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  1. #14116
    Old school comic book fan WestPhillyPunisher's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by aja_christopher View Post
    Another of Mets' proverbial "slippery slopes" that only seems to be an issue when it comes to Democratic initiatives.

    ------
    "DOJ Wants to Suspend Certain Constitutional Rights During Coronavirus Emergency"

    "The Trump Department of Justice has asked Congress to craft legislation allowing chief judges to indefinitely hold people without trial and suspend other constitutionally-protected rights during coronavirus and other emergencies, according to a report by Politico’s Betsy Woodruff Swan. While the asks from the Department of Justice will likely not come to fruition with a Democratically-controlled House of Representatives, they demonstrate how much this White House has a frightening disregard for rights enumerated in the Constitution.

    The DOJ has requested Congress allow any chief judge of a district court to pause court proceedings “whenever the district court is fully or partially closed by virtue of any natural disaster, civil disobedience, or other emergency situation,” according to draft language obtained by Politico. This would be applicable to “any statutes or rules of procedure otherwise affecting pre-arrest, post-arrest, pre-trial, trial, and post-trial procedures in criminal and juvenile proceedings and all civil processes and proceedings.”

    They justify this by saying currently judges can pause judicial proceedings in an emergency but that new legislation would allow them to apply it “in a consistent manner.”

    But the Constitution grants citizens habeas corpus which gives arrestees the right to appear in front of a judge and ask to be released before trial. Enacting legislation like the DOJ wants would essentially suspend habeas corpus indefinitely until the emergency ended. Further, DOJ asked Congress to suspend the statute of limitations on criminal investigations and civil proceedings during the emergency until a year after it ended.

    Norman L. Reimer, executive director of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, told Politico the measure was “terrifying,” saying, “Not only would it be a violation of [habeas corpus], but it says ‘affecting pre-arrest.’ So that means you could be arrested and never brought before a judge until they decide that the emergency or the civil disobedience is over. I find it absolutely terrifying. Especially in a time of emergency, we should be very careful about granting new powers to the government.”

    “That is something that should not happen in a democracy,” he added.

    DOJ also asked Congress to amend the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure to have defendants appear at a hearing via videoconference instead of in-person, but only with the defendant’s consent. But it’s not just Americans’ rights the DOJ wants to violate. They also asked Congress to pass a law saying that immigrants who test positive for COVID-19 cannot qualify as asylum seekers

    As coronavirus spreads through the country, activists are calling on politicians in office to release prisoners and immigrants held in detention centers, both of which can be a hotbed of virus activity with so many people in close quarters and limited or non-existent supplies of soap, sanitizer, and protective equipment. Some states have already begun to do so.

    But with this, the Trump administration is taking steps to hold more people in prisons for an undetermined amount of time — showing their priority is not saving lives but giving themselves more power."

    https://www.rollingstone.com/politic...avirus-970935/
    With prisons likely to become a fertile breeding ground for COVID-19, let’s keep them packed to the rafters. The cruelty of the Trump White House, and the Republican Party that constantly turns a blind eye to same is beyond maddening.
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  2. #14117
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    Quote Originally Posted by WestPhillyPunisher View Post
    With prisons likely to become a fertile breeding ground for COVID-19, let’s keep them packed to the rafters. The cruelty of the Trump White House, and the Republican Party that constantly turns a blind eye to same is beyond maddening.
    People might die in our prisons and camps but at least we don't have those non-existent "open borders" Republicans keep complaining about.

    You're absolutely right about the cruelty of Republicans -- currently embodied by Trump -- but in many ways what is worse is their denial of their complicity in allowing this to happen.

    Those who don't learn from their mistakes will continue to repeat them.
    Last edited by aja_christopher; 03-22-2020 at 07:53 AM.

  3. #14118
    Ultimate Member Mister Mets's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by aja_christopher View Post
    None of that answers my question regarding what "specific" items Republcans need when they cut education budgets and increase military spending.
    In general, spending should be cut. If it's determined that money is being spent inefficiently by the federal government, it should be cut even if there's nothing else to spend it on immediately (with an aging population and Medicare, there will always be something to spend it on.)

    As for military spending, there are going to be arguments for everything that we're spending money on. I'm sure there's someone to defend spending $12.2 billion for a total of 90 F-35 Joint Strike Fighters. You can argue about military spending with someone who thinks military spending should be increased. Congressional Republicans and Democrats do. I am not convinced.
    Sincerely,
    Thomas Mets

  4. #14119
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    Quote Originally Posted by Mister Mets View Post
    In general, spending should be cut. If it's determined that money is being spent inefficiently by the federal government, it should be cut even if there's nothing else to spend it on immediately (with an aging population and Medicare, there will always be something to spend it on.)

    As for military spending, there are going to be arguments for everything that we're spending money on. I'm sure there's someone to defend spending $12.2 billion for a total of 90 F-35 Joint Strike Fighters. You can argue about military spending with someone who thinks military spending should be increased. Congressional Republicans and Democrats do. I am not convinced.
    The Republican party isn't being "efficient" with regards the military spending and doesn't know whether a substantial increase in funding for schools would lead to better results because they are constantly cutting or blocking increases in the education budget.

    Even when spending does lead to success, Republicans still will try to cut the education budget.

    Meanwhile they constantly vote to increase military spending even when the military itself says they don't the funding.

    This comes back to the fact that often what you say on these boards is not how your party (Trump, McConnell and DeVos) behaves in reality.
    Last edited by aja_christopher; 03-22-2020 at 08:15 AM.

  5. #14120
    I am invenitable Jack Dracula's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by WestPhillyPunisher View Post
    How long before cases of chloroquine poisoning turn up in the States? I fear it’s only a matter of time.
    Our local Sinclair-owned station showed an entire segment on the 6:00 news about how promising chloroquine is supposedly proving to be.
    It points out the danger of allowing companies with an overt political bias to own and control large numbers of smaller media outlets.
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  6. #14121
    Ultimate Member Gray Lensman's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Mister Mets View Post
    Gamestop's been doing terrible stuff here.

    Corporate gave instructions to resist police orders to close down because they considered themselves "essential retail."

    https://kotaku.com/gamestop-we-can-s...wer-1842415962

    I'll note they did close earlier today.

    The Gamestop situation does show a failing of the free market, because the incentives of the people in charge were terrible.

    One person who worked at Gamestop wrote online that sales had been awesome during the early stages of the Coronavirus concerns, because you had a lot of people looking for entertainment for when they're shut-in.

    Gamestop's financial situation has been terrible. No one wants to buy it.

    https://www.washingtonpost.com/busin...-search-buyer/

    So the incentives are to make as much money in the short-term as possible. The people in charge don't care about hurting the image of the brand in the long-term because they probably don't think the company has any future.

    This has led to the store remaining open way too long during a pandemic attracting crowds at a time when the workers were told to bring in their own cleaning supplies.
    A friend of mine told me that when he worked for Hills they had to evacuate over a fire elsewhere in the mall, and the employees were told from corporate to reopen or be fired. That standoff ended when the fire chief asked the police chief for a favor, which consisted of calling the police chief where the home office was and gettinb him to send officers in to arrest the CEO. Corporate backed down at that point, and I think that's what should have been done to Gamestop. Arrest whoever made that decision, and because I am feeling vindictive, let them no there won't be a bail hearing since the courts are shut down - your money can't help you today.
    Dark does not mean deep.

  7. #14122
    Invincible Jersey Ninja Tami's Avatar
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    A message from me and my dad, @Melbrooks.
    Twitter Link with Video
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  8. #14123
    I am invenitable Jack Dracula's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Mister Mets View Post

    I do agree that there's no perfect system, but that doesn't mean we should money at the problem to get slight improvements (if that even occurs.)

    The achievement gap is a major problem, but it's not limited by race. Rural white districts have much educational outcomes than suburban white districts.

    And if we're comparing white people to minority groups, Asian Americans have much higher educational outcomes.
    As I said: "depending who you ask".
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  9. #14124
    I am invenitable Jack Dracula's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by PaulBullion View Post
    So Zagreb (capital of Croatia) just had an earthquake. On the weekend their lockdown went into effect.

    So now people are out in the streets, terrified and huddling in groups.

    2020 is sure a year like no other in my lifetime so far.
    Hopefully it'll get much better in November.

    Quote Originally Posted by Gray Lensman View Post
    As someone who grew up poor and white (my parents left the working class behind shortly before I moved out but most of my childhood was spent rather poor) my early thoughts on the words 'white privilege' were always 'when do I get to have some of this so-called privilege'. It wasn't until I lived on my own for a while that I saw and realized that white privilege is largely about what doesn't happen to you as opposed to what you have, and I bet I'm not the only one to have made that error - many people still make it.
    I've worked for a company where I personally witnessed potential hires being rejected because of their race. The white people who were hired had no idea they had a leg up and so were oblivious to their own privilege.

    I immediately started looking for another job and eventually got out of there.
    Last edited by Jack Dracula; 03-22-2020 at 09:38 AM.
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  10. #14125
    Invincible Jersey Ninja Tami's Avatar
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    North Korea says it received a letter from Trump

    You are not going to believe this....or maybe you will

    (CNN)North Korea said President Donald Trump sent Kim Jong Un a personal letter in which he expressed his willingness to help with "anti-epidemic work," according to the state-run Korean Central News Agency early Sunday."
    In the letter, Trump "explained his plan to propel the relations between the two countries of the DPRK and the U.S. and expressed his intent to render cooperation in the anti-epidemic work, saying that he was impressed by the efforts made by the Chairman to defend his people from the serious threat of the epidemic," according to a statement from Kim Yo Jong, Kim's younger sister and first vice department director for WPK Central Committee, as reported by KCNA.

    She also praised Trump's move as "good judgment and proper action" toward retaining a good relationship with the hermit nation at a time with what she referred to as "big difficulties and challenges."

    "We regard it as a good judgment and proper action for the U.S. president to make efforts to keep the good relations he had with our Chairman by sending a personal letter again at a time as now when big difficulties and challenges lie in the way of developing the bilateral relations, and think that this should be highly estimated," she said.

    CNN has reached out to both the White House and National Security Council for comment.
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  11. #14126
    Ultimate Member Tendrin's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by aja_christopher View Post
    The Republican party isn't being "efficient" with regards the military spending and doesn't know whether a substantial increase in funding for schools would lead to better results because they are constantly cutting or blocking increases in the education budget.

    Even when spending does lead to success, Republicans still will try to cut the education budget.

    Meanwhile they constantly vote to increase military spending even when the military itself says they don't the funding.

    This comes back to the fact that often what you say on these boards is not how your party (Trump, McConnell and DeVos) behaves in reality.
    To say nothing of the reality that a great many agencies doing federal work are unable to do their jobs effectively due to having been starved of necessary funding for years.

  12. #14127
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    Quote Originally Posted by Tendrin View Post
    To say nothing of the reality that a great many agencies doing federal work are unable to do their jobs effectively due to having been starved of necessary funding for years.
    Even if the virus doesn't spread to the level we see in Italy, the irresponsible nature of Republican leadership hasn't helped at all.

    https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/us/

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    "Trump administration budget cuts could become a major problem as coronavirus spreads"

    "The Trump administration recently requested $2.5 billion in emergency funds to prepare the U.S. for a possible widespread outbreak of coronavirus. Critics, though, are pointing out that money might not be necessary if the administration hadn’t spent the past two years largely dismantling government units that were designed to protect against pandemics.

    The cuts started in 2018, as the White House focused on eliminating funding to Obama-era disease security programs. In March of that year, Rear Adm. Timothy Ziemer, whose job it was to lead the U.S. response in the event of a pandemic, abruptly left the administration and his global health security team was disbanded.

    That same year, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) was forced to slash its efforts to prevent global disease outbreak by 80% as its funding for the program began to run out. The agency, at the time, opted to focus on 10 priority countries and scale back in others, including China.

    Also cut was the Complex Crises Fund, a $30 million emergency response pool that was at the secretary of state’s disposal to deploy disease experts and others in the event of a crisis. (The fund was created by former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.)

    Overall in 2018, Trump called for $15 billion in reduced health spending that had previously been approved, as he looked at increasing budget deficits, cutting the global disease-fighting budgets of the CDC, National Security Council (NSC), Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and Health and Human Services (HHS) in the process.

    The effects of those cuts are being felt today. While the CDC announced plans to test people with flu-like symptoms for COVID-19, those have been delayed and only three of the country’s 100 public-health labs have been able to test for coronavirus. The administration’s request for additional funding came roughly two weeks after officials said HHS was almost out of funding for its response to the virus..."

    https://fortune.com/2020/02/26/coron...cuts-us-trump/

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    "Trump budget chief holds firm on CDC cuts amid virus outbreak"

    "Russ Vought, the acting director of the White House Office of Management and Budget, on Tuesday doubled down on proposed cuts to health services and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), despite the coronavirus outbreak.

    Vought came under intense questioning from Rep. Matt Cartwright (D-Pa.) at a hearing about President Trump’s 2021 budget request. It proposed cutting Health and Human Services funding by $9.5 billion, including a 15 percent cut of $1.2 billion to the CDC and a $35 million decrease to the Infectious Diseases Rapid Response Reserve Fund's annual contribution.

    “The question I have is, are we prepared to fight pandemics if we cut from programs that are specifically designed to prepare for them, including the coronavirus?” Cartwright asked.

    Vought responded by saying Trump signed into law the $8.3 billion emergency supplemental package Congress approved last week.

    That funding, a significant increase over the $2.5 billion emergency request the White House sent over, would be spread out over several years. The funding in question at the hearing was for next year's spending. Cartwright pressed Vought as to whether he would amend the request.

    “The question is today, as we sit here and we know about coronavirus and the impact it’s taking on the people of the world and the economies of the world and the stock market and everything, as you sit here today, are you ready to take that back?” he pressed.

    Vought confirmed that the administration was sticking to its request."

    https://thehill.com/policy/finance/4...virus-outbreak

    ----

    They later reversed this choice but the damage is already done.
    Last edited by aja_christopher; 03-22-2020 at 09:59 AM.

  13. #14128
    I am invenitable Jack Dracula's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Mister Mets View Post
    If someone defends excess military spending, by all means argue with them.

    On education, there is the obvious note that different regions will have different needs and opportunities. The high population density in many cities allows for specialized schools, which isn't going to work in rural areas where there's one school a reasonable distance away. Cities will have more access to museums for field trips. Rural areas may have more access to nature. The cost of living will be lower in rural areas, but material may be harder to obtain.

    When it comes to the military and education, we should look for solutions that don't involve spending more money before asking for more money. If we're determining that money is necessary, we should be asking for it for specific items.

    For education, what specifically should we be spending money on? You've said that you'd like to see teacher salaries (and presumably benefits) increase. What else?
    I have to say, it surprises me that as a teacher yourself, you need someone else to explain to you the benefits of increased funding to education. I'd also imagine you'd have a pretty good idea of where the money should be spent.
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  14. #14129
    Astonishing Member Darkspellmaster's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Tami View Post
    North Korea says it received a letter from Trump

    You are not going to believe this....or maybe you will
    What, is he hoping Kim will let him hunker down in a bunker by him?

  15. #14130
    Astonishing Member Darkspellmaster's Avatar
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    Question about privilege here. So at my community college the school promotes itself as a majorly Hispanic serving institution. However when it comes to jobs were supposed to be diversified. Yet, more recently the school has been hiring teachers that are only Hispanic over other POC teachers and teachs that are LGBTQ+, and in a lot of cases either the person they hire are unqualified (does not have a proper degree to teach the class) or is related to one of the higher administrative employees or board members.

    A coworker of mine, also Hispanic, was telling me that she's wondering if the whole situation is falling under an issue of privilege. She was on a committee for picking an English teacher and the best qualified was a black teacher that used to teach at UIC, but the administration told them to pick a young lady who is Hispanic and only has a BA in English, and you need a Masters to teach this course. The reason He said to pick her was because He felt that they need teachers that look like the students to fully engage with them. She's worried that by not having a diverse enough teaching staff students won't be exposed to different types of people and it will make it harder for them to deal with non Hispanic people who are above them at work. Also she pointed out that there are a number of black and now middle eastern students who may want to see teachers like them too. Also this new English teacher they hired seems to be giving the Hispanic students an easier time than the non Hispanic students.

    So I'm curious if you can have privilege for non white people if the majority of a community is non white?

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