Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
Fritz Walter
Fritz Walter's Journal
Fritz Walter's Journal
July 7, 2019
In their brief, the ACLU invokes a doctrine known as “judicial estoppel”: essentially the Justice Department should be held to its previous claims about a June deadline. “'Estoppel' doctrines prevent parties from making one claim, then contradicting themselves when that claim proves disadvantageous."
The story also includes a link to the ACLU brief, which is worth reading.
This should be at the top of the news for the next few days. OK, OK: USA beat the Netherlands in the World Cup. Yay!
But after that story, this one should be the most prominent.
Justice Department lawyers may soon pay a high price for lying to the courts
ACLU filed a "remarkable" brief in federal court on Friday: drumpf's Justice Department entangled itself in an entirely different web of deceit. Additionally, the brief references a forthcoming motion for sanctions against the government attorneys who litigated this case. In addition to the lie about the citizenship question -- in which the Trump administration implausibly claimed that it added the question to aid Voting Rights Act enforcement -- they also lied about the deadline for printing census forms.
According to a Think Progress story published on Sunday, July 7,
While the New York case was making its way through the courts, the Justice Department repeatedly made another claim that turns out to be false (or, at the very least, that the Trump administration itself now claims to be false). The ACLU brief filed on Friday lists twelve separate occasions where Trump administration lawyers claimed that “the census forms must be finalized for printing by the end of June 2019.”
Because of this claim by Trump’s Justice Department, courts processed this case on an unusually expedited basis. Among other things, the Supreme Court invoked a rarely used procedure that bypassed review by a federal appeals court and allowed the nation’s highest court to review a trial court’s decision directly.
Not long after the Trump administration lost in the Supreme Court, however, it started singing a different tune. Though Justice Department lawyers initially signaled that they were giving up the fight to defend the citizenship question, they were later contradicted by President Trump himself. On July 3, they told a federal judge that they’ve been “instructed to examine whether there is a path forward, consistent with the Supreme Court’s decision, that would allow us to include the citizenship question on the census.”
Because of this claim by Trump’s Justice Department, courts processed this case on an unusually expedited basis. Among other things, the Supreme Court invoked a rarely used procedure that bypassed review by a federal appeals court and allowed the nation’s highest court to review a trial court’s decision directly.
Not long after the Trump administration lost in the Supreme Court, however, it started singing a different tune. Though Justice Department lawyers initially signaled that they were giving up the fight to defend the citizenship question, they were later contradicted by President Trump himself. On July 3, they told a federal judge that they’ve been “instructed to examine whether there is a path forward, consistent with the Supreme Court’s decision, that would allow us to include the citizenship question on the census.”
In their brief, the ACLU invokes a doctrine known as “judicial estoppel”: essentially the Justice Department should be held to its previous claims about a June deadline. “'Estoppel' doctrines prevent parties from making one claim, then contradicting themselves when that claim proves disadvantageous."
The story also includes a link to the ACLU brief, which is worth reading.
This should be at the top of the news for the next few days. OK, OK: USA beat the Netherlands in the World Cup. Yay!
But after that story, this one should be the most prominent.
May 28, 2019
Fellow Randy fans who have WaPo accounts: please to share their favorite excerpts here. I would be hard-pressed to select a favorite of his YouTube videos (please subscribe!), other than to say I love it when he releases a new one. Very fresh, very topical, very pointed.
Randy Rainbow: "Maybe when this is all over, Kellyanne [Conway] and I can have a drink together."
DU has many, many Randy Rainbow fans, so I'm delighted to share this great article from the Washington Post. If you're stuck at the WaPo pay-wall, I would highly recommend you find a way -- borrow a friend's device, create a one-time phantom account, actually pony up a few coins -- to read the full article. It's that good.
Randy Rainbow’s Witty World
How a musical theater nerd reinvented political satire for the YouTube age
Here are some excerpts:
It’s no secret that in 21st-century America, power over public opinion doesn’t reside exclusively with editorialists or news anchors. We are now Entertainment Nation, and society’s jesters — Stephen Colbert, Samantha Bee, John Oliver, Trevor Noah, Bill Maher, etc. — have become as influential as the Walter Cronkites and David Brinkleys of yore...
...Rainbow, with his snappy riffs on the politics of the day, is a prominent part of this new and influential group, but he offers something distinct: a very old tradition of musical satire updated for the YouTube age. Think of him as a modern-day Gilbert and Sullivan, or the millennial version of the piano-playing Mark Russell or Tom Lehrer — the key difference being that his get-it-out-fast production marathons and savvy use of social media bring his commentary to the public quickly, directly and with no filter. Competitors like the Capitol Steps strive to put the mock in democracy as fast as possible, but with multiple writers and cast members, they can’t equal Rainbow’s speed. In a world on hyperdrive, he delivers near-instant gratification: Within minutes of Trump lawyer Michael Cohen’s appearance before members of Congress, for instance, Rainbow was taking song requests from fans on Twitter. Three days after Roger Stone was arrested in January, Rainbow posted a video parody of a number from the musical “Chicago.”
A sampling of Rainbow’s hot takes includes “Desperate Cheeto” (a take on Luis Fonsi’s “Despacito”), “Border Lies” (Madonna’s “Borderline”), “How Do You Solve a Problem Like Korea?” (“Maria” from “The Sound of Music”) and “GOP Dropout” (“Beauty School Dropout” from “Grease”). Actor-comedian Steve Martin told Rainbow that “A Very Stable Genius” — a takedown of you-know-who sung to Gilbert and Sullivan’s “I Am the Very Model of a Modern Major-General” — is a favorite ditty in the Martin household:
He is the very model of a very stable genius.
Of all the U.S. presidents he is the Mussoliniest.
He learned a lot of things according to his Wikipedia.
And demonstrates his ample intellect on social media.
When people are in need he is the best at making fun of them.
He knows 11 words although he can’t spell even one of them.
...Rainbow, with his snappy riffs on the politics of the day, is a prominent part of this new and influential group, but he offers something distinct: a very old tradition of musical satire updated for the YouTube age. Think of him as a modern-day Gilbert and Sullivan, or the millennial version of the piano-playing Mark Russell or Tom Lehrer — the key difference being that his get-it-out-fast production marathons and savvy use of social media bring his commentary to the public quickly, directly and with no filter. Competitors like the Capitol Steps strive to put the mock in democracy as fast as possible, but with multiple writers and cast members, they can’t equal Rainbow’s speed. In a world on hyperdrive, he delivers near-instant gratification: Within minutes of Trump lawyer Michael Cohen’s appearance before members of Congress, for instance, Rainbow was taking song requests from fans on Twitter. Three days after Roger Stone was arrested in January, Rainbow posted a video parody of a number from the musical “Chicago.”
A sampling of Rainbow’s hot takes includes “Desperate Cheeto” (a take on Luis Fonsi’s “Despacito”), “Border Lies” (Madonna’s “Borderline”), “How Do You Solve a Problem Like Korea?” (“Maria” from “The Sound of Music”) and “GOP Dropout” (“Beauty School Dropout” from “Grease”). Actor-comedian Steve Martin told Rainbow that “A Very Stable Genius” — a takedown of you-know-who sung to Gilbert and Sullivan’s “I Am the Very Model of a Modern Major-General” — is a favorite ditty in the Martin household:
He is the very model of a very stable genius.
Of all the U.S. presidents he is the Mussoliniest.
He learned a lot of things according to his Wikipedia.
And demonstrates his ample intellect on social media.
When people are in need he is the best at making fun of them.
He knows 11 words although he can’t spell even one of them.
Fellow Randy fans who have WaPo accounts: please to share their favorite excerpts here. I would be hard-pressed to select a favorite of his YouTube videos (please subscribe!), other than to say I love it when he releases a new one. Very fresh, very topical, very pointed.
May 21, 2019
It appears that our northern neighbors (neighbours?) have legislators with actual backbones. In this province, their parliament has come up with an effective solution: name names. Presumably, ass-kickings may follow.
Just out of curiosity, has this idea ever occurred to our own* public servants?
Perhaps it’s the local climate. Or the great dining experiences I’m enjoying here, but is it “aluminium” hat-worthy to suggest that this is part of Putin’s scheme? Encourage (require?) Russian oligarchs to buy up property in western countries. No only to avoid taxes and other, pesky government “interference”, diversify holdings, and other easily recognizable advantages of money laundering; but also add to the destabilization of Western economies. Hyper-inflate real estate and luxury commodity sales, then watch the local/regional/national economies recede if not outright crash. Which provides even more opportunities for hidden investors to scoop up even more assets.
Nah! Must be the weather here...
___
*
We all know who owns the RepubliCONs. A list of names would read like the Moscow phonebook!
Want to stop money laundering? Require names of "Beneficial Owners"
While spending a few days visiting “up north,” I saw this editorial in today’s Globe and Mail.
Apparently, Canada is also seeing a huge impact of money laundering. For instance, in British Columbia,
...reports estimated that $5-billion was washed through the province’s real-estate market in 2018, inflating prices by 5 per cent.
There is good reason to believe that the same is happening in other Canadian cities. A report in March from Transparency International tallied almost $30-billion of “unknown funds” – from entities whose true ownership is cloaked – that have been pumped into the Greater Toronto Area housing market since 2008. Of that figure, $9.8-billion worth of deals were done in cash, avoiding the few checks on money laundering that exist in real estate.
B.C.’s money-laundering reports – on casinos, luxury cars and real estate – are the beginning of the story, not the end. The province last week announced a public inquiry, which should be a prelude to action.
There is good reason to believe that the same is happening in other Canadian cities. A report in March from Transparency International tallied almost $30-billion of “unknown funds” – from entities whose true ownership is cloaked – that have been pumped into the Greater Toronto Area housing market since 2008. Of that figure, $9.8-billion worth of deals were done in cash, avoiding the few checks on money laundering that exist in real estate.
B.C.’s money-laundering reports – on casinos, luxury cars and real estate – are the beginning of the story, not the end. The province last week announced a public inquiry, which should be a prelude to action.
It appears that our northern neighbors (neighbours?) have legislators with actual backbones. In this province, their parliament has come up with an effective solution: name names. Presumably, ass-kickings may follow.
An essential first step is a public registry of who owns what real estate. B.C. has taken the lead with first-in-Canada legislation introduced this spring that will reveal beneficial owners – the names of actual people – behind structures such as numbered companies.
As Transparency International argues, disclosure of beneficial ownership “should be a prerequisite for any property transfer.”
As Transparency International argues, disclosure of beneficial ownership “should be a prerequisite for any property transfer.”
Just out of curiosity, has this idea ever occurred to our own* public servants?
Perhaps it’s the local climate. Or the great dining experiences I’m enjoying here, but is it “aluminium” hat-worthy to suggest that this is part of Putin’s scheme? Encourage (require?) Russian oligarchs to buy up property in western countries. No only to avoid taxes and other, pesky government “interference”, diversify holdings, and other easily recognizable advantages of money laundering; but also add to the destabilization of Western economies. Hyper-inflate real estate and luxury commodity sales, then watch the local/regional/national economies recede if not outright crash. Which provides even more opportunities for hidden investors to scoop up even more assets.
Nah! Must be the weather here...
___
*
We all know who owns the RepubliCONs. A list of names would read like the Moscow phonebook!
May 14, 2019
There's a happy ending, and I won't spoil it for you here, other than to say that the Red Hen Restaurant is still in business.
If you can't get past the pay-wall, I'll try to add a few more great quotes in the comments.
WaPo: The Red Hen Restaurant owner speaks up almost a year after asking Sarah Sanders to leave
Resistance isn't Futile.I’ve been getting hate mail for almost a year now, ever since I asked White House press secretary Sarah Sanders to leave my Lexington, Va., restaurant, the Red Hen, last June.
At the time, the country was in turmoil over the Trump administration’s heinous practice of separating children from their parents at our southern border. In our tiny 26-seat restaurant, the horror felt simultaneously immediate and far away.
Faced with the prospect of serving a fine meal to a person whose actions in the service of our country we felt violated basic standards of humanity, we balked. We couldn’t do it.
...
In the days following, I tried to balance fears for the safety of my family and staff against the reality of being well-protected in a small, loving community. Overhanging it all was a sense that I’d seen this show before; don’t we all have ringside seats to the outrage circus these days? But there was plenty I couldn’t predict or assess: How likely was it, really, that the guy texting me from a Minneapolis area code was really going to come to town to set fire to our restaurant? It felt impossible to know.
At the time, the country was in turmoil over the Trump administration’s heinous practice of separating children from their parents at our southern border. In our tiny 26-seat restaurant, the horror felt simultaneously immediate and far away.
Faced with the prospect of serving a fine meal to a person whose actions in the service of our country we felt violated basic standards of humanity, we balked. We couldn’t do it.
...
In the days following, I tried to balance fears for the safety of my family and staff against the reality of being well-protected in a small, loving community. Overhanging it all was a sense that I’d seen this show before; don’t we all have ringside seats to the outrage circus these days? But there was plenty I couldn’t predict or assess: How likely was it, really, that the guy texting me from a Minneapolis area code was really going to come to town to set fire to our restaurant? It felt impossible to know.
There's a happy ending, and I won't spoil it for you here, other than to say that the Red Hen Restaurant is still in business.
If you can't get past the pay-wall, I'll try to add a few more great quotes in the comments.
April 29, 2019
Randy Rainbow is back!
April 17, 2019
"A new supercut video shows Fox News hosts slamming former President Barack Obama for the same actions that they either ignore or praise when it comes to President Donald Trump."
The only suggestion I would make is to change the background music. To something more appropriate, like "Yakety Sax" (The Benny Hill Show theme) for instance.
If you're unable to view the Twitter-link video, it's also available at Huffington Post.
NOW THIS: A "Glaring Double-Standard Which Is Nothing Short of Incredible"
https://twitter.com/i/status/1118228314257350657"A new supercut video shows Fox News hosts slamming former President Barack Obama for the same actions that they either ignore or praise when it comes to President Donald Trump."
The only suggestion I would make is to change the background music. To something more appropriate, like "Yakety Sax" (The Benny Hill Show theme) for instance.
If you're unable to view the Twitter-link video, it's also available at Huffington Post.
April 13, 2019
From the description by "Rhino" on YouTube:
Boomers! Remember this? Everyone else: check it out!
From the description by "Rhino" on YouTube:
You're watching the official music video for Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young - "Teach Your Children" written by Graham Nash. Originally released on the 1970 CSNY studio album "Deja Vu", "Teach Your Children" is featured on a 2018 Graham Nash career retrospective entitled "Over The Years..."
April 4, 2019
"I'm ____, and I approved this message."
A technician from the home security company I use was at my house today, and I heard his smart phone play an unusual tone: “I’m (cadet bone spurs) and I approved this message.” Apparently, someone just sent him a text message, and he’d programmed his phone to play that sound clip whenever a message is received. Very clever for a drumpf-humper!
Because I needed him to finish the installation, I decided that — since discretion is the better part of valor — I’d valiantly ignore it for the time being.
And after he left, it occurred to me: let’s fight fire with fire (instead of ire). Why don’t we program our phones to play a similar tone when a text message arrives?
So here’s my idea: in replies to this post, please include a link to your favorite Democratic candidate saying s/he approved “this message.” And then program your phone to play it with your incoming texts. The links should include a downloadable MP3 file which could be copied and converted to a tone playable on various devices.
Let’s show others that we’re just as clever as — and even more resourceful than — people who (blindly) follow the inevitable 2020 presidential opponent!
April 2, 2019
Another classic!
Cruella DeVos, by Randy Rainbow
You certainly want to look into that:
Another classic!
Profile Information
Member since: Sat Mar 21, 2015, 07:08 PMNumber of posts: 4,291
