ColoNoCoHusker

I am curious if Trump ignores SCOTUS' ruling. We already saw Immigration & Homeland security agencies at Dulles ignore the initial court order. Since 2008, Republican party has undertaken massive research to fight Judicial Supremacy and document the Constitutionality of the Executive ignoring judiciary rulings. I wonder if Trump's admin tests all that research here...

Maybe he'll poach interns from UNL's Phi Gamma Delta... /s

Seriously, that is nothing but asinine

Travel ban suspension upheld by US Appeals Court

http://www.cnbc.com/2017/02/09/appeals-court-to-issue-decision-on-trump-travel-ban-later-today.html

My first car was my mom's old car, a 1972 Plymouth Scamp with a 318 v8. It had cotter pins (we called them boat locks) on the front hood. Blinker signals were on the front corners of the car.

 

It was black and white and looked really similar to this car, but with a different front end and hub caps.

 

http://www.curbsideclassic.com/curbside-classics-american/curbside-classic-1972-plymouth-scamp-a-tasty-little-number/

 

I drove this car for a year until I rolled it in a ditch/field when I lost control going 80+ on gravel. Sold the engine for more than the car was worth, so that wasn't a terrible result, but I would rather have the car than the money.

And I really thought knap would post something like this...

The fact Trump filed re-election paperwork within 5 hours of being sworn-in is amazing. I did not realize he also started raising re-election funds and trademarking re-election slogans. His ego has no bounds...

There is speculation this was done to hamstring non-profits being able to criticize Trump...

https://twitter.com/resisterhood/status/825576323791847424

Funds raised
Re-election filing

Trademark slogan
2020 Campaign Committees

Germany's was really good. Australia's is pretty funny.

TIL, BRB has a sense of humor (in theory)...

I think they're playing us. Zero chance that "leak" wasn't intentional to make this a more palatable choice for liberals.

That was honestly my initial reaction. However, that would really be out of character for Trump's regime. Gorsuch's comments are also consistent with his views on the function of the judiciary vs executive branches.

It may calculated move by Gorsuch himself to stave off some of the damage Trump is doing to his confirmation. Gorsuch seems savvy enough to do something like that. It's a small mercy if he does see Trump for troll he is, tho... We'll find out if it's snow job within a couple months

We could take it back pretty far in our history, no doubt When the Monroe Doctrine was declared, freedom fighters like Simon Bolivar (George Washington of South America) were excited the US would help in their wars of independence. Instead, we slapped the yolk of economic imperialism around their necks and hung them out to dry. Non-US sources have very interesting views around this.

For the Mexican-American war, it was obviously a land grab. Reading Mexican/Spanish/South American contemporary sources, it was also viewed on their side as an anti-Catholic war (Protestant vs Catholic). This view was reinforced by the regiments of Catholic soldiers (mostly Irish) that defected from the US Army to fight on the side of the Mexicans.

Anyway, agree our history is very interesting...

I was really excited about Bullocks but the more read about Elliott, the more he seems like a great choice. Every reason to be positive right now...

I think, and I'm just going off of observation from society, based on news stories, etc...

 

People voted for Trump because they are angry. They are angry because

• The economy has been more down than up
• Many people have seen their jobs disappear, their hours get reduced, their pay gets cut, and they're having to work a lot longer to maintain the same lifestyle
• Elite, coastal liberals often talk down to people in "fly over country"
• Health care costs are still raging out of control
• A single medicine can cost someone 3,000+ a month or more, a lot more
• Traditional marriage folks think the "gay agenda" is destroying America
• Black Lives Matter

And on and on...

 

The people who are angry, are often justified and have reason to be angry. The problem is, most of them misplace that anger and scape-goat people who are literally blameless.

 

Because right, it's the Black Lives Matter, gay, transgender, immigrant, atheist who is taking hours away from you. It's that person who's shipping your job overseas. That's the individual who cut your pay to make more profits for himself.

 

People are angry and they voted for Trump because they just couldn't rationalize blaming the white privileged, billionaire class, and their rapacious greed, for their woes. So they blame people who have zero real power and vote for a corrupt fascist and despot because he stokes their inherent fears based on racism, homophobia, and religious bigotry.

I have no issue holding Trump supporters to task for their decision. I can certainly be overzealous in that endeavor. However, I think many supported Trump out of ignorance (willful or otherwise) or indifference as opposed to fear or malice.

In my experience, it is not the virulent racist/bigot that is the majority in the room. On any given civil/individual rights issue, the majority by far are people who are ignorant/indifferent to the situation. This applies to LGBTQ+, BLM, women's rights, etc. Most commonly this is due to lack of empathy, lack of belief, or lack visibility. In most cases, there's an opportunity to educate and get people to amend their views, even if slightly.

I think Occum's razor & Hanlon's razor apply to this situation in equal measure: "When faced with competing hypotheses, select the one that makes the fewest assumptions" and "Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by incompetence". I applaud, support, and share your indignation, btw. I think it's important to avoid painting too broadly as that will cost as much as not painting at all...

This is really picking up steam... Website with links to all the countries doing America First, Who wants to be 2nd videos...

http://www.everysecondcounts.eu/

Hilarious!

QFT

At some point people who are not materially affected by Trump/GOP policies have to realize that it's not just smile and go on for people whose lives are depending on the ACA, or on the U.S. affirming their basic humanity as immigrants, Muslims, refugees, LGBTQ, etc, etc.

If you can happily ignore the plight those people now have to face through sheer determination, more power to you -- but don't be surprised by the lack of plaudits for this stance.

I don't want to belabor the point but Zoogs is spot-on here. I have never been one to be happy at the expense of another nor turn a blind-eye to injustices suffered by my neighbors. Not everyone is like that. However, please understand that the price of freedom is not born solely by our men and women in uniform. There is a cost we all have to carry for our freedom and happiness and it is fast becoming an unpleasant burden for many in this country...

Call the Midwife has been a surprise. It's about a group of Nurse midwives working with Anglican Nun midwives in 1950s East-end London. This is the early days of the National Health Service (i.e. free healthcare), post-WWII rebuilding, and massive social change. My wife picked it and I was skeptical going into it; it starts off a little slow but it is very good. We are just getting into season 3 and season 6 just started in UK. Makes me want to read the memoirs on which it is based. We are streaming via PBS online subscription but also available on Amazon...

 

Thinking out loud here about the "bully" thing.

 

I don't get who the people are who think it's bad that we get along with the world and work with them. Why do we have to be a bad ass, domineering ally? It doesn't mean we're letting people walk over us or causing the "p*****ication" of America as idiots like to call it (whatever "it" is - it's an imaginary thing, just like Obama's so-called "apology tour").

 

It means we're being good neighbors. Why are we so obsessed with being uber-masculine?

You have to look back a few decades. Going back to WW2, we were the only 'intact' major democracy- all of Europe was rebuilding including England, Japan and the rest of the western Pacific was in shambles. Through the Marshall plan we began to rebuild Europe as we felt it was in our best interest to rebuild these countries and help democracy to once again gain a foothold - otherwise the Soviets would come in and turn them into satellite states like eastern Europe. With that came our duty to defend the rest of the world against communism wherever it raised its head - Korea, Vietnam, Central America, Cuba, etc. The great Military Industrial Complex rose in power within DC and it was a fierce animal to keep feeding. With the fall of the Soviet empire, we had to find a new villain to save the world from - and also justify the insatiable appetite of the MIC. Thus we have the Mideast wars. I think our country after WW2 felt the obligation to defend everything good in the world even if it meant war because no one else could. We were the big brother trying to keep the bullies out of the neighborhood. At times we probably acted like that same bully in an 'ends justifies the means' way. I think with globalization, modern communication and how we are all tied together more in more, we have to learn to relinquish some of that role, and trust others to help. Our budget cannot afford it any longer either. If you think of it, Trump has a great opportunity to do so - he says he wants no more wars like Iraq, he says he wants other to pay their fair share for their defense - now is the time to be inclusive. While he may be America First on trade, he could strike a more conciliatory tone by being more inclusive in foreign affairs and act like a partner instead of a policeman.

 

It started in earnest in 1904/05 with the Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine. It declared that the Western Hemisphere was closed to colonization by Europe powers, but the US had the responsibility to preserve peace & order in every Western Hemisphere country. However, our involvement was of the banana republic and canal zone variety. We demonstrated a total lack of concern for the populations involved.

Add into that the post-WWII rebuilding, Truman Doctrine, etc you outlined above and it really was a situation of forced bedfellows. Politically, it was embarrassing for many of the European powers to go from a Paternal position of power to that of a dependent within 50 years.

Yes, thank you very much for putting this together! Thought dudeguyy's post on voicing opposition to Bannon on Sec Council from another thread makes sense here...

http://www.huskerboard.com/index.php?/topic/81433-trumps-cabinet/page-13&do=findComment&comment=1814331

http://thehill.com/homenews/senate/317379-gop-senator-to-vote-no-on-betsy-devos

 

Two GOP senators to vote 'no' on Betsy Devos.

Word is that Deb Fischer is on the fence. I'm planning on giving her a call or two.

 

 

Just fired off an angry email myself. Planning on leaving her a couple of voicemails this weekend as well. And I just found out she has an office here in humble Kearney... may be swinging by and giving them a visit...

 

Also, I called and left the Senate Committee on Homeland Security a message asking them politely but firmly to remove Bannon from the NSC. I type up and email and fired off to every Republican on that Committee. I'd recommend doing so yourself if you have the time - apparently they're tallying the calls they receive in opposition to Bannon. Here's a story with all the contact info.

All of this may lead to nothing, but I refuse to just sit idly by while people like these get thrust into positions of power that affect all of us...

 

Small ray of sunshine in case anyone missed it...

LOMS - was just typing the same thing about kids but with grades

One of the things that is so dangerous right now is normalizing any of what Trump/WH/GOP are doing and how they are doing it. If Tapper wasn't as hard Dem's, it may have been that the Dem's weren't outright lying, intentionally spreading falsehoods, alienating the press, and actively working to rollback the previous 8 years (or more) of government. I can make the argument that GW was to conservatives as Obama was to liberals. There is no corollary with Trump in modern history.

Tapper is a typical political journalist. He asks the questions that need to be asked and will typically settle for the typical political answer. In that interview, the answers are anything but forthcoming and accurate and far from typical politi-speak. Tapper didn't have a choice to push for answers if he takes himself seriously.

A better thought experiment analogous to the current situation is are you more likely to burn your skin by getting into a bath of lukewarm water or by running into a burning building covered in jet fuel? Wouldn't one need to be more vigilant for the higher risk scenario if the goal is to avoid being burned?

EDIT: Moiraine answered while I was typing. Leaving this here for reasons.

So Trump says 3-5 million voted illegally, mainstream media is a bunch of liars, and now we've lost another protection against voter disenfranchisement.

 

If the GOP ever loses their grip and the shoe is on the other foot, they have no one to blame but themselves.

As long as we can still trust the integrity and accuracy of anything randomly posted on the internet, we should be just fine...

 

 

 

His vision for rural education is basically turning rural schools into cube farms of online education...

 

So, he basically wants kids to do school remotely, from home? I'm not sure I understand this.

 

 

Problem is "last mile telecom" in rural areas. But, the schools can have high speed fiber/satellite cost-effectively. So, send the kids school and do video conferencing/online education for all the classes. Have teacher aides in the classrooms instead of teachers, pack as many kids into the room as possible. His latest version is literally using cubicles & chrome books for education delivery for elementary school as if the kids would even sit still... This is the opposite of his approach for urban schools...

 

 

This is pretty much what I do for PT school on UNK's campus. Almost all of our classes are piped in from Omaha. Works pretty well for our purposes, for the most part.

 

Not sure if professional school and elementary school are real good comparisons, though.

 

I think it works really well for post-secondary education and specialized education before that (I took Japanese in middle school via satellite and it was great). Elementary is as much about socialization and building soft skills as it is building knowledge. I also think a lot of elementary and HS classes are better being physically interactive. I think online learning is a great way to bridge gaps for rural areas but I don't see it should be the sole/primary approach if that makes sense.

I was a huge fan of charter schools when they first started out here. Originally they were independent schools built by the community with streamlined focus. Over the last several years they have become a way to privatize education and avoid a lot of the regulations. They finally put some limits in place but for a while there charter schools were like starbucks (on every corner) in parts of the Denver metro. Now, a lot of the charter schools are part of a chain and it doesn't seem quite healthy.

 

His vision for rural education is basically turning rural schools into cube farms of online education...

 

So, he basically wants kids to do school remotely, from home? I'm not sure I understand this.

 

Problem is "last mile telecom" in rural areas. But, the schools can have high speed fiber/satellite cost-effectively. So, send the kids school and do video conferencing/online education for all the classes. Have teacher aides in the classrooms instead of teachers, pack as many kids into the room as possible. His latest version is literally using cubicles & chrome books for education delivery for elementary school as if the kids would even sit still... This is the opposite of his approach for urban schools...

Does this remind anyone else of Dave Matthews & Walbridge from Don't Mess with the Zohan???

Do the kids have to find new places to live?

When houses out here have lost their charters, the members were usually allowed to stay until the end of the lease on the building or until they graduate if owned by the chapter. Since it is an interim suspension, they are fine until end of the semester at least.

 

 

Wouldn't a voucher fund necessarily draw funds away from the general education fund, meaning less money for public schools? Who is that going to impact more, rural or urban schools? I have to think rural, since their budgets are necessarily smaller, with less "wiggle" room.

Well, take my scenario to a (very) possible endgame: schools are the lifeblood of small towns. If rural schools and school districts are forced to consolidate due to students going to charter schools, those small rural towns become smaller and smaller until they disappear.

 

BUT ... if the small towns disappear into urban areas then everybody becomes liberal snowflakes and we never again see the likes of Trump. Ironic?

 

Corporations will be given one vote per share of common stock to offset the imbalance...