Fish out of water are more common than thought Science Daily
The IMF’s Warning to the U.S. The Atlantic
China’s capital outflow is accelerating Macrobusiness (Furzy Mouse).
Platinum Partners raided by federal agents amid dual investigations Reuters
Opinion analysis: The exclusionary rule is weakened but it still lives SCOTUSblog. “Utah v. Strieff is a significant win for the police.”
Goodbye, Password. Banks Opt to Scan Fingers and Faces Instead. NYT. “The trade-off, of course, is that in the quest for security and convenience, customers are handing over marks of their unique physical identities.” What could go wrong?
Passenger drones are hovering over the horizon The Economist
Health advisories in Zika-affected countries may have prompted more women to seek abortions The Verge
The Chinese Connection Fueling America’s Fentanyl Crisis WSJ
Views: What Do Chinese Women Think of Hillary Clinton? Caixin
Brexit
REVEALED: This map PROVES Britain is set for BREXIT in EU Referendum TOMORROW Express
Brexit Tomorrow? Probably Not Down with Tyranny
What to Expect in the U.K.’s ‘Brexit’ Vote WSJ. Events on referendum day.
What will happen after the EU referendum: a timeline FT
After Brexit: Roadmap for a leap in the dark Reuters
Boris Johnson’s closing speech was the defining moment of the campaign The Spectator
UK and Europe face Mutual Assured Destruction if they botch Brexit Ambrose Evans-Pritchard, Telegraph
Why I believe Britain belongs in Europe Martin Wolf, FT
Why Brexit would be a history-defining, irreversible mistake Larry Summers
Brexit’s Real Impact Would Be Gradual and Global WSJ
Will Brexit Be End of Party for London? Der Speigel
Denial then panic: how the EU misjudged the British mood Guardian
Half of Leave voters believe EU referendum will be rigged Politics.co.uk
Why the Science Community Says No to Brexit Scientific American
EU referendum: Juncker in ‘out is out’ warning to UK BBC
France fires late word of warning to Brits over Brexit The Local. “France would see Britain’s exit from the European Union as “irreversible” if the Leave camp wins Thursday’s referendum, President Francois Hollande said.”
In the Science of Civilizations, Brexit Is the European Union’s Reckoning Wired
‘Why not Texit?’: Texas nationalists look to the Brexit vote for inspiration Guardian
‘Brexit’ Vote Already Has a Winner: The Gambling Industry NYT
Is There Any Dignity Left in Politics? NYT. Betteridge’s Law….
Gunz
Democratic revolt over gun laws brings House to a halt McClatchy. Billed in the press as a “sit-in.” Oh? Where are the cops in flak jackets? The tear-gas? The armored personnel vehicles? The LRADs? Wake me when some pols are kettled. This spectacle from the same party that orchestrated a 17-city paramilitary crackdown of Occupy! It pains me to agree with Paul Ryan, but when he calls this a “stunt,” he’s right. I think the Democrat Establishment has lost its mind.
The Democrats Are Boldly Fighting For a Bad, Stupid Bill Gawker
Senate votes down proposal to expand FBI surveillance powers Reuters
2016
Emails: State Dept. scrambled on trouble on Clinton’s server AP. Must read. Beyond belief. Clinton’s people are the Mayberry Machiavellis of IT.
Why the Clinton Foundation and foreign money are an issue McClatchy. Good article, but ends wrong: “…David Brock, a major Clinton ally and founder of Correct The Record, a rapid-response group.” No. Correct the Record, and Brock, are entities on the Clinton payroll.
Hillary Clinton Must Embrace Deficits to become President Cult Media. Good read.
Former George H.W. Bush Adviser Scowcroft Endorses Clinton Bloomberg. So who needs Sanders?
Is this the new Trump? Politico. “[S]cripted, disciplined.” The RNC also managed to co-ordinate some press releases with the speech, and FOX covered it.
The Note: Trump Takes on Clinton ABC. Inside baseball.
First Read: Trump Tries to Put the Focus Back on Clinton NBC. More inside baseball.
Imperial Collapse Watch
Archaeologists Uncover Massive Naval Bases of the Ancient Athenians Smithsonian
Class Warfare
How voters’ personal suffering overtook reason — and brought us Donald Trump WaPo. “The white working class differs in a significant way from the people who have discovered it.” Interesting dichotomy.
One Click at a Time LRB. On “post-capitalism.”
Man who hid on Appalachian Trail sentenced for fraud in Ohio Reuters
Calif. man helps save trapped family, gets $143 bill CBS Sacramento. Neoliberalism in action.
Antidote du jour:
See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here.
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The Team Blue sit in reminded me of HRC’s sundry attacks on Sanders voting record: first mischaracterise the legislation, then blow dogwhistles. After this stunt, they will now be able to accuse their future opponents of having “voted to give guns to terrorists”– of course ignoring the fact that the bill had nothing to do with terrorists, and everything to do with further expanding the Bush era policy of secret blacklists of people (mostly muslim) whose constitutional rights can be denied.
Then of course you have to be daft not to ask: how come they can stage a sit down for muslim bashing but not for jailing hedgie fraudsters, torturers, closing Guantánamo….
It’s the party of pathetic.
But that’s Hillary’s job, giving guns to terrorists, that’s what the coup in Lybia to supply guns to ISIS terrorists is about. The white made in America Toyota pick ups to terrorists is about jobs
On the clip I saw DWS was in tears….quite the Oscar worthy performance. Kudos to Lambert for “Mayberry Machiavellis” which describes our fearless leaders to a tee. Modern Washington is not so much House of Cards as Veep.
I contend VEEP is near documentary matl.
For those who came in late, I’m recycling “Mayberry Machiavellis” from John DiIulio’s critique of the Bush administration in 2001*. He had discovered that the Bushies were not sincere in their religious convictions. Quelle horreur!
* This is only a grudge I’ve held for fifteen years, as opposed to sixteen years in the case of Ed Rendell.
You expect us to remember that far back? I can’t even remember what I had for lunch.
At any rate funny, whoever said it.
Watching the power elite get all serious and frowny-faced as they staged a “sit in” gave me the same feeling I’ve gotten watching children sing along to gangster rap at $50K bar and bat mitzvahs. One’s ears bleed from the cognitive dissonance!
Do you think Warren will bring protestors outside of the DNC Convention Dunkin’ Donuts too?
If there are any protesters in favour of increased arms to Israel and expanded PATRIOT act watch lists they should expect crullers and frappachinos from Liberal Liz.
I’d take her donuts for this. Heck, I’d bake her donuts for this.
Sit-ins are all well and good. But they’re not likely to get much traction till they shed their clothes.
Then you’ll see some ‘pubs get upset. That’s naked capitalism, folks!
“State Dept. scrambled on trouble on Clinton’s server“
The newly released emails show State Department IT personal other than her guy Bryan Pagliano, where ordered to fix the problems with Hillary’s private server which she was using for her convenience. “This should trump all other activities” they were told. How is that different than if Hillary had told some guys down in the State Department Maintenance to go paint her house?
Setting aside the issue that the person involved here is Hillary Clinton…
Aren’t both examples of using government funds for personal use? Isn’t that a crime?
State Department IT turned off the security on the State Department email system in an attempt to get Hillary’s emails to be accepted as the State Department email system thought they were either spam or phishing attempts.
Is that how the State Department email system was first hacked? The public would only learn about it in news reports years later.
Re: Clinton’s Emails
I mean, I can’t even…
Mayberry Machiavellis of IT is right. I’ve got a fair amount of familiarity with IT, and this is beyond belief. This brings to mind the saying, “First-rate people hire first-rate people; second-rate people hire third-rate people.”
If Clinton is elected, I really feel sorry for the IT staff at EOP. They’re going to be in for a really rough ride.
Agreed. Clinton’s homebrew server is the problem so her staff requests security measures be turned off on the State Dept.’s IT network? So Clinton’s people can “troubleshoot” her single remote unauthorized server’s connection/transmission problems. !!! (my keyboard doesn’t have enough “!” for this comment.)
How many State Dept. IT people were screaming “do not do this” to Clinton’s staff, explaining the significant dangers? I bet a lot of them. And I’d bet Clinton and her people ignored them, putting the State Dept.’s servers and data at significant risk to please Hillary. I never want her anywhere near launch codes.
Launch codes? Downloaded to her Blackberry. With Amazon-style one-click bombing.
Staples Easy button?
will you guys pleeeeeeaase stop…..I’m sad as hell…and I can’t take it anymore!! ;'(‘
I think I’ll just go sit on a pillow now….just like those house retreads……
Exactly! The one, and, main reason to vote for Trump. He may be a world class grafter, but, from the nice looks of his family, I doubt blowing up the world is one of his priorities.
Also, and I’ve given this some thought, the lust for war by Madame Secretary could be the rationale giving those, “oh no, not Trump, voters the cover they need to vote against the War Mongerer.
using for her convenience = For her ability to corrupt the Federal Record
.. using government funds for personal use? = for commission of a criminal conspiracy
I am just glad she didn’t use public sector workers to teach at her ‘How to Get Rich Running a Non-Profit Foundation.”
“Profit like Hillary.”
Also grateful she didn’t use them for teaching at Hillary Casino, where cattle futures trading is a sure thing gambling bet.
Fact: Hillary >>>> Trump.
If you are a contrarian, you bet Trump.
This could easily be charged under the federal Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, which prohibits “intentionally … affecting a government computer.”
Except we have an attorney general who protects perps instead of charging them.
Free Guccifer!
This description reads as the sub-net of the homebrew server was on the same sub-net as a known spam/phishing operation, State was of course refusing to accept eMail from a block of addresses. This is all just soooo amateur.
Another anecdote: Datto, the company that was handed the homebrew server/administration after she left state is currrently advertising, by billboard, for “Super” data handlers for apparently a local operation in Norwalk, CT.
Please pass the popcorn …
Clinton could never have done this is the State Department’s independent Inspector General had been on the job. But Clinton left that office empty for the entire time she was SoS.
Having her GS minions paint her house wouldn’t involve them in various violations of law and the conspiracy to commit them and obstruct their discovery.
> “This should trump all other activities”
That’s rich. It also shows that Clinton’s sycophantic staff is terrified of her. Not a good look.
On the AP article about Hill’s e-mails, quite honestly I am impatient about wading through all the minutiae because it’s been well-known from the git-go that the entire operation was criminal, and the incredible delay is ridiculous. But I did notice one salient fact in the article: Huma, the Presumptive First Girl Friend, was “personally asking for an update on the repairs.” She still hasn’t been questioned. Maybe she’ll go ahead and throw the HIldabeast under the bus. Why the hell not?
Theatre, it’s all being played as a French bedroom farce with doors opening and slamming shut. There is no way that Hillary Clinton or her minions will be prosecuted once Obama endorsed her campaign. There may be some doors opened, the FBI may enter stage right and Loretta Lynch may even have her skirts above her head, but in the end Obama and Clinton will go happily into the neocon-neoliberal night.
That’s what the Orlando slaughter is about, giving the FBI more STASI powers, more spying on Americans, more money, more bureaucrats. A pre-gift to the FBI from the grifters
What I’m saying is: being a “Hillary Clinton minion” is not a life-long tenured position. What do they really have to lose by spilling all the beans? Huma would surely come out ahead monetarily what with the book deal, racy (ahem) movie deal, etc.
Why do you think she’d make it till Friday? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Kelly_(weapons_expert)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bush_White_House_email_controversy
National security is at stake
They can’t kill Huma. Not now. Too obvious. Yeah, they can off somebody like David Kelly and others. Vince Foster gave them some trouble. But even our zombified press corps would have to come to life if Huma was offed just before her testimony. Besides, she doesn’t have to let on. Just confer with her lawyers (yes, we’ll take the fifth here, lie here, etc.) then go in and sit down with the FBI and tell the whole truth. Her team of lawyers starts turning cartwheels but they can’t stop her. Oh, please, please Ms. Huma, if you’re reading this, please heed my advice for the good of the country and the entire human race.
Ummm. She is deeply embedded in the Clinton world and is one of Hillary’s longest serving aides. Hell she interned at the White House working for her when she was then First Lady. There is as much likelihood of Abedin spilling the beans as there is of Mills doing it Nil. Not going to happen.
I don’t know who is going to get thrown under the bus for this, probably the Clinton IT guy and some lower level State employees if anybody, but there is never going to be a threat great enough for Abedin (or Mills) to have to choose between themselves and Clinton. And they have been surrounded by the disregard for rules, regulations and laws that is life with the Clintons for 20 years, they don’t even see the problem themselves.
The fact that Abedin is still married to Weiner really tells you all you need to know.
I wonder if Weiner knows the whole story (the truth?)
HRC and her cronies don’t need to be prosecuted, just eliminated from the goddamn election.
It was interesting (and predictable) to read that a few elite Chinese academics are mainly positive about HRC.
The article, however, left me wondering what Chinese women think of Hillary Clinton.
Yeah, slightly bizarre article that one, although some of the comments read true from some Chinese women I know (a sort of wary admiration). But on a purely anecdotal basis, the Chinese women I know have a peculiar fascination for Trump.
“Does he like Chinese women or only Eastern Europeans?”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZbM6WbUw7Bs
Japanese Donald Trump Commercialトランプ2016
Yves – you may find this Felix Salmon piece on a “secret McKinsey-linked investment scheme” interesting in relation to the piece you did on MIO.
http://fusion.net/story/316663/panama-papers-brightao-sandy-weill-mckinsey/
the lead: A secretive global network of the rich, the powerful, and the influential, investing in each other’s companies, and trying very hard never to talk about what they’re doing. That’s the dysfunction at the heart of crony capitalism—the system whereby the rich get richer while everybody else struggles.
It’s also a pretty good description of how McKinsey & Company works
Seven activists (Food Not Bombs) arrested in Orlando for feeding homeless in Lake Eola Park: Mr Markeson told reporters: ‘I don’t know why they’re so threatened by people ladling out food’.
A spokesperson for the Orlando police, Lieutenant Barb Jones, told MailOnline: ‘They can feed twice in each park with the permit, there are other places they can feed, and the city has set up locations for them to feed.
‘This is just a group that has decided that they want to be able to feed no matter what the city has done.
‘We paid for their permits. These are misdemeanors, as drinking alcohol in the park is a violation. There are a lot of things you can’t do in city parks’.
In July 2006, the Orlando City Council passed an ordinance limiting any group that holds a food sharing-event that attracts 25 or more people (including those serving the food) to two permitted events per downtown park per 12-month period.
According to the group, the city justifies the law by claiming that food scraps left over could be ‘harmful to birds and squirrels’ and that sharing events can endanger public health by spreading rubbish and endanger public safety by attracting crime.
Food Not Bombs counters that they only use a designated picnic area, which would normally be subject to all the same issues during daily use
A U.S. District Court of Appeals in Atlanta (but of course) ruled in April that the city of Orlando does have the right to regulate food sharings with such an ordinance, and that doing so does not restrict free speech. (Daily Mail)
A starving child is a frightful sight. A starving vampire, even worse. Rice
The rules. They get piled higher and higher. That’s what taxes are for.
I think the next rule or law that should be passed is this one.
Whenever any bureaucratic power wants a new rule or regulation, before it comes into effect, two old rules must be stricken from their rule book.
I’m more directed than that. For every law passed that restricts the actions of DFHs, three will be passed. one each restricting Insurance companies to mislead their customers, Investment Companies and Banks from passing fees on their customers, and requiring government contractors to pay penalties for not meeting their schedules and/or over running their budget without prior approval.
I’m not about getting rid or laws so much of making sure that the pain inflicted is once again directed towards those who are really harming the public or damaging the public good.
Yeah…but would they be old rules of any significance??…….I doubt it….
I was curious as to the party affiliations in Orlando FL and I found that despite several differently worded searches, I was not able to determine what parties the mayor and council members belonged to. As both parties are despicable, I decided there was no point to it, but I did find it odd.
They might have non-partisan local elections, like we do here. No Ds or Rs or anything else on our City Council ballots.
@fresno dan, scroll to Constitutional Officers http://www.ocfelections.com/yourelectedofficials1.aspx…the picture clears. click on these guys and the images sharpen http://www.cityoforlando.net/council/
Orlando, where they’re hanging onto the bottom rung of tourist dollars, has to be hyped with fear…they’re running right into the storm by hiding their ‘issues’.
wanna bet ‘Buddy Dyer’ wishes his business as usual lazyass wasn’t in recent spotlightS…
Organized, effective, non-violent protests and events that portray the true state of the masses will not be tolerated. Columbia is crying on her pedestal.
I like how the police spokesman says ‘They can feed twice in each park with the permit.’ and fails to mention that it’s twice per year. Yeah. You know you’re not going to win any hearts and minds with that dishonest doubletalk. Not like he cares..
Summers cushyass fear mongering on Brexit:
My judgements are I believe widely, though not universally, shared by both progressive and conservative global financial and economic analysts.
a breath…then:
No one knows what the new structure will be or how soon it will emerge.
“One is never afraid of the unknown; one is afraid of the known coming to an end.”
― Jiddu Krishnamurti
ap server story.
Thats new to me. First time I’ve seen the “conservative” qualifier for judicial watch. Is their new title “conservative judicial watch”?
Now democratic tribalists can immediately scoff at all the damning evidence judicial watch releases because they are “conservative”
Rational thought? Naw, goo tribalism!
Thanks for pointing this out. I thought the same thing when I read the article. I had not heard that before, but I also am not familiar with the Judicial Watch’s background. Either way I could care less about what color they are supposed to be painted. Other readers however might be less critical.
It began about 4 weeks ago. I can’t say for certain, but a “Bloomberg Story”, (not to mistake it as real news) called Judicial Watch a conservative entity. I had never heard any adjective added to JW, nor an allegation of bias before. Why now? Because they asked for files that show crimes were rampant?
My guess is, a certain candidate asked AP to make JW a boogieman because they were being mean.
Do you recall when AP refused to go to a private meeting with the president when he was trying to limit democracy and reporting on certain crimes against humanity?
They describe themselves as conservative on the “About Us” page of their website:
As long as they don’t make stuff up, I don’t care.
Judicial Watch identify as conservative, but they are doing work here the left should be but are too lazy and institutionally inept to do, so I cheer for them lustily and wish them all the best.
“Judicial Watch sued George W. Bush’s administration twice as often as it did Bill Clinton’s, [its president Tom] Fitton noted.”
But in the partisan sandbox, every kid has to wear a red or blue team label … including the judges.
Any questions?
fyi they self-identify as conservative, it’s part of their brand and it is NOT new for the media to identify them as such.
as to bias, they have gone after both Bush and Obama and claim to be nonpartisan.
Knees still jerk, but many contemporary “conservative” organizations now uphold principles supported by the historical left, and some of the mainstream contemporary left hold principles that are downright reactionary. I’ll take intellectual honesty and support for well-considered justice wherever I find it, and make common cause with whomever shares my concerns. If we could effectively cross the political lines drawn to divide us, say, over bank reform, we could do much constructive and meaningful. Here’s a thoughtful clip from Sam Harris:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=auAWT0TNcfg.
Best viewed with The World Turned Upside Down playing softly in the background.
Here’s what I have found in my research:
1. Arms were being shipped from Benghazi, Libya, to Syria as Muammar Gaddafi’s armament caches were emptied out. This story blew into the press circles after the September 11, 2012 attack on Benghazi. What is still not clear is the level of Obama Administration involvement in the arms shipment. What is clear is that if everyone knew on September 12, 2012, what we know now, Mitt Romney would be sitting at the desk in the Oval Office. Hence the need for the Obama White House to to concoct a tale about a You-tube video; said tale was amplified by one Hillary Rodham Clinton, told to grieving families and then later denied by the Obama-Clinton snake in the grass.
2. During the testimony before Select Committee on Benghazi, chaired by Trey Gowdy, Clinton threw up her hands (in a Shrill Voice “what difference does it make?”) about the Youtube story at which point we should have known-‘stay with this until she cracks.’ But she slid into the grass again.
Meanwhile the New York times tells us, in March 2015, that Clinton had a private email server.
Judicial Watch had been asking for Clinton emails for a while before that under FOIA but the State Department pretended to know nothing of the offline nature of her stuff. Can’t be sure but someone at State, probably under pressure from POTUS, covered her trail just like she covered his.
So arms flow from Libya to Syria, to topple yet another regime and create 60 million refugees who flow across Europe in a tragic tale of digging up skulls.
3. Lots of talk during this whole time frame scoffed at the buffoonery of the Republicans who were involved in a ‘witch hunt’ but that is the tragic nature of this whole thing-name calling hides the nasty nature of the Oval Office hiding behind the skirts of the Secretary who takes the fall so she can repeat the whole scene during her stay at the digs on Pennsylvania Ave.
Headline to this could have been Sixty Million Refugees March on the Backs of Obama-Clinton Viper.
Instead we get ” Seymour Hersh Says Hillary Approved Sending Libya’s Sarin to Syrian Rebels”
“Judicial Watch had been asking for Clinton emails for a while before that under FOIA but the State Department pretended to know nothing of the offline nature of her stuff.”
Now we know that State actually shut down some security protections of the official messaging system so that emails from Hillary’s private server could get through.
Everybody including the janitors and tea cart servers had to know about it. That’s why Judge Sullivan authorized the unusual step of depositions in a civil FOIA suit — he can smell the bad faith, which permeated from the top down in the Clinton State Dept.
Sometimes you hope there’s a god, and s/he’s vengeful
Readers may be interested that fixthecourt.org, a US Supreme Court watch dog, has uploaded the financial disclosure forms of our esteemed justices. Breyer (unremarkable Clinton appointee), Roberts and Alito (Bush era) had financial interests in cases that came before the court and recused themselves in the disclosed instances. Breyer also has had a lot of taxpayer-reimbursed travel.
There is no excuse for secrecy about these appointees. Given their status in our government, the only way to ensure that they are accountable to the public interest is full disclosure. You would think that the justices would recognize that responsibility themselves.
Why… they’re lifers…….they are set for the rest of their days…so..f#ck the plebs…right?
On that…Supreme Court Justices are not immune to impeachment. It is well past time to make an example and put some fear-o-god into the court by impeaching the absolutely impeachable Thomas. Totally lacks ethics and morals.
well…lets go a bit further….impeach them ALL, and start from scratch!……
…..THAT would send quite the message……
and while we’re at it …..NO LIFETIME APPOINTMENTS…..
That leaves Thomas. Thomas the judge of All Conflict of Interest All the Time. Where’s HIS full financial disclosure forms and recusals?
Thomas doesn’t do recusals (nor does he do speaking or reading or debating/arguing).
Yes, but he’s got the safest seat in government. The Republicans can count on him 100% of the time to vote the party line and the Dems aren’t going to impeach a black SC judge. So who is going to lead the charge to get rid of this useless baggage?
re: biometric identification
NYU Langone medical center routinely uses palm scans to register patients for appointments. And testing centers use same technology. And they verify it with a license so why not just use the license since that is considered the most accurate form of ID?
:(
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/REAL_ID_Act
Bezos Daily doesn’t bother to do a story about Trump’s speech–at least on their web page–but does offer a considerably more diligent fact check than the NYT. For example they admit that HRC supported NAFTA which the Times denies. Clearly there are some exaggerations and false assertions in Trump’s speech. However the Post mostly whiffs, as does the NYT, when talking about the Clinton Cash material.
Strangely in an article heavy with references and links there are none to this supposed heavy scrutiny and we are just expected to take this statement on faith. As to the conflict of interest charge making sense, no it doesn’t make any sense at all if one thinks the Clintons’ vast self enrichment since leaving the White House is perfectly innocent and appropriate. Jimmy Carter retired to his modest brick ranch style house in tiny Plains,GA and wrote books.
And on that unproven quid pro quo, how many emails did she delete again? 30,000?
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/fact-checker/wp/2016/06/23/fact-checking-donald-trumps-attack-on-hillary-clinton/
Well, if there isn’t an expressly written quid pro, its all hunky dory.
Appearances can be so deceiving: she just looks like the most corrupt candidate in history.
Chimps do it without any written agreements.
“You clean my back, and I will pick fleas off yours.”
Lawyer defense: “It’s epigenetically programmed.”
That’s crazy talk if you’re the Post. Nothing to see here.
I wonder if there are examples of any other former Presidents who have put so much effort into raking in the cash after their service. There were those charges that LBJ made himself rich WHILE he was in office and other recent POTUS have given well paid speeches but with nothing like the frequency of the Clintons. They are living embodiments of the revolving door and now want the door to revolve again.
“little evidence” … “doesn’t make much sense” … “easy soundbite” … “heavily scrutinized”
Sounds like Judith Miller, undermining the UN weapons inspectors in Iraq.
Saddam’s WMDs, comrades: better to rust than to fade away.
Also heavy on the “Hillary Clinton’s spokesman told Yahoo News” that she didn’t do it, Obama did.
OR
“Clinton’s aides said she did not intervene in the deal.”
OR
“The foundation said” they used the money to buy medicine and do good things.
Quite the compelling “fact” check. No mention of “Da Fifth.”
I read the book Clinton Cash, and it’s a lot more persuasive than “clinton aides said……”
Shame on us. People are innocent until proven guilty in this country. If we don’t have the e-mails there is no evidence.
Clinton Foundation. It’s a Foundation. No one is real sure what it’s for, but that’s not the point. It IS. Allow me to go off on a tangent here. Just because. There will be a re-entry point. Although verbal contracts are enforceable in a court of law, they are hard to substantiate, because the participants could lie or argue about the details of the contract. This is important because if someone is influence peddling using their position in government and a Foundation named after them has no written contract where the parties agree to a specific donation amount for specified US government services and regulatory approvals, then how are we to say any wrongdoing went on if we are unable to produce a written contract signed by both parties? The burden of proof is on us, remember. It just IS that way.
Benghazi. I’m tired of hearing about Hillary’s Benghazi. No one is real sure what it’s for, but that’s not the point. It IS. SHUT UP ALREADY!
Here’s a detailed, and impartial!, fact check on Trump’s allegations.
http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/factcheckingtrump/trump%e2%80%99s-attack-on-clinton%e2%80%99s-character/ar-AAhuEB2?ocid=spartanntp
Actually, it raises more questions, but that’s not the point. They IS or IS NOT facts. Clearly, we can see here, neither Bill or Hillary ever really did anything all by themselves. Seems like they’ve always been surrounded by this sort of evil sounding government and are just a victim of circumstance. I mean, the Rs start a trade bill, Bill signs it. Bill starts a trade bill, the Rs sign it. Surely the voters can’t blame anyone for this happening????
Plus, it’s not Hillary’s fault she forgot to mention coming out against these things in her campaign platform. You can take the 5th in this country, and Hillary needs campaign donations to win!
The thing is, there is just so much proof we need about the Clintons, the burden of proof would crush us. Just fuggetaboutit and vote for Hillary already!
Carolinian
June 23, 2016 at 9:25 am
As Michael Kinsley said, “The scandal is not what’s illegal, the scandal is what’s legal.”
If your a lawyer, than of course you know the rules of evidence, and how to evade, deflect, and hide anything that would prove a quid pro quo. And of course, the attorney generals we have, where there were literally MILLIONS of forgeries associated with the housing bubble, where unable to to figure out that this did not happen by accident. We need a word that denotes “super hapless” or “ultra hapless”
Free Linda Green……oh wait
Oh I know her, she signed my mortgage documents. Her signature was always changing inexplicably. Get Loretta on the case!
Prob is in this case it may also be shown to be illegal if only we had anyone who would prosecute or, for that matter, someone who would investigate. Maybe Woodward should assign a member of his crack team to the Clinton Foundation and ask about its financing and the low level of actual charitable spending. When the Post said they were putting 30 people on vetting Trump they also said they would give similar scrutiny to Clinton. I believe the fact checkers would give this statement four Pinocchios.
I was laughing at this part: “more than 33,500 tons of greenhouse gas emissions are being reduced annually across the United States.”
When there is this: “But the “floor” below which nobody in the U.S. can reach, no matter a person’s energy choices, turned out to be 8.5 tons, the class found. That was the emissions calculated for a homeless person who ate in soup kitchens and slept in homeless shelters.”
So this reduction limits the emissions of ~3900 homeless people.
From here: “On a single night in January 2015, 564,708 people were experiencing homelessness — meaning they were sleeping outside or in an emergency shelter or transitional housing program.”
Or in other words, 0.7% of the homeless population. I would have thought the returns on over $2 billion would have been higher…
For another angle and perspective, the U.S. is currently emitting around 5.5 billion metric tons per year of CO2, so that’s a reduction of .0006 percent. Source: https://www3.epa.gov/climatechange/ghgemissions/gases/co2.html
Donald Trump says it’s all a big hoax though, so we’re all good.
Those figures are usually inaccurate, the homeless person is probably not producing that. How those figures are usually calculated is a lot of overhead costs such as maintaining U.S. infrastructure is ALLOCATED per capita and so even though the homeless person doesn’t produce anything like that, U.S. and local government uses (maybe even included the bloated military) are allocated to them as well.
I’m not saying MOST U.S. people don’t have a high footprint even just counting their own usage and not whatever their government decides to do. I’m just saying that the figures that would allocate so much usage to a homeless person are more of an oddity in how the allocation math is done than anything real about the high footprint of a homeless lifestyle (haha).
Meanwhile in TWIN FALLS…
“Authorities are denying reports that Syrians gang-raped a child at knife-point in a Twin Falls apartment complex earlier this month, saying the false claims are being spread to incite anti-refugee sentiments.
“There were no Syrians involved, there was no knife involved, there was no gang-rape,” Twin Falls County Prosecutor Grant Loebs said Monday morning.
“There is a small group of people in Twin Falls County whose life goal is to eliminate refugees, and thus far they have not been constrained by the truth,” Loebs said. “They have not been constrained by the truth in the past, and I don’t expect them to be constrained by the truth in the future.”
“According to those officials, three boys were involved, ages 7, 10 and 14, and the alleged victim was a 5-year-old girl. The boys are from Sudan and Iraq; none are Syrian. They are being held at a juvenile detention facility. Officials suspect the boys have been in the Uniteds States fewer than two years, but their refugee status wasn’t immediately clear to the police chief.”
Read more here: http://www.idahostatesman.com/news/state/idaho/article84829787.html#storylink=cpy
TTF: The truth about this remains unclear. But it could be that, after only two years in-counrtry, these poor boys have already become victims of American racism and xenophobia, and it seems they are already showing signs of succumbing to the pervasive influence of our own domestic rape culture… Stay tuned.
I thought the real question is cases like this is how good of an athlete the offenders are…isn’t that the yardstick for assessing guilt now? Equal protection under the law and all that :-/
“influence of our own domestic rape culture”? Really? What are you talking about? rap music?
That Texas article is noteworthy simply for existing. Why would the Guardian equate a few nutjobs advocating civil war in Texas with voting to leave a trade union?
Perhaps a subtle bit of imagery to equate Brexit supporters with brain-dead secessionists wasting their days on a hopeless cause, without actually saying it.
Perhaps? Nay, is. The Guardian’s slip is showing…
I take it that popular sentiment in TX is against seccession…but I wonder what people in the rest of the country think? Shouldn’t we all be given a vote on whether or not TX gets to stay in? Come to think of it, maybe we should all take a vote on Alabama too…and West Virginia. Isn’t one Virginia enough?
Joking, of course…although it would be fun to hold seccession votes in all the states, just to see…non-binding, of course. I’d definitely be a “leave” voter, myself.
Hey some of us might like to expel NYC. Just joking of course. Back in the 70s there was a jokey movement started by Norman Mailer and others for NYC to secede from NY state–not from the country. Now the people running the two New Yorks may be more like minded.
In fairness some lunatics have advocated SC secede from the union–again–and some yankee commentators–not any sane person who actually lives here–have thought that would be a good idea.
Can’t we all just get along?…..
At the rate society is heading, we’ll all be wishing to secceed from the ‘union’ at some point!
tl;dr IMF to USA:”Yay! You finally managed to kill that damn golden goose!”
Staging a sit-in to expand police power. If only they’d fought that hard for single-payer.
..or to put jamie d, lloyd b, & john c …. in irons……
“Staging a sit-in to expand police power”
You just can’t make this stuff up
Who Rules Barter Town?
Hillary Rules Barter Town!
Calif. man helps save trapped family, gets $143 bill CBS Sacramento. Neoliberalism in action.
“This is truly a unique situation,” he said. “In my 28 years, this is my first time I’ve run into a situation similar to this.”
The district began implementing the fee two years ago in a move it says prevents fire station brownouts.
But in this case, McLaughlin says he’d like to see the fee waived.
Calif. man helps save trapped family, gets $143 bill CBS Sacramento. Neoliberalism in action.
“There is a mechanism for appealing this. a mechanism for making this right. Our desire it to make it right,” he said.
But for now, this heroic act deserving of a medal has Deanda facing a bill.
“I mean why would I want to stop to help somebody if I’m going to get a bill for $150?” he said.
Deanda plans to appeal and hopes the matter is resolved before it goes to COLLECTIONS.”
==============================================
I wonder how this plays out….
A California man was shot dead by sheriff deputies after a stand off, where the deputies where trying to evict the man from his home for unpaid liens, put on the house for an ever escalating series of fees that all started 3 years ago when the man helped free some people from their vehicle after a crash. The fee, sent to collections, approximately 30 minutes after being assessed, had an interest of 1,487%, compounded daily. The state of CA later put a lien on the man’s house for non-payment, and the rest proceeded from there….
Really, somebody thought this was a good idea?
…and so the hairline cracks that continue to appear in the body republic become the chasm that eventually shatters it !!
brings me to fucking tears! tears & anger make not a healthy aby…
So I guess the lesson here is that if I actually stop to help someone in California, and I don’t believe I’m injured, to not let the paramedics touch me and maybe take a video selfie publicly declining their assistance.
Good grief, the crapification of everything is accelerating.
Isn’t there some story, like a parable or something, that covers this situation? Scratching my head….
EGrise
June 23, 2016 at 2:10 pm
I would bet that the paramedics just approaching you and asking you if your OK would be called “diagnosis” – still 143$
And if you stand there with your eyes shut going “na na na na I can’t hear” you the paramedics would write a report saying “subject displayed good neuro muscular coordination” – and I bet CA would call that advanced diagnosis, and CA would probably charge you 286 $
Caracas bad; Maracaibo worse:
Econ 101: price goods below cost, and you get shortages. Venezuela’s clowngov has carried this foolishness so far that Venezuela may become the first western hemisphere country to lose part of its population to a famine. This is truly lethal, life-threatening incompetence.
The Hunger Games…….reality TV coming soon to your neighborhood when the ATMs no longer work and the grocery shelves are bare.
Price goods below cost….shortages.
Does it mean, if you limit bribery to a cheap sum, it will disappear?
“Not more than $200,000.”
Hopefully, that’s below cost.
Leon Wieseltier’s comment in the Washington Post link is worth a read. But I’m not comfortable with his conclusion that compassion is appropriate for the “Deer Hunter” white working class he describes.
Let’s keep in mind that it’s this working class that did the real work to build this country while those Wieseltier implores to extend their compassion are merely the little hive-minds that set the strong backs and native ingenuity in motion — and often not wisely.
This working class is in retreat, for now. But they may begin their comeback in November, regardless of whether the soft-shelled digerati and bankers see fit to pity the Deer Hunters or not.
I don’t see how. You have a duplicitous bastard who says everything and its opposite and a megalomaniac liar (sadly, that description isn’t a one-or-the-other, but a both). Sanders has been chewed up and spit out. Stein has no chance to win. The Libertarians are hardly the friends of the working man. It will have to be 1932 all over again before we get any progress, and you can bet the Power Elite will move heaven and Earth to make sure the day or reckoning comes too late for this election cycle.
Under that ‘Not Before 1932 Again’ scenario, the question, then, is, who will get us to that year faster?
Maybe we need something worse than 1932? 2008 with its massive layoffs came kind of close–A 21st century version of 32? Or did the election of a black man, speaking soothing insincere nothings and all along with the cobra subsidy cushion the crash?
Something worse than 1932 would be a 1932 style economic contraction with the country already at war, with everyone in sight. Then, sadly, President Clinton lands the Marines at Sevastopol to help the poor downtrodden but brave “Freedom Fighters” of the 2nd Directorate Scythian Independence Brigades. Fun and games ensue.
always liked eating softshells………
> “soft-shelled digerati”
Putting on my bib, now….
Now I what to do with all that cocktail sauce I canned last year…….
What sort of vinegar did you use?
‘Softshell’ and ‘hardshell’ sound very much like sects of a religious denomination. I’ve encountered ‘hardshell’ Baptists, but ‘softshell’ Lutherans?
I can imagine ‘hardshell’ Digerati; for them “Code Is The Law.” ‘Softshell’ Digerati, I’m not too sure; “Doubt Is The Wisdom of the Ancients” perhaps?
–Leon Wieseltier
People seek saviors when they see eternal Hell or politicians that refuse to implement programs that benefit their condition. Seeking political saviors is a sign of systemic failure in the “democracy”.
Wieseltier is an anti-white, anti-American racist. He’s perfectly happy to support the crude masculinity of white American males – so long as it is directed against the enemies of Israel. When that same energy begins to be directed towards furthering their own interests, it’s time to declare these white men mentally ill proto-fascists.
[Alas, the Deer Hunter is a lot like Full Metal Jacket: the first part is wonderful, but upon contact with Vietnam it disintegrates…]
RE: The Democrats Are Boldly Fighting For a Bad, Stupid Bill
I’d love to think of this as something more than politics as usual. But I’m too jaded… I can’t. They’re not really fighting to fix the problem…. they don’t expect the bill to pass. It doesn’t matter if the bill is bad…. it actually helps. What they want is a vote on the record where the republicans vote to continue to let people on the terrorist watch list buy guns.
Then they can all run ads in an election year pointing out how the R’s all voted for guns over terrorism.
*sigh*
They’re idiots because if the left is calling this a stunt then you can bet the gun loving right sees it for what it is. They’ll call it an expansion of executive branch powers and an attack on due process(which is exactly what it is.)
It’s not like the government has been competent when dealing with their “lists.”
The “sit-in,” so-called, is a fine example of mutually reinforcing stacking functions:
1) Debbie Wasserman Schultz gets to demonstrate tearful sincerity, rehabilitating her reputation;
2) The DNC fundraising email blast has already gone out;
3) Trump is deprived of another news cycle (and remember there is a finite number of them before the election);
4) This news cycle conveys an orgy of virtue signaling by goodthinking liberals in the professional class (Clinton’s base), which is not only a jouissance in itself, but
5) Deceives the credulous into thinking that powerful Democrats “stand with” the powerless; “After all, did they not appropriate our tactics?”
6) If the bill passes, a) it will only affect people on the watch list (i.e., disproportionately PoC and Muslim, b) set the use of a due-process free watchlist in stone — Hi, DiFi! [waves] — c) not actually control gun sales, and d) inflame gun advocates to buy even more guns thereby
7) Ka-ching! to the private equity firms who own gun manufacturers and contribute heavily to the Democrat Party.
8) Since the bill is unlikely to pass, Democrats get to indulge a results-free public relations scam, while fundraising off it (ka-ching) and later shaking down donors (ka-ching).
It’s really beautiful in its own way, and you have to admire the sick minds who put it all together.
Watch lists: Thought crime, or worse, race / ethnic / apartheid laws disguised as thought crime.
Stealing a march on the racists aspect of this campaign.
Yea but on the other hand no one can take the right having any real concern for due process seriously either. Look if they did they would start with the criminal injustice system, which has never been much of a concern of most of them. But it’s certainly where most due process abuses are going on.
But they don’t know any better? Oh for some it is true, but you do have to realize how viscous much of the right really is, they know, they don’t care, they pretend.
but, but, but they look oh so frowny!
…they’ve got me convinced…..NOT!
I’m not talking about the right wing politicians, but the right side of the aisle electorate.
There are people on the right side of the aisle that consider the war on drugs just as ridiculous as those on the left believe it or not. I’ve talked to people from the right side of the aisle that like us understand that there seems to be two sets of standards when it comes to following the law. On this we aren’t far apart.
The differences between the left and right really aren’t on our perceived problems but on what we believe the solutions should be.
A small unkindness? :)
Sit-in by House Democrats deeply important and deeply flawed
RE: the sit in “stunt.”
I guess the Boston Tea Party was a “stunt” too.
Why yes, yes it was, However, the issue was _lack_ of representation and a demand to return hard currency to the elites … much like the present condition of the 90%.
The stunt being called out here has been eviscerated above.
Boston tea party is to democrat sit in as clintons home server is to colin powells e mail
Is that a crow grooming a raven?
Take the Fork,
I thought it was whispering into its ear, but I do agree that the one on the left is a crow and the other a raven.
Strange.
Whispering: that’s completely possible and probably more likely. Corvids are inveterate schemers.
But if they’re working across special lines… perhaps they are [ahem] hatching a plot against us.
I know this: if they somehow manage a popular front with the cephalopods, our days are numbered…
…we all know that Corvids pair well with Cthulhu-like creatures…kinda like meat to a bone!…
Nevermore: Perhaps it’s payback for Poe and his “grim, ungainly, ghastly, gaunt, and ominous” gibe… (which I personally feel is a better description for the loathsome grackle).
quantum transfer
o Re. How voters’ personal suffering overtook reason — and brought us Donald Trump WaPo. “The white working class differs in a significant way from the people who have discovered it.” Interesting dichotomy. — Margaret Mead discovers the ‘primitives’, brought to you by the paper owned by the guy who made his billions on the backs of grinding the working class – of all colors – into the dust. “You’re fired, but you’ll love our low daily prices!”
o Robots to Pay “Social Security” Under EU Tax Proposal | MishTalk
I find the pushback in the comments to be a hopeful sign that perhaps even a decent fraction of hardcore Mish readers are finally ‘getting it’, especially as precious few of the ‘historically, new and better jobs for humans which have followed every job-destroying innovation cycle’ Mish loves to rattle on about seem to be materializing these days.
It’s merely a fancy way of taxing those who have appropriated most of the social wealth of centuries of human innovation, when they no longer even need employees anymore, in order to take back some of it for the rest of society. A little like Buckminster Fullers argument for a guaranteed income.
Re: Antidote
As an observer of birds, the one of the left with a more or less straight bill, looks very much like a crow, while the one of the right, with a noticeably curved and heavy bill, is most likely a raven. Crows and ravens are rivals for territory, and frequently clash. At the Emeryville Marina, in the SF Bay Area, I formerly observed several such conflicts. When last I visited, perhaps 6 years ago, SF’s Golden Gate Park was dominated by ravens. It’s possible for crows and ravens to perch together–I’ve seen it, but have never had time to watch for long to see how long coexistence lasts…so if Lambert has direct knowledge or if any birders have in-depth knowledge, please respond.
We figured it out about four posts above… :)
That was the shortest ‘far left’ comment in the whole section–no wonder I missed it! Another factoid: the staff @ the Lindsay Wildlife Museum (Walnut Creek, CA, also Bay Area) confided to me over 20 years ago that ravens are their least favorite bird to care for–extremely aggressive.
BBC, ITV, et al projecting 52-48 Leave on EU referendum…stock markets in Asia tanking, FTSE looking at a bloodbath in few hrs, Dow opening down 500+ points…ruling elites shatting themselves…Hallelujah, bring out the tumbrils!
Toffs, spivs, chancers, and wideboys in The City collectively hurtling themselves into the Thames…barge traffic halted until all the bodies cleared.
There was more to the Brexit vote than immigration, particularly by actual left-wingers sick and tired of the neoliberal elite – my own local constituency voted to leave in Wales, as did I and as did a majority of my fellow citizens. Bloodbath in Brussels because Le Pen in France really does detest the EU, whilst most in the UK just desire significant reform in the EU. Not too sure what will happen, the UK ain’t Greece, hence its in Brussels court now and if they some zest for actual meaningful reform I don’t see the UK leaving. If reform is not embraced, the UK is out and by the end of 2017 France too and that’s the end of what is now very much seen as a neoliberal project.
Actually, the anti-neoliberal project in the US has its avatar-rightly or wrongly – in the candidacy of Herr Trumpf, and given how so many polls in the UK simply got it wrong before Thursday’s vote, I for one am not about to concede the presidential election to HRC, she of the neoliberal elite.
Spot on Christopher.
The establishment elites threw everything they had at Remain but it didn’t do them any good at all — and you cover most of the reasons above.
I’m on holiday with my mother-in-law in deepest Tory blue East Dorset and the constituency voted Leave by a total landslide. These aren’t your 0.001% or even your 1% but they are your 10% living on their capital assets. Even they feel shafted by neoliberalism’s money and power grabs.
I’ll have to check how my home constituency in pale-blue wast Hampshire voted but it was probably similar although the reasons would have been slightly different.
For me, I voted Leave because of Greece and because of the EU’s disasters in the Ukraine and Russia-baiting.
My New Labour friends (Islington, one of the top-10 ‘remain’ strongholds) are in deep mourning. I love them dearly, but as educated as they are thy remain absolutely clueless.