~~~ Melina Delkic, et al., of the New York Times: “Three years after Joseph R. Biden Jr. became the first president to formally commemorate Indigenous Peoples’ Day, more than a dozen states and many cities recognize some version of the day either alongside or instead of the federal holiday Columbus Day. Columbus Day was never removed as a federal holiday; Mr. Biden had declared that Indigenous Peoples’ Day should be celebrated alongside Columbus Day. But Indigenous groups and other activists have urged Americans not to celebrate Christopher Columbus, the Italian navigator for whom the holiday is named. They say he brought genocide and colonization to communities that had been in the Americas for thousands of years.... [Donald] Trump has supported calling the holiday Columbus Day, posting on social media in April, 'I am hereby reinstating Columbus Day under the same rules, dates and locations, as it has had for all of the many decades before.' He signed a Columbus Day proclamation at a cabinet meeting on Thursday. 'In other words, we’re calling it Columbus Day,' he said, adding: 'We’re back, Italians.'”~~~
~~~ Marie: In that case, Donald, why not call it "National Undocumented Immigrants Day"? Because that's what Columbus & millions of Europeans and Africans were when they came to what would become or what was the United States, beginning in the late 15th century. ~~~
~~~ Heather Cox Richardson: Donald Trump's Columbus Day “proclamation goes on to present a white Christian nationalist version of American history, with much more emphasis on Christianity than Trump’s previous, similar proclamations.... Then the proclamation turns to MAGA’s complaints about modern revisions of this triumphalist history, saying: 'Outrageously, in recent years, Christopher Columbus has been a prime target of a vicious and merciless campaign to erase our history, slander our heroes, and attack our heritage.'... This proclamation completely misunderstands the fifteenth-century world of expanding European maritime routes that entirely reworked world trade — including trade in human beings — and the role of Italian mariner Christopher Columbus, who worked for Spain’s monarchs Ferdinand and Isabella, in that expansion....
“The Columbus Day holiday began in the 1920s, when a resurgent Ku Klux Klan tried to create a lily-white country by attacking not just Black Americans, but also immigrants, Jews, and Catholics.... The Klan attacked the Knights of Columbus, a Catholic fraternal organization.... To combat the growing animosity toward Catholics and racial minorities, the Knights of Columbus began to highlight the roles those groups had played in American history.... In the 1930s the Knights of Columbus joined with media mogul Generoso Pope, an important Italian American politician in New York City, to rally behind the idea of a national Columbus Day. In 1934, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, aware of the need to solidify his new Democratic coalition by welcoming all Democratic voters, proclaimed Columbus Day, October 12, a federal holiday.”
~~~~~~~~~~
Washington Post: “... Donald Trump departed Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, on Monday, after meeting with world leaders at a summit to discuss the future of Gaza. He told those assembled that the time to start planning 'Phase 2' of a broader peace arrangement had arrived. Trump and other leaders signed a document on the Gaza ceasefire agreement, the details of which were not made public. The White House did not immediately respond to a question about what he signed. In an address to Israel’s Parliament earlier Monday to celebrate the return of the remaining living hostages from Gaza as part of a U.S.-backed ceasefire plan, Trump said the war in Gaza 'is over' and touted the 'dawn of a new Middle East,' although much remains uncertain about the next phase of the peace plan.” ~~~
~~~ Melanie Lidman, et al., of the AP: “Israel and Hamas moved ahead on a key first step of the tenuous Gaza ceasefire agreement on Monday by freeing hostages and prisoners, raising hopes that the U.S.-brokered deal might lead to a permanent end to the two-year war that ravaged the Palestinian territory. But thornier issues such as whether Hamas will disarm and who will govern Gaza — and the question of Palestinian statehood — remain unresolved, highlighting the fragility of an agreement that for now only pauses the deadliest conflict in the history of Israel and the Palestinians.”
~~~ Liam Stack, et al., of the New York Times: “Newly released Palestinian prisoners flashed victory signs to cheering crowds who gathered on Monday to watch them step into freedom under the new cease-fire deal between Israel and Hamas. Families waited at dawn in the West Bank city of Ramallah and broke into teary-eyed trills as buses carrying some of the nearly 2,000 released prisoners and detainees approached. They rushed forward to greet the men as they stepped off. Many of the men looked haggard and exhausted.”
I was still in such shock ... that [ICE agents] were not only accusing me of [attempting to run them down], but crowding and cornering me in the seat, pointing and screaming at me, threatening to shoot and arrest me, and not allowing the ambulance to leave the scene. This was no longer a safe scene, and in that moment, I realized that the scene had not actually been safe the entire time that they were blocking us from exiting, and that we were essentially trapped. -- Portland Ambulance Driver ~~~
~~~ Andrew Schwartz of Willamette Week: “Late on Oct. 5, a Portland ambulance crew informed dispatchers over the radio that it was attempting to transport a patient from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to Legacy Emanuel Medical Center but that ICE officers were impeding its departure. Six minutes later, at 9:40 pm, according to publicly archived radio records, the medic driving the vehicle delivered an update: 'We are still not being allowed to leave by ICE officers.'... Written accounts were filed by [two] ambulance crew members shortly after the incident.... Both reports say that federal agents, in an effort to block the ambulance’s departure, stood directly in front of the vehicle. As the delay dragged on, according to the reports, the ambulance operator put the vehicle into park, causing it to lurch forward slightly. The reports indicate the federal agents ... threatened to shoot and arrest the driver. The driver, frightened, asked why. An agent, according to the reports, responded that the driver had attempted to hit him with the ambulance.”
Some Airport Authorities Stand Up to Gnome & Trump. Shannon Najmabadi & Aaron Gregg of the Washington Post: “Airports in more than a half-dozen U.S. markets have declined to display a video in which Homeland Security Secretary Kristi L. Noem blames congressional Democrats for the government shutdown and any related travel delays, citing the political nature of its content, according to local authorities. Officials that oversee airports serving Buffalo, Charlotte, Cleveland, Los Angeles, Phoenix, Seattle and Portland, Oregon, said the video could violate internal policies that bar political messaging or contravene state or federal laws that prohibit the use of public resources for political activity.... With the living hostages freed..., the urgency which many were driven to call for an end to the war will likely diminish, easing pressure on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to advance the next phases of the agreement.”
News Media Stand Up to Drunk Pete. Scott Nover of the Washington Post: “Media across the ideological spectrum said they will not sign the Defense Department’s restrictive new press policy by Tuesday’s afternoon deadline. The Washington Post, the New York Times and CNN said they wouldn’t sign, as did Newsmax and the Washington Times. Matt Murray, The Post’s executive editor, said the policy runs counter to the Constitution’s guarantee of freedom of the press.... The Atlantic, the Wall Street Journal, NPR, Reuters and the Guardian, along with the trade publications Task & Purpose and Breaking Defense, said they were not signing either. Fox News, Hegseth’s former employer, has not yet said whether it would sign the pledge.... After pushback from reporters, news organizations and press freedom advocacy groups, the Pentagon expanded the prohibitions in the document, earning condemnation last week from the Pentagon Press Association, which represents the Pentagon press corps.”
~~~~~~~~~~
On January 6, 2021, Donald Trump was the President* of the United States. After he sent a mob of supporters to the Capitol to try to stop certification of the 2020 election, he sat down in a small room off the Oval Office and watched events unfold, even as the mob overwhelmed Capitol security, broke into the Capitol building, and threatened the life of Trump's vice president. His top allies begged him to call off the mob, but he resisted for hours. At that time, Joe Biden was not nor had he ever been POTUS. He had never had control over the FBI. Knowing this, would you say that Donald Trump suffered from dementia when he wrote this? ~~~
~~~ ⭐Michael Luciano of Mediaite: At 12:38 am ET Sunday, “... Donald Trump blamed the Capitol riot on former President Joe Biden.... 'THE BIDEN FBI PLACED 274 AGENTS INTO THE CROWD ON JANUARY 6,' he wrote on Truth Social. 'If this is so, which it is, a lot of very good people will be owed big apologies. What a SCAM – DO SOMETHING!!! President DJT'.” The “SOMETHING” that needs doing is invocation of the 25th Amendment. Uh, which would bring us President Vance.
Career Advancement. Yan Zhuang of the New York Times: Donald “Trump announced early Sunday that he was appointing Dan Scavino, a deputy chief of staff and one of Mr. Trump’s most trusted advisers, as the head of the presidential personnel office. Mr. Scavino will replace Sergio Gor, whom Mr. Trump in August said he would nominate to be the U.S. ambassador to India. The personnel office role has traditionally been largely administrative but can come with significant power. This could be particularly true under a president who has been focused on whether prospective staff members meet his perception of loyalty. The office helps the president hire and fire thousands of political appointees.... [Mr. Trump] added that Mr. Scavino would retain his role as deputy chief of staff....Mr. Scavino was Mr. Trump’s golf caddy and one of the original aides in his 2016 presidential campaign. He helped craft the first Trump campaign’s social media presence, and he is among a small group of aides who have earned Mr. Trump’s confidence.” (Also linked yesterday.)
George Shuts Down JayDee. John Bowden of the Independent: “Vice President JD Vance clashed with ABC’s George Stephanopoulos on Sunday over a slow-burning scandal enveloping Tom Homan, the Trump administration’s border czar. On ABC’s This Week, Stephanopoulos concluded an interview with the vice president by asking about reports from ProPublica and other news outlets indicating that FBI officials are in possession of a video in which Homan is seen accepting a $50,000 bribe from an FBI agent while offering to connect interested parties with lucrative federal contracts related to immigration enforcement.... Stephanopoulos repeatedly pressed the vice president on this point.... Vance then lashed out at the anchor..., causing Stephanopoulos to cut him off and end the interview.... 'I asked you whether Tom Homan accepted $50,000 as was heard on an audiotape recorded by the FBI in September 2024, and you did not answer the question. Thank you for your time.'” ~~~
~~~ Marie: One would normally be polite to a VPOTUS, even if he was a lying jerk. One would not unceremoniously shut down a VPOTUS midsentence. But JayDee is one extraordinary lying jerk, and he is too good for his own good at playing hardball. I'd say this is where he went too far: “And here’s, George, why fewer and fewer people watch your show, and why you’re losing credibility,” he said to Stephanopoulos. Lesson for JayDee: if you hit a teevee star in his ratings, he will hit you back. Good night and good luck. ~~~
Annals of "Journalism," Ctd. Marie: In yesterday's Comments, RAS pointed to an October 10 New York Times headline which read, "Comparative Calm or 'Hellscape'? In Portland, Depends on the Narrator." If you listen to what real residents of Portland, Oregon, (or even Jimmy Kimmel, for Pete's sake) say, then you know how ridiculous the headline is. As RAS writes, " It is not just this administration where facts do not matter anymore. The complicity of most of the media is frightening." Scott Lemieux, whose post RAS linked, says, "At this point, the role of any remotely responsible media would be to make it clear to readers and viewers that absolutely none of this is remotely true and is being used to justify the exercise of arbitrary executive authority." I had read or scanned the article, and I wondered why I didn't recall the offending headline. Maybe it's because somebody at the NYT read the complaints. The headline of the story now reads, "How Right-Wing Influencers Are Shaping the Guard Fight in Portland." I know it seems like a waste of your time to complaint about media coverage, but occasionally it helps.
Not Even the Panda Cam! Rebecca Falconer of Axios: "Smithsonian museums and the National Zoo closed Sunday due to the government shutdown, with their websites urging visitors to check back for updates on when they'll reopen.... All of the Smithsonian's institutions, including its research centers, 21 museums and the National Zoo, are affected by the temporary closure. The zoo emphasized on its beloved pandas and other animals 'will continue to be fed and cared for.' The Smithsonian had used funds from previous years to remain open in the days after the shutdown took effect on Oct. 1.... The panda cam and all other live animal feeds will not broadcast during the shutdown."
It looks as if Trump's penchant for hiring right-wing idiots has METAstasized: ~~~
~~~ Jason Wilson of the Guardian: “A prominent anti-DEI campaigner appointed by Meta in August as an adviser on AI bias has spent the weeks since his appointment spreading disinformation about shootings, transgender people, vaccines, crime, and protests. Robby Starbuck, 36, of Nashville, was appointed in August as an adviser by Meta – owner of Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and other tech platforms – in an August ... settlement [of a defamation lawsuit he had brought against Meta]. Since his appointment, Starbuck has baselessly claimed that individual shooters in the US were motivated by leftist ideology, described faith-based protest groups as communists, and without evidence tied Democratic lawmakers to murders. Starbuck’s online posts have not changed in tenor since the 'anti-DEI agitator' was brought into the Meta fold, and his Trump administration connections raise broader questions about the extent to which corporate America has capitulated to the Maga movement.” Thanks to RAS for the link.
~~~~~~~~~~
Louisiana. Rick Rojas of the New York Times: “Voters in New Orleans chose Helena Moreno on Saturday to be the city’s next mayor, indicating optimism that Ms. Moreno, a Democratic city councilwoman, can make good on her promise to lift the city out of chronic dysfunction and ease frustration that has built up over years of setbacks. The race was dominated by the city’s entrenched and serious problems, including limited economic prospects for many residents, a shortage of affordable housing and the soaring cost of insurance. The city has lost residents, in large part because of those issues, and faces dire financial circumstances.”
South Carolina. Weekends in the U.S.A. AP: “A mass shooting at a crowded bar on an idyllic South Carolina island has left four people dead and at least 20 injured, officials say. The shooting occurred early Sunday at Willie’s Bar and Grill on St. Helena Island, officials said. A large crowd was at the scene when sheriff’s deputies arrived and found several people suffering from gunshot wounds.” (Also linked yesterday.)
~~~~~~~~~~
China. Keith Bradsher of the New York Times: “China is building an enormous network of clean energy industries on the Tibetan Plateau, the world’s highest. The intention is to harness the region’s bright sunshine, cold temperatures and sky-touching altitude to provide low-cost, renewable energy. The result is enough renewable energy to provide the plateau with nearly all of the power it needs, including for data centers used in China’s artificial intelligence development.... Speaking before the United Nations [last month, President Xi Jinping] said for the first time that the country would reduce its greenhouse gas emissions across its economy and would expand renewable energy sixfold in coming years. It was a moment of global significance for the nation that is currently the world’s biggest polluter.
“China’s clean energy efforts contrast with the ambitions of the United States under the Trump administration, which is using its diplomatic and economic muscle to pressure other countries to buy more American gas, oil and coal. China is investing in cheaper solar and wind technology, along with batteries and electric vehicles, with the aim of becoming the world’s supplier of renewable energy and the products that rely on it.” ~~~
~~~ Keith Bradsher of the New York Times: “In China, the longest ultrahigh-voltage power line stretches more than 2,000 miles from the far northwest to the populous southeast.... China has 41 others. Each is capable of carrying more electricity than any utility transmission line in the United States. That’s partly because China is using technology that makes its lines far more efficient than almost anywhere else in the world. The feat is owed to China’s ambitious national energy policies and the fact that few residents along the path of these lines dare object — even though the lines cause small electric shocks that local people said they could feel when holding a metal fishing pole.... Half the country’s new cars are battery-powered, and the 30,000 miles of high-speed rail lines run on electricity. Wind and solar energy provided over a quarter of China’s power in April, a milestone that few other countries can brag about.” ~~~
~~~ Paul Krugman: "Now Trump is learning, to his obvious shock, that other nations can also play trade hardball. His reaction to China’s new export controls on rare earths, which are crucial to digital technology, would be comical if the stakes weren’t so high[.]... There is, however, one big difference between Trump’s trade policy and China’s. Namely, the Chinese appear to know what they’re doing.... Since taking office, Trump and his minions have been systematically demolishing ... pillars of U.S. strength.... The man who promised to make America great again has probably ended our position of global leadership for the foreseeable future." ~~~
~~~ Marie: Once again, when I see how thoroughly Trump is weakening the U.S., I can't help entertaining Marie's Conspiracy Theory: that he is doing so purposefully, either at the direction of someone like Vladimir Putin (perhaps using some kind of stick) or because of bribes (carrots) he has taken to do so. (Or it could be both.) We may be fooling ourselves to think Trump is ruining the U.S. because he's so stupid & ignorant; I think there's a good chance he's doing it because he's so conniving & greedy.
Hungary. A Strongman Stumbles. Andrew Higgins of the New York Times: “Prime Minister Viktor Orban of Hungary has long been hailed as a model by right-wing politicians in the United States and Europe, lauded for a string of election victories and his crackdowns on migrants and on activists pushing progressive social issues.... Now for the first time, however, he is struggling to land a knockout blow on his enemies. His most potent current rival, Peter Magyar, a former loyalist who heads a surging opposition movement, has in recent months been savaged by media controlled by Mr. Orban’s Fidesz party as an abusive husband, a traitor, a crook and a sex pest. The nonstop vilification — described by Mr. Magyar as a 'tsunami of lies' — has been surprising in only one respect: It has not worked.... Mr. Orban’s current troubles, which have dented his aura of invincibility, come after a decade of tightening press control and a highly effective deployment of propaganda to crush previous rivals.”
Israel/Palestine, et al. From the pinned item in a New York Times liveblog at 3:03 am ET: “The Israeli military said it had received the first seven hostages released by Hamas on Monday, the first part of a cease-fire deal that would see the release of nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners in exchange. The release of the first hostages marked a crucial step in a deal that took effect last week and was brokered in part by the United States.... [Donald] Trump landed in Israel on Monday morning and was scheduled to meet with hostages’ families before addressing the Knesset, the country’s Parliament. He was then expected to fly to Egypt to attend a summit on the cease-fire deal with other world leaders.” ~~~
~~~ David Sanger & Adam Rascon of the New York Times: “... overarching the [celebrations in Israeli streets] was the question of whether this deal could have been done far sooner, when more hostages may have been alive, and before tens of thousands more Palestinians were killed. That argument lay behind the boos that ran through the crowd when [Trump envoy Steve] Witkoff mentioned Mr. Netanyahu. Hearing the reaction, Mr. Witkoff tried to defend Mr. Netanyahu, insisting that 'I was in the trenches with the prime minister' and saw how he was seeking 'a safer, stronger future for the Jewish people.' That was met with more booing. Historians may argue for years whether the Israel-Hamas war could have ended a year ago this week, when Israeli forces tripped upon and killed Yahya Sinwar, the Hamas chief and architect of the Oct. 7, 2023, massacre. Or, alternatively, whether Israel and Hamas missed a chance to build on the cease-fire that President Joseph R. Biden Jr. and his aides left in place before Mr. Trump took over.” ~~~
~~~ MB: The reporters go on to try to answer the 'why now' question. But they never touch on what I am certain is a major part of the answer: because the rich Arab nations of Qatar & the United Arab Emirites enriched Trump, Witkoff and their families. Trump's "interest" in a peace agreement is the direct result of bribery. Any other "explanation" is a pretense.
Sweden. Eshe Nelson of the New York Times: “The Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences was awarded on Monday to Joel Mokyr at Northwestern University, Philippe Aghion at INSEAD and the London School of Economics and Peter Howitt of Brown University for their work on innovation-driven economic growth. Mr. Mokyr was awarded the half of the prize 'for having identified the prerequisites for sustained growth through technological progress,' the committee said. Mr. Aghion and Mr. Howitt shared the other half of the award for what the committee described as 'the theory of sustained growth through creative destruction.'” At 6:30 am ET, this is a breaking story.
21 comments:
So here’s what’s really going on with regards to the Mighty, Omnipotent Dictator Trump calling out the National Guard in multiple (Democratically governed) American cities.
Title 10 of US code 12406 says the president can deploy the National Guard into federal service when the county is under an invasion, a rebellion or danger of rebellion, or the president is unable with the "regular forces to execute the laws of the United States."
So invasion? Nope. Rebellion? You mean like when that same dictator sent his thugs to attack the Capitol to stop the legal transfer of power, that time when they beat and assaulted law enforcement officers and people got killed? No. Nothing even close.
So his rationale is that things are too far out of control for him to make sure laws are followed with the assistance of regular forces, ie, local cops.
Now we’ve all seen the videos of people in Portland in duck and frog costumes, and residents doing silly dances in the streets.
In effect then, Almighty Omnipotent Dictator Trump is admitting that people dressed like frogs are scaring the shit out of him and he is powerless to do anything about it without hundreds of armed troops. And this is happening in not just one city, but at least FOUR cities, Portland, LA, Chicago, and DC.
Man, oh man. Those are some tough frogs.
Seriously, Donnie? You need hundreds of heavily armed military personnel to control a few people in frog suits line dancing in the street?
Wow. That’s some all powerful dictator shit there.
No wonder the other dictators don’t want you in their club.
Scared of frog costumes? Jeeez. Pretty fucking embarrassing if you wanna know the truth.
The Children
Also part of those that frighten Fat Hitler and his ghouls.
"The AI Bubble's Impossible Promises"
The Guardian
"A prominent anti-DEI campaigner appointed by Meta in August as an adviser on AI bias has spent the weeks since his appointment spreading disinformation about shootings, transgender people, vaccines, crime, and protests.
Robby Starbuck, 36, of Nashville, was appointed in August as an adviser by Meta – owner of Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and other tech platforms – in an August lawsuit settlement.
Since his appointment, Starbuck has baselessly claimed that individual shooters in the US were motivated by leftist ideology, described faith-based protest groups as communists, and without evidence tied Democratic lawmakers to murders."
Organizing
"Why fandom organizing is a powerful strategy for movement building
As the Disney/ABC boycott took off, youth activist group Get Free mobilized its “Star Wars” fan community, showing the potential of cultural organizing."
“emergency” edition of the annual World Naked Bike Ride
"The bike ride is an annual tradition that usually happens in the summer, but organizers of this weekend’s hastily called event said another nude ride was necessary to speak out against President Donald Trump’s attempts to mobilize the National Guard to quell protests."
See how dangerous Portland is!
A moment of recognition, but gone in 60 seconds.
"President Donald Trump joked that he is “not sure I’m gonna be able to make heaven,” even after spearheading the Israel-Hamas hostage deal, while talking to reporters aboard Air Force One on Sunday.
The president made the quip after Fox News reporter Peter Doocy asked if Trump believed the peace deal would help Saint Peter grant his entry to heaven. Trump said he is not betting on it.
“I’m being a little cute — I don’t think there’s anything going to get me in heaven, okay? I really don’t,” Trump said."
The guy the Christian Right touts as their savior admits that he does not have the qualifications to get into heaven. He will probably demand a recount, claim St Peter an illegal, and call on his unrepentant sinners to crash the pearly gates for him.
having a little trouble with this one.....
".....the United States of America will impose a Tariff of 100% on China, over and above any Tariff that they are currently paying......"
So says the Pretender (quoted in Krugman).
Need someone to do the math for me this morning.
I was in Hong Kong a month ago. EVs, and especially Teslas, are everywhere. People I talked to said the government is giving a 50% rebate on EVs. They are moving forward while the *administration here throws it hard into Reverse.
@Ken Winkes: The math is either this: (a) "price of item x 100% + original tariff", OR (b) "price of item + original tariff x 100%". I'm guessing the former, though I don't suppose Trump knows, since he can't do arithmetic & very simply algebra.
So if you want to buy something that would have cost you $10 pre-Trump, and Trump had previously placed a 35% tariff on it, then it would cost you $23.50: that is, price ($10) plus 100% tariff ($10) plus 35% tariff ($3.50); that adds up to $23.50.
(If Trump means to use the second formula, then the final price would be more: $27.00; that is, price ($10) plus 35% tariff ($3.50) = $13.50; plus 100% of $13.50 = $27.00.)
Now, if the Supremes tell you all this is unlawful (okay, ha ha ha), then the item will cost you $10.
My inside source at the Blight House smuggled out this video of Fat Hitler administration lackeys discussing how native Americans ruined Columbus Day as "Dan Scavino" points out, all [native Americans] do is "sit on their asses getting high on mushrooms and collecting government checks". Damn injuns.
I guess they will never get around to considering that maybe Columbus ruined a few things for natives in the New World. Like, maybe everything. Randy Newman offers details in his song "Great Nations of Europe":
Columbus sailed for India
Found Salvador instead
He shook hands with some Indians and soon they all were dead
They got TB and typhoid and athlete's foot
Diphtheria and the flu
Excuse me great nations coming through!
And speaking of Dan Scavino (the real one, but no less an ignorant putz), how is it that a golf caddy gets to become the gatekeeper for personnel decisions at the highest levels of government? What kind of qualification is that? How does picking the right club to pitch out of a sand trap* translate to choosing an advisor on international trade and economics? All the best people, right Fatty?
*Oops. I forgot. Scavino didn't even need to suggest the right club for such moments. When things go wrong on the golf course, Fatty just cheats. Forget trying to get from the sand trap onto the green. Just drop the ball two inches from the hole.
Takeaways from an Originalist:
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/13/us/politics/originalism-trump-supreme-court-unitary-executive.html
The unitary executive freaks are not united.
This Originalists doesn't tell me the difference between a Unitary Executive and a Dictator.
And he goes on to say what the Supines (thx Akhilleus) decide doesn't have to make sense.
I'm much wiser now.
The Nobel Prize for Economics has been announced (and no, Fatty, you didn't get that one either, despite your indefatigable efforts to destroy what had been the hottest economy in the world. But here's something to consider.
"One half of the SKr11mn prize goes to Joel Mokyr, an economic historian at Northwestern University, won it 'for having identified the prerequisites for sustained growth through technological progress'"
Didja get that? TECHNOLOGICAL PROGRESS, the kind Fat Hitler and his luddites work day and night to subvert and outright abolish.
A quote from Mokyr's book on the origins of the modern economy makes the point.
"Mokyr argues that in western Europe at the time of the Enlightenment, a set of conditions happened to coincide to create a 'Republic of Letters', a ferment of public debate and innovation we might now label as 'open science'. Knowledge, from deep scientific insight to more practical technological know-how and tinkering, became a common resource. Leading scientists and thinkers corresponded with counterparts around the continent, and were helped by the political fragmentation of Europe, which led to rulers competing to attract the most prominent intellectual stars to their own territories."
First of all, Trump does everything he can to stifle public debate on anything he doesn't understand or fears. So science is right out. And today, we still see a competition to bring intellectual talent to countries seeking to improve their economy. EXCEPT in the United States, where the Fat Hitler regime has gone out of its way to ensure that intellectual talent either can't come here, or decamps from this country for more promising locations.
And let's not even get into how we have a guy in charge of healthcare in this country who suggests a rerturn to the middle ages would be best practices.
It's not one step forward, one step back. It's a thousand steps, all backwards.
Don't have the data to hand, Akhilleus, but I'm content to go with my gut and say it's significant that over the last decade at least the Nobel Committee has been recognizing that science, medicine and economics is often a collaborative enterprise. Instead of one, two or three team winners in a category. That individual crap doesn't measure up to the successes of cooperation.
To some degree that's always been true (vide Mocyr) but wasn't recognized by the Committee. By naming only one prize winner (usually males), they obscured the more complicated reality. And, of course, communication resulting in cooperation is easier these days. The internet doesn't just exchange bullshit, tho' some days it might seem to.
are often collaborative enterprises....Gee Whiz...
Ken,
Interesting article on origamiism, origianation, carry me back to originey, or whatever bullshit casuistry is being shoved down our collective craws by the hypocrisy hotsie-totsies on the Supine Clot.
This is the sort of idea that might have held some sway with thoughtful justices in the past, no matter how wedded they might be to a certain strain of legal thinking. But these days, not a one of the traitors on the Clot give a hoot for intellectual honesty, never mind consistency. As we have seen, it's ORIGAMIISM! when it suits them, and EXTIRPATION when it doesn't.
But here's an interesting line from the piece you linked:
"In Dobbs, Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. wrote that 'the Constitution makes no mention of abortion.' The same is true of the president’s power to remove executive officers. Nor was the question discussed at the Constitutional Convention.
In a majority opinion in 2020, Chief Justice Roberts relied on debates at the first Congress, saying they settled the matter, but Professor Nelson wrote in his new article that there was no consensus at the time."
So, a couple of things going on here, both of them bad (stoopid, hypocritical, sleazy, and willfully fraudulent). First, when Hit Man Sam harumphed that "abortion is not mentioned in the Constitution, so there!" as rationale for killing Roe, he is in effect saying if it wasn't in the Constitution, not only isn't it legal, we can't even acknowledge a place for it in society. Okay, Sammy. There is no mention of Unitary Executive powers in the Constitution either. In fact, the Founders built in checks and balances to make sure scumbag presidents* like the one we have now can't exercise that kind of power. Oh yeah, computers aren't mentioned either, nor electric lightbulbs, or TV. Okay, you get the point...
Then...There's Little Johnny Roberts playing fast and loose with the historical record in order to get his way. We all know the Supine Clot is results oriented, so at this point, no amount of accuracy or intellectual argument will matter. Chiselers gonna chisel.
Still, it's nice to see that even in this benighted school of legal BS, there isn't a consensus. Not that it matters.
I'm not a golfer, but I believe the club DiJiT would use to get out of a sand trap is about a 12 1/2 wide Brogan.
Another thought on Origamiism (okay, Originalism)...We've made the point, ad nauseam, that the Founders understood that things can change over time, that they could not have addressed every possible situation that might appear in the workings of a democratic republic, so they built in a way for us to make adjustments, amendments, a way to change the focus. How's that work in Origamiistic thinking? To my mind, it blows the whole thing out of the water.
Even our relationship to the concept of morality changes over time. I'm not suggesting, as a certain fat fascist is currently asserting, that murder is okay now, but the focus of moral concepts has shifted over the centuries (even the last fifty years or so) from an authoritarian based society, one where the rule of authority is sacrosanct, to one that concentrates more on the individual, ensuring an individual's right to autonomy, to safety in the workplace, to the right to vote (well, at least for the next few months anyway).
If you wanna go way back in time, let's take the Bible as an example. Morality in the Old Testament is far different than that of the New Testament. In the Old Testament, god handed down the law and mofos better watch out if they don't want a lightning bolt up the butt or get turned into a real life Morton Girl. And as for transgressors, they gonna get they asses whooped, but good. Someone hits you, you hit 'em back!
But the New Testament says things like "What you do to the least of my brethren, you do for me". The idea being even the lowliest among us has value. In a way, we can look at the New Testament as an amendment to the Old. Sure, god is important, but now we're concerned with the individual as well. And it's not "Kill the bastards!" anymore, it's turn the other cheek.
Funny how the MAGAts don't see it that way. Oh, unless they're the ones who are getting some benefit.
So yeah, even moral focus changes over time. Yes, there are some moral absolutes (murder, eg), but how we view things has changed and how we respond as well. Of course, the traitors on the Clot are perfectly fine with making their own (ahem) amendments. Just so long as it helps Fat Hitler.
Waldman on No Kings....
https://substack.com/home/post/p-176066273
Akhilleus,
You sound like one of those relativists my father used to rail against....loudly when his son became one.
I know I repeat myself, but much of brouhaha stems from psychology. Some have a need an Ordained Word to tell them what to do. The Word is a great comfort to them. Thinking for themselves (horrors! is not. Just consult the Word of your choice and all is well. For them religion (with a very small "r") and the impulse to believe is all.
Then there's the social aspect. Those experiments that have shown that people's perception of something as physical a the length of a line can be modified by social pressure ought to tell us all we need to know about how malleable "truth" can be.
For many, the Bible says it all, as long as it's properly cherrypicked. So with the Constitution. But the Constitution allows more latitude for the Originalists. There's just so much it doesn't say.
Beautiful day here in the Northwest. Go, Mariners!
Ken,
I was technically rooting for the Jays, largely on the strength of their beating the presumptuous Yankees like an old rug on the clothes line, but it was impressive to see your Mariners shut them down so definitively last night, so I'd be okay with a Seattle pennant. After all, your guys haven't been in the hunt at that level for a long time. Oh yeah, my favorite post season moment so far, was Fat Hitler visiting the Yankees locker room telling them he had ordained their victory. After which, they got their pinstripes pummeled. LOSER.
https://www.propublica.org/article/epa-pfna-forever-chemical-report
More not to know....
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