Trump II

[Peter McLennan]

... I enjoyed The Last Picture Show too,...

And its sister movie "Paper Moon"  A classic work of American Cinema by the same director.

[texshooter]

I thought there were both psychological and physiological components.  So I looked "transgender" up in Wikipedia because I wasn't quite sure what it meant.  It seems to have a lot of different meanings.  Frankly, if I was still in the military, I don't know if I want to share my foxhole with someone who's: "... genderqueer, bigender, pangender, or genderfluid..."  Genderfluid?  What the heck is that?  Do they issue us towels and rain coats, or what?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transgender

You left out gender neutrois and epicine.  What's the matter with you; didn't your parents teach you these things?

[Alan Klein]

I wasn't alive for the riots in the 60 or 70s, but from what I've seen on film and read about, I believe you.  Maybe it's because of the trauma of those years that older folks like you (no offense intended - I mean this sincerely) see the issues of minorities today as (relatively) unimportant.  I suppose if I'd lived through the changes and upheaval that you did I might see today's racial problems as minor in comparison.

Well, Jim, they were pretty bad back then.  Of course if you didn't live through it, you have no basis of comparison to today.

Let me also respond by saying I don't see the issues of minorities as unimportant.  As a Jew, I'm very sensitive to what it meant to be treated as an outsider and persecuted or suffer from prejudidce.  But there are other people who have issues too where society has a part to play.  If you're out of a job, and white or black, your concerns are feeding your family.  It seems to many, that Democrats spend too much time with identity politics and play the race card, mainly  to get votes.  They focus on wedge issues like LGBT, climate, environment, bathrooms, gays, and race issues forgetting that there is a huge number of people outside those areas that need politicians to speak to their issues as well and help them.  That's why Trump was elected and why so many Democrats voted for Sanders. 

Many groups have been persecuted in America.   Italians, Irish, Blacks, Jews, Muslims, women, and others.  But, things worked out and the groups moved on and became successful as we've seen Blacks become successful as well.  After all, Obama was black.  Kennedy almost didn't get elected President because he was Catholic.  Women couldn't vote.  Well, we've gotten past those things too.  I was watching the news about the flooding in Texas.  The mayor of Houston is black.  Blacks were helping whites who were helping Latinos.  Everyone was pitching in to help one another. 

My sense is that there's always going to be prejudice or rejection of people who are not like yourself.  We're always more comfortable with people who are just like us religious wise, culturally, racially, heritage wise, class, etc.   But the good news in America, is that most people are willing to accept others and work with them to build a better society for all.    Somehow, we've been able to get past the rough edges and move on.  There are always people of  good will who will help you and let you excel.  Ignore the rest.

[James Clark]

Well, Jim, they were pretty bad back then.  Of course if you didn't live through it, you have no basis of comparison to today.

Let me also respond by saying I don't see the issues of minorities as unimportant.  As a Jew, I'm very sensitive to what it meant to be treated as an outsider and persecuted or suffer from prejudidce.  But there are other people who have issues too where society has a part to play.  If you're out of a job, and white or black, your concerns are feeding your family.  It seems to many, that Democrats spend too much time with identity politics and play the race card, mainly  to get votes.  They focus on wedge issues like LGBT, climate, environment, bathrooms, gays, and race issues forgetting that there is a huge number of people outside those areas that need politicians to speak to their issues as well and help them.  That's why Trump was elected and why so many Democrats voted for Sanders. 

Many groups have been persecuted in America.   Italians, Irish, Blacks, Jews, Muslims, women, and others.  But, things worked out and the groups moved on and became successful as we've seen Blacks become successful as well.  After all, Obama was black.  Kennedy almost didn't get elected President because he was Catholic.  Women couldn't vote.  Well, we've gotten past those things too.  I was watching the news about the flooding in Texas.  The mayor of Houston is black.  Blacks were helping whites who were helping Latinos.  Everyone was pitching in to help one another. 

My sense is that there's always going to be prejudice or rejection of people who are not like yourself.  We're always more comfortable with people who are just like us religious wise, culturally, racially, heritage wise, class, etc.   But the good news in America, is that most people are willing to accept others and work with them to build a better society for all.    Somehow, we've been able to get past the rough edges and move on.  There are always people of  good will who will help you and let you excel.  Ignore the rest.

Well, we're not going to agree on the propensity for Democrats to be especially fond of wedge issues, but nevertheless a good, honest post.  Thank you!

[James Clark]

And now for more Fake News!

Seriously, maybe we have different opinions about the slant of major news networks and such, but the sort of nonsense that permeates Twitter and gets repeated as fact is nuts.  We should probably all be a little more suspicious of unsourced, unverified claims from random people whose only credentials are a Twitter following and the willingness to make headline-worthy claims.

[Schewe]

Well, with friends like this, who needs enemies?

Republican Trump ally reportedly says: 'He's an asshole, but he's our asshole'


Duncan Hunter was one of Trump’s first backers in Washington.

With friends like this ...

Duncan Hunter of California was one of Donald Trump’s first backers on Capitol Hill, long before it became fashionable. But like other Republicans, there are signs of buyer’s remorse.

“He’s just like he is on TV,” the congressman reportedly told colleagues on Friday. “He’s an asshole, but he’s our asshole.”

The comment was reported by the San Diego Union-Tribune, which said it was recounted by four people present when Hunter spoke at a Riverside County Young Republicans meeting at a sports bar in Murrieta, California.

The San Diego-area congressman and Marine combat veteran was one of the first members to endorse Trump during his divisive, anti-establishment campaign for president. A member of the House armed services committee, Hunter has written newspaper columns defending Trump’s approach to Russia.

The San Diego Union-Tribune reported that Hunter made the “asshole” comment while speaking alongside congressman Ken Calvert. It continued: “According to the sources, a woman asked the two congressmen if they had met Trump and what the president is like.

Great, even his supporters think he's an asshole...does anybody else see this as a problem? About the only people an asshole can lead are other assholes who admire bigger assholes than they are (present company excluded).

[Schewe]

When I fist saw this I thought he was joking but no, he honestly thought a Finnish female reporter was double dipping with questions.

Two blondes walk into a White House press briefing …


At a news conference, Aug. 28, President Trump mistook one Finnish reporter for her colleague. He then responded to her question about how the U.S. would respond to Russia.

Two blondes walked into a White House news conference.

You'll never guess what happened next. (Hint: President Trump mixed them up.)

The confusion started near the end of a news conference with Trump and Finnish President Sauli Niinisto in the East Room of the White House on Monday, when Trump encouraged Niinisto to take an additional question from a member of Finland's press corps.

Niinisto pointed to a straw-haired female reporter, prompting Trump to smile and joke, “Again? You’re going to give her the same one?” in an apparent reference to another reporter from Finland, who had asked a question earlier in the news conference.

“No, she is not the same lady,” the Finnish president replied, looking half-stricken, half-sheepish.

“They are sitting side by side,” Niinisto added, helpfully, sneaking a quick glance at Trump.

Indeed, they were two totally, completely different women — Maria Annala, who describes herself on Twitter as a “news journalist from Finland living in Boston,” and Paula Vilén, who describes herself on Twitter as a “Foreign News Correspondent, Finnish Broadcasting Co.”



As the room tittered, the second reporter offered Trump a quick cultural lesson and quipped, “We have a lot of blonde women in Finland,”  before moving briskly along to her question, about the role Finland is playing in the much-watched and hyper-scrutinized relationship between the United States and Russia.

[Schewe]

And that's in addition to all the top level vacancies for which there aren't even nominees ...

Well, another one seems to have bitten the dust...it seems Trump wasn't happy about crowd size for his campaign rally at the Phoenix Convention Center.

Trump Punishes Longtime Aide After Angry Phoenix Speech, Sources Say

Donald Trump was in a bad mood before he emerged for a confrontational speech in Arizona last week.

TV and social media coverage showed that the site of his campaign rally, the Phoenix Convention Center, was less than full. Backstage, waiting in a room with a television monitor, Trump was displeased, one person familiar with the incident said: TV optics and crowd sizes are extremely important to the president.

As his surrogates warmed up the audience, the expanse of shiny concrete eventually filled in with cheering Trump fans. But it was too late for a longtime Trump aide, George Gigicos, the former White House director of advance who had organized the event as a contractor to the Republican National Committee. Trump later had his top security aide, Keith Schiller, inform Gigicos that he’d never manage a Trump rally again, according to three people familiar with the matter.

Gigicos, one of the four longest-serving political aides to the president, declined to comment.

Bye bye George (ya gotta figure Trump is worried about crowd size because, well he has small hands don't ya know?)

Size matters!

[texshooter]

Free speech scores another victory.

Bill SB-219 passed California senate that will jail (1 yr) and fine ($1,000) you for addressing transgenders with wrong gender pronoun.


http://dailycaller.com/2017/08/25/california-could-start-jailing-people-who-dont-use-transgender-pronouns/

[Otto Phocus]

Free speech scores another victory.

Bill SB-219 passed California senate that will jail (1 yr) and fine ($1,000) you for addressing transgenders with wrong gender pronoun.

Not quite. 

First it only applies to State run/governed long term care facilities. 

Second  "...the bill would make it unlawful, except as specified, for any long-term care facility to take specified actions wholly or partially on the basis of a person’s actual or perceived sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, or human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) status...".  There are 8 specific activities that are identified and only one of them has to do with terms of address.

Third it only applies to those instances of "willfully and repeatedly failing to use a resident’s preferred name or pronouns after being clearly informed of the preferred name or pronouns..." Which hardly would qualify as infringing on a person's freedom of expression.

[jeremyrh]

Not quite. 

First it only applies to State run/governed long term care facilities. 

Second  "...the bill would make it unlawful, except as specified, for any long-term care facility to take specified actions wholly or partially on the basis of a person’s actual or perceived sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, or human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) status...".  There are 8 specific activities that are identified and only one of them has to do with terms of address.

Third it only applies to those instances of "willfully and repeatedly failing to use a resident’s preferred name or pronouns after being clearly informed of the preferred name or pronouns..." Which hardly would qualify as infringing on a person's freedom of expression.

Whats the big idea - posting facts and not mindless soundbites?

[texshooter]

In a free society, one is fired for offensive speech -- not jailed.

But I empathize. Boy, do I.

[Slobodan Blagojevic]

..." Which hardly would qualify as infringing on a person's freedom of expression.

Which exactly qualifies as infringing on one's freedom of speech. The only action appropriate would be firing the employee, not fining or, gasp, imprisoning.

Besides, what are "state-run" facilities? I thought only prisons and public schools are. Long-term care facilities might be financed by Medicaid, but are all employees state employees there? I don't know, just asking.

This really, really is starting to look like Soviet Union, Nazi Germany, or current Saudi Arabia.

I am truly horrified.

[Otto Phocus]

If you research Bill SB-219, it defines what is considered a state run facility

[Otto Phocus]

Whats the big idea - posting facts and not mindless soundbites?

Yeah, I know, what was I thinkin' 

Forgot I was on LuLa for a moment. 

[Alan Klein]

Is there a law against calling presidents Big Orange Dummies?   After all. 

[Slobodan Blagojevic]

Is there a law against calling presidents Big Orange Dummies?   After all. 

Only if it is "willfully and repeatedly," Alan. Oh, wait...

[Bart_van_der_Wolf]

Trump administration’s censorship of climate change should ‘send chill down your spine’, top scientist warns
Energy Department official asks scientists to remove references to global warming from research proposals to confirm with the President's views on the subject
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/donald-trump-climate-change-censorship-global-warming-administration-latest-scientist-warns-a7918011.html


QUOTE   "The US Energy Department has been asking scientists to remove the words “climate change” and “global warming” from research proposals in a censorship row that one leading climatologist said should “send a chill down your spine”.

Professor Jennifer Bowen, of Northeastern University in Boston, was told in July that she and a colleague had been awarded funding to study whether the degradation of salt marshes would cause the release of large amounts of carbon dioxide.

However she revealed on social media that she was then sent a message by an Energy Department official asking for a reference to climate change in their proposal to be removed.

“I am writing regarding your recently approved FICUS proposal … I have been asked to contact you to update the wording in your proposal abstract to remove words such as ‘global warming’ or ‘climate change’,” the official wrote.

“This is being asked as we have to meet the President’s budget language restrictions and don’t want to make any changes without your knowledge or consent.

“Below is the current wording for your abstract – at your next convenience, will you kindly revise the wording and send back to me as soon as you can? That way we can update our website.”"


Censorship in order to eradicate the scientifically used terms, because Trump doesn't like to read about Climate change, especially with Hurricane Harvey dumping huge amounts of precipitation that was taken up by the warmer air, costing more than it would to take preventative measures based on scientific consensus.

Harvey's timing is also too close to not be connected to Trumps rescinding of the Flood Insurance Program.

Cheers,
Bart

[Bart_van_der_Wolf]

US government burying head deeper in sand on climate change
An apparently widespread effort to ignore reality by the federal government.
https://arstechnica.com/science/2017/08/us-government-burying-head-deeper-in-sand-on-climate-change/




QUOTE   "It's no secret that President Trump came into office rejecting the conclusions of the vast majority of the world's scientists when it comes to our changing climate. But it wasn't clear how that would translate to policy. At least some of his advisors, as well as his daughter, accept the conclusions of the scientific community. And there was the possibility that policy decisions would be constrained by reality, as Trump was sworn in as the most recent global temperature records were set.

Over the past few weeks, however, it has become increasingly clear that there has been extensive push back against climate change throughout the government, with several push backs occurring in the last week alone. We'll review those briefly below.
[...]
This week saw the long-delayed release of the Department of Energy's evaluation of grid stability. The report was commissioned by Energy Secretary Rick Perry, who suggested that the expansion of renewable energy was undermining the reliability of electricity delivery. Back in June, however, a draft of the expert evaluation leaked, and it stated that the US grid was now more reliable than it had been in recent decades. Those conclusions, however, were watered down in the final report.

But the report is also notable for avoiding the use of the term "climate change" anywhere in its 125 pages. This is despite the fact that increased heat will boost demand and stress grid hardware and that climate change is currently driving state-level energy policies. In fact, the report recommends the anti-solution of increasing the use of coal-fired power plants."
[...]
It's not just the DOE that seems to have issue with this area of science. Perhaps the most significant move happened at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). NOAA is one of the organizers of a congressionally mandated national climate assessment, and it maintained a 15-person advisory committee intended to help the business community as well as state and local governments use the assessment for planning. In other words, the committee was intended to help the nation decide how best to act on the information contained in a scientific report.

The committee was formed in 2016 in expectation of the completion of the next climate assessment, due this year. Last week, however, its charter expired and the Trump administration decided not to renew it.

Meanwhile, the assessment itself has become a battleground. Drafts of the assessment have been through scientific peer review and have been circulated widely. They largely echo the conclusion of other scientific evaluations of the climate, such as the IPCC's.

But Scott Pruitt, head of the EPA (one of the organizations tasked with writing the assessment), is now threatening to derail its formal release.

Cheers,
Bart

[Alan Klein]

Trump administration’s censorship of climate change should ‘send chill down your spine’, top scientist warns
Energy Department official asks scientists to remove references to global warming from research proposals to confirm with the President's views on the subject
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/donald-trump-climate-change-censorship-global-warming-administration-latest-scientist-warns-a7918011.html


QUOTE   "The US Energy Department has been asking scientists to remove the words “climate change” and “global warming” from research proposals in a censorship row that one leading climatologist said should “send a chill down your spine”.

Professor Jennifer Bowen, of Northeastern University in Boston, was told in July that she and a colleague had been awarded funding to study whether the degradation of salt marshes would cause the release of large amounts of carbon dioxide.

However she revealed on social media that she was then sent a message by an Energy Department official asking for a reference to climate change in their proposal to be removed.

“I am writing regarding your recently approved FICUS proposal … I have been asked to contact you to update the wording in your proposal abstract to remove words such as ‘global warming’ or ‘climate change’,” the official wrote.

“This is being asked as we have to meet the President’s budget language restrictions and don’t want to make any changes without your knowledge or consent.

“Below is the current wording for your abstract – at your next convenience, will you kindly revise the wording and send back to me as soon as you can? That way we can update our website.”"


Censorship in order to eradicate the scientifically used terms, because Trump doesn't like to read about Climate change, especially with Hurricane Harvey dumping huge amounts of precipitation that was taken up by the warmer air, costing more than it would to take preventative measures based on scientific consensus.

Harvey's timing is also too close to not be connected to Trumps rescinding of the Flood Insurance Program.

Cheers,
Bart

I hope she got the award before she posted her complaint on social media.

If she called her research "to study the degradation of salt marshes and how they will lower global temperatures", she would have been given double the funding. 

Actually, if you think about it, references to  "climate change" were put in her original request for funding because that's how you would have gotten approved for funding before Trump.  You see, researchers are playing a game too.  By stressing their research is about climate change, they have a better chance of getting funding then if they just said they want to research whether more CO2 is released. 

But the truth is doing research on salt marshes has nothing to do directly with climate change.  She may know a lot about marshes but nothing about climate.  If CO2 is being released in greater amounts, that's all her sturdy should be about.  It would be up to climatologists to decide if that effects the climate, not her.  Basically she's salting the mine for a better chance to get the funding.  So now, since the politics has changed, she'll take out references to climate change so she still has a greater advantage of getting the funding.  Of course, she totally misses the point that she's guilty of playing political games either way. 

This points to a problem we have.  That is that scientists were pushing climate change before Trump to get the funding even when their research had nothing to do with it directly.  You had to wave the banner of climate change if you wanted government money for any research you did.  So the fact more scientists "believe" in climate change is just expediency in many cases.  It's become a self-fulfilling prophesy.