Linkee-poo ain't seen the sunshine since I don't know when

The Hidden Brain podcast on "WHOOP, there it is" on the detrimental effects of positive fantasies. Sometimes thinking and fantasizing you've already achieved a goal can lead to you not achieving that goal. Now trying to process this in relation to my writing.

The Southern Poverty Law Center's report on Confederacy symbols and just whose heritage they're about. Link is to a PDF. (Grokked from John)

"At the intersection where protections against unreasonable search and seizure meet the rights to free speech and association, there's now a web hosting company called DreamHost… The California-based company is resisting a Department of Justice warrant that demands it hand over all files related to DisruptJ20.org, a website created by one of its customers to plan and announce actions intended to disrupt President Trump's inauguration." When they were asked for specific information, they complied. But now the DoJ is going on a fishing expedition.

What could go wrong if we crack down on every undocumented person? Well, it makes it harder to actually fight crime. Yes, the crack down is hampering our attempts to root out MS-13, including labeling teens as gang members when they tried to escape from the gang by coming north. And then there's the whole grabbing the low hanging fruit when the President said he was going after the hardened-criminals. I'm getting tired of having to relearn the basic lessons of how the real world works because the conservatives have their head up their ideology.

"The Texas Legislature closed out the special session Tuesday night amid a stalemate on property tax reform, leaving unfinished Gov. Greg Abbott's top priority." But they sure got a lot of other stupid shit done, just not the property tax, the bathroom bill, and taking all money away from Planned Parenthood. Let the finger pointing begin.

Sure, they were in Charlottesville for peaceful purposes. "'For half an hour, three men dressed in fatigues and armed with semi-automatic rifles stood across the street from the temple,' (Alan Zimmerman, the president of Congregation Beth Israel) said…Zimmerman said the men did not try to enter the synagogue, but passing 'parades of Nazis' shouted 'There’s the synagogue!' when they passed the building, 'followed by chants of "Seig Heil" and other anti-Semitic language.'" I mean, who are you going to believe, the Nazis and White-Supremisists or the people they intended to terrorize?

"The email forwarded by John Dowd, who is leading the president’s legal team, painted the Confederate general Robert E. Lee in glowing terms and equated the South’s rebellion to that of the American Revolution against England." That's not actually the strangest part of this story. The email's most quote part is about how Gen. Washington and Gen. Lee are the same. Yeeeeeaaahhh, not so much. "It declared that Lee 'saved America' by opting to surrender rather than launch guerrilla attacks in the final days of the Civil War." Fucking for chastity. So, to sum up: yes some black people hate other African-Americans and conservatives live in a different reality than the rest of us.

Whelp, that didn't take long. It's like Baltimore had a plan before they had the final vote.

An American, Canadian, and Mexican walk into a bar to renegotiate NAFTA… "But then, this is what makes trade a complex political issue: the benefits tend to be widespread, but the costs tend to be acute. A trade agreement might modestly improve the lives of many Americans (think lower prices or a greater assortment of goods), but it can also devastate a much smaller population of Americans by displacing their jobs." And that's why you include provisions to mitigate such issues. Like, say, money for retraining for anyone who lost a job due to trade (yes there are problems with that, but then, there's problems all around).

The Ukrainian Connection. "Profexer was not arrested because his activities fell in a legal gray zone, as an author but not a user of malware, the Ukrainian police say." (Grokked from Dan)

"The 'alt-right' March on Google has been cancelled… Event organizer Jack Posobiec posted the announcement on the group’s site Wednesday morning, claiming 'Alt Left terrorist threats' the group has received posed safety concerns. Prosobiec also said in the post that the group reported these threats to the relevant authorities. However, the Mountain View Police Department, the Atlanta Police Department, and the Metropolitan Police Department in Washington, D.C., told the Los Angeles Times that they were not aware of such threats." There is no "Alt-Left." There are "anti-fa" (for anti-fascists), but they already have a monicker.

"The political world's latest feast is chewing over the stunningly candid comments of Stephen K. Bannon, President Trump's polarizing and already embattled chief strategist, trashing associates and policies on North Korea and China…" Heard the interview with the reporter he called on NPR, but so far there's no transcript there. The disfunctionality of this administration is startling.

"A wave of Republican-controlled states are petitioning the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) for permission to enact measures that will knock more people off Medicaid and the Trump administration has signaled they will give a green light to these efforts." Because, I don't know… freedom?

"President Trump on Thursday mourned the loss of 'beautiful statues and monuments' in the wake of the violent clashes in Charlottesville during a white supremacist demonstration protesting the planned removal of a statue depicting Confederate military commander Robert E. Lee." Just tell him they're clearing space for statues of him and he'll be okay with it. Really, how much more does the public need to hear before we all get that the president is a racist and an ignorant fool?