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Edited by Mrph1 on Nov 30th 2023 at 11:03:59 AM

Kaiseror Since: Jul, 2016
Fourthspartan56 from Georgia, US Since: Oct, 2016 Relationship Status: THIS CONCEPT OF 'WUV' CONFUSES AND INFURIATES US!
#253552: Aug 29th 2018 at 1:22:47 PM

So, this one guy on Game FA Qs is saying we'll never get Net Neutrality for decades once Kavanaugh almost certainly replaces Kennedy on the SCOTUS. Last I checked, though, doesn't the Supreme Court have no jurisdiction on whether Net Neutrality comes back or not and it's up to the FCC?

Well... I believe that the Supreme Court could rule it unconstitutional.

Though a better question is would they? They're generally well aware that the power of their institution is rooted in prestige, thus if they clearly oppose something very popular then it would hurt them and their legacies.

So I think it would be a mistake to assume that they'll definitely oppose it, especially considering that if they are too unreasonable about it we may very well see the public supporting the Democrats packing the court.

Edited by Fourthspartan56 on Aug 29th 2018 at 4:24:57 AM

"Einstein would turn over in his grave. Not only does God play dice, the dice are loaded." -Chairman Sheng-Ji Yang
Ramidel Since: Jan, 2001
#253553: Aug 29th 2018 at 1:23:36 PM

Any FCC regulation could be challenged in court, so the SC could say "the FCC doesn't have the authority to regulate net neutrality because we say so."

The SC did in fact do so last time it was challenged like this. However, the joke there is that the FCC had been trying to avoid hitting the telecom companies with full "common carrier" status and set up an intermediate rule, and the companies sued and the SC said "you can't do that." So the FCC went full common carrier to protect NN.

(There aren't any possible sane grounds to say that the telecom companies can't be regulated as common carriers, but it's possible for the Supreme Court to rule insanely.)

Fourthspartan56 from Georgia, US Since: Oct, 2016 Relationship Status: THIS CONCEPT OF 'WUV' CONFUSES AND INFURIATES US!
#253554: Aug 29th 2018 at 1:25:37 PM

(There aren't any possible sane grounds to say that the telecom companies can't be regulated as common carriers, but it's possible for the Supreme Court to rule insanely.)

Yeah, this would be when we pack the courts.

If we don't then they will do their best to obstruct all progress and ignore the rightful wills of the people.

"Einstein would turn over in his grave. Not only does God play dice, the dice are loaded." -Chairman Sheng-Ji Yang
Mario1995 The Dishonorable from Atlanta Since: Nov, 2010 Relationship Status: Chocolate!
The Dishonorable
#253555: Aug 29th 2018 at 1:36:47 PM

I think he may have been referring to this article?

The reason they want the Court to reverse that 2016 ruling is so that any Democratic-controlled state that tries to implement net neutrality in the state level will be prohibited from doing so, thus killing net neutrality for good.

The push to reinstate net neutrality was always a long shot for internet activists. A ruling by the conservative-controlled Supreme Court could make a free and open internet, at least in America, impossible, no matter who controls the federal government.

Edited by Mario1995 on Aug 29th 2018 at 4:45:59 AM

"The devil's got all the good gear. What's God got? The Inspiral Carpets and nuns. Fuck that." - Liam Gallagher
speedyboris Since: Feb, 2010
#253556: Aug 29th 2018 at 1:45:28 PM

How old is Kavanaugh anyway?
53. Which means that if confirmed, he could be on the SC for decades.

CookingCat Since: Jul, 2018
#253557: Aug 29th 2018 at 1:54:51 PM

Another guy on that topic also said states can't enforce their own Net Neutrality laws anymore, but the only evidence I found of the GOP trying to stop states from being able to enforce their own Net Neutrality laws was a topic on Game FA Qs with no source.e

Edit: Well, besides that article Mario 1995 posted, but even then that article is very vague about it and it still hasn't happened yet.

Edited by CookingCat on Aug 29th 2018 at 2:11:39 AM

LeGarcon Blowout soon fellow Stalker from Skadovsk Since: Aug, 2013 Relationship Status: Gay for Big Boss
CookingCat Since: Jul, 2018
#253559: Aug 29th 2018 at 3:17:29 PM

The US are denying passports to Americans along the Mexican border: https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/the_americas/us-is-denying-passports-to-americans-along-the-border-throwing-their-citizenship-into-

Edited by CookingCat on Aug 29th 2018 at 3:17:07 AM

PhysicalStamina i'm tired, my friend (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: Coming soon to theaters
i'm tired, my friend
#253560: Aug 29th 2018 at 3:22:01 PM

Here's a working link, and remember to use incognito mode.

Or, if you prefer:

PHARR, Tex. - On paper, he's a devoted U.S. citizen.

His official American birth certificate shows he was delivered by a midwife in Brownsville, at the southern tip of Texas. He spent his life wearing American uniforms: three years as a private in the Army, then as a cadet in the Border Patrol and now as a state prison guard.

But when Juan, 40, applied to renew his U.S. passport this year, the government's response floored him. In a letter, the State Department said it didn't believe he was an American citizen.

As he would later learn, Juan is one of a growing number of people whose official birth records show they were born in the United States but who are now being denied passports — their citizenship suddenly thrown into question. The Trump administration is accusing hundreds, and possibly thousands, of Hispanics along the border of using fraudulent birth certificates since they were babies, and it is undertaking a widespread crackdown on their citizenship.

ADVERTISING

In a statement, the State Department said that it "has not changed policy or practice regarding the adjudication of passport applications," adding that "the U.S.-Mexico border region happens to be an area of the country where there has been a significant incidence of citizenship fraud."

But cases identified by The Washington Post and interviews with immigration attorneys suggest a dramatic shift in both passport issuance and immigration enforcement.

ONLY  THE  BAD  ONES

Edited by PhysicalStamina on Aug 29th 2018 at 6:21:49 AM

i'm tired, my friend
CookingCat Since: Jul, 2018
#253561: Aug 29th 2018 at 3:29:56 PM

[up] And this doubles as voter suppression, too, as according to the article:

"The denials are happening at a time when Trump has been lobbying for stricter federal voter identification rules, which would presumably affect the same people who are now being denied passports — almost all of them Hispanic, living in a heavily Democratic sliver of Texas.

“That’s where it gets scary,” Diez said."

Edited by CookingCat on Aug 29th 2018 at 3:29:35 AM

wisewillow She/her Since: May, 2011
She/her
#253562: Aug 29th 2018 at 3:33:25 PM

Voter suppression is already pretty bad in the Latino community. I was talking to a Latino organizer in my city last week; she said she’s having a really hard time registering Latino citizens to vote because they live with someone who is undocumented or have a relative or friend who is undocumented, and they are terrified that registering to vote will lead to ICE finding their friend/relative.

Wyldchyld (Old as dirt)
#253563: Aug 29th 2018 at 3:40:57 PM

This statement was put on Donald Trump's twitter feed an hour ago:

STATEMENT FROM THE WHITE HOUSE

President Donald J. Trump feels strongly that North Korea is under tremendous pressure from China because of our major trade disputes with the Chinese Government. At the same time, we also know that China is providing North Korea with...

...considerable aid, including money, fuel, fertilizer and various other commodities. This is not helpful! Nonetheless, the President believes that his relationship with Kim Jong Un is a very good and warm one, and there is no reason at this time to be spending large amounts...

...of money on joint U.S.-South Korea war games. Besides, the President can instantly start the joint exercises again with South Korea, and Japan, if he so chooses. If he does, they will be far bigger than ever before. As for the U.S.–China trade disputes, and other...

...differences, they will be resolved in time by President Trump and China’s great President Xi Jinping. Their relationship and bond remain very strong.

If my post doesn't mention a giant flying sperm whale with oversized teeth and lionfish fins for flippers, it just isn't worth reading.
kkhohoho (4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
#253564: Aug 29th 2018 at 3:46:49 PM

[up]...What was even the point of that?

Grafite Since: Apr, 2016 Relationship Status: Less than three
#253565: Aug 29th 2018 at 4:33:08 PM

@Fourth Spartan: Altough that is true, minorities are often more sympathetic to other repressed groups, seeing their stuggles as similar and equally worthy to their own. That's why you see African Americans, atheists and LGBT overwhemingly voting for democrats. Older people in those groups are the exception most often due to ingrained traditional mentalities.

As a sidenote, GOP please stop electing these ridiculous candidates like De Santis, which only make partisanship worse and denigrate the image of politics.

Life is unfair...
Fourthspartan56 from Georgia, US Since: Oct, 2016 Relationship Status: THIS CONCEPT OF 'WUV' CONFUSES AND INFURIATES US!
#253566: Aug 29th 2018 at 4:36:13 PM

@Fourth Spartan: Altough that is true, minorities are often more sympathetic to other repressed groups, seeing their stuggles as similar and equally worthy to their own. That's why you see African Americans, atheists and LGBT overwhemingly voting for democrats. Older people in those groups are the exception most often due to ingrained traditional mentalities.

They can certainly, my point was less that this is impossible (with intersectionality it's quite plausible) but rather that it's important to avoid assuming that it's the natural state of affairs. It very much is not.

As a sidenote, GOP please stop electing these ridiculous candidates like De Santis, which only make partisanship worse and denigrate the image of politics.

Quite, sadly the rot lies in the Republican base and thus they are going to keep on doing it unless the party reforms or fades into irrelevance.

Edited by Fourthspartan56 on Aug 29th 2018 at 7:35:53 AM

"Einstein would turn over in his grave. Not only does God play dice, the dice are loaded." -Chairman Sheng-Ji Yang
LSBK Since: Sep, 2014
#253567: Aug 29th 2018 at 4:36:48 PM

[up]This.

That any random black woman is statistically overwhelmingly likely to vote Democratic really doesn't tell you anything about a specific black woman's views on, say, trans people.

Edited by LSBK on Aug 29th 2018 at 6:37:43 AM

Wyldchyld (Old as dirt)
#253568: Aug 29th 2018 at 4:43:01 PM

[up][up][up][up][up]Well, some hours before that tweet, CNN published the following news article. Perhaps Trump wants people to blame China instead of him?

Trump's bet on Kim Jong Un is looking increasingly shaky

The world is not yet back to the brinkmanship and "fire and fury" rhetoric between Trump and the isolated state that sparked fears of a slide to war last year.

But if rising angst between the US and North Korea turns into a more permanent fracture of the diplomatic initiative that peaked with June's summit between Trump and Kim in Singapore, fears of a conflict that could kill millions on the Korean Peninsula might return.

Apart from the human and geopolitical stakes, Trump would face an acute, personal political embarrassment if the prestige he has invested in the process turns out to have been for nothing. And Republican leaders, keen to paint him as a statesman with difficult midterm elections looming, could become collateral damage.

But the lack of progress is alarming many seasoned Washington foreign policy leaders, and may be a direct result of the lack of ironclad commitments won by the President in Singapore.

Edited by Wyldchyld on Aug 29th 2018 at 12:42:46 PM

If my post doesn't mention a giant flying sperm whale with oversized teeth and lionfish fins for flippers, it just isn't worth reading.
eyebones Since: Apr, 2004
#253569: Aug 29th 2018 at 4:54:19 PM

FCC Outlaws Logic

For every complex problem there is an answer that is clear, simple, and wrong. — H.L. Mencken
Wyldchyld (Old as dirt)
#253570: Aug 29th 2018 at 5:03:05 PM

Trump’s continued indolent response to Hurricane Maria is our worst fears about him come true

The tweet the Vox article is referencing is here. I provide the link because the tweet contains the video clip of what Trump says.

Speaking to reporters briefly at the White House, Donald Trump repeated the most consequential of the many lies of his presidency — that the federal government did a “fantastic job” in its response to last year’s Hurricane Maria catastrophe that killed nearly 3,000 people in Puerto Rico.

That’s a line that Trump has maintained ever since he made a belated visit to the island after two straight weekends golfing, followed by the observation that “it’s been incredible the results that we’ve had with respect to loss of life.”

In fact, the results they had with respect to the loss of life were awful. Awful in terms of the sheer number of dead, but also awful in terms of the reluctance from the very beginning to deliver an accurate death count. That the disaster turned out to be deadlier even than Hurricane Katrina is shocking, and the fact that it took the government until this week to finally acknowledge that fact is an entirely separate shock.

Edited by Wyldchyld on Aug 29th 2018 at 1:04:10 PM

If my post doesn't mention a giant flying sperm whale with oversized teeth and lionfish fins for flippers, it just isn't worth reading.
tclittle Professional Forum Ninja from Somewhere Down in Texas Since: Apr, 2010
Professional Forum Ninja
#253571: Aug 29th 2018 at 5:34:31 PM

Trump personally overturned a planned move of the FBI headquarters because it generated business for Trump International Hotel in DC.

PDF Source

    Article 

This week the Inspector General (IG) of the General Services Investigation (GSA) issued a report which found that, despite previous denials, President Trump was personally involved in the decision to overturn years of planning for the relocation of the FBI headquarters. That decision has a significant impact on Trump’s financial interests, given the proximity of the current headquarters to the Trump International Hotel.

The report also found that Administration officials misled Congress and refused to reveal to investigators the nature of Trump’s involvement in that decision. Rep. Don Beyer issued the following statement:

“Last year, the Trump Administration inexplicably overturned years of work to move the FBI out of its structurally deficient headquarters and into a new location, wasting thousands of staff hours and millions of taxpayer dollars. The Inspector General’s report makes it clear that Trump was personally involved in this decision, raising the specter of major mismanagement of a multi-billion-dollar federal procurement project motivated by the President’s business interests.

The report also revealed that officials who were present or aware of these discussions repeatedly misled Members of Congress about the President’s involvement. Further, Administration officials say they were told by the White House Counsel’s office ‘not to disclose any statements made by the President.’ This looks like a cover-up.

Given the findings in the IG’s report and the President’s conflicts of interest, evidence of Trump’s culture of corruption is staring us in the face. Congress must immediately launch a full investigation to establish what happened with the FBI headquarters project and what influence the President exerted. Given the IG report’s finding that Administration officials lowballed Congress on the costs of the project and the President’s conflicts of interest, GSA and FBI should return to the original plan to build a fully consolidated FBI headquarters in the region.”

The IG report, requested and subsequently released by Congressman Gerry Connolly (D-VA), reviewed GSA’s sudden decision to overturn years of planning for a suburban location and instead demolish the current FBI headquarters on Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, D.C., and build a new headquarters at the same location.

That decision was made, according to the report, after two meetings at the White House on January 24, 2018, one of which involved President Trump. Officials who took part in or were aware of those meetings were asked several times in House and Senate hearings whether the President had been a party to any discussions regarding the future of the FBI headquarters, and gave what the IG report repeatedly characterizes as a “misleading impression” by failing to answer in the affirmative.

The report also found that the GSA had significantly underestimated the cost of the rebuilding project to Congress by excluding key considerations in its analysis, which allowed the Administration to project that its plan would be less costly than the previous plan to build a new headquarters, when the opposite was true.

Edited by tclittle on Aug 29th 2018 at 7:36:52 AM

"We're all paper, we're all scissors, we're all fightin' with our mirrors, scared we'll never find somebody to love."
Rationalinsanity from Halifax, Canada Since: Aug, 2010 Relationship Status: It's complicated
#253572: Aug 29th 2018 at 6:02:05 PM

In a fair world, such blatant conflict of interest and petty corruption alone would be enough to hinder Trump. Alas...

Edited by Rationalinsanity on Aug 29th 2018 at 10:11:51 AM

Politics is the skilled use of blunt objects.
wisewillow She/her Since: May, 2011
She/her
#253573: Aug 29th 2018 at 8:58:58 PM

On a lighter note, today in hilarious self-owns, the Texas GOP decided that apparently it was a good idea to share photos of Beto O’Rourke that make him look cool, relatable, and incredibly attractive. Twitter has now decided that it wants to go back in time to date punk rock Beto and he’s gotten a lot of new donations.

M84 Oh, bother. from Our little blue planet Since: Jun, 2010 Relationship Status: Chocolate!
Oh, bother.
#253574: Aug 29th 2018 at 9:17:53 PM

Posting a mugshot of his back when he got arrested for burglary and DUI backfired a bit too. Since 90's Rourke was so hot even his mugshot looked good.

By contrast, that pic of Ted Cruz in his days as a mime was terrifying. While the whole "Ted Cruz was the Zodiac Killer" thing is obviously horseshit...imagine Mime!Cruz being the last thing you ever saw in a dark alley.

Edited by M84 on Aug 30th 2018 at 12:19:00 AM

Disgusted, but not surprised
wisewillow She/her Since: May, 2011
She/her
#253575: Aug 29th 2018 at 9:21:26 PM

To be fair, the “burglary” charge was for hopping a fence, both charges were dismissed, and O’Rourke has owned up to his own poor judgment as a young man several times since his campaign started.

...and yes, that mime pic is terrifying.

Edited by wisewillow on Aug 29th 2018 at 12:21:11 PM


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