Linkee-poo Wednesday

"Fox, apoplectic over its own polling showing wide public support for @AOC and @ewarren's wealth tax proposals, literally blames the fact that schools teach kids to be fair…" You can't make this shit up. I'm guessing the commentator continued on to say something about how that idea of fairness is now being twisted or some such nonsense, but, yeah, not a sterling argument there. (Grokked from Tobias Buckell)

"Jarrod Bruder, the executive director of the South Carolina Sheriff’s Association who frequently lobbies for law enforcement interests at the Statehouse, said that without the incentive of profit from civil forfeiture, officers probably wouldn’t pursue drug dealers and their cash as hard as they do now… If police don’t get to keep the money from forfeiture, 'what is the incentive to go out and make a special effort?' Bruder said. 'What is the incentive for interdiction?'" If one of my officers had said such a thing, they'd have been kicked out so fast there would have been an audible thunderclap. Also, this is exactly the reason why this law is being abused. (Grokked from Annalee Flower Horne)

Hey, remember how we couldn't really fault Saudi Arabia (and MSB) because of those large arms deals. Hold my beer. "Saudi Arabia and its coalition gave al Qaeda, Salafi militias and other factions in Yemen weapons that were produced by the United States, CNN reported Monday." This is my shocked face. (Grokked from Jim Wright)

"Under the company's current business model, 90 percent of funds are paid directly to content creators. Patreon takes 5 percent, and the remaining 5 percent covers transaction fees… Patreon CEO Jack Conte said in an interview with CNBC that the platform will soon be facing the challenge of maintaining a profitable model as the company continues its growth." The investors are growing impatient with getting their ROI. Also, in general, a 5% profit margin (not fully 5% as they have to cover costs, and it's not actually their money, we'd have to know what their expenses are compared to revenues to get an actual profit margin), while once considered respectable and workable is no longer enough. Now they want a piece of your action (or at least that's the implication). Look, Patreon, you're a good service. But you are not funding the art created by people who use your platform. All those people who send money through your service do. You're the middle-man, and you take your slice for both the convenience and for providing the platform. And even if you did directly fund this art, I think if you tried to enforce a "work-for-hire" dichotomy on your business model you will be relegated to the dustbin of the internet (see other companies that tried this, or maybe you can't because they're all gone or reconsidered as they also faced obscurity). (Grokked from Chuck Wendig)

"Pope Francis, for the first time, acknowledged the sexual abuse of nuns by priests and bishops, including a case in which some clergy used women as sex slaves. He said on Tuesday that he is committed to ending the problem in the Roman Catholic Church." Just gonna mention that we're now well into the 3rd decade of the child abuse scandals in the church and it's still a problem. So I'm not holding my breath here. We should also note, I don't think they can blame this on gay priests.

Yes, Northam needs to resign. As I said, there was one path he could have taken, and he failed. But I'll also note republicans are also going after the lt. governor, so this now has the taint of a partisan power grab. Also, "Virginia and national Republicans have joined the bipartisan chorus demanding the resignation of Virginia’s Democratic governor. But many of the same people now decrying his racist behavior have done little to nothing to impede racists in their own party or to fight against legal discrimination." The GOP would have a better case to argue, except for their own issues with racism. And nobody needed to go farther than reading the current news to find those examples.

"'There's been a pattern,' Eastern Virginia Medical School President and Provost Richard V. Homan said on Tuesday. 'Some are repugnant. Some are unprofessional. Some are shockingly abhorrent, like I mentioned.'… Homan said when he was informed about inappropriate images in the 2013 yearbook, he decided to discontinue the yearbooks. None have been made since that year." Stopping the year books was not the solution. It isn't the year book's fault. "Former Virginia Attorney General Richard Cullen will lead a third-party investigation to examine past yearbooks and to look into the culture of the medical school, the school said." And do what, exactly? Write a report? That'll solve the problem. Not. There are actions the school can take, meaningful steps, education that should have been happening already (especially given the well documented disparities in medical treatment minority populations receive), and concrete goals. Having doubled their African-American student population is fantastic. That it's now 20% isn't exactly a ringing endorsement (although depending on how you count these things, it's above the average population percentage). Now the question is how well are those students treated by the faculty and other students.

"The Taliban official who has led the group's peace negotiations with the US has told the BBC the insurgents do not want to seize 'the whole country by [military] power'." It's a kinder, gentler Taliban. And they only want a little bit, like 80%. Yeah, I don't buy it either.

"New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham on Tuesday night ordered the state’s National Guard to withdraw most of its troops assigned to the southern border, rejecting the contention that 'an overwhelming national security crisis' exists."

"'The U.S. economy is growing almost twice as fast today as when I took office, and we are considered far and away the hottest economy anywhere in the world.'… This is false." Fact checking the president. Obviously not all of his statements. That really would be tl/dr.