not only must you avoid conference, you must avoid even the appearance of a conference
― j., Monday, 9 February 2015 16:16 (nine years ago) link
lol @ "inclusive capitalism"
xxxp
― Οὖτις, Monday, 9 February 2015 16:27 (nine years ago) link
if only the fucking shell game was sophisticated enough to be Orwellian, instead of Idiocracian.
― touch of a love-starved cobra (Dr Morbius), Monday, 9 February 2015 16:32 (nine years ago) link
Mitch McConnell is upset about filibuster abuse.
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/dc/mitch-mcconnell-shutdown-conundrum-obama
― reggie (qualmsley), Monday, 9 February 2015 20:07 (nine years ago) link
"You'll have to ask the leader," Missouri Sen. Roy Blunt, the vice chair of the Senate Republican Conference, told TPM on Thursday.
burn tbh
― stately, plump buck angel (silby), Monday, 9 February 2015 20:57 (nine years ago) link
http://www.prospect.org/article/needless-default
The administration’s foreclosure relief program was designed to help bankers, not homeowners. That disgrace will haunt Democrats.
By David Dayen
I think Krugman and some others have been writing about this for awhile, and this provides further details
― curmudgeon, Monday, 9 February 2015 22:43 (nine years ago) link
GOP circular firing squad in the house! http://news.yahoo.com/mcconnell-senate-stuck-over-bill-funding-homeland-dept-193718285.html
― Οὖτις, Tuesday, 10 February 2015 20:36 (nine years ago) link
. Also, is keeping most conferences out of Vegas really making things that difficult for conference planners?
heh, they're definitely keeping them out of vegas, but it's more than that. it's all the little things that are agonizing.
for example, let's say you're planning a mandatory training session, in-house. it's not a conference - it's just a 2-hour session that could have been set up with a simple meeting invite once upon a time. but there's an employee from another city that's going to be coming. and some consultant is going to come in to lead the training. it's not a conference.
managers get involved. "...is this a conference?" - no it's not a conference "is there travel involved?" well yes an employee is traveling from a different city but he does that all of the - "We need to let the deputy know. this is going to need approval if it's a conference" - it's not a conf- "it doesn't matter if it's a conference, if it appears that it could be a conference we're going to have to jump through the hoops" - you know we could just do a webinar since it's not really important that- "we're going to need you to fill out Conference Request form 2321-rev2" - but it's not a conference - "and in the review chain make sure to note that it's not a conference, we just have to verify that it is in fact NOT a conference even though it has the appearance of-" it doesn't even have the appearance of a conference, it's - "Request form 2321 is being revised again, apparently, we better just make sure that upper management is aware of this situation, we can let them know when we brief them next Thursday" (time passes) "Oh, I'm sorry, we forgot to mention this important conference issue..." - it's not a conference - "...during the briefing, we'll have to draft up a quick memo to let them know that we're requesting to have a conf- IT'S NOT A GODDAMN CONFERENCE! LET'S JUST MAKE IT A GODDAMN WEBINAR. SHIT! SHIIIIIIIIT! *runs down the hall and crashes through the window*
― Karl Malone, Monday, 9 February 2015 15:26 (Yesterday) Permalink
I work for the government and don't travel, but from what I hear from others who need to, Karl is OTM.
― RAP GAME SHANI DAVIS (Raymond Cummings), Tuesday, 10 February 2015 22:41 (nine years ago) link
"anti-theist" arrested in murder of 3 Muslim students in Chapel Hill
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/chapel-hill-shooting-craig-stephen-hicks-condemned-all-religions-on-facebook-prior-to-muslim-massmurder-arrest-10038126.html
― touch of a love-starved cobra (Dr Morbius), Wednesday, 11 February 2015 12:50 (nine years ago) link
Possibly over a parking spot
― panettone for the painfully alone (mayor jingleberries), Wednesday, 11 February 2015 15:32 (nine years ago) link
An NRA koan: If those Muslims would have been armed, this never would have happened.
― reggie (qualmsley), Wednesday, 11 February 2015 16:06 (nine years ago) link
<3 TV's Frank:
Erick Erickson @EWErickson 2h2 hours agoBoy, had that guy in North Carolina been a tea party member or Christian instead of an atheist gay rights activist, twitter would be on fire
Frank Conniff @FrankConniff.@EWErickson Twitter is on fire about this, douchebag.
― Οὖτις Δαυ & τηε Κνιγητσ (Phil D.), Wednesday, 11 February 2015 16:09 (nine years ago) link
But the women’s father, Dr. Mohammad Abu-Salha, who has a psychiatry practice in Clayton, said regardless of the precise trigger Tuesday night, Hicks’ underlying animosity toward Barakat and Abu-Salha was based on their religion and culture. Abu-Salha said police told him Hicks shot the three inside their apartment.
“It was execution style, a bullet in every head,” Abu-Salha said Wednesday morning. “This was not a dispute over a parking space; this was a hate crime. This man had picked on my daughter and her husband a couple of times before, and he talked with them with his gun in his belt. And they were uncomfortable with him, but they did not know he would go this far.”
Abu-Salha said his daughter who lived next door to Hicks wore a Muslim head scarf and told her family a week ago that she had “a hateful neighbor.”
“Honest to God, she said, ‘He hates us for what we are and how we look,’” he said.
http://www.newsobserver.com/2015/02/11/4547742_chapel-hill-police-arrest-man.html
― touch of a love-starved cobra (Dr Morbius), Wednesday, 11 February 2015 18:03 (nine years ago) link
President Barack Obama asked Congress Wednesday to formally authorize military force against the Islamic State group, arguing the militants could pose a threat to the U.S. homeland if their violent power grab goes unchecked and urging lawmakers to “show the world we are united in our resolve to counter the threat.” The president elected on a promise to end America’s wars is sending Congress a proposed joint resolution to authorize military force against the swift rise of Islamic State extremists...
― touch of a love-starved cobra (Dr Morbius), Wednesday, 11 February 2015 18:11 (nine years ago) link
sad that the pretext for war is so flimsy that the president has to deign to ask congress to use its constitutionally mandated authority to approve this shit
― panettone for the painfully alone (mayor jingleberries), Wednesday, 11 February 2015 18:36 (nine years ago) link
re: chapel hill, this is really horrible, the victims and I have some close mutual friends and this is a fucked up thing to have happen in our community
― The Complainte of Ray Tabano, Wednesday, 11 February 2015 19:07 (nine years ago) link
lolz w everyone's favorite oompa-loompa
"The House has done its job," Boehner declared during a Wednesday media briefing. "Why don't you go ask the Senate Democrats when they're going to get off their a-- and do something other than to vote no?"
― Οὖτις, Thursday, 12 February 2015 00:24 (nine years ago) link
Stay classy, GOP
― RAP GAME SHANI DAVIS (Raymond Cummings), Thursday, 12 February 2015 00:28 (nine years ago) link
boehner that takes brass to new levels
― Aimless, Thursday, 12 February 2015 00:29 (nine years ago) link
seems like there's something hypocritical about boehner's whinypants, but i can't put my finger on it
― Karl Malone, Thursday, 12 February 2015 02:18 (nine years ago) link
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/11/opinion/thomas-b-edsall-the-republican-discovery-of-the-poor.html
― Mordy, Thursday, 12 February 2015 02:30 (nine years ago) link
the mortgage tax break should be eliminated tbh, replace it with a 9000% excise tax on all single-family home construction
― stately, plump buck angel (silby), Thursday, 12 February 2015 02:34 (nine years ago) link
lol wtf gop
― Karl Malone, Thursday, 12 February 2015 21:58 (nine years ago) link
sadly 'I know you are but what am I' seems to be the baseline for political discourse these days
― panettone for the painfully alone (mayor jingleberries), Thursday, 12 February 2015 21:59 (nine years ago) link
time to replace the prisoner's dilemma as the default example of a game theory scenario, and replace it with what's happening now w/r/t gop, dhs, immigration, shutdown etc.
the house and senate GOP are acting in their own interest and it makes absolutely zero sense in the end. even if they somehow managed to overturn the immigration EO through the DHS funding bill, obama would veto it. and they're not going to be able to get it to his desk, even.
― Karl Malone, Thursday, 12 February 2015 22:01 (nine years ago) link
http://kirbyforgeorgia.com/481-2/
Ethical treatment of Embryos
We in Georgia are taking the lead on this issue. Human life at all stages is precious including as an embryo. We need to get out in front of the science and technology, before it becomes something no one wants. The mixing of Human Embryos with Jellyfish cells to create a glow in the dark human, we say not in Georgia. This bill is about protecting Human life while maintaining good, valid research that does not destroy life.
― Johnny Fever, Thursday, 12 February 2015 23:40 (nine years ago) link
well there goes that plan
― Οὖτις, Thursday, 12 February 2015 23:56 (nine years ago) link
those kids'll grow up to be spineless
― guess that bundt gettin eaten (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, 13 February 2015 00:11 (nine years ago) link
hey, at least we're still ahead of Israel
https://firstlook.org/theintercept/2015/02/12/u-s-drops-49th-world-press-freedom-rankings-second-lowest-ever/
― touch of a love-starved cobra (Dr Morbius), Friday, 13 February 2015 13:07 (nine years ago) link
pobrecitos:
A month into their newfound control of both chambers of Congress, it wasn't supposed to be like this for Republicans. Instead of advancing a conservative agenda and showing voters they can govern, they are confronting the very real possibility of a shutdown of the Homeland Security Department later this month.
That's because they can't overcome Senate Democrats' stalling tactics in a dispute over immigration.
"I suppose elections have consequences except in the United States Senate," complained GOP Rep. Mick Mulvaney of South Carolina, summing up the frustration for many House Republicans. "Tell me how it would be different if Harry Reid were still running the place," he added, naming the Senate Democratic leader who was booted into the minority in November's midterm elections.
Although their party is now setting the floor schedule and calling hearings, Republicans are finding to their chagrin that important things haven't changed from when they were in the Senate minority.
Republicans are six votes short of the 60 needed to advance most legislation, and Senate rules grant numerous rights to the minority party. That means if Democrats remain united, they have the ability to block GOP bills just as they did while in the majority
― guess that bundt gettin eaten (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, 13 February 2015 15:23 (nine years ago) link
govt doing nothing, the best-case scenario for the rest of my shabby lifetime
― touch of a love-starved cobra (Dr Morbius), Friday, 13 February 2015 15:28 (nine years ago) link
I hope not. I'd like to get SOMEthing done in the next 25 years.
― Orson Wellies (in orbit), Friday, 13 February 2015 15:31 (nine years ago) link
Move your house inland, preferably a red state.
― guess that bundt gettin eaten (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, 13 February 2015 15:31 (nine years ago) link
Yeah brownback got a ton of shit done in kansas
― panettone for the painfully alone (mayor jingleberries), Friday, 13 February 2015 15:36 (nine years ago) link
Then there's Tom Cotton, Republican from Arkansas
Tom Cotton is Ted Cruz with a war record, Sarah Palin with a Harvard degree, Chris Christie with a Southern accent — a force to be reckoned with. He may sound like he’s speaking gibberish to you or to me when he asks why there were no prisoners in Guantánamo before the prison existed, but to the Republican base he’s speaking their language as clear as day and it will fit nicely on a bumper sticker: “Let ‘em rot.”
http://www.salon.com/2015/02/12/sarah_palin_with_a_harvard_degree_why_new_senator_tom_cotton_is_so_frightening/
― curmudgeon, Friday, 13 February 2015 17:13 (nine years ago) link
nothing new out in the red states either, more of the same:
http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2015/02/republicans-are-cutting-taxes-rich-and-raising-them-poor
― curmudgeon, Friday, 13 February 2015 20:32 (nine years ago) link
I have to say this Oregon guv who just resigned puts me in mind of Dabney Coleman:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/02/13/john-kitzhaber-resigns_n_6679800.html
congrats on your new bisexual governor, Orrrgun!
― touch of a love-starved cobra (Dr Morbius), Friday, 13 February 2015 20:46 (nine years ago) link
Damn! I hadn't heard about the resignation. He's correct when he says he was more or less railroaded out of office.
I'm not buying the idea that he conspired with his live-in partner to enrich her via the power of his office. It was more or less a big mess, mainly driven by her adamant insistence that he trust her and not interfere with her freedom to pursue her own ambitions, coupled with her very, very bad judgment and insensitivity to the ethics of her position. afaict, he did nothing worse than letting her have her head.
― Aimless, Friday, 13 February 2015 21:04 (nine years ago) link
dunno where wolfers got this diagram
https://twitter.com/JustinWolfers/status/568180577314201600
looks like jeb is getting the band back together
― goole, Wednesday, 18 February 2015 22:53 (nine years ago) link
but he's not here to talk about the past, see
― panettone for the painfully alone (mayor jingleberries), Wednesday, 18 February 2015 23:13 (nine years ago) link
Colin Powell notably absent
― Οὖτις, Wednesday, 18 February 2015 23:17 (nine years ago) link
Why are the economically downtrodden not pissed off enough to march?
http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/politics/2015/02/inequality_and_american_protest_history_why_are_no_movements_rising_up_against.html
― touch of a love-starved cobra (Dr Morbius), Wednesday, 18 February 2015 23:18 (nine years ago) link
off-hand I'd say because marching doesn't accomplish anything
― Οὖτις, Wednesday, 18 February 2015 23:25 (nine years ago) link
see 1910-73
― touch of a love-starved cobra (Dr Morbius), Wednesday, 18 February 2015 23:26 (nine years ago) link
Christ, you are in true fucking vintage form today
"he said to the mirror"
― guess that bundt gettin eaten (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 18 February 2015 23:30 (nine years ago) link
street demonstrations lost their effectiveness as soon as centers of power figured out how to render them meaningless - ie, don't give news organizations footage of cops shooting protestors etc. Without that, media coverage declines, nothing "exciting" is going on, no one pays attention, rinse and repeat.
― Οὖτις, Wednesday, 18 February 2015 23:31 (nine years ago) link
don't get me wrong I think the whole history of protest movement tactics is really fascinating. marching in the street itself was originally an explicit threat of violence, meant to convey the appearance of an army ready for battle. (and often there *were* actual battles). Then that tactic lost its utility - it was too dangerous, and it ceded victory to the side that had the most weapons/muscle, which was invariably the authorities. So then non-violent marching developed as a viable tactic, one that was successful because it was predicated on forcing the authorities to overplay their hand - the protestors could elicity sympathy by exposing the violence inherent in the system, which could then be converted into public pressure in favor specific policies. But then another shift occurred - the authorities realized protests wouldn't be successful if nothing newsworthy (ie, violence) happened, so they conspired to either a) render all protests non-newsworthy by refusing to be goaded into violence or b) made sure that any acts of violence that were perpetrated were the fault of the protestors, essentially making the protest backfire. And then people realized that marching in the street no longer accomplished anything, so they stopped doing it. the end.
― Οὖτις, Wednesday, 18 February 2015 23:36 (nine years ago) link
an ever increasing number of poor people live in places where there really isn't any great place to march
this was a thing w/ occupy wall st local, a bunch of them were in parking lots or whatever
― iatee, Thursday, 19 February 2015 14:40 (nine years ago) link
mind numbing debt maybe has demoralized lots of folks too. back in the day people may have been poor as dirt but at least they weren't in indentured hock for astronomical medical bills / tuition /car payments/ mortgages. but prosperity trickles down, you see . . .
― reggie (qualmsley), Thursday, 19 February 2015 14:53 (nine years ago) link