All purpose news and politics thread part VI: This Is Not The Time For Posing

[CaptainEurope]

When we are born, we are not finished: we need the love and the care of our parents (and many others…) during a long time to become a person. So a fetus…

Still an origin must be etablished for the beginning of life… It’s a bit of arbitrary actually… What is usually considered is, I think, pragmatic.

Many Republicans argue "at inception."
How do they deal with identical twins, especially monoamniotic twins, who start out as one fetus and then become two, sometimes almost 2 weeks into the pregnancy? Do they share the same soul? Is there another soul waiting until the split and it enters one of the twins? Which one? How is that decided? Does a wizard do it?

[CaptainEurope]

100 Percent. And it is only a matter of time before another 6th happens. Or people are thinking "Well they got away with planning to kidnap a government official. Why cant I?"

And the texts send by Trump Jr already being explained away and forgiven.

Ironically, the texts were being discussed on CNN International just as I was reading your tweet. They seem to still be treating it as a big fucking deal. I think only your aunt Petunia is forgiving them.

[CaptainEurope]

53 people have already tested positive after the Gridiron Dinner super spreader event, including Nancy Pelosi and Merick Garland.

[babyblob]

Ironically, the texts were being discussed on CNN International just as I was reading your tweet. They seem to still be treating it as a big fucking deal. I think only your aunt Petunia is forgiving them.

Fox News is trying so hard to explain them away. When they even talk about them at all. They talked for a couple minutes about it. Did a "Shrug" those damn libs are at it again with the witch hunt and then went on to blaming Biden for high gas prices and Russia.

[CaptainEurope]

Fox News is trying so hard to explain them away. When they even talk about them at all. They talked for a couple minutes about it. Did a "Shrug" those damn libs are at it again with the witch hunt and then went on to blaming Biden for high gas prices and Russia.

FoxNews doing that is very "dog bites man", why even mention it?

[babyblob]

FoxNews doing that is very "dog bites man", why even mention it?

I mention it because it shows there is a major news network that has a large following that is spreading more misinformation and explain away and forgiving terrorism. I mention it because of how many people willingly buy into it. It is a major problem in this country and worth mentioning.

Cant just sit back and not point out when people are spreading lies and doing wrong. That has happened too often and we are all paying the price for it. Be it American politics or Russia or Covid and vaccine lies.

[JackDaw]

Many Republicans argue "at inception."
How do they deal with identical twins, especially monoamniotic twins, who start out as one fetus and then become two, sometimes almost 2 weeks into the pregnancy? Do they share the same soul? Is there another soul waiting until the split and it enters one of the twins? Which one? How is that decided? Does a wizard do it?

But isn’t it genuinely hard to decide beyond which point it becomes unacceptable to abort?

I’d assume practically anybody would have profound mis-givings at abortions after foetus is fairly well developed?

[Catlady in training]

When we are born, we are not finished: we need the love and the care of our parents (and many others…) during a long time to become a person. So a fetus…

Still an origin must be etablished for the beginning of life… It’s a bit of arbitrary actually… What is usually considered is, I think, pragmatic.

When it is capable to survive on its own, outside of the womb. Until then, it is taking part of the woman's body and she alone should be able to decide what to do about it.

[Johnathan]

But isn’t it genuinely hard to decide beyond which point it becomes unacceptable to abort?

I’d assume practically anybody would have profound mis-givings at abortions after foetus is fairly well developed?

Yes, I imagine that is a very tough decision. On the other hand though, why is it my decision? Or yours? Or anybody's decision besides the pregnant woman's?

That's the critical problem I have with the legislations against abortion rights. It's a medical procedure so doctors certainly should be involved in the regulation, but I can't see how my dumb ass or some equally dumb politician should have a say in it - or give anyone a say in it - that affects all women out there.

On top of this though is that it isn't just abortion. The same laws restricting abortion are being put into place by people, activists and groups that also want to restrict contraception and it is completely out of touch with reality. It reminds me of an anti-abortion bill a few years ago that required parental consent for a minor to obtain an abortion, but most abortions in teens occur because the parents basically force the girl to get the abortion. They're driving them to the clinic. It's neither pro-choice or pro-life.

Now, they want to enforce parental consent for teens to purchase contraceptives, but, again, it's usually the parents who are buying them for their kids. It's bizarrely stupid.

[JackDaw]

When it is capable to survive on its own, outside of the womb. Until then, it is taking part of the woman's body and she alone should be able to decide what to do about it.

That was effectively the choice made in the UK in the 1967 Act.

It has never been seriously challenged since, I think. (It’s 23 weeks and 6 days, there has been some suggestion of lowering that slightly as medical advances lower the age at which a premature baby would be expected to survive, but don’t think lowering it has ever looked likely.)

[Jack Dracula]

53 people have already tested positive after the Gridiron Dinner super spreader event, including Nancy Pelosi and Merick Garland.

Anthony Fauci was there as well.

[Catlady in training]

In related news, Ukrainian women and doctors are now desperately asking for emmergency contraception after the amount of rapes russian monsters commited. Volunteers in Czech republic are already collecting funds for medical workers to send them some (they are quite expensive). Sadly, the window is 3-5 days, I hope no &@@# will make obstructions to those who will need abortions - I hope those women don't flee to Poland.

[Catlady in training]

That was effectively the choice made in the UK in the 1967 Act.

It has never been seriously challenged since, I think. (It’s 23 weeks and 6 days, there has been some suggestion of lowering that slightly as medical advances lower the age at which a premature baby would be expected to survive, but don’t think lowering it has ever looked likely.)

That sounds fine. We have 12 weeks for abortion at the request of the woman and catholiban activists in the parliament are trying to challenge that and make it harder for women at least once per year, with the vote getting narrower and narrower against women each time.

[Mister Mets]

It does remind me of a case against supposed Islamic terrorists back when the "War on Terror" was hot and heavy. Some law enforcement agencies like the FBI or DEA, for example, have to be proactive to justify their existence and budgets, so they will sometimes (or often) manufacture criminals that they then catch and this leads to sloppy and unreliable police work - essentially tentatively "legal" forms of entrapment.

I don't think most people realize how active paid informants and undercover agents actually are in organizing, funding and committing the criminal acts that are then brought to court where they are the primary witness. Even after the Whitey Bulger scandal, it's not well-known, but many of these agencies can control the information released to the public as well.

https://www.thisamericanlife.org/755/the-convert

https://www.aclu.org/cases/fbi-v-fazaga

These are some good points.

There are several different impulses here.

Ideally, the principles people believe should be applied the same to everyone when it comes to things like FBI procedures.

Some people just aren't very thoughtful, and will be sympathetic in a few cases but not others. There may be some progressives who will look at one case, and feel that religious minorities have been tricked and will look at another that is similar and decide that white trash must be punished. There will be plenty on the right (and this is almost certainly a larger group) who will apply stricter standards to Muslim Americans than to white Christian men.

People do also change their minds, and it can be frustrating when the beneficiaries are white conservatives. Some people will be persuaded by the arguments that tactics used against Muslim terrorism suspects were sloppy, and apply the same principle to a current trial. Or there may be some differences in the situations. But it can also appear inconsistent when people who supported what is arguably entrapment in 2007 respond differently now. Is it because they've changed their minds, or is it because they're more sympathetic to one group of suspects than another? We can see similar arguments with the current discussions about drug sentencing. Are people sympathetic to white suspects persuaded by decades of arguments that drug addiction is a disease and not a crime, or are they more sympathetic to people within their community?

[Malvolio]

Anthony Fauci was there as well.

Was everyone there vaccinated? I would hope so.