Politics And Current Events

Freddy Rumsen
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Postby Freddy Rumsen » Wed Sep 19, 2018 10:31 pm

I think most of us can also agree that the politicians charged with treating her case and receiving her information have handled this about as bad as humanly possible.
Almost immediately after receiving the letter, Feinstein aides went to the Ethics Committee to see if the Judiciary Committee could engage an independent third party to investigate the claims. She was referred to the Rules Committee, who told her she'd have to get approval from the chairs of Ethics, Rules, and Judiciary, which would've exploded her constituent's desire for confidentiality. With no assurance that Dr Ford would come forward, there really wasn't anything else she could do.
Ok

grunthy
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Postby grunthy » Wed Sep 19, 2018 11:00 pm

I think most of us can also agree that the politicians charged with treating her case and receiving her information have handled this about as bad as humanly possible.
Almost immediately after receiving the letter, Feinstein aides went to the Ethics Committee to see if the Judiciary Committee could engage an independent third party to investigate the claims. She was referred to the Rules Committee, who told her she'd have to get approval from the chairs of Ethics, Rules, and Judiciary, which would've exploded her constituent's desire for confidentiality. With no assurance that Dr Ford would come forward, there really wasn't anything else she could do.

Source?

Tomas
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Postby Tomas » Wed Sep 19, 2018 11:06 pm

This is a disturbing story. Researcher at Brown University puts out a paper on her research on “rapid-onset gender dysphoria,” which suggests that some young people may be seeking gender transition to escape other emotional difficulties. [1] Trans activists start complaining, and Brown pulls the press release for the paper and issues a statement that is basically throws the researcher under the bus because the study’s conclusions “could be used to discredit efforts to support transgender youth and invalidate the perspectives of members of the transgender community.” [2] A backlash against Brown from other members of the scientific community then ensues. [3]

Brown, IMO, deserves the backlash for its shameful intellectual cowardice. It would be one thing to accuse the paper of flawed methodology or other systemic problems, and indeed some of those claims have been made. It is perfectly acceptable to question the methodology of a study. But for Brown to grovel because the paper might “invalidate” someone’s “perspective” is just a fancy way of saying that it might hurt someone’s feelings, and feelings do not and should not override or sidetrack the pursuit of truth and the advancement of science.

[1] https://journals.plos.org/plosone/artic ... ne.0202330
[2] https://news.brown.edu/articles/2018/08/gender
[3] http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2018/08/ ... r-identity
Today at my PhD seminar, we went over the following paper: it shows that if a company is headquartered in a county with higher levels of "social capital" (measured by factors like voting and Census participation, number of non-profit, religious, civic, business, professional, labor, etc. organizations, number of bowling centers, fitness clubs, golf courses, and other sports clubs...), then this company is able to receive more favorable debt contracts from their banks (lower interest rates, less restrictions). The general idea is that counties with such great social capital facilitate "good behavior" on the part of the borrowing firms. So lenders do not have to spend that many resources on monitoring the borrowers - because operating in the environment with high social capitals makes firms voluntarily adhere to good behavior.

Bear in mind that the paper was not published in the "journal of fluff", but in one of the top finance journals (where a publication likely generates at least $100K in extra lifetime earnings for the authors).

Now, in order to tackle many alternative explanations for the observed correlation of "great county" and "favorable conditions", the authors had to show that their results hold when utilizing so-called "Instumental Variable Analysis". When running it, the authors had to identify variables that are strong predictors of those great "high social capital counties" (and yet are likely unrelated first order to loan contracting). And the paper found the two very strong predictors of a "great county" as: (1) the geographic distance from the Canadian border (in other words - North is much more "social" than South) and (2) ethnic homogeneity of the county.

Nobody has ever protested, the paper thrives and gets many citations since getting published....

MWB
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Postby MWB » Wed Sep 19, 2018 11:33 pm

I think most of us can also agree that the politicians charged with treating her case and receiving her information have handled this about as bad as humanly possible.
Almost immediately after receiving the letter, Feinstein aides went to the Ethics Committee to see if the Judiciary Committee could engage an independent third party to investigate the claims. She was referred to the Rules Committee, who told her she'd have to get approval from the chairs of Ethics, Rules, and Judiciary, which would've exploded her constituent's desire for confidentiality. With no assurance that Dr Ford would come forward, there really wasn't anything else she could do.

Source?
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.washin ... story.html
Feinstein said she sought to honor Ford’s request for privacy, and Ford’s attorney Debra Katz said she believes Feinstein did that. On Tuesday, Feinstein said she explored ways to discreetly investigate the accusation.

“We were looking for a way to get it investigated by an outside investigator,” she told reporters. Her spokesman, Tom Mentzer, said her staff spoke with the Ethics Committee about whether the Judiciary Committee could hire an independent, outside counsel to assist an unnamed individual.

Officials advised the aides that the Senate Rules Committee would have to approve such a request, Mentzer said, which would have meant alerting leading Republican senators and therefore running afoul of Ford’s request to remain confidential.

Kaiser
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Postby Kaiser » Wed Sep 19, 2018 11:38 pm

Killary "weighed in" on this rapestravaganza, but I scrolled the f*** out of that headline.

Auto type take it away

I think Burverly is a decent name

Troy Loney
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Postby Troy Loney » Thu Sep 20, 2018 6:32 am

[quote=nobody post_id=607069 time=<a href="tel:1537412424">1537412424</a> user_id=149]
[quote=tifosi77 post_id=607056 time=<a href="tel:1537408081">1537408081</a> user_id=63]
[quote="Freddy Rumsen" post_id=606974 time=<a href="tel:1537390982">1537390982</a> user_id=56]
I think most of us can also agree that the politicians charged with treating her case and receiving her information have handled this about as bad as humanly possible.
Almost immediately after receiving the letter, Feinstein aides went to the Ethics Committee to see if the Judiciary Committee could engage an independent third party to investigate the claims. She was referred to the Rules Committee, who told her she'd have to get approval from the chairs of Ethics, Rules, and Judiciary, which would've exploded her constituent's desire for confidentiality. With no assurance that Dr Ford would come forward, there really wasn't anything else she could do.
[/quote]


Source?
[/quote]

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.washin ... story.html
Feinstein said she sought to honor Ford’s request for privacy, and Ford’s attorney Debra Katz said she believes Feinstein did that. On Tuesday, Feinstein said she explored ways to discreetly investigate the accusation.

“We were looking for a way to get it investigated by an outside investigator,” she told reporters. Her spokesman, Tom Mentzer, said her staff spoke with the Ethics Committee about whether the Judiciary Committee could hire an independent, outside counsel to assist an unnamed individual.

Officials advised the aides that the Senate Rules Committee would have to approve such a request, Mentzer said, which would have meant alerting leading Republican senators and therefore running afoul of Ford’s request to remain confidential.
[/quote]

The obvious inclination to lay accusations against Feinstein are clearly without merit. So reading this, the initial fault resides with the committee leadership for not responding, which set the Democrats up for their push to make this public when they did. There is no denying the political motivation behind the push for making the accusation public, but again, expecting politicians to not be politicians is naive.

Freddy Rumsen
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Postby Freddy Rumsen » Thu Sep 20, 2018 7:11 am

It is pretty hilarious watching this retconning and re-imagining Feinstein's bumbling and idiocy as some white knight exercise in truth, justice, and the American way.

Bravo! :lol:

MWB
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Postby MWB » Thu Sep 20, 2018 8:22 am

It is pretty hilarious watching this retconning and re-imagining Feinstein's bumbling and idiocy as some white knight exercise in truth, justice, and the American way.

Bravo! :lol:
Assuming what we know is taken at face value (she received the letter and was told to maintain confidentiality by the accuser), what would you have done? I’m really not sure what I would have done, but what is stated in the article seems appropriate (again, if true, which it certainly may not be).

There’s obviously possible political motivations in everything that’s involved with this, but I don’t know that every detail is based on politics. Possibly? Sure.

grunthy
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Postby grunthy » Thu Sep 20, 2018 8:41 am

I think most of us can also agree that the politicians charged with treating her case and receiving her information have handled this about as bad as humanly possible.
Almost immediately after receiving the letter, Feinstein aides went to the Ethics Committee to see if the Judiciary Committee could engage an independent third party to investigate the claims. She was referred to the Rules Committee, who told her she'd have to get approval from the chairs of Ethics, Rules, and Judiciary, which would've exploded her constituent's desire for confidentiality. With no assurance that Dr Ford would come forward, there really wasn't anything else she could do.

Source?
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.washin ... story.html
Feinstein said she sought to honor Ford’s request for privacy, and Ford’s attorney Debra Katz said she believes Feinstein did that. On Tuesday, Feinstein said she explored ways to discreetly investigate the accusation.

“We were looking for a way to get it investigated by an outside investigator,” she told reporters. Her spokesman, Tom Mentzer, said her staff spoke with the Ethics Committee about whether the Judiciary Committee could hire an independent, outside counsel to assist an unnamed individual.

Officials advised the aides that the Senate Rules Committee would have to approve such a request, Mentzer said, which would have meant alerting leading Republican senators and therefore running afoul of Ford’s request to remain confidential.

Yeah that makes no mention they said what the letter contained, just that they went to the ethics committee ask about procedure in helping investigate something. It is obvious they didn’t say investigate what. So this is worthless in helping absolve Feinstein for her conduct.

Factorial
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Postby Factorial » Thu Sep 20, 2018 8:43 am

GOP and DEM fanboys always believe the worst of the other side. News at 11.

tifosi77
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Postby tifosi77 » Thu Sep 20, 2018 11:07 am

I think most of us can also agree that the politicians charged with treating her case and receiving her information have handled this about as bad as humanly possible.
Almost immediately after receiving the letter, Feinstein aides went to the Ethics Committee to see if the Judiciary Committee could engage an independent third party to investigate the claims. She was referred to the Rules Committee, who told her she'd have to get approval from the chairs of Ethics, Rules, and Judiciary, which would've exploded her constituent's desire for confidentiality. With no assurance that Dr Ford would come forward, there really wasn't anything else she could do.

Source?
‘Why didn’t she bring it up?’: Feinstein under scrutiny for handling of allegations against Kavanaugh
Feinstein said she sought to honor Ford’s request for privacy, and Ford’s attorney Debra Katz said she believes Feinstein did that. On Tuesday, Feinstein said she explored ways to discreetly investigate the accusation.

“We were looking for a way to get it investigated by an outside investigator,” she told reporters. Her spokesman, Tom Mentzer, said her staff spoke with the Ethics Committee about whether the Judiciary Committee could hire an independent, outside counsel to assist an unnamed individual.

Officials advised the aides that the Senate Rules Committee would have to approve such a request, Mentzer said, which would have meant alerting leading Republican senators and therefore running afoul of Ford’s request to remain confidential.

“I did not know whether this woman would come forward or not,” Feinstein said.

tifosi77
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Postby tifosi77 » Thu Sep 20, 2018 11:18 am

It is pretty hilarious watching this retconning and re-imagining Feinstein's bumbling and idiocy as some white knight exercise in truth, justice, and the American way.
What would you have done

grunthy
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Postby grunthy » Thu Sep 20, 2018 11:23 am

It is pretty hilarious watching this retconning and re-imagining Feinstein's bumbling and idiocy as some white knight exercise in truth, justice, and the American way.
What would you have done
Reported it in one of the closed door classified sessions. You known something is the logical non-sleazy way of doing it while still protecting her identity.

If it was done that way the investigation would already be over. But they wanted to release it at the most “advantageous” time.

tifosi77
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Postby tifosi77 » Thu Sep 20, 2018 11:29 am

So you advocate, "Hey y'all.... *hush hush* I have a letter from a constituent, who does not want to be named and who I do not think will voluntarily come forward, that accuses the nominee of a sexual assault three decades ago when he was a minor. I haven't vetted the claims at all, and I have no idea who this person is, but Rep Eshoo speaks highly of her. I mean, you know, FYI."

To me, that honestly seems much more irresponsible and more akin to character assassination.

She sought independent verification prior to introducing it to the committee. When that wasn't possible without compromising the accuser's ID, she sat on it. Then the Intercept published its story, and so she moved forward. That's not white knighting, that's scraping the mold off of hard cheese.

grunthy
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Postby grunthy » Thu Sep 20, 2018 12:18 pm

So you advocate, "Hey y'all.... *hush hush* I have a letter from a constituent, who does not want to be named and who I do not think will voluntarily come forward, that accuses the nominee of a sexual assault three decades ago when he was a minor. I haven't vetted the claims at all, and I have no idea who this person is, but Rep Eshoo speaks highly of her. I mean, you know, FYI."

To me, that honestly seems much more irresponsible and more akin to character assassination.

She sought independent verification prior to introducing it to the committee. When that wasn't possible without compromising the accuser's ID, she sat on it. Then the Intercept published its story, and so she moved forward. That's not white knighting, that's scraping the mold off of hard cheese.
Blah blah blah. My party can do no wrong. They would never do political hit jobs.

tifosi77
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Postby tifosi77 » Thu Sep 20, 2018 12:31 pm

I am not a Democrat and find them to be quite useless.

MR25
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Postby MR25 » Thu Sep 20, 2018 12:42 pm

Jesus Christ nobody.

grunthy
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Postby grunthy » Thu Sep 20, 2018 12:47 pm

I am not a Democrat and find them to be quite useless.
So you just vote for them, bash republicans constantly, bash republican policies constantly, believe anything a democrat says against a republican, believe that democrat senators aren’t playing political games with this nomination, and etc. but aren’t a democrat?

Lemon Berry Lobster
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Postby Lemon Berry Lobster » Thu Sep 20, 2018 12:49 pm

This thread is right on track for the day.

Viva la Ben
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Postby Viva la Ben » Thu Sep 20, 2018 12:50 pm

This water says it’s the wettest like nobody has ever seen.

tifosi77
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Postby tifosi77 » Thu Sep 20, 2018 1:17 pm

:face:

shafnutz05
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Postby shafnutz05 » Thu Sep 20, 2018 1:19 pm

In all of this Kavanaugh nonsense, there is some good news:

https://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-jobles ... 1537446974
The number of Americans filing applications for new unemployment benefits fell to a new 49-year low for the third straight week, though Hurricane Florence’s effect on the jobs market remains unclear.

Initial jobless claims, a proxy for layoffs across the U.S., fell by 3,000 to a seasonally adjusted 201,000 in the week ended Sept. 15, the Labor Department said Thursday. It was the lowest level since December 1969, and less than the 210,000 claims economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal expected.
https://www.cnbc.com/2018/09/20/wall-st ... kseat.html
The Dow Jones Industrial Average hit its first record high since January on Thursday as gains in Apple and a decrease in trade fears lifted the 30-stock index.

The Dow jumped 255 points as Boeing, Caterpillar and Apple rose. The S&P 500 also rose 0.8 percent to an all-time high, its first since late August, as consumer staples and tech outperformed.
Regardless of how much he has or hasn't had to do with it, Trump's economy has been absolutely fantastic by modern standards. The clown show aside, strictly from an economic standpoint he has enjoyed a very successful presidency, and that is certainly worth something from an electoral perspective. That said, he has to hope that the inevitable recession (minor or otherwise) doesn't coincide with 2020.

Factorial
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Postby Factorial » Thu Sep 20, 2018 1:23 pm

In all of this Kavanaugh nonsense, there is some good news:

https://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-jobles ... 1537446974
The number of Americans filing applications for new unemployment benefits fell to a new 49-year low for the third straight week, though Hurricane Florence’s effect on the jobs market remains unclear.

Initial jobless claims, a proxy for layoffs across the U.S., fell by 3,000 to a seasonally adjusted 201,000 in the week ended Sept. 15, the Labor Department said Thursday. It was the lowest level since December 1969, and less than the 210,000 claims economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal expected.
https://www.cnbc.com/2018/09/20/wall-st ... kseat.html

As if we can believe anything the BLS says. :roll:

shafnutz05
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Postby shafnutz05 » Thu Sep 20, 2018 1:25 pm

As if we can believe anything the BLS says. :roll:
:thumb: :lol:

Jobless claims are not equal to unemployment rate.

grunthy
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Postby grunthy » Thu Sep 20, 2018 1:37 pm

https://www.google.com/amp/s/articles.n ... cus_ha.amp
"New Year's Eve 1984 I will never forget. I was 15. As the ball dropped, I leaned over to hug a friend and she met me instead with an overwhelming kiss. As we fumbled upon the bed, I remember debating my next 'move' as if it were a chess game. With the 'Top Gun' slogan ringing in my head, I slowly reached for her breast. After having my hand pushed away once, I reached my 'mark.'
Cory... say it ain’t so?!??!?

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