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Reports of protests are overblown. A few incidents around the country, but nothing major.

5 (45.5%)

A few major incidents in capitals, but nothing much in DC.

5 (45.5%)

A major incident in DC, but nothing much around the country.

0 (0%)

More than 10 capitals have major upheavals, but nothing much in DC.

0 (0%)

A major incident in DC plus more than 10 capitals with significant upheavals.

1 (9.1%)

More than half the capitals around the country have problems with protesters, but DC is quiet.

0 (0%)

DC has major problems, while more than half the capitals around the country also have considerable trouble with protesters.

0 (0%)

Huge disruption to the day.

0 (0%)

Total Members Voted: 9

Voting closed: January 19, 2021, 10:49:21 PM

[barton]

My paper ballot arrived in the mail well before the election. Over the next ten days I did extra research to get background on judgeships, obscure county officials, and school board candidates, along with weird and twisty ballot initiatives....

If everyone voted like that,  the future of democracy would be so bright we'd all need welding goggles.

[bankshot1]

More Americans will catch Covid today than the economy recovered jobs last month.

Fac-nice work

That is a frightening yet effective metric to describe Trump's wholly ineffective approach to this crisis.

Nero fiddled-Trump golfed.

[josh]

This is all wrong.  You're posting fiction used to sell Trump's narrative in order to line his pockets.

1.  Swing state counties that used Dominion machines mostly voted for Trump....

It's important to understand how absolute is the trolling here.   I posted the swing state fact a couple days ago.   Kid didn't reply.   Others posted similar facts that discredit the narrative.   Kid ignored them.   Then he posts this cut/paste fiction.   And,  again,  he will not address any rebuttal, or credit any countering facts.   And,  Kam,  this is key:  a troll goes on forever,  while you (like me,  YG,  et al)  will be worn down and give up,  opting to direct attention to someone actually willing to engage.   Trolls thrive on the Pyrrhic Victory -- they destroy their own reason, openness and critical thinking skills, all so they can wear down everyone else and claim to be the last standing.

So... is deleting trolling posts all right?

[Hamilton Samuels]

New cases per 100000 in following counties

In NJ,
Essex County: 42.9
Union County: 47.2
Hudson County: 52.9

Los Angeles County, CA: 55.9

Now consider how close people live in these counties, population per Square Mile!

Essex County: 6,212

Union County: 5482

Hudson County: 14973.

Los Angeles County: 2489


So, with these far more densely populated counties, you'd expect the new case rates to be more than, and significantly more than Los Angeles. But that's not the case.

So, again. WTF is wrong in California?

[Hamilton Samuels]

This is all wrong.  You're posting fiction used to sell Trump's narrative in order to line his pockets.

1.  Swing state counties that used Dominion machines mostly voted for Trump....

It's important to understand how absolute is the trolling here.   I posted the swing state fact a couple days ago.   Kid didn't reply.   Others posted similar facts that discredit the narrative.   Kid ignored them.   Then he posts this cut/paste fiction.   And,  again,  he will not address any rebuttal, or credit any countering facts.   And,  Kam,  this is key:  a troll goes on forever,  while you (like me,  YG,  et al)  will be worn down and give up,  opting to direct attention to someone actually willing to engage.   Trolls thrive on the Pyrrhic Victory -- they destroy their own reason, openness and critical thinking skills, all so they can wear down everyone else and claim to be the last standing.

So... is deleting trolling posts all right?

If you lack the personal strength to ignore posts with which you disagree, it's on you, not others, and not on some nanny who decides for you.

[josh]

Fresh off another rejection in Pennsylvania’s courts, Republicans on Thursday again asked the U.S. Supreme Court to block President-elect Joe Biden’s victory in the battleground state, while the state’s lawyers say fatal flaws in the original case mean justices are highly unlikely to grant it.

In response:

"However, in a sign that the case is likely too late to affect the election, Justice Samuel Alito ordered the state’s lawyers to respond by Dec. 9, a day after what is known as the safe harbor deadline. That means that Congress cannot challenge any electors named by this date in accordance with state law."

I think the indication of intent is correct.

I think the imputation of a restriction on congressional power is incorrect. This in no way prevents the joint session of Congress from being forced into deliberation about the electors, should there be an internal challenge.

OTOH, I am pretty sure such a challenge is doomed, regardless.

Quotes courtesy of WaPo.

[facilitatorn]

This is all wrong.  You're posting fiction used to sell Trump's narrative in order to line his pockets.

1.  Swing state counties that used Dominion machines mostly voted for Trump....

It's important to understand how absolute is the trolling here.   I posted the swing state fact a couple days ago.   Kid didn't reply.   Others posted similar facts that discredit the narrative.   Kid ignored them.   Then he posts this cut/paste fiction.   And,  again,  he will not address any rebuttal, or credit any countering facts.   And,  Kam,  this is key:  a troll goes on forever,  while you (like me,  YG,  et al)  will be worn down and give up,  opting to direct attention to someone actually willing to engage.   Trolls thrive on the Pyrrhic Victory -- they destroy their own reason, openness and critical thinking skills, all so they can wear down everyone else and claim to be the last standing.

So... is deleting trolling posts all right?

I much prefer pinning it to the table and vivisecting it, as is our practice, especially since Kiid is such a willing and bleating test subject.

Science!

Let’s go!

[josh]

Why no temple, synagogue, or shul should be open during the pandemic, regardless of what SCOTUS allows or disallows:

From the Jewish Virtual Library on “Pikuach Nefesh.”

“In Judaism, human life is essential and so pikuach nefesh, the obligation to save a life in jeopardy, is considered a major value to uphold. This obligation applies to both an immediate threat and a less grave danger that has the potential of becoming serious. Pikuach nefesh is derived from the biblical verse, “Neither shall you stand by the blood of your neighbor” (Lev. 19:16). According to pikuach nefesh a person must do everything in their power to save the life of another, even donate bodily organs. Ovaday Yosef, the former Sephardic Chief Rabbi of Israel, ruled that one may donate an organ to a person in critical need, so long as it does not put the donor’s life at risk.

“It is also permissible to travel on Shabbat to save a person’s life. Maimonides declared that a Jew should take the individual, even if a gentile is present, in order to encourage “compassion, loving-kindness and peace in the world” (Mishneh Torah, 2:3). The laws of the Sabbath may be suspended to provide any necessary medical care to a critically ill individual or to an individual in the likelihood of danger to life. However, if a person has only a lesser infirmity or physical ailment, any violation of Shabbat should be minimal or, if viable, performed by a gentile. The laws of Shabbat may also be deferred for a woman who has just given birth within the last three days, to provide more comfort. A patient is allowed to eat non-Kosher food if it is essential for recovery and, on Yom Kippur, a sick person is forbidden to fast if it will impair their recovery and health.

“The Talmud contains several instances where the laws of the Sabbath are to be broken to save the life of another; these occasions include the rescuing a child from the sea, breaking apart a wall that has collapsed on a child, breaking down a door about to close on an infant, and extinguishing a fire (Yoma 84b).

“In the case that one must make the choice of saving their own life or that of a companion, Rabbi Akiva states that it is permissible to save your life and not the other. This verdict was rationalized by the biblical verse, “Let him live by your side as your kinsman.” Rabbi Akiva determined that the verse implies that “your life takes precedence over his life.” One can only become a martyr if the option is between death and performing acts of idolatry, illegitimate sexual intercourse, or murder (Sanhedrin 74a-b).”

[facilitatorn]

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/coronavirus/fl-ne-coronavirus-florida-desantis-spin-ss-prem-20201203-tyjmgkos6bd7vo7vnripqliany-htmlstory.html

[facilitatorn]

http://m.dailykos.com/stories/2020/12/4/1999950/-Pelosi-Stimulus-proposal-not-everything-we-want-but-help-is-on-the-way-from-Joe-Biden

How do the republicans ultimately fuck this up some more?

[bambu.]

https://www.msn.com/en-au/news/world/china-hits-back-at-us-spy-chiefs-greatest-threat-to-freedom-claim/ar-BB1bCIgz?ocid=AVRES000&li=AAgfLCP&OCID=AVRES000

China has rejected as a “concoction of lies” an incendiary article by the US’s most senior intelligence official, who labelled China the biggest threat to democracy and freedom since the second world war.

Ratcliffe said China was “regularly” directing influence operations on US soil, and had targeted members of Congress at a frequency six times that of Russia, and 12 times that of Iran. He also accused China of stealing US technology to fuel Xi Jinping’s huge modernisation of the People’s Liberation Army.

At a regular press briefing on Friday, China’s foreign affairs spokeswoman, Hua Chunying, said the article was “just a sensational headline” and did not show any real evidence. “He just continued and repeated what is I think another concoction of lies,” she said.

“We hope that American politicians will respect the facts, stop making and selling fake news, stop fabricating and spreading political viruses and lies, and stop damaging Sino-US relations, otherwise it will only further damage the credibility of the United States.”

Earlier a spokesperson for the Chinese embassy in the US told Reuters that Ratcliffe’s comments were “fact-distorting” and hypocritical, and showed “the entrenched cold war mindset and ideological prejudices of some people on the US side”.

Ratcliffe had accused Beijing of intending to “dominate the US and the rest of the planet economically, militarily and technologically”, through an economic espionage approach he termed “rob, replicate and replace”.

#####

Well there you go.
Mr Ratcliffe might not be alone in thinking those things.

[bodiddley]

Norway under 400 confirmed cases of CV per day
Finland under 500 cases per day.
Norway 5000 cases / day.

Sweden with an infection rate 7x greater than Finland and 6x Norway.
Quite a success.

This is useless information when compared to the US geography and the makeup of its society. But thanks for sharing.

So why are you making that comparison then?
I compared the three very similar Scandinavian countries to each other.

You want a comparison to the geography and population of the US?
Try China ~25 cases per day (roughly half incoming arrivals);
US 100K cases per day.

Last two weeks, there were 8 locally transmitted cases among  Shanghai's 20M.  And this caused a big ripple and strong localized response.  (Didn't affect me or most people at all, but the contact tracing was thorough).
NYC probably has 8 cases every hour of every day (I have no idea if that's accurate, but you get the idea).

[josh]

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/coronavirus/fl-ne-coronavirus-florida-desantis-spin-ss-prem-20201203-tyjmgkos6bd7vo7vnripqliany-htmlstory.html

Yes.

Or as I said, "Sick."

[josh]

[/img]

[bambu.]

Daily Telegraph;

‘You created the beast’: Stark message from ex-Commando Wes H Hennessey to ADF leaders

As fallout from the Australian war crimes inquiry continues, a former commando has lashed out at ADF superiors.

#####

He's not the only one lashing out...many of the People and media are 'marching' with him...including bambu-ilk.

__________________
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx


A decorated Special Forces soldier who deployed to Afghanistan seven times says the Australian Defence Force “created the beast’’ by sending operators out to kill “every other day or night.’’
Wes H Hennessey CSM, 48, from Toowoomba in Queensland, said he felt compelled to defend the Special Forces community in the wake of the Brereton report, which referred 19 current and former soldiers to police for investigation over war crimes including murder.

The soldier, who uses his former protected identity initial H, said he was not investigated by the Brereton inquiry.

He said he did not condone the actions alleged in the report, including “bloodings’’, where rookie solders were ordered by their superiors to execute prisoners for their first kill.
He said those found to have committed war crimes “should be held accountable, 100 per cent.’’

But he said the entire Special Forces community had been smeared by the alleged actions of a few, and that senior leadership within the ADF – who trained the Special Forces soldiers and encouraged the “can-do’’ attitudes of its top operators – were not being held accountable.

“To me, they created the beast,’’ he said.
“They needed the capacity, they needed us to be the strategic tool for them. They referred to us as the scalpel and sometimes the sledgehammer.’’

H, a former 2nd Commando Regiment Warrant Officer who joined the military at 17 and spent 18 years in the Special Forces, was deployed in Afghanistan seven times, including two back-to-back deployments totalling 13 months in 2013-2014.

He said he was mentally fatigued by the end and there had been numerous operations in which “we were out killing people every other day or night.’’

H, who left the Army in 2014, ]decided to step out of the shadows and join the national debate when he became infuriated by the decision of Chief of the Defence Force General Angus Campbell to accept the recommendation of Assistant Inspector-General of the Australian Defence Force, Justice Paul Brereton, to recommend the revocation of the Meritorious Unit Citation.
The citation has been awarded to around 3000 people who served in the Special Operations Task Group during Operation Slipper in Afghanistan between 2007-2013.

Gen. Campbell has since back-pedalled and said no decision had been made, following public concerns expressed by Prime Minister Scott Morrison.

#####

The total folly of invading Afghanistan by the "Coalition Of the Willing".
"Rambo 3" showed what would happen, and did happen to the invaders....bad things.

"Rookie soldiers were ordered by their superiors to execute prisoners for their first kill"?
If true, who should be charged with war crimes?

The war crimes trials should be interesting.