The Frankish Reich

Guess who lied about meeting Kim Jon Un? https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/may/03/kristi-noem-kim-jong-un The most astonishing, stupid self-disqualifying book ever.

Mass trespassing. Columbia allowed them onto the quad, allowed them to pitch tents, supported their right to exercise their freedom of speech. A lot of them wandered inside as a continuation of the free speech demonstration. Video doesn't show anyone trying to physically bar them. Plus some obviously non-student type agitators dressed in remarkably clean khakis were seen whispering sweet nothings in their ears before they entered the building. They weren't "camping" anywhere. They were obviously government informants urging these kids on. Any kids who are arrested should be considered patriots. No, not just patriots. Political prisoners.

I was under the impression that they were putting up a fight to save their own country. Now I realize Biden has drafted them into service.

I'm with you on that. Just go back to Bill Clinton or Biden the crime bill guy. Policy wise I don't think I've changed much at all. First the Democrats tacked sharply left, then the Republicans (and I voted for Romney) tacked sharply nuts.

The thing is not so much that she shot the dog (if she even did). It's that she somehow thought this story would help her. It hasn't, and it won't. It was a ridiculous own goal. I can get "taking that old dog out back and shooting it to put him out of his misery." This is not that.

Flawed logic rules! I'll help. See if you can follow. My point: polls say the college educated tilt strongly Democratic. Your response: polls/schmolls. You can't trust 'em. My rejoinder: precinct level data support the validity of the polls here. Precincts with high percentages of the college educated vote strongly Democratic. You response: most highly Democratic areas are in inner cities (euphemism for majority-minority) Hmm ... I'll wait

Neither a Platonic essentialist nor a Wittgensteinian I see. More of a Harveyist. Steve Harvey, that is. Family Feud School of Philosophy. Survey says ...?

A little philosophy is in order. The great philosopher Wittgenstein tells a story. He's walking around Cambridge, as usual deep in his own thoughts. He sees a sign in front of a theater advertising some kind of performance. It says, "Dead" Man Speaks. Now this really gets him thinking. What does the theater mean by this? Surely it doesn't mean that they're rolling in a casket and the corpse sits up and starts conversing. No. But here's what's weird about it: Wittgenstein doesn't dismiss this as some kind of linguistic nonsense. No. He has a sense of what it does mean. Maybe it's someone who had one of those life-after-death-and-then-revived experiences. Maybe it's someone who was missing and declared dead. In context, it wasn't nonsense. Indeed, it made ... sense. What is a woman? What is meat? Context, my friend, context. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philosophical_Investigations

Haha. (note that as the top lobbyist for ADM, no doubt Mr. Kelly wrote some of that press release himself) But why isn't it "meat?" Let's say a DNA test says, yeah, that's beef all right, indistinguishable from that of a steer. Isn't that what your "what is a woman test" would require? Is this human being genetically a woman? Hoist by your own linguistic petard. Seriously, this does piss me off, the stifling of innovation based on some kind of "but it's just not natural!" silliness. Let's say labs get really good at growing human organs. A human replacement kidney, or liver, or heart. With genetic modifications that make rejection a whole lot less likely. We're seeing that with the genetically modified pig kidneys now. It's a great development! So Ron DeSantis says, Yeah, great, that's wonderful! My wife's liver is failing, grow her one of those replacements right now! But don't you dare grow pig meat that I can roast for dinner tomorrow. That would be wrong.

The actual evidence at trial - I've been trying to follow the reporting of people who've actually been in the courtroom or overflow video room. So far, the prosecution case is pretty solid, but there's one big gap: no one has tied the hush money payment directly to Trump. Trump will still have the defense that he had deputized Michael Cohen to just take care of little things like this. A kind of, "Mike, I don't need to know everything that comes up, I trust your judgment to just take care of it." It seems that Cohen will be the only guy to actually testify that Trump himself o.k.'d (or dreamed up) the plan. And Cohen is a sleaze. So it'll all come down to that.

True. If you don't have ambitions beyond South Dakota. She just leaped ahead of the "I castrated hogs with my own teeth" Gov of Iowa.

But what I'll enjoy most about the conservative drive to ban lab-grown meat: it is the perfect Julie Kelly storm. Tarheel may have to find another conservative lobbyist-right wing commenter to exercise his right hand to. (and you gotta love the ADM newspeak here: "cultivated meat" "flexitarians" haha) Her husband: http://www.allcirco.com/john-j-kelly-jr John Kelly is the owner and president of All-Circo, Inc. Established in 1980, All-Circo is one of the most respected and effective public affairs consulting firms in the Midwest. The firm represents more than three dozen clients from Fortune 100 corporations to units of government to non-profit organizations. Notable clients include Archer-Daniels-Midland (ADM) Her husband's major client: https://investors.adm.com/news/news-details/2023/ADM-Believer-Meats-to-Bring-Expertise-Together-to-Advance-the-Horizons-of-Cultivated-Meat/default.aspx ADM (NYSE:ADM), a global leader in sustainable nutrition, and Believer Meats, a leading pioneer of the cultivated meat industry, announced today that they have signed a non-exclusive memorandum of understanding (MOU) to collaborate on new ways to propel the development and commercialization of cultivated meat products. “With a global population expected to reach 10 billion by 2050, ADM is working with partners across the value chain to meet food security and sustainability needs by expanding the protein ecosystem,” said Leticia Gonçalves, ADM’s president, Global Foods. “Cultivated meat represents an exciting evolution and yet another way to meet long-term food security needs — along with other traditional and novel sources of protein. Seven in 10 consumers are aware of cultivated meat, and with flexitarians representing more than half of consumers globally, there is an important opportunity to continue to expand the universe of protein choices. I loved that movie when I saw it at the drive-in as a kid! I watched it again a few years ago ... other than that shock ending, it was really, really boring.

Yes ... incredibly annoyed. Go ahead and sign a bill saying that lab-grown meat can't be marketed as "meat." That's like the diary lobby forcing Oatmilk to be marketed as "Oat Beverage" or some similar annoying but pointless legislation. But why ban the process itself? Is there any rationale other than rent-seeking (protectionist) behavior of the American rancher lobby? I suppose the same guy thinks GMOs are o.k., but lab-grown meat isn't? Why? (I'm in favor of not stalling innovation in general, whether GMOs or lab-grown meat)

Kristi, dog, puppy, whatever. All I know is she desperately needs a new PR person. Maybe it's all Corey's fault. https://nypost.com/2023/09/15/kristi-noem-corey-lewandowski-affair-shakes-up-trump-running-mate-stakes/ Really, you try to distract people from the extramarital affair story by releasing a story about how you shot your dog? Distraction complete I guess. Maybe this was more about Corey throwing her under the bus so he can go back to doing his Trump work.

This is good because turnabout is fair play? Isn't this the same kind of "you hurt my feelings and I felt threatened" claim that the right always (correctly) satirizes?

Great source! Witness's name is even wrong. What really happened: Davidson (not Richardson - thanks for paying attention!) testified it was accurate that there was no romantic relationship. That's only because he banged an adult film actress (hooker) once. Wham bam thank you ma'am. Great testimony for former President Dennison! EDIT: it depends on what the meaning of "is" is ... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pseudonyms_of_Donald_Trump

What's incorrect in the article? I'll admit I just skimmed it quickly, but it obviously cites to specific Facebook groups and their recruitment efforts. Which is, after all, the point of the article - that they are "coordinating on Facebook." Wouldn't this suggest the opposite, namely that Dems are confident that Biden will win and that militants right-wingers will try to do a better organized Jan 6 this time around?

All that could make sense, except that actual voting trends at the macro level (highly educated city/suburban precincts voting overwhelmingly for democrats) supports the validity of such polls. Yeah, all those wealthy/highly educated precincts are filled with Marxist-Leninists. Grow up.

1. It is true. 2. He shouldn't have said it out loud. By the way, not "cute an harmless." I referred to Leonard Cohen saying that at a certain age an old man goes from being revolting to being adorable ...

Biden won college-educated white women by 9 points in 2020. This survey has him ahead by 17 with them. Trump won college-educated white men by 3 points in 2020, but now Biden is ahead by 10 points with them. Biden also has a lead among older voters. The erosion in his support is coming from younger and minority voters. So other than that, you synopsis is correct. 🙄 https://www.npr.org/2024/05/01/1248249250/election-poll-trump-biden-voters

Well I don't see anywhere in the story that he actually had explosive devices. But yes, the NY bail reform law is awful.

I thought that was the kind of straight/unfiltered talk you guys value!

If they want to repeal the 14th Amendment, come right out and say it. Otherwise just STFU.

That's because there's good reason to believe that Ray Epps egged him on.

Are you sure that Lord Seth Phoenix of Corfu isn't an illegal from Greece? A time-traveler from the 15th century? A Game of Thrones extra?