I watch the ripples change their size
But never leave the stream
Of warm impermanence
And so the days float through my eyes
But still the days seem the same
And these children that you spit on
As they try to change their worlds
Are immune to your consultations
They're quite aware of what they're goin' through

Wednesday, April 25, 2018

Linkee-poo it's Wednesday again?

Sorry for all the uninspired blog titles. Things have been very hectic.

"When Trump assumed office, N.S.C. staffers initially generated memos for him that resembled those produced for his predecessors: multi-page explications of policy and strategy. But 'an edict came down,'… The staff dutifully trimmed the memos to a single page. 'But then word comes back: "This is still too much." ' A senior Trump aide explained to the staffers that the President is 'a visual person,' and asked them to express points 'pictorially.'… 'By the time I left, we had these cards,' the former staffer said… Current and former officials told me that filling out a card is the best way to raise an issue with him in writing. Everything that needs to be conveyed to the President must be boiled down, the former staffer said, to 'two or three points, with the syntactical complexity of "See Jane run."'" Given the trajectory of GOP presidential candidates, our next conservative President will instead demand to have sock-puppet shows instead of a briefing book. (Grokked from Chuck Wendig)

"Alex Jones: 'Because let me tell you, the big real secret is the real KKK at the midlevel is a bunch of racist black people who hate black people.'" You know, when I was a kid, conspiracy theorists were at least in the ballpark of "hmm, you know, that might actually be true." Now its like splatterporn, but with words. I'll also just let you read some of the headlines in the "Previously" section in case you have any doubts. They guy's own internal logic isn't consistent. (Grokked from Xeni Jardin)

"The alleged Waffle House shooter had declared himself to be part of the rightwing extremist 'sovereign citizen' movement, according to USA Today." I now have "resting shocked face." (Grokked from Laura J. Mixon)

"Solidarity marches to protest anti-Semitism are planned in Berlin and other German cities on Wednesday after an attack last week on a man wearing a yarmulke sparked widespread outrage… The attack in Berlin, caught on video, involved a 21-year-old man wearing a Jewish skullcap, also known as a kippa, who was suddenly attacked by an assailant calling out 'Yehudi!' — the Arabic word for Jew."

The Hidden Brain podcast on the weight of words when it comes to our preconceptions using terrorism reporting statistics as well as the lowering of the bar on racism because of the president's election. On average, non-Muslim terrorists need to kill at least 7 more people to get the same news coverage than if the terrorists were Muslim. And the president's speech (and actions) have both given license to people to behave and speak in more racist and misogynist ways as well as normalized such so that we feel less racist and misogynistic because of it.

"A federal judge has ruled against the Trump administration's decision to end deportation protections for some young immigrants, saying the White House was 'arbitrary and capricious' in moving to end the Obama-era DACA program… He said that the decision to rescind DACA must therefore be set aside, but he gave Homeland Security 90 days to 'better explain its view' that DACA is illegal."

"The head of the Environmental Protection Agency, Scott Pruitt, has proposed a new rule that restricts scientific research that can be used by the agency for its regulatory decisions… The proposed rule only allows the use of studies that make all data publicly available for anyone to analyze. Pruitt proposed the new rule as a way to make the agency's decision-making more 'transparent, objective and measurable.'" Sounds fair. Like, sure, all the data should be out there so that people can understand the science behind the decisions. Right? Nope. "The EPA's regulatory decisions are often based on epidemiological studies looking at the potential health effects of pollutants, like pesticides and particulate matter. 'Those studies involve people like you and me, signing confidentiality agreements that the scientists doing the studies won't reveal my personal health information, like my vital statistics, or my death certificate, if I die during the course of the study,' says Gallagher. 'This is the kind of science that the EPA relies on, whether it looks at chemicals or particulates and their mortality or health effects. It involves private data.'" So basically any study on the impact on human health would either violate HIPAA or couldn't be used.

"Lesko won 52.6 percent of the vote, with Tipirneni getting 47.4 percent. Donald Trump won the district in 2016 by 21 points. In 2016, the former GOP congressman won the seat with more than 68 percent of the vote. Rep. Trent Franks resigned in December over allegations of sexual harassment." The GOP is feigning nonchalance in a "well, that was an easy landslide and it was never in question" way. For this district, this race shouldn't have been that close. And it shouldn't have taken all the heavy weights who waddled into the field, not to mention the amount of money poured in (on both sides). I'm not going to say that was a win for progressives, but that was a damn fine showing in a race that should have easily gone to the republican.

"A new court filing by Robert Mueller’s Special Counsel confirms that Paul Manafort was raided by the FBI to look for documents relating to the Trump Tower meeting in June 2016 with Russian lobbyists, which was brokered by Donald Trump Jr." Shoutout to the person walking behind Manafort and his lawyer with the sign "Traitor." Thumbs up. (Grokked from Matt Staggs)

"The Senate Veterans Affairs Committee is examining allegations that President Trump’s nominee to lead the Veterans Affairs Department oversaw a hostile work environment as the White House physician and allowed the overprescribing of drugs, according to congressional officials briefed on the committee’s work… They have also received claims that Dr. Ronny L. Jackson drank too much on the job." Vetting, it's an important process. (Grokked from Xeni Jardin)

"Mick Mulvaney, the interim director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, told banking industry executives and lobbyists on Tuesday that they should increase their campaign donations to influence lawmakers, revealing that he would meet only with lobbyists who contributed to his campaign when he served in the House." Mick Mulvaney admits to influence peddling and graft while encouraging the banking industry to continue bribery of elected officials to gain favor. Anybody want to explain to this douchebag that he just publicly admitted to a felony and corruption? "Mr. Mulvaney said that trying to sway legislators that way was one of the 'fundamental underpinnings of our representative democracy. And you have to continue to do it.'" Sure this is how they operate, when you're corrupt. (Grokked from Chuck Wendig)

Tweet of my heart: @joshtpm so basically trump nominated jackson on a whim and now his career is probably destroyed. (Grokked from Kathryn Cramer)

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