[News] Post a Political News Story

Ongoing discussion of the political news of the day. This thread is for 'smaller' stories that don't call for their own thread. If a story blows up, please start a new thread for it.

Dr.Incurable wrote:

I usually lurk, but I didn't see this posted here, so I thought I would share. I hope that's ok? Cyntoia Brown granted full clemency and will be released from prison August 7th.

Seems like what clemency was kind of envisioned for.

Gov. Bill Haslam ordered an early release for Cyntoia Brown, a Tennessee woman and alleged sex trafficking victim serving a life sentence in prison for killing a man when she was 16.

Haslam granted Brown a full commutation to parole on Monday. Brown will be eligible for release Aug. 7 on time served and will stay on parole for 10 years.

“Cyntoia Brown committed, by her own admission, a horrific crime at the age of 16," Haslam said in a statement. "Yet, imposing a life sentence on a juvenile that would require her to serve at least 51 years before even being eligible for parole consideration is too harsh, especially in light of the extraordinary steps Ms. Brown has taken to rebuild her life.

"Transformation should be accompanied by hope. So, I am commuting Ms. Brown’s sentence, subject to certain conditions.”

Dr.Incurable wrote:

I usually lurk, but I didn't see this posted here, so I thought I would share. I hope that's ok? Cyntoia Brown granted full clemency and will be released from prison August 7th.

More than okay. IMO she should be pardoned, but this is a start.

sometimesdee wrote:
Dr.Incurable wrote:

I usually lurk, but I didn't see this posted here, so I thought I would share. I hope that's ok? Cyntoia Brown granted full clemency and will be released from prison August 7th.

More than okay. IMO she should be pardoned, but this is a start.

Agreed, a full pardon would be ideal, but I think with the political climate, and that fact that she is a minority that killed a white male the commuted sentence was the best chance for this situation. Ideally that shouldn't matter when someone's entire future is in jeopardy for trying to get out of a horrible situation like the one she faced, but given the power structures in play I think this was the best chance she had of getting out of prison now and not waiting an additional ~50 years.

Those wheels of justice... "We've decided you should be released... Just sit tight.. for 8 months... for reasons"

News in 2018: I'm *craaaazy*!!1!

News in 2019: Hold my beer, son.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Fake Nude Photos Debunked by Redditor Foot Fetishist/Wikifeet Contributor

More accurately: fake creeper photo debunked by actual creeper. The counter evidence used here is an online archive of photos of AOC's feet for guys to get off to.

ClockworkHouse wrote:

online archive of photos of AOC's feet for guys to get off to.

I’m mad that this exists.

Conservative columnist discovers that Australia is rad - Doesn't bother to ask why it feels more laid back than America.

My opinion from my year there is that our dystopian combination of Puritanism and Libertarianism is killing us. She doesn't bother to ask why everyone seems to have so much free time, takes vacations, etc.

She also ignores so much of internal conflict. She clearly didn't read a paper or watch the news while she was here.

No one has ever called it a "Barmy". Never. Utter bullsh*t

Fair suck of the sav Bruce, stone the flamin' crows!

Bruce wrote:

She also ignores so much of internal conflict. She clearly didn't read a paper or watch the news while she was here.

I know right? Context for the non-Australians - we just had a large anti-immigration rally attended by a federal Senator. For all the good about Australia, the racism is a huge problem that Weiss pretends doesn't exist.

She completely missed the point on tall poppy syndrome too.

FWIW, hopefully no one thought I ignored that stuff in my post because I was ignorant of it. It just wasn’t my focus. I know Australia has issues.

I was just mostly amused by Weiss’ “Australians have it so lucky” without any recognition that these are choices a society makes and America could choose to make them as well.

I vividly remember sitting in a hot tub on the Gold Coast when a fellow hotel guest started talking about how right Pauline Hanson was and how lucky we were to have Trump.

Nevermind the literal 50+ Aussies we met in our time there that said derogatory things about Asian people.

I figured it was because Australia was such a positive experience for you, DS.

I think?

The Happy Slam is right around the corner. Looking forward to the Australian Tennis Open.

It was a positive experience, but also, at least as far as I witnessed, their public spaces and services were well maintained. People seemed largely happy. My co-workers left work at 5 everyday on the dot after working 7 hours (not counting long lunches and tea breaks).

There were entire weekends where stores weren’t open and most days trading hours ended at 7 at non-grocery stores.

It just left a good impression of a place with much more balance in favor of being a thriving human being and less in favor of the boss.

DSGamer wrote:

FWIW, hopefully no one thought I ignored that stuff in my post because I was ignorant of it. It just wasn’t my focus. I know Australia has issues.

I was just mostly amused by Weiss’ “Australians have it so lucky” without any recognition that these are choices a society makes and America could choose to make them as well.

Yeah you're good, I figured that was your focus.

This actually reminds me of something - my brother-in-law flew in from California to stay with us over Christmas. He mentioned several times about how great it is that people here can put in their 8 hours and make a decent living, that people seem happy with their work, that even unskilled labour jobs can make a reasonable living, good playgrounds, well maintained public spaces - all that sort of thing.

The trouble is, he's very strongly conservative. He literally votes for people that take him further away from what he says he wants. Much like you're saying with this article, he just couldn't make the connection between our quality of life and our policies.

Quote is not edit. I should know by now.

? is there an Orwell was right thread somewhere, or maybe a Thought Police one ?, if not here will do I suppose.

Putin's Dark Days Written out of History.

Seems that events like the Kursk Sub and the Beslan school massacre and the gassing of theatre goers at Nord Ost have been "dropped" from a Russian history exhibition in Moscow.

The show...

"gives an objective picture of our country with all its victories, achievements and problems"

:I oh and that quote was by the man himself Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin upon the exhibition opening.

Rod Rosenstein To Leave DOJ Once New Attorney General Confirmed: Reports

Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who has been a target of criticism by President Donald Trump over his appointment of Robert Mueller to lead the investigation into Russian interference in the election, plans to leave his post in the coming weeks, according to reports.

Rosenstein, a career prosecutor, will leave the Department of Justice shortly after Trump’s pick for attorney general, William Barr, is confirmed by the Senate, ABC News first reported, citing “multiple sources familiar with his plans.” CNN and CBS News also reported Rosenstein’s planned departure.

farley3k wrote:

Rod Rosenstein To Leave DOJ Once New Attorney General Confirmed: Reports

Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who has been a target of criticism by President Donald Trump over his appointment of Robert Mueller to lead the investigation into Russian interference in the election, plans to leave his post in the coming weeks, according to reports.

Rosenstein, a career prosecutor, will leave the Department of Justice shortly after Trump’s pick for attorney general, William Barr, is confirmed by the Senate, ABC News first reported, citing “multiple sources familiar with his plans.” CNN and CBS News also reported Rosenstein’s planned departure.

Another adult leaving the room. Hopeful that's a sign that Mueller's investigation is winding down.

Or not.

halfwaywrong wrote:
Bruce wrote:

She also ignores so much of internal conflict. She clearly didn't read a paper or watch the news while she was here.

I know right? Context for the non-Australians - we just had a large anti-immigration rally attended by a federal Senator. For all the good about Australia, the racism is a huge problem that Weiss pretends doesn't exist.

She completely missed the point on tall poppy syndrome too.

It's Bari f*cking Weiss. She lives with her head in the sand.

JeffreyLSmith wrote:

Another adult leaving the room. Hopeful that's a sign that Mueller's investigation is winding down.

Or not.

Could be a sign that he expects the House to be able to protect Mueller's investigation.

halfwaywrong wrote:

Context for the non-Australians - we just had a large anti-immigration rally attended by a federal Senator. For all the good about Australia, the racism is a huge problem that Weiss pretends doesn't exist.

To be fair, for a lot of "conservatives" in America these days, racism isn't a problem at all. I mean, were they advocating building a wall?

How Cities Make Money by Fining the Poor

“You think about what we want to define us as Americans: equal opportunity, equal protection under the law,” Mitali Nagrecha, the director of Harvard’s National Criminal Justice Debt Initiative, told me. “But what we’re seeing in these situations is that not only are the poor in the United States treated differently than people with means, but that the courts are actually aggravating and perpetuating poverty.”
Why they do so is in part a matter of economic reality: In areas hit by recession or falling tax revenue, fines and fees help pay the bills. (The costs of housing and feeding inmates can be subsidized by the state.) As the Fines and Fees Justice Center, an advocacy organization based in New York, has documented, financial penalties on the poor are now a leading source of revenue for municipalities around the country. In Alabama, for example, the Southern Poverty Law Center took up the case of a woman who was jailed for missing a court date related to an unpaid utility bill. In Oregon, courts have issued hefty fines to the parents of truant schoolchildren. Many counties around the country engage in civil forfeiture, the seizure of vehicles and cash from people suspected (but not necessarily proven in court) of having broken the law. In Louisiana, pretrial diversion laws empower the police to offer traffic offenders a choice: Pay up quickly, and the ticket won’t go on your record; fight the ticket in court, and you’ll face additional fees.
“What we’ve seen in our research is that the mechanisms vary, depending on the region,” says Joanna Weiss, co-director of the Fines and Fees Justice Center. “But they have one thing in common: They use the justice system to wring revenue out of the poorest Americans — the people who can afford it the least.” Aside from taxes, she says, “criminal-justice debt is now a de facto way of funding a lot of American cities.”

Sadly not Satire:

DONALD TRUMP'S SON SUGGESTS ELLEN DEGENERES IS RUNNING A SHADOW GOVERNMENT

Left-leaning comedian Ellen DeGeneres must be part of a “deep state” conspiracy, President Donald Trump's son Eric said on Twitter Tuesday night, after apparently misunderstanding how social media works.

Trumper Tantrump
http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/new-temper-tantrum-trump-literally-walks-away-negotiating-table

"Following Donald Trump’s Oval Office address last night, congressional Democratic leaders explained, “We don’t govern by temper tantrum. No president should pound the table and demand he gets his way or else the government shuts down.”

Perhaps the president missed the remarks, because this afternoon, during brief White House talks about re-opening the government, Trump threw a tantrum, pounded the table, and demanded he get his way or the shutdown would continue,

President Donald Trump abruptly walked out of a closed-door meeting with congressional leaders Wednesday in the White House Situation Room after Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said she wouldn’t fund his border wall if he ended a government shutdown first.

“She said ‘No,’” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said, adding that Trump slammed the table. “He said, ‘Then we have nothing to discuss’ …He just walked out of the meeting.”"

#presidentdeals

Less than you think: Prevalence and predictors of fake news dissemination on Facebook

Overall, sharing articles from fake news domains was a rare activity. We find some evidence that the most conservative users were more likely to share this content—the vast majority of which was pro-Trump in orientation—than were other Facebook users, although this is sensitive to coding and based on a small number of respondents.

Great!

Our most robust finding is that the oldest Americans, especially those over 65, were more likely to share fake news to their Facebook friends. This is true even when holding other characteristics—including education, ideology, and partisanship—constant. No other demographic characteristic seems to have a consistent effect on sharing fake news, making our age finding that much more notable.

Burn the old people!

Nazis explain why they became Nazis. the statement “wow, look at the similarity to trumpers” will just be implied from here on out.

I thought this was an interesting article in and of itself, and for the political implications that what we think of as 'human' is really just a short, strange period. What we think of as human history is just a space between forming communities large enough and settled enough to make them worth conquering, and whatever the heck comes after what we think of as 'normal':

When humans started shedding their nomadic ways and cultivating crops, populations boomed — and life expectancy took a nosedive.

“As soon as farming got involved, [life expectancy] shot down,” said Daniel E. Lieberman, an evolutionary biology professor at Harvard University. “Very few people lived to be very old once farming starts.”

Farmers, he explained, grew more food, creating larger populations that lived in close quarters, often with domestic animals. This spread infectious diseases (and still does — remember swine and bird flu?). While hunter-gatherers found varied diets for themselves, those early farmers were actually more likely to suffer from malnutrition. Their skeletons showed more evidence of things like anemia and stress lines. They died on average around age 20, estimates one 2007 study. That’s 10 years younger than hunter-gatherers.

Eventually, humans adjusted to farming and began surviving somewhat longer, but life expectancy remained in something of a slump for millennia.

“The worst thing you could possibly be was a French peasant in the 16th century,” Lieberman said. Ironically, the lives of many of Hobbes’ contemporaries were probably a good deal shorter than those of his Paleolithic ancestors.

Obviously there were worse things, but I think the point is that up until the rise of sanitation, civilization has been a miserable development for almost all humans.