¡Martes! ¿Se quieren enlaces?

by | Nov 10, 2020 | Daily Links | 282 comments

Good afternoon Glibs!  I will start with something local to be happy about.  The Maricopa County Recorder race flipped from Adrian Fontes (Asshole-AZ) to the team red challenger, in a race that appears irrelevant enough to ignore, except it isn’t because that is who counts the votes in the most populated county in Arizona.

Naysayers are using this race as proof the election couldn’t possibly be rigged in any way, because if the election was corrupt wouldn’t Fontes rig his own election? To that I say his challenger ran on the premise Fontes was either corrupt or incompetent (disclaimer:  report written by the challenger) but is definitely an asshole, so maybe its poor planning on his part.  Disclaimer:  there are still a few ballots out there and the margin is 2368.

At least his replacement has a sense of humor.

If Alex Jones sent you a burrito, would you eat it?

World leaders from so called “respectable” countries were quick to congratulate Joe as the president-elect…

…the presidents of Brazil and Mexico chose to wait it out.  In AMLO’s case there is a pretty good reason why.

Brazil goes #antiscience.

Puerto Rico elects a new governor.

¡Lucha Libre!

Posting because its still true.

Peru’s Congress has voted to impeach President Martin Vizcarra over allegations he handed out government contracts in return for bribes.

So it had nothing to do with world’s strictest lockdown outside of China and still had the worlds third highest COVID death toll per capita?

Have some tunes, and have a great Martes.

About The Author

mexican sharpshooter

mexican sharpshooter

WARNING: Glibertarians.com contains chemicals known to the State of California to cause cancer and birth defects or other reproductive harm. https://youtu.be/qiAyX9q4GIQ?t=2m22s

282 Comments

  1. UnCivilServant

    Only 3 miles today, it was 3.8 Sunday.

    • Brochettaward

      What a waste of a god damn First. I was cheated by this seconder.

      • UnCivilServant

        We did a recount. After the mail-in votes were tabulated, you came in last.

    • UnCivilServant

      At least half of the people I see out and about are unmasked, and a lot of them say ‘hi’ when I walk past.

      It’s straining having to be sociable.

      • juris imprudent

        Are you of Finnish descent?

      • UnCivilServant

        Not that I know of.

        Irish/English mix.

      • juris imprudent

        Friend on FB, and of Finnish descent, posts memes about Finns be a/anti-social.

      • Scruffy Nerfherder

        Not when drunk, which is a large percentage of the time.

      • leon

        Reminds me of the old Joke:

        Russian PM was visiting Finland and commented to Finnish Foreign Minister, “You Finns are always drunk.”. The Finnish Minster took great offense at this and said “we can’t possibly be more drunk than you russians.”. The PM just said, “You know what the next time you come to Russia, i’ll give you permission to kill any drunk you see”.

        6 months later the Finnish minister was visiting Moscow. On the evening of the first day he was there he stepped outside and saw two men clearly drunk in the park across from his hotel. He calmly strode up to them, pulled out a revolver and blew their brains out.

        The Next Morning the Newspapers in Helsinki read: “Crazed Foreign Minister Murders Two Finns Vacationing in Russia”

      • B.P.

        Dispatches from the Winter War.

      • C. Anacreon

        Are you asking because when he’s involved in sexual relations, he always says to his partner “Wait! Let me Finnish!”

      • juris imprudent

        And hence the conflict with the Russians.

    • rhywun

      I walked 4.13 miles on Saturday and I’m still recovering. But I’ll take what I can get.

      • UnCivilServant

        I’m working on improving my endurance. It takes time.

      • rhywun

        I’m building up whatever I lost down there during this year’s colonic adventures. Honestly I am very happy with the progress, given that I couldn’t walk a block a few months ago.

  2. The Other Kevin

    Solamente Martes? Dios mio.

    • rhywun

      I don’t like Marteses.

  3. UnCivilServant

    If Alex Jones sent you a burrito, would you eat it?

    Have we tested it to see the effect on the sexual preferences of amphibians?

    • The Last American Hero

      Eat the burrito but do NOT drink the kool-aid.

      • Floridaman

        Can I take the Baja Blast though I heard that was discontinued?

    • UnCivilServant

      I don’t trust google links.

      • Jerms

        Why would he say that? Trolling?

      • Trigger Hippie

        I deleted everything Google related from all my devices except for my Gmail account(working on that) a few days ago and literally threw my Chromebook in the trash(half dead anyway) and now my wifi has been out for nearly eight straight hours… I’m being punished.

      • trshmnstr the terrible

        I need to move off of Gmail, but I don’t want to pollute my protonmail with a bunch of bullshit. I already regret giving Amazon one of my addresses that forward to protonmail because its like 80% advertising that I don’t want or need.

      • Trigger Hippie

        That’s the thing, I’ve had so much crap tied to those accounts that untangling it all is a headache I’m not looking forward to. Google knows this. Hence, the punishment. Granted, my WiFi is through Spectrum, which is the worse service provider I’ve ever had, and we just had a decent storm but I’m not going to allow those inconvenient facts stop me from blaming Google!….*unwraps Alex Jones burrito, places foil on head*

      • trshmnstr the terrible

        I just found the Amazon unsubscribe from the bullshit button. Hopefully it takes.

      • The Last American Hero

        Yahoo for garbage registries

      • Drake

        They all need to prosecuted for violating the Logan Act.

      • juris imprudent

        How about we try to not be as stupid as ’16 vintage Democrats? Or did I miss a sarcasm tag?

      • Drake

        Stupid had nothing to do with it. Vindictive and ruthless are the words your looking for.

      • juris imprudent

        Vindictive, ruthless and stupid. Not a combination I want to be part of.

      • Drake

        Nope – they accomplished exactly what they wanted. Stripped a good advisor away from Trump and destroyed the man’s life at no cost to them.

      • juris imprudent

        And that should be emulated?

      • Drake

        Not necessarily – but at some point they should fight to win.

      • Floridaman

        Nonsense, everyone knows the ideas is to give a good concession speech, see Romney.

      • Mostly Peaceful JaimeRoberto

        I don’t think anyone should be prosecuted for it, but it’s worth pointing out the huge double standard.

      • Ownbestenemy

        Mean like Flynn? Once I am done laughing Ill let you know.

      • Ownbestenemy

        That is funny or dangerous or sad. Pick whatever you are feeling today.

      • Sean

        I’m gonna go with #1.

    • Agent Cooper

      Every day at work we have a creatives-only call to shoot the shit. Well, the shit is 99% progressive/democrat where I work so I just made sure they all knew I was giving my attention to other things. There were things like “why the hell would West Virginians vote for Trump? He hasn’t helped them out at all in the coal industry.” I felt like chiming in “Well, maybe because the other side is actively hostile toward their industry?” but it’s not worth it.

      • rhywun

        Politics at work is toxic. If that kept up I would pull out my resume and start brushing it up.

      • trshmnstr the terrible

        *cut to trashy with bloodshot eyes and a thousand yard stare methodically brushing a few strands of what was once resume paper*

  4. The Late P Brooks

    Declared

    “We have already started the transition, we are well under way,” Biden said at a press conference in Wilmington, Delaware.

    Asked what he thought of President Donald Trump’s refusal so far to concede, Biden said: “I just think it’s an embarrassment, quite frankly.”

    Biden was declared the winner of the 2020 presidential election on Saturday, after he secured the 270 electoral college votes needed to defeat Trump, according to NBC News and other major media outlets. Yet the president has so far refused to accept that he lost, and baselessly claims that Biden’s win is the result of “illegal votes.”

    Okay, then.

    If there are no illegitimate votes, examining them should not be a big deal.

    • R C Dean

      after he secured the 270 electoral college votes

      Regardless of how that turns out, nobody has secured any EC votes yet.

      • Ownbestenemy

        NPR has that fact checked for ya

        “It’s true that states have not yet certified Biden as the winner, but that statement misses the larger picture — that certifying results will not change the overall outcome of the election.”

    • Sean

      States are still fucking counting votes.

      Why the delay?

      Begin the recounts!

      Let’s kick this shit into high gear.

      • Drake

        That obviously is why they are delaying.

      • R C Dean

        Why the delay?

        Because until the initial count is completed, you can’t

        Begin the recounts!

        There is a clock. It is running out.

        Among the mysteries: AZ, which has stupidly allowed mail-in voting for years and has had a high number of mail-in ballots, can’t seem to get them counted. The counting has slowed to a glacial pace, oddly just as Trump closed the gap with Biden to a few thousand votes. I’m pretty sure it has never taken AZ this long to complete an initial count.

      • Scruffy Nerfherder

        That is the McCain machine in action right there. He married into Arizona politics and they certainly hate Trump.

        It may backfire on them with their own voters though.

      • mexican sharpshooter

        I’m pretty sure it has never taken AZ this long to complete an initial count.

        Didn’t they take over a week in 2018?

      • Rebel Scum

        Alaska is not done yet either and not called. I don’t get that one.

      • leon

        Have you tried counting while being chased by Ruskies and Polar bears?

    • C. Anacreon

      If there are no illegitimate votes, examining them should not be a big deal.

      This is the key point and should be the main thing said out there by all the Trump surrogates, rather than focusing on individual incidents of fraud.

      “Since Biden is confident in his victory, he should have nothing to fear in full examinations and recounts, just as President Trump did not fear the Clinton campaign’s request for recounts and election scrutiny. But perhaps he’s not so confident? What is he worried about?”

      My wife, who watches the network news so that I can be in a different room and not smashing the TV set, says that the MSM only mentions Trump’s challenges to insist they are all ‘baseless”. TMITE again.

    • Rebel Scum

      Listen, Fat. We had the most diverse and inclusive voter fraud team in American history. Even Cornpop couldn’t manufacture the number of ballots we did. I won’t listen any more malarkey about this election. Now where is my pack of Werthere’s?

  5. Rebel Scum

    World leaders from so called “respectable” countries were quick to congratulate Joe as the president-elect…

    I guess I can’t fault foreigners for not understanding how US elections work.

    • juris imprudent

      Also can’t fault them for being happy Trump is/will-be gone; they didn’t like dealing with him.

      • Drake

        He expected them to pay for their own defense and negotiated fair trade deals – what an asshole.

      • juris imprudent

        He had the understanding that the old game was over. That doesn’t mean he knew how to work in the environment that is. But you drink that kool aid, I’m sure it’s real tasty.

  6. Scruffy Nerfherder

    So number one son receives a Civics and Government assignment today on Langston Hughes.

    Okay, notable poet during the time of Jim Crow, presents opportunities for discussion of the role government played in actual systemic racism. I get it.

    Nope, he’s asked to provide commentary on how the poem made him feel. Actual civics, government, and philosophy are left out of the assignment.

    I cannot express how much I despise modern education.

    • Tonio

      I feel for you, bro.

    • Mad Scientist

      “I feel like I have missed yet another opportunity to actually learn something, which makes me feel like this school is wasting the time of everyone involved.”

    • trshmnstr the terrible

      I get that its a hard balance to strike. Too much leading them and they hate the process and spend more time regurgitating teacher’s opinion than actually learning anything.Too little leading, and they miss the entire point and hate the process.

      That said, an iron law applies here. Meaning comes from context. Without context, literature is blunted, at best.

      • Scruffy Nerfherder

        Hence why I despise postmodernism. The only context they currently consider is the skin color of the author.

        The remaining meaning is to be derived by how it makes you feel.

      • Jarflax cancelled Cancelled

        Paging HM:

        Perhaps the problem lies in our adherence to the Prussian model of education. Although I am not sure what I would suggest we use in its place as the main competitor seems to be Montessori, which I have observed in a limited sample to be crap.

      • Scruffy Nerfherder

        The Catholics had/have a fairly successful approach that fosters more independent thought than the hellspawn of Fichte that we have now.

    • juris imprudent

      How you feel about govt is more important than understanding what is and is not a legitimate govt function.

      It is known.

    • Ownbestenemy

      I had to slog through an ‘argumentative essay’ with my son on Sugar and Slave Trade and the teacher basically guided the whole class to point out it was bad. I mean, slavery is bad, but the idea I thought was to teach kids how to source and make a compelling (even if not popular) argument for maybe the pro side of that? Who am I kidding.

      • Trigger Hippie

        Sadly, the goal of the modern education system is to instill what to think, not how to think.

      • Count Potato

        BREAKING: Biden’s Put You All Back In Chains Plan Ends Black Unemployment

      • Gadfly

        I don’t see how you could assign an argumentative essay on the topic of the slave trade. I mean, I guess you could if you delved deep into the reasons for why it happened and how people defended it and how people opposed it and why, but I’m assuming this is high school level so it’s not like this is going to be a deep dive, and when the topic has a nearly axiomatic answer you are not going to have people deep thinking for themselves.

        A more interesting argumentative essay (which would never get assigned in a government school) would be to argue for/against the proposition that government and slavery are essentially the same institutions at different scales.

        Or if you are left with the original assignment and want to be a real shitlord, you could always argue in favor of the slave trade for the prosperity that it brought to the many slave-trading African kingdoms.

      • Jarflax cancelled Cancelled
      • Gadfly

        Well that was an interesting read. As expected, the author defends slavery as a patriarchal system that benefits the lowest class better than the free system of the north benefits its lowest class. What was unexpected was the author’s insistence that the southern states were managing their slave system wrong by being prejudiced against free blacks, and his holding up Brazil and other places as doing the slave system better, by providing better incentives for various classes to keep the system going. An interesting look into a very foreign point of view.

      • Ownbestenemy

        I agree it was a terrible topic and even the 15 year old said “what is argumentative about this?” I tried to persuade him to take the position that while the effects of the sugar trade affected the slave trade and that was bad, the prosperity was greater (similar to the last part of what you wrote). He just wants to get through his zoom class. The New Normal High School Experience.

  7. leon

    MARTES!!! Dia de TACOS!

  8. Count Potato

    “death toll per capita”

    I wonder why San Marino is #1?

    • mexican sharpshooter

      Its populated by 8 people that would otherwise be Italian?

  9. db

    One of my thoughts on election fraud (copied from the late bits of the prior thread)

    I want possible fraud investigated and prosecuted to the max. I don’t particularly care if it affects the outcome of this, or any particular, election, but the fear/expectation of fraud has to be stamped out. The only way of doing this is, in my opinion, doing two things:

    1. Rooting fraud out in a very public manner
    2. Creating a robust and fraud- and error-resistant election process that is open and accountable, and auditable.

    Those two things should be expectations.

    Do I have hope that they will happen? Sure. However, election fraud (or its specter) is a wonderful tool for politicians and their parties to use to create fear and distrust of their opponents. It’s like the jokes “Republicans fearful that the Supreme Court will once and for all overturn Roe v. Wade and end legalized abortion, removing their most potent campaigning lever” and “Democrats fearful that the Supreme Court will once and for all affirm the Second Amendment, removing their most potent campaigning lever” and their inverses.

    • juris imprudent

      Speaking to your second objective – the tough part is making a system that people can/will use that accommodates the blindingly stupid faction of our voting public and yet is secure. Is it do-able? Sure. Is it going to be cheap? Not likely. Is there any way to make every jurisdiction spend on it? Not at all.

      • db

        I don’t know; it seems there is a lot of discussion out there about how it can be done. If we can fight a trillion dollar war over 20 years to essentially end up where we started, perhaps we could throw a billion or two at improving faith in our election processes.

      • robc

        South Carolina uses the system O had previously thought up in my head, so it isnt original to me. You vote on a touch screen computer. It prints out your ballot with your vote in each race as a printed name. You can verify. It also has a snan part with your vote encoded that the scantron machine reads.

        That is easy to double check by hand.

      • Gadfly

        That is the same system they were using in my precinct in TX (although I know other precincts were using other systems), and I thought it was a pretty good system that balanced the several interests at play. Since TX is an ID state that allows interested parties to observe the elections, it basically checks all the boxes that I would like to see checked.

  10. The Late P Brooks

    As of Tuesday, Trump still claimed he would win the election, despite the fact that Biden has already secured more than 270 electoral votes, or the fact that Trump is trailing by tens of thousands of votes in key states where counting is still under way.

    I’m not sure those votes are official, yet. But don’t let that stop you.

    • Scruffy Nerfherder

      Circular arguments are circular

    • C. Anacreon

      As of Tuesday, Trump still claimed he would win the election, despite the fact that Biden has already secured more than 270 electoral votes

      Isn’t this an actual example of begging the question? Or do I still not have that figured out?

      • Scruffy Nerfherder

        I think so.

    • hayeksplosives

      This is at about the point where in the 2016 cycle, the Dems started recruiting “Faithless Electors” and even implying that they were duty bound to vote for Her because OrangeManBad.

      • Mostly Peaceful JaimeRoberto

        And claims that the voting machines were hacked.

      • Floridaman

        Hence why this is so funny even if it goes nowhere, it is nice seeing the shit thrown back in their face for a change.

      • juris imprudent

        Or crazy vote totals – that strangely track previous elections. Since Pittsburgh (Allegheny County) was another bone of contention…

        12 Romney 262K, Obama 352K
        16 Trump 258K, Clinton 367K
        20 Trump 274K, Biden 415K

        Yep, those are all totally out of whack. Or, I dunno, maybe the stories are?

      • Floridaman

        Why on earth do you care, we are libertarians we should not WANT the government to be viewed as legitimate, whether it come from the left or the right. If this kills the stupid idea that a majority of idiots agreeing gives you the right to ignore other people’s rights that is a good thing.
        https://mises.org/wire/election-2020-choking-political-red-and-blue-pills

      • robc

        Now do detroit and milwaukee. The claims from stat analysis in pa have been from other counties, oddly.

      • juris imprudent

        The Corriea piece specifically called out Pittsburgh. Others here have talked about Philly. Just where are the goalposts going next?

      • Jarflax cancelled Cancelled

        Ok, I have been sympathetic to much of what you have said so far, but you have not been posting replies to Correia’s statistical analysis. You have been posting vote total comparisons in response to random comments about perceived fraud. Rob did not set out the goal posts you are claiming he moved. You did.

        Correia is always a bit over the top. It is part of his appeal. I am not knowledgeable enough about statistical analysis or forensic accounting to reply to his claims, but they went far beyond claiming that the vote percentages in Pittsburgh and Philly were out of line with prior totals.

      • Ownbestenemy

        No totally out of whack and I guess Joe could have been super appealing to the Dems (I discount the not-Trump Repubs here cause of the #s Donnie boy has), but 60K and 50K more than the previous races?

      • Ownbestenemy

        “No totally” should be “Not totally”

      • Jarflax cancelled Cancelled

        Here is the Trump PA complaint in case you would like to read it. Some of it looks like they are throwing everything they can think of at the wall and hoping it sticks, but some of the alleged conduct wis egregious, if true. I have no idea if the fraud was widespread enoughto change the result, but there were indications of fraud in what I watched election night, and in what has transpired since, and dismissing them because the vote totals are not conclusively out of proportion to prior elections is as naive a position as that of those screaming at you from the other side.

      • juris imprudent

        I honestly don’t expect anything coming out of Trump’s mouth, or his mouthpiece, to have much credibility.

        Right now I’m not saying there was ZERO fuckery (I know this state and its politicians better than that) – but for all of the TALK, there isn’t much there, is there?

      • Sean

        600k votes tallied in Philly with no poll watchers for Trump allowed?

        That’s a big fucking deal.

      • Mostly Peaceful JaimeRoberto

        I think the strongest point issued in the complaint is that the watchers were not allowed to do their job. A lot of the other stuff is low volume and probably not enough to change anything. At best they get a recount in those counties, but depending on how much of the paper trail still exists, not much will change in this election, but hopefully will lead to better access for the observers in future elections.

      • juris imprudent

        Sean – and Trump is doing better in Philly than he did in ’16 and Biden is slightly behind Clinton. So fucking what – other than purely as a matter of form.

        What CREDIBLE evidence is there that Trump would’ve done even better than he did?

      • Sean

        JI, I don’t know.

        But I expect something more with transparency.

        The whole thing stinks to high heaven.

      • juris imprudent

        Is that stink something unusual in that city?

      • kbolino

        Trump gains 5% over Romney but Biden gains 18% over Obama?

        Indicators are not proof, as I said in the last thread, but that is still an indicator that something seems off just based on the numbers you’ve provided here.

      • R C Dean

        Biden’s margin over Trump is 40% larger than Hillary’s? In a Blue Wave year, maybe.

      • kbolino

        It is suspicious. Suspicions prove nothing. But they can be used to direct attention.

        I suppose it’s possible that Joe Biden managed to drum up enough support in select counties of Pennsylvania specifically with his good ole boy from Scranton shtick, and of course a general trend across the country doesn’t have to be matched in specific places. But it is quite odd, and it seems to diverge from most other counties in PA where Biden didn’t gain any support. I will say that it seems Biden did gain support in Lackawanna County, where Scranton actually is, though.

      • kbolino

        Probably worth also noting that Allegheny County, PA has been a slow downward population trend. These gains would be a lot more readily explainable if the population had grown in those 4 years, but according to the stats I could find it didn’t.

      • kbolino

        I looked, and Lackawanna has also allegedly lost population, but the graph on Google shows it slowly losing people then magically getting them all back in time for the census every 10 years. So maybe any claim to the county’s current population or its recent trend is suspect as well.

      • R C Dean

        juris, I am enjoying your comments on this. You are doing a far better job of poking holes in the Trump claims than anybody I have seen in the media, which seems to think saying “NUH-UH!” is how you demonstrate someone is wrong.

      • Ownbestenemy

        Agreed. We all know what the media should be doing, isn’t doing, and a small section of the interwebs is doing. Which is thinking it out with points on both sides.

      • Floridaman

        To be fair the media isn’t used to being challenged or ignored. They are used to the public shutting up and accepting what they say.

  11. Rebel Scum

    Pedro Pierluisi of Puerto Rico’s pro-statehood New Progressive Party

    I can already feel the progress.

    • rhywun

      Pedro Pierluisi picked a peck of pickled peppers.

    • Gadfly

      Because the statehood question in PR politics is so big, they don’t have the usual factions that the rest of the US has. The New Progressive Party has had governors who have aligned with the Democratic party as well as governors who have aligned with the Republican party, all under the same tent.

  12. The Late P Brooks

    It mostly comes out at night… mostly

    Starting Friday, bars and restaurants in Minnesota will see new restrictions as the state works to slow the spread of COVID-19.

    The changes include ending in-person service at 10 p.m, no bar seating or counter service and limits on standing games such as darts and pool (takeout and delivery would still be allowed after 10 p.m.).

    It also can’t see you if you’re sitting down.

    SCIENCE!

    • Ownbestenemy

      Standing games…what if you incorporate musical chairs into a game of darts, will it then be acceptable?

    • Drake

      I thought we’d all back to normal now that we have a vaccine 98% effective against a virus that 99.9% of people recover from.

      • juris imprudent

        Aren’t they also claiming it isn’t a single-dose? Like we’ll need boosters periodically?

      • R C Dean

        Two shots, three weeks apart. The 90% effectiveness assumes that will happen.

        Sometimes it will, sometimes it won’t.

        I’ll be getting it, because I’m not willing to get fired over it.

      • Scruffy Nerfherder

        I’ll wait for you to tell us if you turn obsequious, purple, and clairvoyant.

      • R C Dean

        I won’t turn obsequious or clairvoyant in any event.

        Purple? I’ll def let you know.

      • Jarflax cancelled Cancelled

        If he is mind controlled by Bill Gates he will tell us the vaccine was safe, therefore him telling us the vaccine is safe means the vaccine is actually a compound developed by the CIA during MK Ultra and repurposed by Pfizer to kill off the deplorables by making their children into gay frogs who assassinate world leaders when they see the red queen because their Miranda is a deep cover communist sleeper agent, working with the Greys in loose alliance with the Lizard People sponsored by the Elders of Zion.

      • juris imprudent

        Well someone did eat the burrito.

      • Drake

        Lets see if we can track his implant via GPS.

      • Sean

        ?????

    • Ted S.

      Has anybody asked the governors why it’s safe to be out at 9:45 PM but not at 10:15 PM?

      • Trigger Hippie

        Curfew laws were in large part originated to restrict the movement of the black population. And as we all know, black people suffer from the Rona far worse than their white counterparts. So, using the combination of old school racism and a raging power boner, you get the perfect storm of nonsense.

        I’m not sure I believe this but it sounded good off the top of my head.

      • Sean

        Solid effort.

      • Ownbestenemy

        You expect our incurious press to be bothered? Do you know how cushy the gig is just reprinting the press releases from government officials now and everyone just nods their heads? Also, there is Thanksgiving parties and Christmas parties coming up and I haven’t been laid in a long time, so…no we will not ask that question.

      • Mostly Peaceful JaimeRoberto

        I think the idea is that the longer you are out the more drunk you become, and the more drunk you become the more likely you are to talk loud and carouse and get lucky and spread the virus.

      • B.P.

        The last time we went through this it was explained to me that as the night goes on, people get more inebriated and less responsible about observing the COVID diktats.

      • B.P.

        Or what JaimeRoberto said.

  13. Rebel Scum

    Gf is job searching. I told her that several states are looking for people to transport coolers and suitcases to convention centers in cities and 1) not ask questions, and 2) keep their mouths shut about it.

    She was not amused.

    • The Hyperbole

      Can she finish drywall?

      • Tres Cool

        She isnt mexican, you racist.

      • Mostly Peaceful JaimeRoberto

        I’m not sure I understand that euphemism.

      • Rebel Scum

        I am the one that fills the holes.

    • juris imprudent

      A friend on FB had a finish a famous sentence with Four Seasons. I thought the following was pithy.

      Now is the winter of our discontent
      Made glorious summer by Four Seasons Total Landscaping

  14. DEG

    Biden also promised to fight against austerity measures sought by a federal control board overseeing Puerto Rico’s finances amid an economic crisis; accelerate the disbursement of federal funds for hurricane and earthquake reconstruction; and push for equal funding of Medicaid, Medicare and Supplemental Security Income, since Puerto Rico receives less than U.S. states.

    Austerity? Puerto Rico ran out of checks in the checkbook?

    • R C Dean

      Puerto Rico receives less than U.S. states

      Since Puerto Ricans are US citizens, I wonder (a) if that’s true, really and (b) if so, why.

      I will point out that Medicare payments are adjusted based on a regional wage index, which will definitely depress Medicare payments in PR. Medicaid is a “state” program, so if PR Medicaid sucks, that sure seems like PR’s problem. I find it hard to believe that there is a separate SSI program just for PR that pays less, but who knows?

      • kbolino

        Puerto Ricans were not eligible for SSI at all until this judgment from earlier this year. In general, Puerto Ricans pay payroll taxes but not income taxes, with the exceptions being on income from the sources in the U.S. proper or for employees of the U.S. government living in PR.

        That decision is something to behold by the way. The say that PR pays more tax than 6 states and territories, but all of those have less than 1 million people while PR has over 3 million. So even though Puerto Ricans contribute about 1/5 per capita what the average U.S. citizen does to the Federal treasury, they are still entitled to a benefit that’s funded by taxes they don’t pay. Prime-grade results-oriented bleeding-heart logic right there.

        Personally, I’m all for PR statehood or independence but keeping it as a territory makes no sense.

      • R C Dean

        Puerto Ricans were not eligible for SSI at all

        I wonder how they managed to exclude US citizens from that program in the first place, especially since they pay the tax that funds it?

        I’m all for PR statehood or independence but keeping it as a territory makes no sense.

        Concur.

      • R C Dean

        I think I may have misread that. Is SSI funded out of regular income tax, not payroll tax?

      • kbolino

        Yes

      • kbolino

        Well, it makes sense to me. SSI is funded each year solely by that year’s general revenue. There is no trust fund, there is no accumulation from past years, nobody “paid into the system”. It is for the disabled, who by definition* can’t be expected to have “paid in” in the first place, and it pays out based on need not past contributions. If you are living in PR, whether you were born there or elsewhere in the U.S., you don’t pay the tax that funds the program. But the PR’s territorial government is empowered to levy taxes and fund programs, so if there is a gap then they can fill it, both by collecting the revenue and disbursing the payments. It’d be nice if we could get rid of SSI entirely on this basis vis-a-vis states and localities, but apparently only PR gets this treatment.

        * = Setting aside any gaming of the definition

      • R C Dean

        That does make sense. Carry on.

  15. Rebel Scum

    I think we can all agree that now is a time for reflection and unity.

    “I bit my tongue so many times I have tongue scars,” the governor said. “Here’s the trick, Howard. I want to speak to the better angels. I want to lift people up and I want to show Trump for what he is by opposition.”

    “I also had the practical situation: I needed him to help New York,” Cuomo said. “That was my job. If I wasn’t Governor of New York, I would’ve decked him. Period. He was attacking me. He was attacking my family. He was anti-Italian. He was every nasty thing.”

    Or not. And I am pretty sure that would get you a stay in a federal penitentiary.

    • leon

      “Here’s the trick, Howard. I want to speak to the better angels. I want to lift people up

      If I wasn’t Governor of New York, I would’ve decked him

      They don’t even see how they are being ironic.

    • Trolleric the Goth

      anti-italian?

      ….what?

      • Not Adahn

        He claims he’s never seen The Godfather because it’s racist against Italians. His father claimed the Mafia was a myth, spread by anti-Italian racists.

      • db

        The Mafia’s greatest trick was convincing no-one, anywhere, that it didn’t exist.

      • Stinky Wizzleteats

        He must have quite a low bar for said prejudice, that movie presented the mob in a pretty good light and the Mafia is about as much of a myth as gravity.

    • Stinky Wizzleteats

      “I would’ve decked him”

      Sure you would have, tough guy. He’s quite the Billy Bob badass in his own mind it seems.

      • rhywun

        More likely, he would have sicced his roid-bro on Donald.

      • Stinky Wizzleteats

        Chris strikes me as more of the kind to get right up in your fucking face but he doesn’t try to get violent until a couple of friends wrap him from behind real good, then he goes nuts.
        “If these guys weren’t holding me back I’d whoop your ass!”

  16. The Late P Brooks

    How it’s done

    The head of Peru’s Congress has been sworn as president after his predecessor was controversially ousted in a congressional vote late on Monday, prompting accusations of a coup.

    The removal of the popular president Martín Vizcarra comes as Peru is reeling from one of the world’s worst coronavirus outbreaks, which has left its economy in recession and caused mass unemployment.

    After a night of furious protests and clashes with police, hundreds of demonstrators gathered again on Tuesday morning in downtown Lima to protest against the swearing-in of Manuel Merino, widely viewed as a key figure in orchestrating Vizcarra’s impeachment. A previous attempt in September failed to get enough votes.

    Riot police with shields and wielding batons beat back demonstrators marching on the Congress building who waved Peruvian flags and placards reading “Merino is not my president”. In total 105 out of Peru’s 130 lawmakers voted to remove Vizcarra on Monday. Vizcarra has previously said that no fewer than 68 of the members of congress seeking his impeachment were themselves subject to ongoing legal processes.

    Many public figures and legal experts have said described Vizcarra’s ousting – on the grounds of “permanent moral incapacity” – as illegitimate. George Forsyth, the leading presidential candidate, tweeted it was a “coup in disguise”. Leftwing presidential candidate Veronika Mendoza called for Peruvians to take to the streets to defend democracy.

    Analysts concurred that the removal was orchestrated by opposition leaders who bitterly opposed the president’s anti-graft reforms and his overhaul of higher education which affected their business interests.

    “The removal of President Martín Vizcarra is a coup d’etat,” said Pedro Cateriano, a former prime minister and constitutional lawyer.

    Nancy couldn’t get it handled. New blood is needed.

  17. The Late P Brooks

    Ballgag Joe has a plan to resacue education

    The education secretary commands a bully pulpit, particularly on issues of discrimination, segregation and bias through the Office for Civil Rights. During her controversial tenure, the current secretary, Betsy DeVos, made headlines for rolling back rights for students who are transgender, and for guidance on racially discriminatory discipline.

    Pringle said her union will be looking to Biden’s Education Department to be a partner: “On racial justice. Social justice. The work we still have to do for women and girls … the rights of our LGBTQ students.”

    Sargrad of the Center for American Progress agreed: “I think we’ll see a real effort to actually enforce our nation’s civil rights laws, and rebuild the Office for Civil Rights and make sure that they are investigating complaints, that they’re pursuing cases, that they’re taking their role as enforcing civil rights laws seriously.”

    Central planners, spending money by the metric ton. That’s what has been missing in this country.

    • rhywun

      racially discriminatory discipline

      Since I am familiar with what this euphemism actually means in practice, I would advise the rest of you to get your kids out of public school if you can before Biden turn the classrooms into war zones.

      • Not Adahn

        Broward County Sheriffs Department says “Hi!”

  18. Ownbestenemy

    Here in NV we are getting ready for our lockdowns come Thursday when the almighty speaks. I have two bars and a eatery that barely made it through the 2nd closures, so I am going to say my condolences to them tomorrow.

    If only there were a body, made up of citizens, that would be an equal to the governor that could be tasked with making these decisions from input of their peers and voted on. And then, another body of independent minds that apply a framework to those actions to ensure it was done correctly, lawfully and in accordance with some sort of restricting document.

    • Yusef drives a Kia

      Don’t be silly that only happens in Representative Republics, not here!

    • Stinky Wizzleteats

      Sorry to hear it man, what a bad situation.

    • Ownbestenemy

      When I say I have, meant that I patron. I am just a lowly FedGov that probably is on someone’s list as a Trump supporter.

      • Stinky Wizzleteats

        Wait, yeah, I thought I remembered you saying that. Civil service protections for the win it is then.

    • Agent Cooper

      Does the NV Governor actually have the authority to mandate lockdowns?

      • Ownbestenemy

        That’s the fun question.

        We have a statute to allow the Governor to declare a statewide emergency and perform specific functions. His office, made an emergency regulatory change to allow the Governor to deem what is essential and non-essential using the catch all “To perform and exercise such other functions, powers and duties as are necessary to promote and secure the safety and protection of the civilian population.”

        We have no time-limit in our statutes to determine when the emergency declaration is over, unless the governor says its over.

        The only positive in that whole statute is it explicitly states the government cannot restrict arms during a declared emergency.

    • Count Potato

      “10’s of 1000’s of women were confirming #maidengate this morning.

      Votes under their maiden names, that they didn’t cast.

      @twitter
      just shut down both the trending hashtag and the founder @SomeBitchIKnow

      Apologies for the profanity… but it’s important.”

      https://twitter.com/theREALbenORR/status/1326275134890586115

      • Ownbestenemy

        I confirmed my mail-in ballot that I destroyed from LA County, was in fact, not cast. That was reassuring but I was also a registered republican there. Now again, if I can find a way to get them to remove me from the voter rolls that I haven’t voted in over 10 years on.

    • Stinky Wizzleteats

      That shit’s something else, god knows how long this stuff has been going on.

      • Count Potato

        Especially since appears to have been an organized effort.

  19. Ownbestenemy

    Either the Logan Act is terrible law and should be revoked and sunset since it is used only to pinch political points or it needs to be adhered to. We know which government and political hacks want and that is best of both worlds.

    • Drake

      They could rewrite it with exceptions for incoming administrations, that would take the fun out of it.

      • juris imprudent

        It was bullshit when it was written and there is no reason to invoke it. The current brouhaha about it is absolutely in line with the fuckers who wrote it.

      • Ownbestenemy

        But it creates the drama that Congress and the media want; regardless of who invokes it. It produces clicks, Sunday show talking-points, fundraiser talking points, partisan wedge issues papers….why would we want to deprive us of knowing that the WWF government is full of shit?

      • kbolino

        What is the point of having so many laws on the books, if not to selectively use them whenever it’s convenient?

      • Jarflax cancelled Cancelled

        ^ This. It is a horrible law that had languished unused because it was horrible until political hacks dusted it off in a coup attempt. Playing tit for tat with it is very bad policy. If you are upset enough to want to flip the table, go ahead and start a civil war, don’t just dip your toe into the Banana Republic pool, go ahead and plunge in.

      • Florida Man

        I don’t know why, but Banana Republic pool sounds really inviting. Like having a tropical drink at a swim up bar.

      • Not Adahn

        Tit for tat (with forgiveness) is optimal according to game theory.

      • Agent Cooper

        That’s a Q Alert if I’ve ever seen one.

      • R C Dean

        Playing tit for tat with it is very bad policy.

        Play tit for tat, but strike or reform the law with the understanding that if the Dems support the change, you drop the charges.

      • kbolino

        Play politics with prosecutions? Why that would violate every norm of the U.S. government that has been in place since [insert last time Obama’s DOJ created a political slush fund through coercive settlements].

      • R C Dean

        Ackshually, dropping charges because whatever is being prosecuted is no longer illegal isn’t that unusual.

        Now, using it to arm-twist Dems into the supporting the change is just gratuitously mean, I admit.

      • Floridaman

        Yeah, but then we get the status quo where one side abuses these tools, and the other rolls over and takes it. How is that any better?

    • Not Adahn

      Don’t worry, JI say’s that totally normal and if you think differently you’re just a trumpsucking wannabe-catamite.

      • Sean

        I don’t ever remember vote counting being shut down on election night either. Though this year, it seems legit.

        Anyone remember that happening in prior years?

      • Not Adahn

        It probably was. In past elections I’d go to bed once the race was called, and that was almost always before all the states were reporting 100%.

        Such an innocent time, when Joe Kennedy and LBJ would whisper sweet lies to a happy public.

      • Ownbestenemy

        Ah come on. JI is bringing in fair points to counter. I think that is healthy for this site. Unless JI is Hyperbole, then, we should burn both or throw them in the water? I can’t remember which is more effective.

      • Jarflax cancelled Cancelled

        JI is presenting a counter view and that is something healthy and desirable (yeah I know, given my own recent posts this is very self serving). We all need to take a step back. Not necessarily about the election, but about each other. This place is a refuge from the polarized propaganda elsewhere online and the way to keep that is to calm our tits.

      • juris imprudent

        Thank you.

      • Surly Knott

        I need to chime in with my support for your posts. They are appreciated, not least for providing speed bumps in the onrushing narratives.

      • Fatty Bolger

        I’ve been looking at the PA numbers and they really don’t indicate any kind of late night vote dump or massive late influx to make up ground for Biden from the cities or that sort of thing. The vote split in the mail in ballots stayed steady and does explain the 700K lead evaporating, and statements from officials on how many ballots they had remaining to count at various times also all add up.

      • Not Adahn

        How about we try to not be as stupid as
        Vindictive, ruthless and stupid. Not a combination I want to be part of.
        But you drink that kool aid, I’m sure it’s real tasty.
        Just where are the goalposts going next?

        The points are fine. The sanctimony is Cuomo-esque.

      • juris imprudent

        I’m not sharing the great sense of sympathy for Trump, that much is true. If I’m wrong about what other folks are expressing about Trump, I’ll take a fair correction (as with Scruffy).

      • juris imprudent

        Normal for Philly – let’s be clear.

      • Floridaman

        So completely corrupt just not an unusual amount of fraud this year?

    • The Hyperbole

      I like the twisting of counting mail-in/absentee ballots as “finding” votes also this – Philadelphia refused to allow GOP observers into their ballot counting operation in Philadelphia all week. – isn’t true. There may well have been systemic voter fraud but so far every concrete “fact” that I have checked turns out to be false. I just watched Rudy lay out some very damning claims and he says he has affidavits, I hope so and he’s not crying wolf once more but I’ll wait until I see it play out in court before I get my tits all calmed.

      • Florida Man

        Rudy G is going to arrest Hunter B any minute…

  20. prolefeed

    I think I’ve figured out Trump’s end game:

    He doesn’t have to get to 270+ EC votes to win. He just has to prevent Biden from 270+, thus throwing the election to the House – where Trump wins.

    So, if SCOTUS rules that, say, PA, WI, and MI had elections so brazenly fraudulent that the results can’t be trusted to show Biden won, and that thus the SoS for each can’t certify the prize election, then none of those states gets any EC votes, throwing it to the House.

    • prolefeed

      Presidential election, not prize election. Fn autocorrect.

    • Florida Man

      How does Trump win in the house? Doesn’t Pelosi control it.

      • Not Adahn

        Each state gets a vote, not each member.

      • Florida Man

        Ah, thanks.

    • R C Dean

      My understanding is that is exactly their plan. If they can disqualify one state’s election, it goes to the House. I think its their best strategy at this point.

      Odds that SCOTUS will disenfranchise an entire state? Not very high, IMO.

      • R C Dean

        I’m fried, sorry. It may take more than one state being disenfranchised, depending on the final results after the mysteriously one-sided “glitches” and “typos”, and disqualification of ballots illegal under state law (to the extent they were cohorted and can be identified).

      • prolefeed

        Not so sure of that. Their choice? Disqualify cheating states as an epic smackdown of that practice – or guarantee future epic cheating.

      • Jarflax cancelled Cancelled

        If they get a State or States results tossed over clearcut demonstrable fraud I am all for it. Most of the PA complaint seemed hinged on a fairly technical legal argument that the procedures for verifying in person votes were significantly stricter than those for verifying mail in votes. I did not read the whole thing and I skimmed a bunch of it, but I have to say it did not read to me like the clear evidence of fraud on a scale I would want to see before tossing an election.

      • Ownbestenemy

        Same with NV (not that our elector numbers matter) but it is specific to those who moved, since the state back in July decided to mail out all ballots, and those who just moved here <30 days prior to elections.

        I mean, the early vote, mail in ballot scheme is perfect for the timing of our elections not just for mass fraud, but for citizens to not think and vote numerous times when they arrive in their new location. Most Americans (just off the top of my head) move sometime between the end of school and the beginning of school.

        For instance, the housing market is super hot here in Nevada from August to well, now. Is it possible we saw a large influx of people selling and/or buying between early voting and mail-in ballots received that the numbers are skewed?

        Am I rambling about this?

      • R C Dean

        I think the argument in PA, at least, is that state law on mail in ballots were violated. From there, I think you can argue that there is no way to know which of those votes are legal under PA law, and so the whole thing has to be tossed.

        The arguments and evidence about the scale of the problem are to support the argument that the whole thing must be tossed.

      • juris imprudent

        I think disbarment is the minimum our State Supreme Court should be facing. That’s at one end of the continuum, woodchippers at the other.

      • kbolino

        Would disbarment stop them from being judges?

      • db

        Wood chippers wouldn’t even stop them from voting.

      • Drake

        Right now states are purposely dragging out their initial counts to run out the clock. If the are ordered to recount and don’t get done in time, that’s exactly what might happen. The Court either orders the state legislators to decide or the state Reps.

      • Mostly Peaceful JaimeRoberto

        Yeah, I don’t see SCOTUS taking on this case.

    • kbolino

      The only way for it to go to the House is 269-269 (why we have an even number of votes so that literal ties are possible is a question for the ages). Any other split and somebody wins it. There are no independent or third party candidates that stand a chance of officially getting electoral votes, so any vote gained by one is lost by the other and vice-versa. Of course, all of this ignores faithless electors.

      • Ownbestenemy

        But what happens if the SC invalidates or confirms invalidity of the SoS counts of a particular state and the numbers are below 269-269? I doubt it will happen, but an interesting constitutional exercise?

        Say SCOTUS says PA/GA/NV/AZ are all invalid because the numbers cannot be verified. Does the state redo their election? Does the state legislature send electors anyway?

      • juris imprudent

        I believe the Constitution says it is up to the states how to decide their electors. But who would be dumb enough to follow that old thing?

      • R C Dean

        To the Constitution!

        The person having the greatest number of votes for President, shall be the President, if such number be a majority of the whole number of Electors appointed; and if no person have such majority, then from the persons having the highest numbers not exceeding three on the list of those voted for as President, the House of Representatives shall choose immediately, by ballot, the President.

        If neither one gets 270, it goes to the House. The game for the Trump team is to try to flip enough close states via recounts/throw out enough states that Biden doesn’t get 270.

        Where it will get really weird is if Trump flips a state that he is currently trying to disqualify.

      • Ownbestenemy

        I actually hope we get there. I don’t know why, but I hope we do.

      • R C Dean

        I’m wrong. See below.

      • Jarflax cancelled Cancelled

        whole number of Electors appointed

        Not the potential number of electors.

      • kbolino

        I’m not sure the Supes have that power, but of course that has rarely stopped them in the past.

        If they prevent the appointment of electors in those states, then the total number of electors goes down from 538 and so the winning threshold goes down from 270 as well. PA has 20, GA has 16, NV has 6, and AZ has 11. That’s 53 votes, bringing the total down to 485, with a winning threshold of 243.

      • Jarflax cancelled Cancelled

        If the election results are tossed in a State that State’s legislature would appoint electors. If a State did not appoint electors the total number would not be 538, so the magic number would be a majority of whatever the new total was (The tweth amendment specifies a majority of the electors appointed). For example if PA gets tossed and somehow the legislature does not appoint electors the total would be 518 and 260 would be needed to win, or 259-259 would go to the house. Things get potentially complicated if we have any faithless electors who vote for a third person.

      • R C Dean

        While its possible for state legislatures to appoint electors, I think you would have to have a law in that state saying they can. I don’t know if any state has such a law.

        On a closer reading, you have to have a majority of electors appointed, so even my thinking above that flipping/throwing out enough states to deny Biden 270 doesn’t hold up, if Biden still has a majority.

    • Not an Economist

      I think the part where Trump has a chance in PA is the way the PA Supreme Court ordered the mail-in ballots counted. They changed a couple of things from the law but the thing that sticks out in my mind is the ballots no longer have a mark signifying when they were mailed. And US Supreme Court Justice Alito ordered these ballots segregated. I’ve heard in that this may not have been done in all cases.

  21. Michael

    Something’s been nagging me quite a bit about the number of covid cases being reported – why isn’t household data included alongside? I’d imagine this would be a useful metric for determining the efficacy of mitigation strategies since mask wearing and social distancing in these scenarios are respectively useless or impossible. If one of three roommates sharing an 800 square foot apartment or one member of a family of five in a small house contracts it, it’s not a stretch to assume that the rest of them will also. So that’s eight cases, but in only two households where transmission is practically expected. Does anyone know of any sources with numbers that reflect this?

    • rhywun

      Too lazy to look but I recall a study that found the highest correlation of catching the cooties was in exactly such situations. Higher than race, region, Trump rallies, or any of the other correlations they push.

  22. Cliche Bandit

    What the fuck is going on with Reason Twitter?! I know your lot are bitter, and I haven’t commented there since the exodus but I have always liked Tuccille, Welch is fun to party with, and The jacket is good for counterpoint / point. But Balko went and slammed Reason for being…get this… Trump sycophants. Like they were only slightly less TDS than CNN most of the time. And now, at least they are back to criticizing The left at least somewhat equally. Check out the shit show if you want to see siblings fighting.

    • Michael

      I’ve honestly never considered Balko to be a libertarian. He did some sharp stuff in regards to criminal justice reform, but that was all he wrote about on his old blog and at reason. Once he hit the media big leagues, all of his other hobby horses came bounding out of the stable.

    • Scruffy Nerfherder

      Balko lost his mind a while ago.

      • Cliche Bandit

        Ok I get that but claiming Reason was all in for Trump? That’s utter nonsense. They got TDS so bad that even I, in my high minded awesomeness, had to stop reading for a while.

      • Not Adahn

        Anyone that doesn’t support the immediate euthanization of Trump and anyone who shares his DNA is a SCIENCE! denying bigot. Anyone that opposes the immediate confinement and re-education of all Drumph supporters is a fascist.

        This really isn’t complicated.

  23. wdalasio

    Anyone remember the Ukrainian elections? Those things that marked the beginning of the left’s Russia! Russia! Russia! mantra? Anyone remember how the whole thing started over an uprising over supposedly fraudulent elections? here’s a little tidbit circulated by the State Department at the time. It’s pretty interesting how they came to the conclusion that the Ukrainian elections were rigged:

    The following are examples of the most egregious, widely observed and reported examples of election-day fraud on November 21:

    Illegal Use of Absentee Ballots: According to the respected NGO “Committee of Voters of Ukraine” (CVU), massive electoral fraud was committed through the illegal use of absentee voter certificates. For example, people were caught in Dnipropetrovsk and Sumy oblasts with their pockets stuffed with blank absentee ballots that they were using to vote at multiple polling stations.
    Opposition Observers Ejected: Observers from Our Ukraine and other opposition groups were expelled from most polling stations in eastern Ukraine on Election Day. For example, in Territorial Election Commission (TEC) district number 42 in Donetsk oblast, Our Ukraine observers were kicked out of all but a few polling stations.
    North Korean-Style Turnout in the East: Turnout in the pro-Yanukovych eastern oblasts was unnaturally high. In several electoral districts, turnout for the run-off round increased by 30 to 40 percent over the first round. In Luhansk oblast, the reported turnout rate hit nearly 96 percent — a number that, to quote the OSCE, even Stalinist North Korea would envy. A similar turnout rate was reported in Donetsk oblast, where 98 percent of the votes went to hometown candidate Prime Minister Yanukovych.
    Mobile Ballot Box Fraud: In the second round of the election, the number of voters who supposedly cast ballots at home using mobile ballot boxes was double that of the first round. Much of this voting occurred without observers being present and was massively fraudulent. In Mykolayiv oblast, for example, nearly 35 percent of the oblast’s voters purportedly cast their ballots “at home.”
    Computer Data Allegedly Altered To Favor Yanukovych: There were credible reports showing that that Yanukovych supporters gained illegal access to the Central Election Commission’s computer system and illegally altered vote tabulation data being transmitted by TECs to the CEC.
    Reports of Opposition Fraud: Yanykovych’s supporters allege that Yushchenko’s supporters stuffed ballot boxes in western Ukraine. But the reports and evidence of pro-Yanukovych fraud greatly outweighed those indicated for Yushchenko.

    • kbolino

      Look, the U.S. is the world’s most robust democracy. Despite having a strong history of political machines from Tammany Hall to the Kingfish, and despite having a long history of biased journalism from William Randolph Hearst to Hunter S. Thompson, and despite having a long history of voter fraud and voter suppression, our system is completely immune to every attempt to subvert it, except of course for hanging chads and some ads bought by Russians on Facebook.

  24. grrizzly

    This is what Johns Hopkins University’s epidemiologists were saying about lockdowns only a year ago.

    In the context of a high-impact respiratory pathogen, quarantine may be the least likely NPI [non-pharmaceutical intervention] to be effective in controlling the spread due to high transmissibility. To implement effective quarantine measures, it would need to be possible to accurately evaluate an individual’s exposure, which would be difficult to do for a respiratory pathogen because of the ease of widespread transmission from infected individuals. Quarantine measures will be least effective for pathogens that are highly transmissible, have short incubation periods, and spread through true airborne mechanisms, as opposed to droplets. As with travel restrictions, quarantine appears to delay the introduction of highly transmissible diseases but not prevent their spread entirely. Quarantine measures also appear more effective with pathogens that had a longer incubation period, such as measles, compared to those with shorter incubation periods, such as influenza. Experiences with quarantine during the West Africa Ebola epidemic highlight the added difficulty of implementing such measures on a large scale, which would only be more difficult in the case of a highly transmissible respiratory disease.

  25. Count Potato

    “WaPo Opinion Piece Calls For Elites to Have a ‘Bigger Say in Choosing President’

    “Democracy Dies in Darkness” may be The Washington Post’s slogan, but after running an opinion piece calling for elitists to have more control in U.S. elections, many are wondering if it’s actually the paper’s mission statement.

    “It’s time to give the elites a bigger say in choosing the president,” reads the op-ed written by Julia Azari, an associate professor and assistant chair in Marquette University’s political science department. ”

    https://townhall.com/tipsheet/leahbarkoukis/2020/02/19/wapo-headline-its-time-elites-got-a-bigger-say-in-choosing-president-n2561521

    • Ownbestenemy

      I remember that piece.

    • db

      Isn’t that the point of the original scheme of the Electoral College, and for that matter, the Senate elected from within the state legislatures?

      Maybe a limitation on the vote to require the voter to be a net taxpayer and perhaps to own land, but that last part is pretty unpopular.

      Maybe representation/votes proportional to one’s net taxes paid relative to the total paid by natural persons? This might end up with the same situation we have now, with the urban enclaves having more say.

      • Jarflax cancelled Cancelled

        It is a self evidently good idea for the wisest and most responsible to have a greater say than foolish reprobates. Of course then you have to decide who are the wisest and most responsible, and who are the foolish reprobates, and you are right back where we are now.

      • Tres Cool

        “…and who are the foolish reprobates…”

        Hunter Biden? Bush II ? Michael Skakel-Kennedy ?

      • Tejicano

        Don’t worry your little head over that, prole, they will tell you who they are.

      • Heroic Mulatto

        It is a self evidently good idea for the wisest and most responsible to have a greater say than foolish reprobates.

        It doesn’t have to be the “wisest”, but those with actual skin in the game. You know, property owners.

        Or veterans, if we want to go all Starship Troopers.

      • Jarflax cancelled Cancelled

        That’s the rub isn’t it? It is obvious that the achilles heal of constitutional republican systems is that they require electors who will respect the limits on power even though they are the ones exercising the power and it at least appears to benefit them to ignore the limits. I agree that property ownership is a sensible requirement, arguably so is military service, but while that might make socialism less likely it leaves rent seeking. And as for veterans, Sockdologer was about veteran’s pensions wasn’t it? So it is clear veterans are not immune to the disease.

        And I think there is a natural tendency for the franchise to be expanded, but great resistance to shrinking it back.

    • kbolino

      Don’t we already have this? It’s just called the “primary election”.

  26. LCDR_Fish

    Not sure I have enough to write a real article on….but I’ve been bouncing around devil’s advocate discussions about this in my head more frequently lately.

    How does China today compare with Germany in the 30s?

    A big part of my perspective does include the defense side of things – especially naval ops in the Pacific, but in general, I’m seeing a lot of similarities. If anything, the massive changes in technology have only made things worse as far as the comparison goes IMO.

    serpentza had a really solid video a couple weeks ago on Huawei, etc.

    Just read this piece this morning (a few years old, but a good deep-dive): https://sinocism.com/p/engineers-of-the-soul-ideology-in

    The increasing totalitarianism domestically – and targeting Chinese (citizens and otherwise) overseas. As noted by UNWatch and others – they’re the only country on the UN Human Rights Council who has ever gotten the special dispensation of getting the list of folks who will testify before the HRC in advance so that they can then intimidate them and their families before the hearings.

    Of course the Uighur situation – which is getting worse and worse. Personally…my background has been very counter-jihad and 10 years ago, I would blow off comments about Chinese cracking down in Xinjiang…but seeing/hearing a lot more since then – and knowing more nominal folks in other countries – this whole thing is seriously looking more and more parallel to German minorities in Europe in the late 30s and early 40s. (and the lack of outcry from the OIC and Islamic countries who will riot on a dime about a published cartoon is also very telling in more ways than one). I’ve seen more articles about forced labor/slavery and torture and not just the “re-education” camps lately – targeting an ethnic group exclusively – even non-Chinese citizens….

    The Belt and Road initiative may wind up crashing and burning but it has had a lot of negative effects on local populations worldwide. This is also tied to the militarized fishing fleets that are becoming more and more aggressive in violation of international law on a regular basis. Or the oil drillers (or oil driller blockers in the case of Vietnam) in the South China Sea.

    Now while an initial shooting engagement is probably less likely to escalate to a worldwide conflagration than in the 40s – it could still wind up being a significant short-term bloodbath.

    I appreciate our commitment to our allies like Taiwan, Japan and S. Korea. Something like that means something to me – as opposed to our entanglements in the Middle East and elsewhere.

    Just a few thoughts – seems like we’re getting towards a tipping point of some type – we thought the dam would break in favor of economic liberty in China – and then the door slammed shut.

      • pistoffnick

        In a previous job, I designed and installed glass melting furnaces and tin baths and other equipment for making sheet glass. I had a great time traveling in China (well, until the deep vein thrombosis that cut off 75% of my pulmonary artery after a 13 hour flight). Within 2 years of our patented products being introduced into China, they were being copied. I’d go on a sight visit to quote a piece further down the glass making line and just happen to notice that their front wall looked suspiciously like ours. A little closer look and it was the exact same interlocking shape.

        I have been to the Shenzhen electronics market in that video. It is both very awesome and very concerning. You can buy pirated copies of nearly any software there. Even weird shit like Computational Fluid Dynamic software.

      • pistoffnick

        I would have liked to take my family to visit Hong Kong (my favorite city), but not anymore. China has ruined it.

    • kbolino

      The more China goes back to the bad old days, the worse things will get for them economically. They’re currently sitting atop a massive trade-driven empire but trade requires both sides to have something the other wants. Raw resource extraction for quick cash tends to run out fast, higher-level economic activity requires some ability to personally accrue capital, and remaining competitive on the global stage requires some ability to personally innovate. Like Nazi Germany, they will probably have to resort to theft and pillage. But that too will eventually run out, just as it did for the Nazis.

      • LCDR_Fish

        That’s why I’m thinking things will tend to violence sooner rather than later. The economy has taken a huge number of hits this year between the flooding, covid, animal deaths, etc. Heard stuff about currency devaluations too, but haven’t seen detailed breakdowns yet.

        Combine that with the huge numbers of virtually unemployed young men who still can’t get laid/married, and as advchina keeps reminding us – the vast poverty in the hundreds of millions in the hinterlands.

      • db

        As I mentioned below, it seems they are trying to get their fingers in to pies all over the world via the Belt and Road Initiatives, wherein they offer generous loans for infrastructure projects in exchange for concessions of military bases, territory, and exclusive business rights. Then they call in the loans on the unproductive or unfinished infrastructure and force even more concessions politically. The influence of the Party is becoming rapidly more global, and that cannot be good for human liberty.

    • db

      China is pretty scary when you think about it. A country of that size with an economy of that size run exclusively by a Communist Party, running the “Belt and Road Initiative” and outright attempting to establish influence worldwide, is pretty dangerous. Some might say the US had had it coming with our attempt at global hegemony after the Wall fell, but that doesn’t make China’s efforts right.

      I have only been to China three times, but over time it got weirder and weirder to me. Small family coal mining businesses and “private” (to the degree possible there) chemical companies have been shut down by government fiat, their assets handed to larger concerns owned by the well connected elites, and their owners and workers pushed out of the areas, bribed with apartments in large concentrated cities.

      It seems like China felt like people were getting just a little too free, and decided to hand them a bunch of money in the form of real estate (condos and apartments) in mega cities that popped up out of nowhere, and deliberately have concentrated them in places where they are easier to control, all while handing the productive assets and business over to their preferred cronies.

      If that’s what they will bring to the rest of the world as they steadily gain sway via calling in debt world wide, it’s a serious concern.

    • juris imprudent

      So, reading Sowell’s Wealth, Poverty and Politics, in which he discusses how German and Chinese cultures have enabled them to be very economically successful as emigrants in other countries. We know how that played out with German Nationalism in the 30s – how the built-in ‘constituency’ in Czechoslovakia, et al was exploited. As I was reading, the thought occurred to me about ethnic Chinese scattered about SE Asia – not the aspect of them as 5th-columnists, but as “we must reach out to our brethren beyond on border”. There’s no reason that couldn’t be effective again – particularly to the extent that those ethnic Chinese are resented (and/or non-integrated) in their host countries.

      But dude, your point about Radical Islam – ready to cut off someone’s head over a slight to the prophet – and they’ve got shit to say about the Uighurs? I can only think they simply can’t penetrate to a vulnerable point in China – courtesy of the control exercised by the CCP. Unlike the pricks that came to this country (and those of Europe), their kind isn’t very much welcomed in China, and going without being welcomed I suspect would be extremely frowned upon by the govt there.

      • LCDR_Fish

        Yeah, you know every government leader in the OIC knows every detail they read about the Uighurs via western media but at the same time (like the UN/WHO) the CCP is playing them like handpuppets (Pakistan is probably one of the most obvious given their “virulence” and proximity to China. The dollar/influence being expended here has got to be massive – and maybe in some ways we’ll only find out about much later (nukes, etc).

        HK in 2019 was a real kick in the teeth – growing up with 80s/90s/00s HK flicks and going there for a week in 2013 – navy port visit – was a completely different story to what’s been happening now. And it’s absolutely nuts. Offering citizenship to dissidents is a big step we could/should take in this case (not without precedent) and at least the UK is stepping up. Looking at contemporary Chinese flicks now is just really weird – we’re never gonna get something like the John Woo/Chow Yun Fat classics again (dirty cops!?!!!). Even Donnie Yen and SPL/etc just a few years ago is a different world.

        As far as physical expansionism. I think their experiences with India, Russia and Vietnam have made them more cautious – but also why they’re hitting the SCS/ASEAN region so hard – pushing for Taiwan and the Senkakus – either of which would mean us getting involved (and probably everyone else on the planet backing away with the exception of Australia/S Korea).

      • db

        I think there is potential for a Russia-India-Australia-Japan axis to form against China, but there are so many ways that could fail, and probably a lot of them involve the US trying to get involved and/or run the show.

      • Heroic Mulatto

        Looking at contemporary Chinese flicks now is just really weird – we’re never gonna get something like the John Woo/Chow Yun Fat classics again (dirty cops!?!!!). Even Donnie Yen and SPL/etc just a few years ago is a different world.

        That’s a very good point.

        But then again, look at our contemporary cinema.

      • Heroic Mulatto

        ethnic Chinese scattered about SE Asia – not the aspect of them as 5th-columnists, but as “we must reach out to our brethren beyond on border”. There’s no reason that couldn’t be effective again

        The Hakka flocked to SE Asia after WW2 for a reason. That reason being they didn’t want to live in post-WW2 China.

    • Fatty Bolger

      STOP CLIMATE CHANGE NOW!!!!!!

      (reads article)

      Never mind.

      • Not Adahn

        2100? Eh, barring major medical advances, I won’t really be able to enjoy them then so I don’t really are.

    • mrfamous

      Someone check on Q

    • J. Frank Parnell

      Like with a cloth?

    • Ownbestenemy

      Perfectly natural

      • Rebel Scum

        Not Soviet at all…

  27. Not Adahn

    Spreading the good news of nice people and customer service:

    I placed an order for a jersey from Techwear today. This evening I got an email from them saying “we’re having a 20% holiday sale starting Thursday, and since we haven’t made your shirt yet, we’ll just credit your card the 20%.”

    Their stuff is way too expensive for my tastes, but after that I’ll buy a second one (once the sale officially kicks in, ‘natch.)

    • Not Adahn

      I’m thinking Glibs logo on the back of a Gasden Rush polo.

    • The Hyperbole

      I like the twisting of counting mail-in/absentee ballots as “finding” votes also this – Philadelphia refused to allow GOP observers into their ballot counting operation in Philadelphia all week. – isn’t true. There may well have been systemic voter fraud but so far every concrete “fact” that I have checked turns out to be false. I just watched Rudy lay out some very damning claims and he says he has affidavits, I hope so and he’s not crying wolf once more but I’ll wait until I see it play out in court before I get my tits all calmed.

      • Jarflax cancelled Cancelled

        The point I was tring to get at last night was that none of us really know what is true and what is false in all of this because there are no reliable sources. Everyone reporting has some axe to grind, so we get “Our poll watchers were excluded!” and “The Republicanobserver was in the room” and “The room was the size of a convention center and the obswerver was prevented from moving around” and any part of it any of it may be crap. I am suspicious largely because of the suspended counts election night and sudden reversal of course. That may simply be a matter of in person vs mail in votes, but I am suspicious of (ok downright opposed to) mail in ballots, because I do not believe we are well served by vote harvesting, even without fraud, and I do not believe that people motivated enough to go door to door harvesting ballots will be immune to the temptation to fill in a ballot or 100 when they can’t get the apathetic to bother. In any case it should be investigated. We investigate much less significant events with less indication of wrong doing.

        Do I prefer Trump to Biden? Yep, so take everything I am saying with the same grain of salt I am suggesting we apply to media. Would I be saying the same if the tables were turned? Probably at least some of it, but certainly not all of it and certainly my emphasis and perspective would be different. I spend a lot of time talking about what I regard as civic virtue, and I try to evaluate what I am saying in that light, but I absolutely know that I frequently let my anger or dislike for a position or outcome over ride fairness. One of the things that stresses me about events like this is the fact that I see myself becoming a worse person in response.

      • trshmnstr the terrible

        One of the things that stresses me about events like this is the fact that I see myself becoming a worse person in response

        It’s really frustrating to watch the right answer be rejected by nearly everybody and the least bad viable answer rejected by a plurality.

      • Drake

        What the hell is anyone doing counting ballots (unsupervised) a full week after the election?

      • The Hyperbole

        Nothing in your link suggests that these ballots were “counted (unsupervised)”