to let the St. Louis Rams move to Los Angeles for the 2016 season and to build what's supposed to be the NFL's biggest stadium on the site of a one-time racetrack. (The NFL also gave the San Diego Chargers a year to decide whether to join the Rams or work out a new stadium deal, and promised $100 million to the Chargers and Oakland Raiders if they stay put in their respective markets.) Los Angeles officials already have lauded the Rams' homecoming as an economic boost to the region; the state-of-the-art stadium in Inglewood, expected to open in 2019, could cost upwards of $3 billion, with the Rams likely playing in the Coliseum until then.
Meanwhile, the city and county of St. Louis will still pay at least $6 million apiece per year until 2021 to pay off bonds sold to construct and maintain the Edward Jones Dome, which opened in 1995. (The Rams paid a meager $500,000 per year to use the dome.) And then there's the more than $3 million in public funds used to develop a $1 billion riverfront stadium proposal to keep the Rams—a pitch NFL Commissioner Roger Gooddell knocked as "inadequate" and "unsatisfactory."
Meanwhile, the city and county of St. Louis will still pay at least $6 million apiece per year until 2021 to pay off bonds sold to construct and maintain the Edward Jones Dome, which opened in 1995. (The Rams paid a meager $500,000 per year to use the dome.) And then there's the more than $3 million in public funds used to develop a $1 billion riverfront stadium proposal to keep the Rams—a pitch NFL Commissioner Roger Gooddell knocked as "inadequate" and "unsatisfactory."
January 11, 2016
From what I understand, those travelling across Canada are being urged to detour south through the Northern US.
Ontario's Nipigon River bridge fails, severing Trans-Canada Highway
Source: CBC News
A newly constructed bridge in northern Ontario has heaved apart, indefinitely closing the Trans-Canada highway — the only road connecting Eastern and Western Canada.
The Nipigon River Bridge has been closed for "an indefinite time due to mechanical issues," according to the Ontario Provincial Police. The bridge remains open to pedestrian traffic.
Steven Del Duca, minister of transportation for Ontario, said in a statement late Sunday the ministry "will do everything they can do to restore the bridge quickly, while also making sure that the safety of the travelling public remains of paramount importance."
The west side of the bridge has pulled away from the abutment connecting it to the river bank's edge, lifting up about 60 centimetres.
Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/thunder-bay/nipigon-river-bridge-closed-transcanada-1.3397831
From what I understand, those travelling across Canada are being urged to detour south through the Northern US.
January 8, 2016
So, DU, I'm curious to know how you'd amend the constitution? I'm going out on a limb and thinking that you'd take a different approach than Greg Abbott.
So how would you amend the constitution?
According to this Mother Jones article, the Governor of Texas wants to add nine amendments to the constitution, including (but not limited to):IV. Prohibit administrative agencies—and the unelected bureaucrats that staff them—from preempting state law.
V. Allow a two-thirds majority of the States to override a U.S. Supreme Court decision.
VI. Require a seven-justice super-majority vote for U.S. Supreme Court decisions that invalidate a democratically enacted law.
V. Allow a two-thirds majority of the States to override a U.S. Supreme Court decision.
VI. Require a seven-justice super-majority vote for U.S. Supreme Court decisions that invalidate a democratically enacted law.
So, DU, I'm curious to know how you'd amend the constitution? I'm going out on a limb and thinking that you'd take a different approach than Greg Abbott.
December 31, 2015
LINK to complete article
WaPo: Racial prejudice is driving opposition to paying college athletes. Here’s the evidence.
In a statistical analysis that controlled for a host of other influences, we found this: Negative racial views about blacks were the single most important predictor of white opposition to paying college athletes.
The more negatively a white respondent felt about blacks, the more they opposed paying college athletes.
To check our findings’ validity, we also conducted an experiment. Before we asked white respondents whether college athletes should be paid, we showed one group pictures of young black men with stereotypical African American first and last names. We showed another group no pictures at all.
As you can see in the figure below, whites who were primed by seeing pictures of young black men were significantly more likely to say they opposed paying college athletes. Support dropped most dramatically among whites who expressed the most resent towards blacks as a group.
The more negatively a white respondent felt about blacks, the more they opposed paying college athletes.
To check our findings’ validity, we also conducted an experiment. Before we asked white respondents whether college athletes should be paid, we showed one group pictures of young black men with stereotypical African American first and last names. We showed another group no pictures at all.
As you can see in the figure below, whites who were primed by seeing pictures of young black men were significantly more likely to say they opposed paying college athletes. Support dropped most dramatically among whites who expressed the most resent towards blacks as a group.
LINK to complete article
December 31, 2015
LINK to complete article
Kos: They Show You Who They Really Are: When White Conservatives Celebrate the Killing of Tamir Rice
As I did in an earlier piece about white supremacists and the new Star Wars film, what follows are some comments (selected out of a total of approximately 200) about the killing of Tamir Rice (most were written in response to ) from the Right-wing, de facto, white supremacist website known as the Free Republic.
****
1. My child would never have been dumb enough to pull a toy gun - or any gun - on cops with real guns.
2. Racism won’t end until we stop looking at people by race. Such as when they lecture us about the evils of white America.
3. A boy who looks like a man, not that silly photo that has been posted, and who points a realistic looking gun at strangers and pretends to shoot, deserves exactly what he got.
4. My children would never think of roughing up storekeepers, brandishing weapons, charging cops, rioting, committing mayhem, or any of the other things these idiots do. So I for one will never look at a Trayvon and see, frankly, anyone I know.
5. “Until White America looks at Tamir Rice and sees their own children, there will be no racial justice in the U.S.” Much of “White America” raises their children so they in no way resemble Tamir Rice. We pay law enforcement to keep Tamir Rice at arm’s length.
****
1. My child would never have been dumb enough to pull a toy gun - or any gun - on cops with real guns.
2. Racism won’t end until we stop looking at people by race. Such as when they lecture us about the evils of white America.
3. A boy who looks like a man, not that silly photo that has been posted, and who points a realistic looking gun at strangers and pretends to shoot, deserves exactly what he got.
4. My children would never think of roughing up storekeepers, brandishing weapons, charging cops, rioting, committing mayhem, or any of the other things these idiots do. So I for one will never look at a Trayvon and see, frankly, anyone I know.
5. “Until White America looks at Tamir Rice and sees their own children, there will be no racial justice in the U.S.” Much of “White America” raises their children so they in no way resemble Tamir Rice. We pay law enforcement to keep Tamir Rice at arm’s length.
LINK to complete article
December 27, 2015
Someone tell Steve & Marta to get to the store.
Winter Storm Warning
Source: NWS via KETV
Douglas, NE
Winter Storm Warning:
Issued at: 3:33 PM CST on December 27, 2015, expires at: 6:00 AM CST on December 29, 2015
...Winter Storm Warning in effect from 6 am Monday to 6 am CST Tuesday... The National Weather Service in Omaha/valley has issued a Winter Storm Warning for snow and blowing snow...which is in effect from 6 am Monday to 6 am CST Tuesday. The Winter Storm Watch is no longer in effect.
Timing...snow is likely to spread north Monday morning and continue into Monday evening. Periods of heavy snow can be expected at times on Monday.
Accumulations...snowfall will range from 6 to 10 inches with higher amounts possible.
Impact...travel will become very hazardous. Northeast winds of 15 to 25 mph are expected with higher gusts. The strong winds will continue through the evening causing significant blowing and drifting snow. Visibilities in the blowing and falling snow may be less than a quarter of a mile at times. Precautionary/preparedness actions... A Winter Storm Warning means significant amounts of snow... sleet...and ice are expected or occurring. Strong winds are also possible. This will make travel very hazardous or impossible.
Read more: http://www.ketv.com/weather/alerts?county=douglas_ne
Someone tell Steve & Marta to get to the store.
December 22, 2015
LINK
KETV Omaha: Blacks only meeting' held at 32nd, Pinkney
OMAHA, Neb. —After gun violence led to many calls for the community to work together, a "blacks only meeting" was held at 32nd and Pinkney.
When asked why he called a black folks-only meeting, North Omaha community activist Willie Hamilton responded, "I don't mean to laugh, but the reason why I called this meeting is because our problems need to be worked out behind closed doors. No excuses. No apologies. Our problem needs to be worked out behind closed doors. We cannot have an honest conversation with white folks in the room."
Hamilton said it's time for the people who live in North Omaha to get a handle on its problems. He took to Facebook and called on his community, advertising a meeting for "black folks only."
When asked why he called a black folks-only meeting, North Omaha community activist Willie Hamilton responded, "I don't mean to laugh, but the reason why I called this meeting is because our problems need to be worked out behind closed doors. No excuses. No apologies. Our problem needs to be worked out behind closed doors. We cannot have an honest conversation with white folks in the room."
Hamilton said it's time for the people who live in North Omaha to get a handle on its problems. He took to Facebook and called on his community, advertising a meeting for "black folks only."
LINK
December 22, 2015
Question submitted by Algernon Moncrieff
The text of this question will be publicly available after it has been reviewed and answered by a DU Administrator. Please be aware that sometimes messages are not answered immediately. Thank you for your patience. --The DU Administrators
December 20, 2015
(The quote was edited slightly to shield the answer, which can be found at this LINK)
Who said this: "In all fairness ... you're saying he killed people. I haven't seen that."
In all fairness ... you're saying he killed people. I haven't seen that. I don't know that he has. Have you been able to prove that?(The quote was edited slightly to shield the answer, which can be found at this LINK)
December 20, 2015
Read the whole thing for more detail. Overall, though, this gibes with my tentative view of the matter. The DNC may have overreacted, and maybe NGPVAN is incompetent. I'm agnostic on those issues. But there's not much question that the Sanders campaign acted badly here, and then tried to pretend that they were merely "testing" the system's security—which is, as Atkins says, laughable. They pulled dozens of lists from the Clinton campaign and, according to news reports, never notified anyone they had done it.
This was stupid, and Sanders has been ill-served by his team. He's rightfully fired the guy who did it, and probably ought to fire the subordinates who joined in. And that should be the end of it.
Mother Jones: Here's What Actually Happened in the Great Sanders-Clinton Data Theft
http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2015/12/heres-what-actually-happened-great-sanders-clinton-data-theft....However, the access logs do show that Sanders staff pulled not one but multiple lists—not searches, but lists—a fact that shows intent to export and use. And the lists were highly sensitive material. News reports have indicated that the data was "sent to personal folders" of the campaign staffers—but those refer to personal folders within NGPVAN, which are near useless without the ability to export the data locally....Even without being to export, however, merely seeing the topline numbers of, say, how many voters the Clinton campaign had managed to bank as "strong yes" votes would be a valuable piece of oppo.
...This doesn't mean that Wasserman-Schultz hasn't, in David Axelrod's words, been putting her thumb on the scale on behalf of the Clinton campaign....Still, the Sanders camp's reactions have been laughable. It was their team that unethically breached Clinton's data. It was their comms people who spoke falsely about what happened. The Sanders campaign wasn't honeypotted into doing it—their people did it of their own accord.... What's very clear is that the Clinton camp did nothing wrong in any of this. Sanders campaign operatives did, and then Wasserman-Schultz compounded it by overreacting. And in the end, the right thing ended up happening: the lead staffer in question was fired, and the campaign got its data access back.
Read the whole thing for more detail. Overall, though, this gibes with my tentative view of the matter. The DNC may have overreacted, and maybe NGPVAN is incompetent. I'm agnostic on those issues. But there's not much question that the Sanders campaign acted badly here, and then tried to pretend that they were merely "testing" the system's security—which is, as Atkins says, laughable. They pulled dozens of lists from the Clinton campaign and, according to news reports, never notified anyone they had done it.
This was stupid, and Sanders has been ill-served by his team. He's rightfully fired the guy who did it, and probably ought to fire the subordinates who joined in. And that should be the end of it.
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