Thread for obviously newsworthy stuff

[Aeson]

Trump has turned "The Wall" into a political/ideological/moral issue. It isn't about border security. Trump wants HIS big beautiful monument to xenophobia. He wants an unmistakable acceptance of his derogatory (and statistically backwards) painting of immigrants.

It would be like if Obama had for years touted his desired border security upgrades as a way to keep out Christians and keep America Aethist. No one sane would want to sign onto that messaging, regardless of the utilitarian aspects of the upgrades.

[spambot]

Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) is questioning how terms such as "white nationalist" and "white supremacist" became offensive in the U.S.

“White nationalist, white supremacist, Western civilization — how did that language become offensive?” King asked in an interview with The New York Times published on Thursday. “Why did I sit in classes teaching me about the merits of our history and our civilization?”

King later on Thursday, responding to the Times article, said he is not a white nationalist or white supremacist.

"I want to make one thing abundantly clear; I reject those labels and the evil ideology that they define. Further, I condemn anyone that supports this evil and bigoted ideology which saw in its ultimate expression the systematic murder of 6 million innocent Jewish lives," he said in a statement.

"It's true that like the Founding Fathers I am an advocate for Western Civilization's values, and that I profoundly believe that America is the greatest tangible expression of these ideals the World has ever seen. Under any fair political definition, I am simply a Nationalist."


The comments came as part of an expansive report from the newspaper on King’s hard-line views on immigration and how they mirror much of what President Trump has pushed for during his presidency.

King, for example, once went on the House floor to showcase a 12-foot wall for the southern border that he designed, the Times notes.

Trump is now demanding $5.7 billion for a steel barrier along the U.S.-Mexico border to be included in a government spending bill, a campaign promise Democrats oppose.

The impasse has led to a partial government shutdown that is nearing its fourth week.

The Times notes that Trump invited King to the Oval Office early in his presidency. King told the newspaper that the president boasted of raising more for King’s campaigns than anyone else.

“Yes, Mr. President,” King replied. “But I market-tested your immigration policy for 14 years, and that ought to be worth something.”

King’s divisive comments about immigration have led to scrutiny in past years. He once tweeted that diversity is not America's strength.

In 2018, he also defended his association with a far-right Austrian group with links to the Nazi Party and hard-line views on immigration.

“If they were in America pushing the platform that they push, they would be Republicans,” King told The Washington Post last October.

His public comments led a number of corporations, such as AT&T and Intel, to announce last year they would not make campaign contributions to the congressman.

King dismissed his critics in November as "uninformed," saying, "if you attack someone and you don’t cite anything, you’re just a cannibal."

Despite making headlines right before the midterms, King beat the Democratic challenger by 3 points.

King, who has represented Iowa’s 4th Congressional District since 2013, told the Times that he did not consider himself a racist. He argued that his Twitter timeline showing him greeting Iowa residents of all backgrounds proves his argument.

He added that he supports legal immigrants fully assimilating because “the culture of America” matters more than race, according to the newspaper.

https://thehill.com/homenews/house/424688-steve-king-asks-how-terms-white-nationalist-and-white-supremacist-became

Maybe Trump's "big beautiful wall" will have some big beautiful swastikas.

[Aeson]

How did that symbol become offensive?

[Dinner]

https://thehill.com/homenews/media/424876-san-diego-tv-station-cnn-declined-our-local-view-because-of-reports-on-wall?amp

Fencing and physical barriers do indeed work at least in urban areas. They don't make much sense in rural areas though so a virtual fence made of sensors works better there. The best part about physical barriers is it can channel people into less hospitable areas thus discouraging would be illegal crossers and allows agents to be decreased in areas with physical barriers and increased in places without such barriers.

CNN didn't want to hear that though. After requesting the local view from a San Diego based station CNN declined to air the segment as the segment showed border patrol agents speaking positively about how physical barriers work.

Both Democrats and Republicans are being absolutely imbecilic on this topic. It is pretty obvious several people in this thread are also suffering from partisan brain rot just reading what nonsense they've posted.

[spambot]

Democrats already agreed to fund physical barriers near major cities like San Diego.... but don't let facts get in your way of being an enlightened centrist who is superior to both sides.

[Dinner]

Please stop being stupid. They voted to fund 36 miles.

That is it.

The reality is that will not cover a single urban area much less all the urban areas along the border. This is why we really do need people to become educated and stop pour partisan drivel into their heads pretending that is a substitute to real information.

I go out of my way to try to find multiple sources with different points of view. You should try to do the same because it result in a fuller picture with less of the partisan vitriol.

[spambot]

"36 miles" only because right wing propaganda told you that only "double layered fencing" counts as fencing and you went along with it. And you seem to be missing the point that Trump basically took the federal government and by extension the country hostage, giving a hostage taker half of what he initially demands isn't a "compromise". Giving him anything and letting him declare victory sets a terrible precedent.

[Dinner]

Spambot, you should learn what other people's positions are before you accuse them of something. Here is a hint: I wrote my position in this very thread and it looks nothing like what you just wrote. I already said a shut down is a stupid way to go about things.

That said, if both sides weren't run by "special" people this would be an easy fix. Just keep extending what Obama and Bush 2 already started. Trump is being a fool though and demanding nothing but an unending wall while Dems have gone full imbecile and now claim any border defense is "immoral". A plague on both their houses.

[Proteus_MST]

The creator of the GoFundMe campaign to collect 1B $ for Donnies wall hjas accepted his defeat and will return all of the money (20 Mio so far).
Guess someone told him that it isn't realistic to expect 1B to come together before Trump leaving office, if you just collect 20 Mio / month

No, I am joking ... they didn't accpet defeat but now claim that they (the citizens) are better able to build the wall than the government and now would like to use the 20 Mio as a starting capital of a non profit organisation in order to build a wall on their own ... smells fishy ... I guess the initiator of the gofundme-campaign and its friends (who found the corporation) will give themselves CEO positions with a high monthly salary (and hey, I couldn't even be mad at them, they just are abusing the natural stupidity of Trumpists, if they do )

https://www.gofundme.com/TheTrumpWall

[spambot]

Spambot, you should learn what other people's positions are before you accuse them of something. Here is a hint: I wrote my position in this very thread and it looks nothing like what you just wrote. I already said a shut down is a stupid way to go about things.

That said, if both sides weren't run by "special" people this would be an easy fix. Just keep extending what Obama and Bush 2 already started. Trump is being a fool though and demanding nothing but an unending wall while Dems have gone full imbecile and now claim any border defense is "immoral". A plague on both their houses.

You should learn what the Democrats' actual position is before you accuse them of something.

[Dinner]

Please learn what you are talking about.

[spambot]

You first

[spambot]

Undeterred by Critics, Ted Cruz’s Beard Grows On

On Thursday, Donald Trump traveled to the U.S.–Mexico border in Texas to continue to demand funds for a wall (as the federal government remained shut down). But during his appearance, it was hard for anyone to focus on what the president had to say — because all eyes were glued to one thing and one thing only: Ted Cruz’s beard, which is fuller than ever.
We first noticed the new facial hair back in November, when it cast a glaring shadow upon the face of the Texas senator newly dubbed “beautiful” by the president of the United States. By December, the beard had only intensified in size, causing the nation to worry that it will remain on his face for the foreseeable future. And as of its new appearance, we have to face facts: Ted Cruz’s beard is here to stay (at least, for now).

Understandably, a lot of people on social media have opinions on Cruz’s ever-increasing beard. Warning, at least one of the following will implant a mental image into your brain that may indelibly altar your mental state:

ted cruz looks like he’d fall out of a hot air balloon in a Jules Verne novel pic.twitter.com/kvpLXiS9MO

— Mike Drucker (@MikeDrucker) January 11, 2019

ted cruz's beard is slowly morphing into 19th century lamb chops pic.twitter.com/h3qL8Fk98t

— David Mack (@davidmackau) January 10, 2019

Ted Cruz's beard has entered "lazy signifier of a tertiary Star Trek race after they ran out of ideas" territory

— Nathan Bernhardt (@jonbernhardt) January 11, 2019

Ted Cruz's beard look like earwig pincers. pic.twitter.com/2RTsVFLtF3

— Yes, I Like Wine Mancino-Williams (@Manda_like_wine) January 11, 2019

Ted Cruz’s whiskers ticklin yo biscuit

— rob delaney (@robdelaney) January 11, 2019

ted cruz looks like the ******* in a western who sells the protagonist out bc he’s “got mouths to feed” pic.twitter.com/6Z2bzJbEtu

— KT Nelson (@KrangTNelson) January 11, 2019

Still, the reasons behind Cruz’s decision to grow a beard remain unclear — #NoShaveNovember has been over for a while. The senator recently tweeted out praise he allegedly received from a rabbi for his facial hair, so maybe he’s just showing off that he is able to grow hair on his face? As ever, he appears to be very pleased with himself over the development:

https://www.thecut.com/2019/01/ted-cruz-beard-texas-border-trump.html

[Proteus_MST]

Adam Schiff asks for his pay as congress member to be withheld until the government shutdown is over

https://twitter.com/RepAdamSchiff/st...67973361864704

(something that actually should be the norm in case of a shutdown ... that all congress members (and their employees) as well as everyone in the WH won't get paid during a shutdown ... why should they decide over the fate of thousands of governmental employees, without having to suffer the same consequences? )

[spambot]

Families of Sandy Hook shooting victims win legal victory in lawsuit against InfoWars, Alex Jones

Six families sued Alex Jones and InfoWars for defamation, among other claims.

Six families of victims killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School won a legal victory Friday in their fight against controversial radio and internet personality Alex Jones.

A judge in Connecticut has granted the families’ discovery requests, allowing them access to, among other things, Infowars’ internal marketing and financial documents.

(MORE: Remembering the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting victims)


The judge has scheduled a hearing next week to decide whether to allow the plaintiffs’ attorneys to depose Jones.

The plaintiffs include the parents of five children who went to the school as well as family members of first-grade teacher Victoria Leigh Soto and Principal Dawn Hochsprung, according to a statement from the plaintiff's attorneys.

According to the statement, the plaintiffs allege a "years-long campaign of abusive and outrageous false statements in which Jones and the other defendants have developed, amplified and perpetuated claims that the Sandy Hook massacre was staged and that the 26 families who lost loved ones that day are paid actors who faked their relative's deaths."
It goes on to say that "Jones' actions subjected the families and survivors of the Sandy Hook shooting to physical confrontations and harassment, death threats and personal attacks on social media."

"From the beginning, we have alleged that Alex Jones and his financial network trafficked in lies and hate in order to profit from the grief of Sandy Hook families. That is what we intend to prove, and today's ruling advances that effort," Chris Mattei, one of the attorneys representing the families, said in the statement. "We look forward to gaining access to Infowars' internal marketing and financial documents to show that Jones has built an empire as nothing more than a conspiracy profiteer, as alleged in our complaint."

Jones has sought to dismiss the lawsuit.

"Plaintiffs suffered a horrible tragedy," his defense attorney, Jay M. Wolman, wrote in a motion to dismiss the lawsuit. "Alex Jones and Infowars are not responsible for this tragedy. To punish them for First Amendment protected speech on this matter of public concern will not bring back the lives lost."

Wolman did not immediately respond to ABC News' requests for comment.

(MORE: Sandy Hook mom reflects on 'incredibly raw' grief ahead of 6th anniversary)


The judge’s ruling on discovery gives the plaintiffs access to any communication Jones had about the Newtown massacre and to documents that could point to the inner workings of Infowars.

https://abcnews.go.com/beta-story-container/US/families-sandy-hook-shooting-victims-win-legal-victory/story?id=60314174