All-purpose news and politics thread: Two Steps Beyond!

[Coin Biter]

Three-fourths of The Beatles made the list (John at #8, Paul at #19, George at #62, but no Ringo). Hell, Boy George made that list! Hilarious!

Addendum: JK Rowling made the list (#83) but not Ian Fleming? Bogus!



Did you know the US Navy named one of our warships after Churchill?

Ha, yes, JK Rowling. In fairness, she's sold a lot of copies - but if you have Rowling in there, you might as well have Agatha Christie, who's sold more books than practically anyone in the history of anything.

She does get beaten by Robbie Williams at 77, although my personal favourite entry has to be Guy Fawkes at 30.

I didn't know that about Churchill, but it doesn't surprise me. He is revered in a lot of places I guess, and loved the US - although much hated in many places as well, including with justice India and Ireland. I tend to think of Churchill as a man who got every political decision in his life spectacularly wrong, except one - the threat of Hitler. But in that case, of course, it was probably the most important thing to get right at the time.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

‘You Will Not Destroy America’: A Trump Battle Is No Longer One-Sided

Usually, top intelligence and law enforcement officials withdraw to lives of tight-lipped relative anonymity after their careers end. (Suffice it to say, they are not exactly known for viral Twitter battles.)

But as President Trump has voiced his grievances against the F.B.I. with a series of insult-laden tweets, his targets have responded nearly in kind, turning a conflict that would in the past have stayed behind closed doors into a brawl for all to see.

Throughout the weekend, the president attacked “lying James Comey,” the F.B.I. director he fired last year. He also celebrated the dismissal of Mr. Comey’s onetime deputy, Andrew G. McCabe, calling it on Friday “a great day for Democracy.”

Mr. Comey struck back on the president’s preferred digital soapbox. “Mr. President, the American people will hear my story very soon,” he wrote on Twitter on Saturday, in what was most likely a reference to his coming book. “And they can judge for themselves who is honorable and who is not.”

Mr. McCabe, through his lawyer, tweeted a similar message, though with a biting flourish. “We will not be responding to each childish, defamatory, disgusting & false tweet by the President,” said the lawyer, Michael R. Bromwich. “The whole truth will come out in due course.”

Other former officials who have been the subject of the president’s taunts have also had choice words for him on Twitter. John O. Brennan, a former C.I.A. director who now refers to himself as “a nonpartisan American who is very concerned about our collective future,” attacked the president’s character on Saturday.

“When the full extent of your venality, moral turpitude, and political corruption becomes known, you will take your rightful place as a disgraced demagogue in the dustbin of history,” wrote Mr. Brennan, whom Mr. Trump once called “one of the biggest liars and leakers in Washington.” “You may scapegoat Andy McCabe, but you will not destroy America...America will triumph over you.”

Throughout history, presidents have found themselves in private conflict with members of law enforcement and intelligence agencies. Bill Clinton clashed with Louis J. Freeh, who oversaw the F.B.I. during the Lewinsky scandal. Richard M. Nixon fired the independent special prosecutor in the “Saturday Night Massacre,” and his attorney general and deputy attorney general resigned in protest.

But those tense interactions, experts say, seem almost quaint compared to the public mudslinging unfolding now.

“We’ve never had anybody so blatantly go after a president before,” Gary J. Schmitt, a scholar at the American Enterprise Institute who was once an intelligence adviser to President Ronald Reagan, said in an interview. “It’s also unprecedented to have a president so overtly going after various intelligence officials.”

He added, “It’s a race to the bottom.”

[ZombieHavoc]

It just needs to be heavily regulated and forced to operate on certain standards that balances accessibility and confidentiality.

No way, then that will just lead to battles between the pro-cyber regulation side and the 13zth amendment crowd who think the Cylons are coming for their internet.

[ZombieHavoc]

Not that it makes much difference. The permanent damage is already done.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

Not that it makes much difference. The permanent damage is already done.

I would agree that the problem isn't Trump, it's the scores of people who voted for him and continue giving full throated support to his racism, xenophobia, misogyny, homophobia and generally wretched and disgusting behavior. Even after Trump leaves office (or, hopefully, is thrown out), those hateful, ignorant multitudes who threw in with him will still be here, eagerly awaiting the next demagogue who will continue dragging the country further down the gutter.

[Malvolio]

It just needs to be heavily regulated and forced to operate on certain standards that balances accessibility and confidentiality.

Then the problem becomes: how do you enforce the regulations?

[InformationGeek]

13 year old girl shot and killed by her 9 year old brother. Why? Because she wouldn't give up the video game controller.

I got nothing other than that gun should have been that easily accessed by that kid.

[Tami]

Scientists have established a link between brain damage and religious fundamentalism

Take of this what you will. It's just a striking headline.

A study published in the journal Neuropsychologia has shown that religious fundamentalism is, in part, the result of a functional impairment in a brain region known as the prefrontal cortex. The findings suggest that damage to particular areas of the prefrontal cortex indirectly promotes religious fundamentalism by diminishing cognitive flexibility and openness—a psychology term that describes a personality trait which involves dimensions like curiosity, creativity, and open-mindedness.

Religious beliefs can be thought of as socially transmitted mental representations that consist of supernatural events and entities assumed to be real. Religious beliefs differ from empirical beliefs, which are based on how the world appears to be and are updated as new evidence accumulates or when new theories with better predictive power emerge. On the other hand, religious beliefs are not usually updated in response to new evidence or scientific explanations, and are therefore strongly associated with conservatism. They are fixed and rigid, which helps promote predictability and coherence to the rules of society among individuals within the group.

Religious fundamentalism refers to an ideology that emphasizes traditional religious texts and rituals and discourages progressive thinking about religion and social issues. Fundamentalist groups generally oppose anything that questions or challenges their beliefs or way of life. For this reason, they are often aggressive towards anyone who does not share their specific set of supernatural beliefs, and towards science, as these things are seen as existential threats to their entire worldview.

Since religious beliefs play a massive role in driving and influencing human behavior throughout the world, it is important to understand the phenomenon of religious fundamentalism from a psychological and neurological perspective.

[Tami]

Then the problem becomes: how do you enforce the regulations?

The same way regulations are enforced to TV and Cable.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

13 year old girl shot and killed by her 9 year old brother. Why? Because she wouldn't give up the video game controller.

I got nothing other than that gun should have been that easily accessed by that kid.

Another horrific case of poor parenting if that kid was able to get his hands on a weapon that should've been locked away AND unloaded. Now his life is literally down the toilet, while he might avoid any sort of judicial punishment because of his age, the guilt over what he had done will wreck him, if not now, then years down the road. As for the parents, they had BETTER face charges over improper storage of that weapon.

[BeastieRunner]

Saw this on Facebook, something on a sign held by a teenager during last week's protest:

"They say the only way to stop a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun. But that just sounds like someone trying to sell TWO GUNS."

I like that. I'm going to start using it. Thanks!

He has one foot out the door, no?

Even the Grinch had his heart grow in the final act.

[BeastieRunner]

I'm a week early but here's my early pick for Cartoon of the Week:

[Kirby101]

13 year old girl shot and killed by her 9 year old brother. Why? Because she wouldn't give up the video game controller.

I got nothing other than that gun should have been that easily accessed by that kid.

I expect some Trumpster to claim that it shows Trump is right about video games.

[BeastieRunner]

This was a pretty good cartoon, too:

https://www.facebook.com/TheEconomis...56407298379060

[Jack Dracula]

I expect some Trumpster to claim that it shows Trump is right about video games.

Bill Orielly would claim this as "The price of freedom."