Messages

1

General Comments / Re: Jeffrey Epstein arrest

« on: August 15, 2019, 01:35:24 PM »

Report today from the autopsy is that Epstein had multiple broken bones in his neck. Apparently this is consistent with strangulation and it strongly implies he did not die by simply hanging. I’m not sure if it does or not but conspiracy types will certainly love this detail.

Actually the 'broken bones' are the hyoid - which is consistent with hanging as well as strangulation.  Given that he is elderly it is extremely common for the hyoid to break during a hanging.  If it had been other neck bones (cervical vertibrate) then it would be more reasonable to suspect foul play or if he had been in his early 20's (there is a 25% chance overall risk of hyoid being broken during a hanging, but it is drastically lower at young ages, and dramatically higher for elderly) - but the hyoid being broken is quite common in hanging of elderly even from short distances so doesn't tell us much - it doesn't rule out strangulation but it isn't evidence supporting it either.

Actually, If we go to the source of the report, The Washington Post, there is a bit more information.

An autopsy found that financier Jeffrey Epstein suffered multiple breaks in his neck bones, according to two people familiar with the findings, deepening the mystery about the circumstances around his death.

Among the bones broken in Epstein’s neck was the hyoid bone, which in men is near the Adam’s apple. Such breaks can occur in those who hang themselves, particularly if they are older, according to forensics experts and studies on the subject. But they are more common in victims of homicide by strangulation, the experts said.

So it seems that other neck bones were also broken.

2

General Comments / Re: Neo-segregation

« on: May 23, 2019, 12:11:33 PM »

So you would be ok with White only dorms, as long as they are voluntary and not enforced by ordinance?

3

General Comments / Re: The Meuller Report

« on: April 19, 2019, 01:01:32 PM »

Mueller acknowledges that the administration fully cooperated with the investigation in every way.

Who said that, Crunch?  And why should I believe that person?

And if the administration cooperated with the investigation "in every way," why are there 11 instances of apparent obstruction of justice listed in the report? 

I think you are misstating what the report says.  I think a more correct statement would be "there were 11 instances of possible obstruction investigated and the evidence they found for each is summarized in the report"

The report makes no statement regarding whether that evidence supports an obstruction charge.

4

General Comments / Re: Jussie Smollet got a sandwich

« on: April 05, 2019, 12:01:30 PM »

The only way he could reasonably have been prosecuted is if the police had done a sting where the attackers got him on tape.

While I think it more likely than not that Smollett staged it - beyond a reasonable doubt probably isn't possible with the evidence they had.

Do you have access to the evidence that was presented to the Grand Jury?  If not I don't know how you could jump to that conclusion.  The Police Department certainly feel like they have a case.

5

General Comments / Re: Biden on the block

« on: April 01, 2019, 01:29:04 PM »

So Lloyd, what do you think should happen to Biden?  Should we just forgive him for this faux pas?  Or does this disqualify him for the Presidency?  Is this really a serious matter?

He hasn't been accused of or committed a crime that I can see. I don't think it disqualifies him.  I do think we should look at it in the bigger picture.  I've seen lots of photos that look like he's making women uncomfortable with his inappropriate touching.  Seems kind of creepy to me.  Nor does he seem to have apologized.  I think If I were voting in the Democratic primary I would not vote for him.

6

General Comments / Re: Biden on the block

« on: April 01, 2019, 11:04:05 AM »

You don't have to imagine.  She described the interaction in detail.

I found my way to the holding room for the speakers, where everyone was chatting, taking photos, and getting ready to speak to the hundreds of voters in the audience. Just before the speeches, we were ushered to the side of the stage where we were lined up by order of introduction. As I was taking deep breaths and preparing myself to make my case to the crowd, I felt two hands on my shoulders. I froze. “Why is the vice-president of the United States touching me?”

I felt him get closer to me from behind. He leaned further in and inhaled my hair. I was mortified. I thought to myself, “I didn’t wash my hair today and the vice-president of the United States is smelling it. And also, what in the actual *censored*? Why is the vice-president of the United States smelling my hair?” He proceeded to plant a big slow kiss on the back of my head. My brain couldn’t process what was happening. I was embarrassed. I was shocked. I was confused. There is a Spanish saying, “tragame tierra,” it means, “earth, swallow me whole.” I couldn’t move and I couldn’t say anything. I wanted nothing more than to get Biden away from me. My name was called and I was never happier to get on stage in front of an audience.

https://www.thecut.com/2019/03/an-awkward-kiss-changed-how-i-saw-joe-biden.html

7

General Comments / Re: Striking deals while political relatives are visiting on official business

« on: March 21, 2019, 11:46:37 AM »

Smells like collusion.  Biden must be compromised.  Everyone in his circle must be investigated.  We need a special prosecutor.

8

General Comments / Re: What are Democrats running on in 2020?

« on: March 14, 2019, 03:24:19 PM »

Lowered voting age has been proposed where / by who?

It was proposed as an amendment to the "For the People Act" in the House last week.  124 Democrats and 1 Republican voted for it 

"including California Reps. Adam Schiff, Eric Swalwell, Maxine Waters and Ted Lieu, Hawaii Rep. and Democratic presidential candidate Tulsi Gabbard, New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Michigan Rep. Rashida Tlaib and Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar."

Today Nancy Pelosi said “I myself, personally, I’m not speaking for my caucus, I myself have always been for lowering the voting age to 16, I think it’s really important to capture kids when they’re in high school when they’re interested in all of this when they’re learning about government to be able to vote."

9

General Comments / Re: Getting money back ok?

« on: February 23, 2019, 10:35:09 AM »

I would find somebody else to build the deck and sue the guy in small claims. 

10

General Comments / Re: Getting money back ok?

« on: February 23, 2019, 10:10:40 AM »

Did he do some work but its not finished or did he never start? If he just took your money and never did any work I would definitely take him to small claims court.

11

General Comments / Re: 12-year old non-violent criminals

« on: February 22, 2019, 08:04:46 AM »

Donald, do you think a child should be allowed to wear a t-shirt with a swastika and a white supremacist slogan on it to school?  Do you think any school system in the country would allow that?  What about a T-shirt supporting the Border Wall and President Trump?

Personally, I think all of those things should be allowed including the boy who wants to sit in protest of the anthem or the pledge.  I don't see any difference between them when it comes to someone's right to free speech.   Somehow, most of the people running our public schools think they are different.

12

General Comments / Re: The Green New Deal

« on: February 11, 2019, 12:20:37 PM »

Oh, Just found this.

https://www.cnn.com/2019/01/28/politics/migrants-arizona-arrests/index.html

Seems to support Seriati's story.

13

General Comments / Re: The Green New Deal

« on: February 11, 2019, 12:08:03 PM »

I haven't seen anything about them getting picked up on the other side but, Reuters is reporting that US Border Patrol agents are saying

Large bus loads of individuals are being bussed up to the border and we don't have any infrastructure in that area

https://mobile.reuters.com/article/amp/idUSKCN1PX28R

14

General Comments / Re: Misleading or false claims by the media

« on: January 24, 2019, 03:56:03 PM »

Shouldn't you be more outraged because it happened to a Veteran?  That Veteran offered his life to protect his (and your) right to express his political support by wearing that t-shirt.

15

General Comments / Re: Injustice of the Republican Tax bill

« on: January 04, 2019, 02:24:00 PM »

And Lloyd, no, campaigns are not all publicly funded, or do you think that lobbying is no longer a thing?

Why did you add the word all in there, that's not what I said?

We do have public funding for elections available.

https://www.fec.gov/introduction-campaign-finance/understanding-ways-support-federal-candidates/presidential-elections/public-funding-presidential-elections/

16

General Comments / Re: Injustice of the Republican Tax bill

« on: January 04, 2019, 12:52:27 PM »

I support a secure border.  I don't know, but I suspect that when you take into account the costs of illegal immigration that would be prevented over the long term that it would be at least revenue neutral.

17

General Comments / Re: Injustice of the Republican Tax bill

« on: January 04, 2019, 12:38:27 PM »

It’s very hard to cut the taxes for people that pay little or no taxes. Demagogues work the angle of “benefiting only the rich” to take advantage of those that don’t understand our tax system.

If there really was all that extra money lying around to pass back around to the rich (since you agree that the poor weren't pay much tax anyhow) then why does it benefit the country again to give more to those who already have? Why not spend it on infrastructure, or border security, or anything else that can benefit everyone in the country simuntanesouly, including the rich? How abput spending it on a public campaign finance program so that corporate lobbying can be banned outright? This idea alone should be worth more to the rich than a tax cut; surely they would enjoy uncorrupted governance, right?   Or could it be that the most powerful moguls stand to gain from things exactly as they are...

• There is no "extra" money lying around, our government spends far more than the tax revenue it takes from those who have earned it.
• Nobody is "giving" more to those who already have.  They are taking less.
• I think we should spend taxes on programs that benefit everyone.  I think the problem is how do we determine if a program benefits everyone or just some special interest?  Instead, maybe we should spend more efficiently, eliminate all the pork projects, government bloat and excessive regulations so we don't have to take so much money from our taxpayers?
• We already have public funding of elections. Given that it has been settled that political spending by corporations is speech that is protected by the first amendment, I don't see how spending more public money on elections will ensure "uncorrupted governance"

18

General Comments / Re: Corey Booker and Kavanaugh Hearing

« on: November 20, 2018, 04:50:45 PM »

I don't think the Police would have arrested him if there weren't a credible allegation.

I mean a publicly credible allegation.  We don't know who made the allegation, what the specific allegation is, etc.  We know that the initial reporting is that it was his estranged wife, but she has publicly denied it.  I'm not saying it definitely didn't happen, but at this point all we know is that an arrest was made and he is out on bail.

Ok, Looks like more details are coming out.  Is this "publicly credible"?


https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/michael-avenatti-accuser-says-he-dragged-her-left-her-marks-n938656

19

General Comments / Re: Corey Booker and Kavanaugh Hearing

« on: November 16, 2018, 11:45:49 AM »

I don't think the Police would have arrested him if there weren't a credible allegation.

20

General Comments / Re: 80% of Americans view "Political Correctness" as a problem. But what is it?

« on: October 26, 2018, 06:28:43 AM »

Kelly was talking about a lady from Real Housewives of New York who was called racist for darkening her skin and dressing up like Diana Ross for Halloween, here is what she said.

And people said that that was racist. And I don’t know! I thought like, who doesn’t love Diana Ross? She wants to look like Diana Ross for one day, and I don’t know how that got racist on Halloween.

Meanwhile Jimmy Kimmel once actually dressed up in blackface as Karl Malone an mocked how he speaks yet he is still working?  Where is ABC on this issue? https://youtu.be/-wse5lgIDxM

Sometime at night, Karl Malone look up at sky and say, “What the hell goin’ on up there? Do UFO live on other planet, phonin’ home like E.T.?’ Karl Malone read on TV about white people gettin’ deducted (sic) by alien, speakin’ all kind of hell up they butt. And that’s a damn thing. Now, Karl Malone never seen no flyin’ saucer itself, but if he do, that goin’ to be a spooky time. That’s why Karl Malone say, ‘Government got to step up and give 102% to keepin’ them little green men of this here earth, ‘cause the day them dudes sticks somethin’ up Karl Malone butt, well, that ain’t gonna be no good time for nobody, especially Karl Malone butt. Listen up, E.T.’ you better stay the hell back. Nanoo, nanoo. Until next time, this here Karl Malone.

21

General Comments / Re: Sticks and Stones

« on: October 23, 2018, 02:25:24 PM »

Fenring,  There are lots of systems that are unfair by design.  That doesn't make them racist.  For example, The US tax code is highly unfair to the wealthiest taxpayers.  Most of those people are white.  Would you say that is racist?  It seems to me that your argument relies on the unequal outcome.

22

General Comments / Re: Sticks and Stones

« on: October 23, 2018, 12:22:23 PM »

And it's also possible to unintentionally create a law that does this same thing, with no ill intent on the part of the designer. But the resulting structure (in this case a law) is 'racist'; if we were to think like pagans and to attribute intent to natural phenomena, we might well be inclined to call that law 'a racist'.

I'm struggling to think of an example of a law that is unintentionally racist without resorting to some statistical disparity that couldn't reasonably be explained by something other than racism.  Do you have one in mind?

23

General Comments / Re: 80% of Americans view "Political Correctness" as a problem. But what is it?

« on: October 19, 2018, 04:04:10 PM »

You can listen to the whole debate on Jordan Petersen's podcast.

From a quick look at an article, Fry complains about:

Statue removal. This is a big one for a lot of people, and they often equate it with "erasing history", when nobody on the PC side is advocating removing anyone from the history books, they just want to remove these people from a place of honor and admiration.

Trigger words. The idea that literature must be avoided because it contains ideas of racism and other items.

I'm curious about the source of the article.  A transcript is available with a mumbership to Munk Debates that requires an email address.  A bit of Fry, sans Laurie:

Now, in agreeing to participate in this debate and stand on this side of the argument, I'm fully aware that many people who choose —incorrectly, in my view — to see this issue in terms of left and right, devalued and exploded terms as I think they are, will believe that I am betraying myself in such causes and values that I’ve espoused over the years. I’ve been given huge grief already, simply because I'm standing here next to Professor Peterson, which is the very reason that I'm standing here in the first place. I'm standing next to someone with whom I have, you know, differences, shall we say, in term of politics and all kinds of other things, precisely because I think all this has got to stop — this rage, resentment, hostility, intolerance; above all, this with-us-or-against us certainty.
A Grand Canyon has opened up in our world. The fissure, the crack, grows wider every day. Neither side can hear a word that the other shrieks; nor do they want to. While these armies and propagandists in the culture wars clash, down below in the enormous space between the two sides, the people of the world try to get on with their lives, alternately baffled, bored, and betrayed by the horrible noises and explosions that echo all around. I think it’s time for this toxic, binary, zerosum madness to stop before we destroy ourselves. I’d better nail my colours to the mast before I go any further than this; it’s only polite to give you a sense of where I come from. All my adult life I have been what you might call a leftie, a soft leftie, a liberal of the most hand-wringing, milksop, milk-toast variety. Not a burning man-the-barricades socialist; not even really a progressive worth the name. I've been on marches, but I’ve never quite dared wave placards or banners.
Am I a loathed member of that band, an SJW — a social justice warrior? I don’t think highly of social injustice, I have to say, but I character myself mostly as a social justice worrier. My intellectual heroes, growing up, were Bertrand Russell and G. E. Moore, liberal thinkers, people like that, writers like E. M. Forster. I believed, and I think I still do believe, in the sanctity of human
relations, the primacy of the heart, and friendship and love and common interest. These are more personal interior beliefs than they are political exterior convictions, more a humanistic version of a religious impulse, I suppose. I trust in humanity, I believe in humanity — I think I do, despite all that has happened in the forty years of my adulthood. I am soft, and I can easily be swept away by harder hearts and harder intellects. I'm sometimes surprised to be described as an activist, but over time I have energetically involved myself with what you might call causes. I grew up knowing that I was gay — well, in fact, from the very first I knew I was gay. I remember when I was born, looking up and saying, “That’s the last time I'm going out one of those!”
I'm Jewish, so I have a natural, obvious horror of racism. Naturally I want racism, misogyny, homophobia, transphobia, xenophobia, bullying, bigotry, intolerance of all human kinds to end. That’s
surely a given amongst all of us.
The question is how such a golden aim is to be achieved. My ultimate objection to political correctness is not that it combines so much of what I have spent a lifetime loathing and opposing: preachiness (with great respect), piety, self-righteousness, heresyhunting, denunciation, shaming, assertion without evidence, accusation, inquisition, censoring. That’s not why I'm incurring the
wrath of my fellow liberals by standing on this side of the house.

My real objection is that I don’t think political correctness works. I want to achieve, I want to get to the golden hill, but I don’t think that’s the way to get there. I believe one of the greatest human failings is to prefer to be right than to be effective. And political correctness is always obsessed with how right it is, without thinking of how effective it might be. I wouldn’t class myself as a classical libertarian, but I do relish transgression, and I deeply and instinctively distrust conformity and orthodoxy. Progress is not achieved by preachers and guardians of morality but, to paraphrase Yevgeny Zamyatin, by madmen, hermits, heretics, dreamers, rebels, and skeptics. I may be wrong — I hope to learn this evening. I really do think I may be wrong. I'm prepared to entertain the possibility that political correctness will bring us more tolerance and a better world. But I'm not sure, and I would like this quotation from my hero, Bertrand Russell, to hover over the evening: “One of the painful things about our time, is that those who feel certainty are stupid, and those with any imagination and understanding are filled with doubt and indecision.” Let doubt prevail.

24

General Comments / Re: Corey Booker and Kavanaugh Hearing

« on: October 03, 2018, 06:10:24 PM »

It's hard to imagine TheDrake that you could have a legitimate basis to claim he perjured himself in saying he never blacked out.  You'd have to have proof of an event occurring that he doesn't remember (which if he denies the event is impossible to determine if he's lying).  In this case, we DON'T have proof the event occurred and the accusation is uncorroborated and not terribly credible.

Anyone who runs around boofing with his DKE pals is going to get blackout drunk. No, I can't point to a specific detail or a person making the claim that they talked to him the morning after a party and he didn't remember a large chunk of time. It strains plausibility to the breaking point.

As for the credibility of an anonymous ex-boyfriend recounting his experiences with her 20-25 years ago... and one whose own statement describes that she cheated on him and used his credit card after they broke up? That doesn't really prove perjury either.

Well, its not anonymous.  The man in question is Brian Merrick.  I do find it somewhat humorous that many people are completely willing to take Ford's uncorroborated testimony as unassailable truth but very quickly discount this man's testimony because it is uncorroborated

25

General Comments / Re: Corey Booker and Kavanaugh Hearing

« on: September 19, 2018, 06:52:58 PM »

So, What I'm hearing is that any accusation of wrongdoing now disqualifies anyone from public office?  Are we going to hold everybody to that standard?

26

General Comments / Re: Did VP Pence anonymously author the resistance NYT Op-ed?

« on: September 06, 2018, 04:42:24 PM »

I served with General Mattis.  If he wanted to say this, he would not do it anonymously.

27

General Comments / Re: Misleading or False Claims by Trump

« on: September 05, 2018, 12:54:35 PM »

I googled "trump voter fraud new hampshire" and the first result found this article from May this year.

https://www.concordmonitor.com/Database-flags-142-possible-voter-fraud-cases-17835841

After the 2016 general election, the system flagged 94,610 New Hampshire voters whose first and last names and dates of birth matched those in other states. That amounts to about 1 in 9 voters, but officials eliminated all but 142 of the matches after taking a closer look at middle names and other information, including the marked checklists maintained by poll workers. Of the 142, officials have sent 51 to the attorney general’s office for investigation and are waiting for information from other states on the rest, Secretary of State Bill Gardner told the Ballot Law Commission.

I'm willing to give this one to Trump since at the time of the tweet I would have considered this a problem as well.  I'm glad that after a year investigating that we can say that there were probably only somewhere between 51 and 142 actual cases of voter fraud.

28

General Comments / Re: Trump verses Google Search

« on: August 30, 2018, 03:22:05 PM »

Personally, I don't believe that google is really cooking the results to disfavor Trump specifically. Though, it wouldn't surprise me if some sites were penalized (or favored) by the algorithm based on their content (keywords)

I think the underlying issue is that Google's algorithm (and all the other search engines I believe) is not transparent.  If Google was more forthcoming with how the algorithm works, it doesn't need to be specific, and the search results displayed some information on each result that correlates to that explanation, then I think most of these claims could easily be dismissed.  Unfortunately, that would probably result in search results being worse overall due to SEO optimizers gaming the algorithm even more than they do already.

29

General Comments / Re: What could Trump do to cause his supporters to vote against him?

« on: August 28, 2018, 05:06:45 PM »

Ok, let's break it down.

"In the eyes of the law, yes. But in the eyes of good and evil, here’s the argument: If you’re a punk who comes to start trouble in a mask and hurt people, you’re not about any virtuous cause," he continued. "You’re just somebody that’s going to be held to the standard of doing something wrong."

Here he says if your just here to start trouble you're in the wrong.  I agree.

"But when someone comes to call out bigots and it gets hot, even physical, are they equally wrong as the bigot they’re fighting? I argue no."

But here, he says that as long as you are here to call out the bigots then sure, if they make you mad mess them up, they deserve it.

Fighting matters, too, there’s no question about that. But drawing a moral equivalency between those espousing hate and those fighting it, because they both resort to violence emboldens hate, legitimizes hateful belief and elevates what should be stamped out.

Now he waffles a bit, maybe its not totally ok to fight but don't worry, our cause is just

Antifa or whomever ... or malcontent or misguided, they are also wrong to hit, but fighting hate is right, And in a clash between hate and those who oppose it, those who oppose it are on the side of right.”

More talking out of both sides of his mouth.  Its wrong to commit violence.  but not so much if its against these bad people.

"And in a clash between hate and those who oppose it, those who oppose it are on the side of right.”

30

General Comments / Re: What could Trump do to cause his supporters to vote against him?

« on: August 28, 2018, 04:37:34 PM »

Tale a look this list of recent acts of violence or harassment of Trump supporters and then explain to me how this is not a problem.

https://www.breitbart.com/big-journalism/2018/07/05/rap-sheet-acts-of-media-approved-violence-and-harassment-against-trump-supporters/

31

General Comments / Re: What could Trump do to cause his supporters to vote against him?

« on: August 28, 2018, 04:33:39 PM »

The full context of the article you cited:

"In the eyes of the law, yes. But in the eyes of good and evil, here’s the argument: If you’re a punk who comes to start trouble in a mask and hurt people, you’re not about any virtuous cause," he continued. "You’re just somebody that’s going to be held to the standard of doing something wrong."

"But when someone comes to call out bigots and it gets hot, even physical, are they equally wrong as the bigot they’re fighting? I argue no. ... Fighting matters, too, there’s no question about that. But drawing a moral equivalency between those espousing hate and those fighting it, because they both resort to violence emboldens hate, legitimizes hateful belief and elevates what should be stamped out."

"Antifa or whomever ... or malcontent or misguided, they are also wrong to hit, but fighting hate is right," Cuomo said later. "And in a clash between hate and those who oppose it, those who oppose it are on the side of right.”

That's a far stretch from condoning, encouraging, or excusing in any fair reading, especially in the first paragraph.

What he is saying is that there are levels of violence, and it certainly isn't limited to the left to draw such distinctions. Trump has talked before about how people on the left making statements deserve physical violence. The guy he'd like to punch in the face. The offer to pay the legal bills for someone who chooses to do so.

In a peaceful conversation or event or demonstration.  The first one to swing loses all moral authority. 

32

General Comments / Re: What could Trump do to cause his supporters to vote against him?

« on: August 28, 2018, 04:17:15 PM »

Do you think this type of agressive action is just random?   Leftist politicians and Media personalities such as Maxine Waters and Chris Cuomo as well as the Neo-marxist humanities faculty at our universities have been justifying if not encouraging this type of behavior for some time now.

http://thehill.com/homenews/media/401699-cnns-cuomo-defends-antifa-those-who-oppose-hate-are-on-the-side-of-right

But when someone comes to call out bigots and it gets hot, even physical, are they equally wrong as the bigot they’re fighting? I argue no. ... Fighting matters, too, there’s no question about that. But drawing a moral equivalency between those espousing hate and those fighting it, because they both resort to violence emboldens hate, legitimizes hateful belief and elevates what should be stamped out.

And when they say bigots they mean anybody who doesn't completely support their agenda.

33

General Comments / Re: What could Trump do to cause his supporters to vote against him?

« on: August 28, 2018, 02:43:03 PM »

This was not just "some teen" taking somebody's hat.  This was a political statement that ended up in violence.

“That’s a racist and hateful symbol,” Butler said.

“Maybe just wake people up in some type of way, because it’s not cool the environment our classroom is in,” Butler said.

34

General Comments / Re: What could Trump do to cause his supporters to vote against him?

« on: August 28, 2018, 02:34:06 PM »

https://sacramento.cbslocal.com/2018/08/27/maga-trump-hat-taken/

This is timely.

35

General Comments / Re: The Manafort Question

« on: August 22, 2018, 01:52:39 PM »

That was, for all intents and purposes, a personal matter that involved Trump's private life, and although paying them off was surely estimated to be useful for the campaign, I do not personally believe that literally every action taken by a candidate who's running should be equated with campaigning. He might well have paid them off had they made a stink about it a couple of years prior and there would have been nothing untoward about that.

Just remember, Fenring, the crime was not paying off these women to be silent, but rather not reporting this payoff as a campaign contribution.  Illegally hiding a donation to the campaign.

You can also give money to a person before he is running for office.  But if you give him money for his campaign, it has to be reported.  Same difference here.

If I recall, John Edwards was accused of this same campaign finance violation in 2012.  The only difference being that the money was donated to him by some 3rd party.  In that case the FEC ruled that he committed no violation and he was charged anyway and subsequently found innocent.

http://articles.latimes.com/2012/jun/02/nation/la-na-edwards-analysis-20120602

36

General Comments / Re: Deplatforming

« on: August 17, 2018, 02:11:31 PM »

Yeah, its kinda hard to find the specific content they based these bans on because its not there anymore.  These days, whenever I hear anybody talk about hate speech, what I hear is them talking about speech they hate.

37

General Comments / Re: Deplatforming

« on: August 17, 2018, 01:22:05 PM »

So Facebook gave this reason for their ban.  "glorifying violence, which violates our graphic violence policy, and using dehumanizing language to describe people who are transgender, Muslims and immigrants, which violates our hate speech policies."  I can't find anything specific about the reasons the other platforms gave. other than the generic TOS violations answer. 

I suspect if they applied these rules evenly these platforms would have a lot less users.

38

General Comments / Re: Deplatforming

« on: August 17, 2018, 10:03:37 AM »

When you look at Alex Jones, this is all out there. His statements can't really be construed as anything other than a call for violence. I know people will disagree, but cmon. "Now is the time to act on the enemy before they do a false flag"?

This guy should replace the example of, "yelling fire in a crowded theater".  He's not just expressing political views.  While I'm typically on the side of, "leave it alone, this is a slippery slope", ANY line one draws would have Jones on the wrong side of it.

The furor over Alex Jones has been all over my facebook feed, reddit and my other news sources but I must admit that I have never actually listened to anything he had to say.  Maybe I should see for myself what he is saying that is so horrible and check out one or two of his YouTube videos.  Oh wait...

Seriously though,  What has he done that is so bad that he needs to be wiped off the public internet?

39

General Comments / Re: Racism or rational response to trespassing

« on: August 13, 2018, 01:41:57 PM »

The DA has charged him with manslaughter
https://abcnews.go.com/US/shooter-florida-stand-ground-case-charged-manslaughter/story?id=57151343

40

General Comments / Re: Racism or rational response to trespassing

« on: July 24, 2018, 03:35:33 PM »

Yes, those parts of the law work together.  No question about it. 

The important part in the section you quoted is "he or she reasonably believes"

http://www.husseinandwebber.com/case-work/criminal-defense-articles/floridas-stand-ground-law/

This article gives a good history of the Florida Law.  Specifically the 2017 change which, once the shooter claims self-defense shifts the burden of proof to the prosecution.

PROSECUTORIAL IMMUNITY: CURRENT LAW
In 2017, the Florida legislature amended the ‘Stand Your Ground’ statute to significantly alter the burdens and standards of proof applicable in immunity proceedings.

Instead of placing the entire burden on the defendant, the law now requires a defendant to establish only a prima facie case of self-defense immunity.  At that point, the burden shifts to the prosecution to demonstrate by clear and convincing evidence that the defendant does not qualify for immunity.

§ 776.032(4) provides as follows:

In a criminal prosecution, once a prima facie claim of self-defense immunity from criminal prosecution has been raised by the defendant at a pretrial immunity hearing, the burden of proof by clear and convincing evidence is on the party seeking to overcome the immunity from criminal prosecution provided in subsection (1).

Not only does this provision shift the burden of proof to the prosecution, it also raises the standard of proof from “preponderance of the evidence” to “clear and convincing evidence.”

41

General Comments / Re: Racism or rational response to trespassing

« on: July 24, 2018, 01:09:21 PM »

Here is the florida statute.

776.032 Immunity from criminal prosecution and civil action for justifiable use or threatened use of force.—

• (1) A person who uses or threatens to use force as permitted in s. 776.012, s. 776.013, or s. 776.031 is justified in such conduct and is immune from criminal prosecution and civil action for the use or threatened use of such force by the person, personal representative, or heirs of the person against whom the force was used or threatened, unless the person against whom force was used or threatened is a law enforcement officer, as defined in s. 943.10(14), who was acting in the performance of his or her official duties and the officer identified himself or herself in accordance with any applicable law or the person using or threatening to use force knew or reasonably should have known that the person was a law enforcement officer. As used in this subsection, the term “criminal prosecution” includes arresting, detaining in custody, and charging or prosecuting the defendant.
• (2) A law enforcement agency may use standard procedures for investigating the use or threatened use of force as described in subsection (1), but the agency may not arrest the person for using or threatening to use force unless it determines that there is probable cause that the force that was used or threatened was unlawful.
• (3) The court shall award reasonable attorney’s fees, court costs, compensation for loss of income, and all expenses incurred by the defendant in defense of any civil action brought by a plaintiff if the court finds that the defendant is immune from prosecution as provided in subsection (1).
  
• (4) In a criminal prosecution, once a prima facie claim of self-defense immunity from criminal prosecution has been raised by the defendant at a pretrial immunity hearing, the burden of proof by clear and convincing evidence is on the party seeking to overcome the immunity from criminal prosecution provided in subsection (1).

History.—s. 4, ch. 2005-27; s. 6, ch. 2014-195; s. 1, ch. 2017-72.

42

General Comments / Re: Trump Putin Summit

« on: July 22, 2018, 10:08:29 PM »

You assert your opinions about his preparation as fact and use that to justify your argument about the national security. Then you speculate about what was discussed and project your anti-trump bias into your hysterical fears about what might have happened. None of the things you speculate may have happened are any more likely than the far less objectionably things they could have discussed.  I think the president of the united states is in a much better position to decide what is appropriate to discuss than you are.

So if we eliminate your biased opinions about his preparation and knowledge, your only objection is that there was no record of the conversation.  And I assume you find that objectionable because once again, your bias tells you that he can't be up to anything good.  I really doubt that if Obama or Hillary did the same thing you would even bat an eye.

Of course I don't deny that President of the United states met with the leader of a foreign government in private to discuss the future of the relationship between our countries. 

43

General Comments / Re: Trump Putin Summit

« on: July 22, 2018, 06:53:34 PM »

So you are arguing that the executive should not be able conduct international diplomacy in private?  Or are you just saying that only applies to Trump? I think your bias has crossed the line into hysteria.

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General Comments / Re: Trump Putin Summit

« on: July 22, 2018, 07:35:25 AM »

This is detrimental to the security of our country.

In what way is this detrimental to our national security?  Please be specific.

45

General Comments / Re: My conflicted NATO

« on: July 13, 2018, 10:51:11 AM »

The people that kill them, obviously.

46

General Comments / Re: What could Trump do to cause his supporters to vote against him?

« on: July 12, 2018, 10:33:47 AM »

I think you've already run this troll.  http://www.ornery.org/forum/index.php/topic,425.0.html

47

General Comments / Re: A 100% access, super-strict liability approach to guns in America

« on: March 05, 2018, 06:06:31 AM »

Greg, I suppose parents should be criminally liable if their adult children commit crimes then?

48

General Comments / Re: Release the memo

« on: January 29, 2018, 03:29:49 PM »

They showed the Memo to Wray yesterday.  This Morning McCabe resigned.

49

General Comments / Re: Net Neutrality 2.0

« on: December 14, 2017, 11:30:03 AM »

Here's a pretty good article from WSJ with some arguments from both sides of the debate.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/net-neutrality-for-and-against-1513195805

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General Comments / Re: Russia and US politics

« on: October 18, 2017, 12:58:05 PM »

I don't think this is what the media typically refers to as an anonymous source.