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Edited by Mrph1 on Nov 30th 2023 at 11:03:59 AM
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Jesus Christ. And it's only beginning.
Yet another reason for people to get involved in local politics. The state legislatures are the first domino we need to topple on the road to retaking the White House. Think nationally, act locally.
In other words—that's right everyone, our old friends the Weasel Twins are pretending to take a stand on something again! While I think this gesture is more or less a positive thing, they've still got no credibility in my eyes. Until they vote the way they talk, I won't believe a word they say.
"We'll take the next chance, and the next, until we win, or the chances are spent."
x4
All males 16 and up are counted as "acceptable" targets, or at least that's what it used to be at some point. More likely to be militants.
Not entirely sure was this JSOC, CIA or Air Force targetting policy, or a government thing.
edited 29th Jan '17 11:49:54 AM by TerminusEst
Si Vis Pacem, Para PerkeleProtests planned at Boise Airport to oppose Trump immigration ban
http://www.idahostatesman.com/news/local/article129463644.html
I don't know if anyone's being held at any airports in Idaho, but there's support for them here, regardless
https://mobile.twitter.com/williamjordann/status/825781634330980352
Reagan: 727
Bush I: 1336
Clinton: 573
Bush II: 1205
Obama: 936
Trump: 8. days.
edited 29th Jan '17 12:07:52 PM by sgamer82
Trump is living in a bubble. According to Jake Tapper on twitter
:
That may depend on how viscerally the consequences of his actions are felt by the common hick. Even some ignorant jackass in Bumsquat, Missouri is going to start asking questions once he realizes his healthcare, job, and clean water is gone.
Problem then is when they go to Fox and Breitbart for answers, and are told to just "blame the Democrats!"
"We'll take the next chance, and the next, until we win, or the chances are spent."The child writing a letter to Trump may have been this: Bana Alabed: Syrian tweeting girl pens letter to Trump
(Partly quoted)
My name is Bana Alabed and I am a seven years old Syrian girl from Aleppo.
I lived in Syria my whole life before I left from besieged East Aleppo on December last year. I am part of the Syrian children who suffered from the Syrian war.
But right now, I am having a peace in my new home of Turkey. In Aleppo, I was in school but soon it was destroyed because of the bombing.
Some of my friends died...
I know you will be the president of America, so can you please save the children and people of Syria? You must do something for the children of Syria because they are like your children and deserve peace like you.
If you promise me you will do something for the children of Syria, I am already your new friend.
I am looking forward to what you will do for the children of Syria.
I haven't actually seen anyone say that "it's just a distraction, don't worry about it," but instead "they are going to try and keep everyone's attention in one place, try to counteract that, and don't let anything get away unnoticed." note
And on studying in Canada... Our token good neighbor at once beneficent and devious:
Canadian tech firms ask Ottawa to give immediate visas after U.S. ban
Last year, Canada benefited from the raucous U.S. election campaign, with new Canadian work permits for highly skilled workers from the United States soaring nearly 54 percent in the first eight months of the year...
One Ontario-based software developer, Sortable, ran an ad campaign targeting tech workers that extolled Canada’s calm political climate. In November, Canada introduced new visa measures that would allow tech firms to quickly recruit foreign talent, including fast approvals and 30-day work permits...
"If Canada can quickly implement the global skills visa for tech talent … we can reinforce our country as the place to attract the best talent..."
The U.S. tech industry, a major employer of foreign workers, hit back on Saturday at the sudden executive order on immigration, with some leaders calling it immoral and un-American...
"Policies such as (Trump’s) put everybody in the business community on edge because all global firms have a multicultural work force. But it’s also an opportunity,” Jim Balsillie, former co-CEO of Black Berry Ltd, said in the Globe and Mail newspaper on Saturday.
edited 29th Jan '17 12:27:43 PM by CenturyEye
Look with century eyes... With our backs to the arch And the wreck of our kind We will stare straight ahead For the rest of our livesI've heard some academics throw around plans to massively expand the Canadian population (a goal of like 100 million, from a current 35 million, by 2100) by encouraging Americans to get the hell out of dodge. The idea is that American immigrants, mixed in with others from around the world, would lessen xenophobic populism. Some of them also say that they need to encourage said Americans to settle outside of Ontario/Quebec/BC, to balance out the countries population.
Probably pie in the sky but...
Politics is the skilled use of blunt objects.Just wait for climate change. When the Gulf has become too hot to be habitable, Canada will be one of the last places to thrive. There is a reason why Vladimir Putin said that climate change will benefit Russia.
"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled." - Richard Feynman

Another thing: WaPo: ‘We’re learning the lessons that Republicans learned in 2010′: How Democrats plan to rebuild state legislatures
:
Jessica Post, executive director of the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee, is heavily lobbying Democratic leaders to pick a chair of the Democratic National Committee who is deeply committed to winning statehouse elections.
Post recently spoke by phone with The Fix to explain why some Democrats say the path to the majority runs through the nation's statehouses. Our conversation has been edited for length and clarity.
THE FIX: This seems like an obvious thing to say, but I guess you feel like you need to say it: The incoming DNC chair should want Democratic state legislative majorities.
POST: There are many people who have this D.C.-centric view that if you win the presidency, all of it should just trickle down and that's how we'll rebuild.
And we feel like they need to take the opposite approach. State legislatures determine voting rights, congressional districts, things like collective bargaining, the schools people go to — the everyday things in people's lives. And I think we're finally starting to realize that you can't win a Michigan without thinking about grass roots organizing and getting to these towns and these cities. The right way to do that is with state legislatures.
You recently spoke about this at a Democratic National Committee gathering. Why did it take until now — when you don't have a Democratic president nor a Democratic-controlled Congress — for the Democratic Party to have this conversation?
In 2010 [midterms], maybe our national donors didn't think we had the same level of problems nationally, in part because of the success of the Obama presidency and the success of Democrats nationally. We had 60 votes in the Senate coming off the 2008 cycle, so it wasn't a time for party introspection.
During Obama's presidency, Democrats lost more than 20 state legislative chambers. In 2017, Republicans have total control of government in at least 25 states. What did they do right?
In 2010, Republicans thought they didn't have a path to the presidency, so I think they did a great job of going to their national donors and making the case to focus on state legislatures. They went to them with a really good value proposition: You invest $30 million, we'll save $150 million in federal House dollars [by redistricting] over the next decade.
We're trying to make a similar value proposition to our donors. I think we're learning the lessons that Republicans learned in 2010.
Let's talk about redistricting, which is a big part of your argument to get the Democratic Party to focus on state legislatures.
We certainly have to win back state legislatures if we ever want to win back Congress. There are 37 states where the state legislature draws the congressional map, and in many of the states that Republicans won in 2010, you can see that they have tilted the maps in a way that favors them.
So looking at the 2018 map, states like Colorado and New York will be top of mind, as well as states like North Carolina and Virginia [that could or will have state elections in 2017.]
And then traditional Rust Belt states like Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Ohio are all key states we'll take a look at.
And now you have help from the highest levels of the Democratic Party, with a redistricting effort headed by former attorney general Eric Holder and backed by President Obama himself.
We're delighted by the development of this. I'm a board member. I think this is an outgrowth of some of the working groups we've been having. President Obama did a number of things to be committed to us, including signing fundraising emails and direct mail solicitations to donors for us. We're super excited that commitment will go beyond the White House. I think this will generate additional resources and a strategic alignment for our part that simply didn't exist in 2010.
Winning back these legislatures could take some time — in Ohio, for example, Republicans control 14 out of 16 of Senate seats and have a 2-to-1 advantage in the House. Could that be a deterrent to donors and the party?
In some cases, it will be a multi-cycle strategy to get back these legislatures. But a large number of seats flip more often than you might expect. It's not uncommon to pick up double-digit state house seats in a Michigan or a Pennsylvania. And that's a helpful argument to make to donors who may just see the numbers and think it's too tough.
[Editor's note: State legislative Democrats also point out that the last time midterm elections were held under a Republican president, Democrats picked up 10 state legislative chambers.]
Has the Democratic pipeline suffered from losing so many chambers?
I think there are a lot of very good state legislative leaders that are ready to run for higher office.
We have Crisanta Duran, the first Latina speaker of the house in Colorado history. Aaron Ford, who is majority leader of the Nevada State Senate, put himself through school, has a Ph D and a law degree. Speaker Tina Kotek in Oregon — I could tell you 15 people off the top of my head who I think could run for higher office.
But we have lost some leaders that could have had long careers in states like Ohio, for example, by losing them from the legislature.
Are there any candidates for DNC chair you're learning toward supporting?
We at DLCC won't endorse a specific candidate, but our delegates to the DNC may. As long as whoever becomes chair focuses on what he or she is supposed to be focusing on, we're going to be in good shape.
edited 29th Jan '17 11:30:28 AM by IFwanderer
1 2 We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be. -KV