April 15, 2017

Does the world have a fundamental duty to save others from human rights abuses?

Serious question. NK in particular has got me thinking about this issue. You can't say yes to the above question, while also seeking a totally passive approach to foreign policy. Nicely asking the brutal dictators of the world to respect the human rights of their citizens will only go so far. At what point does the civilized world have an obligation to step in and put a stop to the abuses? Is it a matter of scale? NK are guilty of human rights abuses on par with the Nazis and Imperial Japanese. The only difference is in the scale. Should there be some arbitrary scale guidelines on when international intervention is appropriate?

Personally I think it would be doing the citizens of NK a great favor to save them from the brutal and delusional Kim family. Some might die in a war, but their current existence is really no way to live life. I'd personally rather fight and die than live in similar conditions.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_rights_in_North_Korea
https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2016/country-chapters/north-korea
https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2017/country-chapters/north-korea

April 14, 2017

Trumps approval is going up

Per msnbc. Looks like the "Let's go kick some ass!" foreign policy stuff is working out for him. I wonder if this is gonna be temporary or sustained though. I think people are liking this "Blow up some ISIS scumbags" stuff, but I doubt they'll like it if we get involved in an actual war.

April 6, 2017

Our Democracy is pretty much dead

From here on out the Repugnants are just gonna cheat their way through everything and do whatever they want because they know nobody has the backbone to stop them. They cheat Obama out of his rightful SCOTUS appointment, change the rules to appoint Trump's appointee, gerrymander everything, ignore the blatant Russia involvement and fake news that tarnished the recent election, and will NEVER vote to repeal the Electoral College because it was put in place to benefit the elites and suppress the majority.

Congratulations big corporations! You won. You have finally succeeded at eating the heart and soul out of the the USA, and you have destroyed any remaining integrity this nation had. I hope the profits are worth it ;/

-We have an illegitimate leader who lost the popular vote by a large margin and is sitting on mid 30's approval ratings after only a few months in office. He doesn't seem to care so long as he can keep golfing and enriching his family.
-We have a government full of Russian puppets, religious fundies, and science deniers.
-We have a new SCOTUS member who thought a truck driver should freeze to death rather than abandon his broken down truck.
-Expect more gerrymandering and vote suppression from the Repugnants in the future. They need to ensure their continued power somehow.
-We have roughly 30-40% of our population in a state of such stupidity and ignorance that they believe fake news garbage about pedophile pizza rings, and will vote for any moron who says catch phrases like MAGA!
-We have one of the worst healthcare systems in the world where we pay 2.5X what most other developed countries do, and have rampant price gouging by big pharma and the healthcare industry in general.
-I could keep going and write a few pages on why this country sucks now, but what's the point?

March 27, 2017

While Trump approval plunges nationally, it goes UP in Utah

What exactly is there to approve of? The failure at repealing Obamacare? The Failure of a WALL idea? His meeting with Merkel where he wouldn't even look her in the eyes? The constant Russia conspiracies? His DOJ Sessions committing perjury? Holy hell, this state is dumber than a god damn box of rocks. First the BAC lowering to .05 to appease the LDS cult, then allowing 18 year olds to concealed carry, and now this. Living in Utardia is getting to be bad for my sanity. I always look longingly at sane neighboring states such as Nevada and CO, and wonder why I had to be born here.



http://www.sltrib.com/home/5099099-155/poll-majority-of-utahns-now-view



Washington • President Donald Trump's approval rating is increasing in Utah — a majority of registered voters now view him positively — even as his numbers nationally have sunk in his first two months in office.

A Salt Lake Tribune-Hinckley Institute of Politics poll finds that 54 percent of registered voters say they somewhat or strongly approve of Trump's job performance while 41 percent disapprove. In January, just before Trump took office, a Tribune-Hinckley Institute poll found 46 percent favorability for the incoming president and 52 percent unfavorable.

The poll was conducted March 15-21 by Dan Jones & Associates among 605 registered voters statewide and has a margin of error of 3.98 percent.

Utahns' view of the Republican president are the polar opposite of the national take on Trump where a Gallup tracking poll has shown a dip of 9 percent in approval rating since he took office Jan. 20. Gallup now shows 54 percent of Americans disapprove of the president's job performance compared to 45 percent who said the same thing in late January.

March 24, 2017

Oklahoma lawmaker defends anti-abortion bill, says rape and incest are will of God

Holy fuckamolie these people are mentally ill. I wouldn't trust this guy to watch my dog, and he's a state rep


http://nytlive.nytimes.com/womenintheworld/2017/03/23/oklahoma-lawmaker-defends-anti-abortion-bill-says-rape-and-incest-are-will-of-god/

Oklahoma State Representative George Faught, the author of a controversial bill that would make it illegal in the state to pursue an abortion in the case of a genetic abnormality, made a powerful and potentially disturbing declaration of faith during questioning about the bill on the floor of the Oklahoma House on Tuesday. Asked by fellow state Representative Cory Williams about whether he considered rape to be the “will of God,” Faught boldly, if not necessarily unabashedly, answered in the affirmative.

“Well, you know, if you read the Bible, there’s actually a couple circumstances where that happened,” said Faught. “The Lord uses all circumstances. I mean, you can go down that path, but it’s a reality unfortunately.”

Williams then asked Faught whether he considered incest to be the “will of God” as well.

“Same answer,” said Faught. “Doesn’t deal with this bill.”

Williams countered by stating that Faught’s religious beliefs on the matter were important to his proposed anti-abortion bill, since the law as written would provide no exceptions to women in cases of rape or incest.

“You are proffering a divine intervention as the reason why you won’t do that and so I think it is very important,” said Williams. “This body wants to know — and myself personally — whether you believe rape and incest are actually the will of God.”

“You’re saying that God is not sovereign with every activity that happens in someone’s life and can’t use anything and everything in someone’s life,” responded Faught. “I disagree with that.”

March 23, 2017

Bullfighter gets horrifically gored in Mexico City (Graphic warning)

You know what they say..Mess with the bull, get the horns.. Very little sympathy for the bullfighter.
http://nypost.com/2017/03/21/bull-gores-11-inch-horn-up-matadors-butt/
Shocking footage has emerged showing a matador being gored by a bull — and ending up with its horn up his backside.

Antonio Romero was horrifically gored during a bout with the furious beast in Mexico City on Monday.

The matador ended up with the bull’s horn some 11 inches up his rectum, causing “severe” injuries.

The stomach-churning clip shows Romero seemingly in control as he goads the animal with a red cloth, called a muleta. But something goes wrong as he tries to get the bull to pivot around him. The angry beast rears up, catching him on the arm and knocking him off balance.

As Romero stumbles back in an effort to avoid the bull’s deadly horns, the animal throws off the muleta and homes in on its helpless target. Now, with its tormentor in its sights, the bull takes its terrible revenge.

It mercilessly attacks him, digging in its horns and rolling him across the ground. The goring only ends when other bullfighters come to their colleague’s aid and distract the animal.
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March 22, 2017

North Korea Missile Launch Fails, U.S. and South Korea Say

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/north-korea/north-korea-missile-launch-fails-u-s-south-korea-say-n736821

North Korea attempted a missile launch Wednesday morning but it failed almost immediately, U.S. military officials and South Korea said.

"A missile appears to have exploded within seconds of launch," U.S. Pacific Command spokesman Dave Benham said in a statement. "We are working with our interagency partners on a more detailed assessment. We continue to monitor North Korea's actions closely."

The launch comes a day after Kim Jong Un's regime issued an ominous warning of a potential pre-emptive strike after a test over the weekend of a new advanced rocket engine.


North Korea conducted two nuclear test explosions and 24 ballistic missile tests during 2016, and experts say it could have a nuclear-tipped missile capable of reaching the U.S. mainland within a few years.

Asked by NBC News' Andrea Mitchell whether North Korea's threat of pre-emptive military action represents a dangerous escalation, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson replied: "No comment today, thank you."

March 18, 2017

Bernie Sanders remains one of Americas most popular politicians

Too bad he'll be too old to run again in 2020. Sigh....
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/politics/wp/2017/03/15/bernie-sanders-remains-one-of-americas-most-popular-politicians/?utm_term=.b67cb1bd1a60
A fascinating new survey from Fox News asked Americans their opinions of a number of political leaders and politically relevant organizations. No elected official included in the survey had a larger net favorability — overall favorable views minus unfavorable ones — than Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), continuing Sanders’s strong showing in such polls.

Somewhat surprisingly, the second-highest net favorability was held by Planned Parenthood. Part of this is probably because the organization enjoys strong partisan support, and has in polls in the past. Had the NRA been included, it, too, probably would have been highly popular, thanks to a push from Republicans.

Besides Sanders, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Vice President Pence were the most popular politicians on net. Notice that the embattled Affordable Care Act is better viewed on net than President Trump and most of the other Republicans included in the poll.

March 17, 2017

Pretty sure Trump needs a war to salvage things at this point

No other way he'll get Americans to unite behind his presidency. The only question is whether it will be NK or some Middle Eastern country. He needs to get that "Go America, let's get those bastards" spirit going again.

March 16, 2017

Jeff Sessions: Marijuana Is Only Slightly Less Awful Than Heroin

Hey Sessions, maybe you should quit preaching reefer madness and get to work on that massive opiate epidemic ravaging the nation.

Did I die in my sleep and wake up in Hell or something? How are these nutjobs running our government? We have a head of the EPA who denies basic climate science, a POTUS who tweets insane stuff about wiretapping, and now the head of the DOJ saying that cannabis is only 'Slightly less awful than heroin'. It's like I cannot even respect or come up with a dignified response to such statements. They're just completely stupid as fuck, ignorant, corrupt and wrong. If our nation makes it through these next 4 years intact it will be some kind of miracle. God save us all!

http://www.bostonmagazine.com/news/blog/2017/03/15/jeff-sessions-marijuana-slightly-less-awful-heroin/
Jeff Sessions, the U.S. Attorney General, had some typically harsh words about marijuana today, at a time when legal pot supporters in Massachusetts and elsewhere are on high alert over how the new government will treat the drug.

In prepared remarks for a speech to law enforcement in Richmond today, he outlined his stance on marijuana use, which he has long opposed, saying that “dependency” on it is “only slightly less awful” than heroin.

I realize this may be an unfashionable belief in a time of growing tolerance of drug use. But too many lives are at stake to worry about being fashionable. I reject the idea that America will be a better place if marijuana is sold in every corner store. And I am astonished to hear people suggest that we can solve our heroin crisis by legalizing marijuana – so people can trade one life-wrecking dependency for another that’s only slightly less awful. Our nation needs to say clearly once again that using drugs will destroy your life.