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• BP

• US Steel

• Nuclear power plants

• Coal fired power plants (several of which were converted to natural gas)

Zebra mussels and quagga mussels have dramatically cleaned up the Great Lakes. It has come at some cost: http://www.chicagotribune.com/...

> The same guy that isn't rounding up people

Er: https://www.citylab.com/equity...

> The same guy who isn't telling the police to shoot people, but is more then happy to attack them publicly win or lose.

Or roundly praise and encourage police brutality: http://www.chicagotribune.com/...

> The same guy who places blame on both groups, but also says both groups have good people in them.

Whilst one of those groups are literal neo-Nazis that killed people, and others are counter-protesters against that. I'm not sure how supporting murderous neo-Nazis is a plus in your argument as that's certainly a little bit Hitlerish.

> He's put people into place who are ardent believers that the constitution isn't a "living breathing document" but foundational to the point that it's sacrosanct and all law should be build around

As long as it fits their hard-right interpretation of the constitution rather than a fair, objective interpretation, and he stacked the courts to make sure it stays that way. The problem with the constitution isn't that it's black and white between those who back it and those that don't, it's that it's way too ambiguous in many areas, and it's a question of whose interpretation is right. The fact you think there's a single correct interpretation and that those who back it can be the only true defenders of the constitution doesn't make you right, it just makes you a hard line uncompromising wing nut.

> Trust in media is declining worldwide and he isn't the cause of it, the media itself is.

Nope. The media isn't remotely responsible for Russian disinformation campaigns, nor is it responsible for the populism that rallies people against them with lies, from people like Trump, Le Penn, and Farage. That's firmly on the populists and the propagandists - the media would love to be able to continue reporting facts without being attacked for it, but each time they do and it's related to Trump he sows distrust by claiming they're lying, simply for publishing the facts. That's the very essence of populism, and yes, it's also exactly Hitler's modus operandi.

Thankfully however, you're largely wrong, and most people haven't fallen for it. Trust for traditional media has actually risen overall, "increased distrust in the media" is almost entirely based off the back of distrust in social media, precisely because of the expose of the disinformation campaigns being run off the back of social media. Whilst trust in traditional media saw a dip during the running of fake news propaganda campaigns that were run in support of the Trump camp, the aftermath of that has led to a bounce in support for traditional media, and a plummet in the trust of social media. Here's the UK picture for example:

https://www.campaignlive.co.uk...

Effectively what we're seeing is pushback from attempts to turn public trust against the media - whilst it worked for folks like Trump and the Brexit crowd at first, when people realised they were being lied to in populist campaigns, they railed against it and returned to supporting the traditional media because they know it's more trustworthy than the networks on which the populist disinformation campaigns were run.

Sure he's not created concentration camps, or invaded his neighbours, that's not all Hitler relied upon, and Trump most definitely has used a large number of Hitler's tactics. In fact, here's a bunch of people allied with Trump and his political ideology admitting exactly that:

https://www.indepe

A few years ago somebody got the list of porn tapes a supreme court justice had rented.

Citation needed.

You're probably thinking of the confirmation of Robert Bork when Democrats were pulling out everything they could think of to obstruct the nomination. Thirty years later and they're still at it.

Bork seems to have become the catalyst for legislation designed to prohibit video store owners from divulging lists of customers` video rentals. The issue first surfaced during Bork`s confirmation hearings, when a Washington newspaper published lists of the judge`s video rentals during the last several years. The films were general releases such as ``Ruthless People,`` ``The Man Who Knew Too Much`` and ``A Day at the Races``; there were no X-rated rentals.

So you don't like learning then, suit yourself.
If you did, you could go through that post and tell which were which.

Since you won't, I'll just point out this little bit mentioned in that post.

But the Model 3 will have a much lower margin, perhaps only 10%

Now in the same way that zero is less than 10.
10 is also greater than zero.

Story showing that might actually be a good idea.

You want to give govt employee obnoxious benefits/retirements, please fully fund them instead of just claiming "we can massively raise taxes later to pay for it"

Chicago has the strictest gun laws of all states

[Citation Needed] because Chicago says New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco have stricter gun laws on the books.

In yesterday's article I asked for the same proof and that person so far has not responded. Maybe you will either provide the requested information or have the courage to admit you're wrong?

Back when I was a kid, an F-4 flew over our house at super sonic speeds. I thought the world was coming to and end. The whole house shook. It was lunch time and my plate moved across the table. I distinctly remember the windows rattling.

Gee... I wonder what we could use gun registration to pay for...

It's not cheap to treat gunshot victims.

"Chicago has...strict(er) gun laws than neighboring states/cities."

[Citation Needed] because Chicago claims New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco have stricter gun laws on the books.

The Black Panthers were supporters of the 2nd Amendment and utilized that right to protect their communities from police oppression. They would fill one or more cars with visibly armed members and then follow Police Patrol vehicles around town. They'd get out of the car and stand around at a safe distance whenever the Police had an interaction with a member of the community. The Police were still perfectly able to engage in performing their job duties, but didn't dare try abusing their position with the Black Panthers keeping a close eye on them. From my understanding this action by the Black Panthers was actually what precipitated a lot of the anti open carry and 2nd Amendment efforts by various localities, in our modern era.

You seem to know the story without knowing the history.

Yes, the Black Panthers had a lot of guns. And the police still assassinated the leaders of the Black Panthers as they slept in their beds.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/...

In the history of the United States, guns in civilian hands have been used much more often to take away or suppress people's liberty than to preserve it. The whole "Second Amendment keeps us free" myth is a complete crock of shit. The Second Amendment is a tool for tyrants - always has been.

Under Trump, our moderate headchopping friends in ISIS just magically got targeting information precise enough to kill Russian generals in Syria with mortar fire.

So you're saying that Trump gave ISIS the location of Russian generals? That's a novel conspiracy theory.

I suppose you actually meant the remnants of the modern rebels, in that case I honestly don't know the legitimacy of your theory though would point out that Trump is still subject to constraints.

Trump has maintained high troop levels in eastern Europe, wants to arm our literal neo-Nazi pals

You either don't understand the word "literal" or you read waaaaay too much Russian propaganda.

Yes, there exist neo-Nazis in Ukraine, but they have less influence on Ukrainian than American neo-Nazis have on the GOP.

that overthrew the elected government of Ukraine, and is sending Navy ships to the Black Sea. That's like Russia sending a fleet to the Gulf of Mexico. Most of the sanctions have been maintained, and the reason for not pushing new ones is that it's going to punish allies who have little choice to trade with Russia.

Sanctions that are complete bullshit to begin with. How is it that the U.S. gets to level sanctions against Russia in response to...the aforementioned American overthrow of Ukraine's government. How is it totally legitimate for the U.S. to spend $5 billion to "bring Ukraine the future it deserves" and then say the Crimean vote to secede was illegitimate - before whining about $5,000 in Facebook ads swinging an American election.

This is hilarious. Russia literally invades and annexes part of another country and a fig leaf of a referendum is all you need to give them the thumbs up.

Flynn was fired because he got caught secretly phoning the Russian ambassador to say that Trump would drop the election sanctions

In return for Russian support on a UN vote on illegal Israeli settlements. But this fact is never mentioned in the Russiagate storyline...almost as if the people pushing it were lying propagandists. That and the fact that no one is accusing Trump of treason for colluding with Apartheid Israel.

I actually thought you might be on to something for a moment.

Then I found out that Flynn talked to Russia about the UN vote on Dec 22, the vote was on the 23rd, and Russian ignored Flynn and voted for the resolution.

The call about dropping the sanctions was on Dec 29th.

But I wouldn't get too worked up about it, causality really is a PITA sometimes.

The Steele dossier being used toilet paper

Also fixed. And still, how can Democrats talk about collusion with a straight face when it's a fact (as opposed to an unproven conspiracy theory) that Hillary not only worked with foreign agents to swing an election, but paid them to do so.

Because hiring an investigator who happens to be a retired intelligence operative for an ally is very different from getting an unfriendly nation to do your dirty work.

But if Trump was being groomed beforehand it doesn't mean they wanted him to be President

Still the plot hole of Putin being a master chess player setting the board years in advance, except for anticipating the totally predictable response from Democrats, from the media, and from the military-industrial complex.

It's like you didn't even read my response, or more likely, you're applying the same reasoning skills you used to conclude the Crimean "referendum" was legit.

You're bad at the internet:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/...

It was granted... not merely asked for...

As to standard practice, it wasn't. You can read into it if you want. The entire thing was panned by experts across the field.

Look, you love your football team... Ra ra sis boom bah... But it isn't credible.

If you dug into Clinton half as hard as you dug into Trump you'd find at least as much.

The Russia story is bullshit. You know it is bullshit. They've found zero evidence of collusion. Its a fishing expedition where by being very anal about some rules they've tricked one guy into breaking the a law that no one cares about in that context and caught another guy breaking a financing rule that is being ignored by most of Washington.

Its a joke.

Prove me wrong and show the collusion.

In the mean time, enjoy this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

I'll choose an option where I don't have to worry about being cheated by the driver, and he won't have to worry about me robbing him.

Boystown: Facing 20 Felonies, Uber Driver Accused Of Sexually Molesting Man In 2014 Gets Probation

2 women sue Uber, alleging sexual assault by drivers

Man Robbed At Gunpoint By Fake Uber Driver In Lincoln Park; Woman, Two Juveniles Charged

NEW: Fake Uber Driver Robbed Second Man Last Weekend; Pile Of Robbery Proceeds Found

Ride Share Driver Pulled Gun On Boystown Couple, Cops Say

Prosecutors: Lyft driver accused of zip-tying, sexually assaulting passenger

Couple Robbed After Taking "Fake Uber Ride" From Boystown Club

I'll choose an option where I can hop into the car and hop out with payment handled electronically instead of actual money or credit cards changing hands.

Taxis are required to take credit card where I live, there's a reader in the back seat of each car.

I'll choose an option where the vehicle will be clean and reasonably well maintained, and the driver reasonably courteous.

Usually not a problem with taxis either.

I'll choose an option where the names of both parties involved are known, and all details of the ride can be recovered in case something goes wrong.

Every taxi I've been in lately has video and audio surveillance and the taxi number and driver's license are posted in the back seat.

And most of all, I'll choose Uber because I know that if they ever start to go bad, another ride sharing company can compete with them, instead of them being protected as a government-regulated monopoly.

You think there's a taxi monopoly?! There's more than 20 companies operating in my city!

You've clearly drunk the "ride-sharing" Kool-Aid, but taxis are not nearly as awful as you make them out to be.

I'll choose an option where I don't have to worry about being cheated by the driver, and he won't have to worry about me robbing him.

Boystown: Facing 20 Felonies, Uber Driver Accused Of Sexually Molesting Man In 2014 Gets Probation

2 women sue Uber, alleging sexual assault by drivers

Man Robbed At Gunpoint By Fake Uber Driver In Lincoln Park; Woman, Two Juveniles Charged

NEW: Fake Uber Driver Robbed Second Man Last Weekend; Pile Of Robbery Proceeds Found

Ride Share Driver Pulled Gun On Boystown Couple, Cops Say

Prosecutors: Lyft driver accused of zip-tying, sexually assaulting passenger

Couple Robbed After Taking "Fake Uber Ride" From Boystown Club

I'll choose an option where I can hop into the car and hop out with payment handled electronically instead of actual money or credit cards changing hands.

Taxis are required to take credit card where I live, there's a reader in the back seat of each car.

I'll choose an option where the vehicle will be clean and reasonably well maintained, and the driver reasonably courteous.

Usually not a problem with taxis either.

I'll choose an option where the names of both parties involved are known, and all details of the ride can be recovered in case something goes wrong.

Every taxi I've been in lately has video and audio surveillance and the taxi number and driver's license are posted in the back seat.

And most of all, I'll choose Uber because I know that if they ever start to go bad, another ride sharing company can compete with them, instead of them being protected as a government-regulated monopoly.

You think there's a taxi monopoly?! There's more than 20 companies operating in my city!

You've clearly drunk the "ride-sharing" Kool-Aid, but taxis are not nearly as awful as you make them out to be.

I have been a pharmacist for many years.

Pharmaceutical companies funding fake scientific journals to create the "look and feel of a peer-reviewed publication to serve as a marketing tool" or to elicit favorable study results is a far more common problem then you think...

https://www.the-scientist.com/...

https://www.bloomberg.com/news...

https://www.washingtonpost.com...

Physicians prescribing medications because they are getting kickbacks from the pharmaceutics companies is nothing new either...

http://www.chicagotribune.com/...

And hell, your prescription coverage employs a formulary that is driven just as choosing drugs because they provide cost savings as it is by scientific data showing greater efficacy.

Science isn't magic but neither are scientists omnipotent grand wizards fighting for the side of good. They are just as corruptible as anyone else on this planet. Corporations are still driven by profit above all other concerns, even ones that are staffed by research scientists.

Blind faith in "science" (technology) is just as dangerous, if not more so, then blind faith in religion. Skepticism is a cornerstone of scientific inquiry. If you aren't practicing it, your doing it wrong.

Japan's Kobe Steel announces more cases of faked inspections data

"Made in Japan" is now a laughing stock

No. Wood because wood is better in earthquakes. Wood because wood is renewable. Wood because wood stores carbon.

Japan's Kobe Steel announces more cases of faked inspections data

"Made in Japan" is now a laughing stock

Nope.

McDonald's has been delivering orders for a long time now.

Taco Bell and KFC just announced delivery via GrubHub.

And here you prove my point. The US presents history written by the victor, therefore you're just as well off with manipulative intentional lies from Russia? What idiocy is that? There are reasons for Russiagate BTW.

Those of us who believe in an objective reality don't take whatever the mainstream media presents as gospel, so Cheney wouldn't have any luck trying to make such shortcuts. We check sources and use science. That's why we haven't been fooled by mistakes in the news, or even the occasional intentional lie that comes along every decade or two. Good luck with the Firehose of Falsehoods though.

EXTRA! EXTRA! READ ALL ABOUT IT!!!
Yes, sleazy publishers have always screamed their headlines to sell newspapers. For some reason, remnants of this marketing practice continue in the internet age. It's a delicate balance; trying to appeal to the unwashed masses who have some reading ability without offending the educated reader with crass commercialism. In which group are Slashdot readers?

"Judges Say the UK's Digital Surveillance Program Snooper's Charter Is Illegal"

After reading that headline 4 times and failing to make sense of it, I tried to read TFS. Eventually I understood a bit more. Why Does Every Word Begin With A Capital? Let's try this again:

"Judges say the UK's digital surveillance program Snooper's Charter is illegal"

Now we see that 'Snooper's Charter' is a thing, and the rest are ordinary words. Notice that in this century, many forward thinking publishers no longer scream their headlines. Here are some:
https://www.theguardian.com/wo...
https://www.washingtonpost.com...
http://www.miamiherald.com/new...
http://www.chicagotribune.com/
https://www.cnbc.com/ ...

Too complex and dangerous based on what?

Little things like this, the only difference is scale...

The only difference between "smart luggage" and a large scale grid storage plant is scale? Really, that's the only difference? A 100MW battery bank is pretty much the same as thousands of roller bags?

Too complex and dangerous based on what?

Little things like this, the only difference is scale... And even with my feeble imagination, I can picture all the do-dads, thingamajigs, whatchamacallits, and doohickeys, and people watching every little flashing light it takes to keep this thing from blowing up the neighborhood. Look, all you gotta do is build a stack of nickel-irons, say, about the size of Ayers Rock, and you'll have more than enough backup for a pretty good part of the continent. Solar panels will keep it topped off for free. And you can pretty much ignore it for 50-100 years or so. You don't need a bunch of mad scientists to deal with and babysit all those finicky lithium ions and whatnot. You check the voltage with a light bulb. Nickel-iron is ideal for this application. Simple, reliable, robust, low maintenance... What more could you possibly want?

As someone who pays state income and sales taxes, I assure you it is no theory.

As someone who also pays state income and sales taxes and municipal property taxes I assure you the theory barely holds up in actual practice.

For example, Wisconsin just gave Foxconn $4.5B in incentives to build a plant that will be largely lights-out - which means its almost fully automated with a minium support staff on hand just to keep the automation running. And on top of that, they gave foxconn special legal status that lets them unconstitutionally bypass most local courts.

If these 20 cities were smart, their mayors would ban together and make a "no incentives" pact. Let Amazon come to them, instead of selling out their citizens for 30 pieces of silver.

All it takes is google and searching for "xyz Layoffs"

AT&T: http://www.chicagotribune.com/...
Comcast: http://www.newsweek.com/comcas...
Wal-mart: https://www.reuters.com/articl...

I have not seen JetBlue, but the others, yes.

Second developer of WikiLeaks inspired submission system "SecureDrop", security expert James Dolan, aged 36, has tragically died. He is said to have committed suicide. The first, Aaron Swartz, is said to have taken his own life at age 26, after being persecuted by US prosecutors.

Britain's top human rights lawyer who represented Julian Assange and worked alongside George Clooney's wife Amal dies in apparent suicide

A key witness in the Las Vegas shooting massacre has killed himself and his disabled daughter in a horrific murder-suicide shortly after the FBI raided his home. John Beilman was wanted for questioning by federal agents in connection with a communications device discovered in suspected shooter Stephen Paddock's hotel room.

Klaus Eberwein, a former Haitian government official who was expected to testify against alleged Clinton Foundation corruption and malpractice next week, has been found dead in Miami via gunshot wound to the head. The death was ruled a suicide.

Peter W. Smith, GOP operative who sought Clinton's emails from Russian hackers, committed suicide, records show

Fiat Chrysler to invest $1 billion in Michigan plant, pay bonus after tax cut

Nancy Palsi most upset.

Name a single thing in recent years that has proven to be a lie (not simply "other officials publicly denied it, without providing any supporting evidence for their denial") and for which no retraction was issued. Officials from an administration that publicly lies on average six times per day.

It was recently attempted to trick the Washington Post into posting face news against Republicans, so that they could be denounced for putting a "vendetta" over truth. It failed miserably due to WP's fact checking and investigative reporting.

Don't forget Keith Ellison also tweeted his support for antifa...now do you REALLY think mainstream USA is gonna be for a party whose head supports black masked thugs burning city blocks?

Of course I have to give Trump credit, he has taken off the gloves and made it clear the right isn't gonna be browbeaten by calls of "you're an ist!" and being told you are a monster for wanting the USA to have borders or for the USA government to put USA citizens first, and by doubling down all they are doing is driving more and more away. Mark my words the USA is about to have a HARD right shift, much harder than what happened in 79-80. those of us old enough to remember can tell you the country changed overnight, it went from being an apologist to the world and as hard left as you can get to moral majority virtually overnight and the same thing is about to happen because people are tired of being called an "ist" just for caring about their own country.

I'd love to see one shred of objective evidence to support that -- if you have one.

See the current cases against Yale and Harvard. Or one of the dozens of articles on it, this isn't new or unknown. That's not even touching on the "affirmative action" bullshit with SAT scores, where blacks and mexicans are give massive point boosts simply because they're black or mexican. While asians and whites are punished and have points removed.

Basically if you're asian or white, you need to do twice to four times better then anyone else to land a position. Seriously, there's real racism going on here. But it's sure not in whites or asians favor.

"Trump pardoned Arpaio. If you still support trump then you hate America and hate the constitution."

-

Pardon power is in the constitution. See Mark Rich. http://www.chicagotribune.com/...

Well, if you're going to have a map of Ladd, Illinois, it would behoove you to clearly mark Rip's Tavern, home of the best fried chicken in the state.

You really don't want to have hangry folks wandering about, desperately looking for their fried chicken fix. Google knows better than that...

It's similar to the suppression technique Marxist used in the old USSR when gov "Psychiatrists" diagnosed dissidents as mentally ill, sentenced them to "Mental Hospitals", i.e., prisons, to give them mind altering (or destroying) drugs, which effectively ended their intellect.

The technique has carried over to Putin's Russia, where dissidents are treated similarly.

http://articles.chicagotribune...

You've got facts precisely backward again. EXISTING federal law is that if you have a criminal background, like the attacker did, you can't purchase or possess firearms. Unfortunately, when he was convicted in 2012, and purchased the guns a few years ago, the federal government was operating in a mode where the executive branch was ignoring the laws. The president at the time actually said he "had" to set a policy of breaking the law because chose not give him the law he wanted.

Oh raymorris, your factually deficient insane ranting is only highlighting the desperation you have to blame everything on Obama in your hysterical hyperbole to ignore how long-standing the issues with the military complying with the law are.

Blame three separate presidential administrations and 20 years of Congressional incompetence in holding the military accountable if you want, but you can't even get past how the Conservatives have been repudiated DOZENS of times over TRAP laws, let alone their efforts to thwart the 13th, 14th, 15th, and 23rd Amendments.

Somewhat OT, but that would be Outlook Health, which is also being sued by its investors for alleged fraud related to reporting ads run on more screens than they'd installed. So in this case, it's not just the info(tainment) itself as directed to a captive audience, but also the service provided to the advertisers.

Oh, I see, different thing you were objecting to:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/columnists/ct-clinton-black-lives-matter-glanton-20160727-column.html/

I thought it was common knowledge that all Democrats were pro-cop-killer.

Usually it's those casinos on the reservations that seem to have the reputation for having a slot machine that was faulty when it made a payout on those networked machines. But it happens in other places:

https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/...

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new...

http://www.chicagotribune.com/...

https://www.onlinecasinoselite...

Americans killed by guns in recorded history: 0

Is that like that philosopher who insisted that nobody was killed by a sword, they died from not avoiding the sword?

Here's a shock for you, guns do kill people.

On a side note, concealed carry warning and brandishing probably stops that many robberies, rapes and murders in a week...

Because...you must think that attempted robberies, rapes, and murders are so common that there are thousands a week! What kind of crime-ridden world of fear do you live in?

Americans killed by medical mistakes each year: about 250,000

And we've got a whole group of people arguing about that problem too!

Americans killed by antibiotic resistant bacteria each year: 23,000

Also discussed.

Clearly guns are not that big a threat unless you are an alt left fascist progressive looking to dominate and subjugate the American people.

Nope, guns are a big threat to the American people, what with deaths from toddlers with guns, whereas imaginary fears of alt-left fascist progressives looking to dominate and subjugate the American people aren't a threat at all, except so insofar as they lead right-wing pseudo-conservative trolls to instigate feigned outrage in America.

Every dictator in the last 100 years from Stalin to Mao on down the line disarmed their people first and then murdered millions of them.

Nope. In fact, many dictators armed their people, then told them to go forth and kill "not their people" because well, that's a great way for dictators to keep power.

You must not be familiar with history.

Guns are in fact inanimate objects controlled by their wielder, which is why every LEO in the country carries one.

Guns, are in fact, tools that ought to be regulated like many other tools, such as lawnmowers, chainsaws, pressure washers, and nail guns, and no, not every LEO in the country carries one. For example. And some shouldn't.

Any group that uses "gun deaths" are political shills with no interest in truth.

I wonder if you realize that group includes yourself.

Gun deaths usually include suicides (who just use different methods in gun free countries), criminals shot by police or citizens, and other justified shootings that are actually a good thing for society and end up saving lives.

Nope, actually, they're not using different methods, the suicide rates are often lower, self-defense and other justified shootings are excluded from the counts though actually...the number of such shootings is a problem, not even counting the various incidents.

Sorry, I know you don't want there to be any problem except not having enough bullets for all those dirty leftists who you hate with all you

Rather than clear positivity, language used on Twitter "reflected that a very negatively viewed character [bin Laden] met a very negative end," according to the researcher's website.

I don't know the politics of people who use Twitter. But the pictures that I saw showed Americans happy that bin Laden been killed.

Weird how no one cared when Obama spent half his presidency golfing

Trump has golfed more than twice as much as President Obama.

http://www.politifact.com/trut...

He's done an amazing job dealing with three unprecedented natural disasters

He's done a shit job in Puerto Rico and has zero legislative accomplishments to his name. By any objective measure, Trump is an historic failure as a president, as a man, and as a human being.

https://www.vox.com/2017/10/1/...

http://www.chicagotribune.com/...

Then:

In 2008, Trump took over the licensing and management of a Puerto Rican golf resort, the Coco Beach Golf and Country Club. But the resort filed for bankruptcy in 2015, leaving Puerto Ricans with nearly $33 million in outstanding bond payments.

Now:

http://www.chicagotribune.com/...

Really?

Then:

In 2008, Trump took over the licensing and management of a Puerto Rican golf resort, the Coco Beach Golf and Country Club. But the resort filed for bankruptcy in 2015, leaving Puerto Ricans with nearly $33 million in outstanding bond payments.

Now:

http://www.chicagotribune.com/...

Please see the bad argument on page 33 "Guilt by Association" in https://bookofbadarguments.com...

In other words, we don't have to be followers of Hillary Satan herself, nor readers of the leftist New York Times, to believe that the Russians may have tried to meddle with last year's presidential elections. President Trump's own government almost admitted as much last Friday.

And if not Russia, someone did try to hack those elections in 20 states. And that's the important part, whoever it was, someone powerful seems to have launched a wide-scale assault on our democracy and on our country. And President Trump doesn't seem to be taking this assault on our country seriously at all.

Well, IMHO the cry of Racism is so over used, that it has lost all meaning, to the point where Charlottesville violence was initially panned by a lot of people (including me).

Well, IMHO, the denial of racism and bigotry is so widespread by people for whom such a defense is blatantly false that it has developed a new meaning, to the point where Donald Trump's response to the Charlottesville incident was mistaken and ill-advised.

Crying wolf works until it doesn't, and we have actually reached that point.

Yes, crying wolf about being called "Nazi" has reached that point of not working.

It especially doesn't work when you remember this.

And you are probably right, that it was sarcastic trolling, but there is a very real chance it wasn't. And that doubt is telling.

Nope, the doubt is not useful for what you want it to be, though your decision that it is, is a telling factor, as you are endorsing a view simply because it supports your position. My estimation is that there is no reason for an informed person to believe it is anything other than the subterfuge of trolls who want to create an atmosphere of dis-credibility. Really, for all we know, you posted it yourself to have your own justification.

http://www.miamiherald.com/new...

Opa-locka Fruit and Produce Market didn’t just sell fruits and vegetables.

Instead, owners Karla Rodriguez Diaz and Luis Marzo Machado allegedly used their produce market inside the Opa-locka Hialeah Flea Market to bilk the government out of $2.4 million, Wifredo A. Ferrer, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Florida, said Wednesday.

Diaz and Machado were two of 22 people charged in 15 cases Wednesday in “Operation Stampede,” organized to bust business owners and their employees who allowed customers to use their government-issued EBT food stamp card as a means to get cash, in exchange for a cut. In total, Ferrer said there were more than $13 million in fraudulent food stamp transactions stemming from markets throughout South Florida, the largest food stamp fraud take-down in U.S. history.

https://www.justice.gov/usao-m...

Baltimore, Maryland – In August 2016, a federal grand jury returned nine indictments charging 14 retail store operators in the greater Baltimore area with food stamp fraud and wire fraud in connection with obtaining over $16 million from the United States Department of Agriculture by illegally trading food stamp benefits for cash. Twelve of the fourteen charged defendants have pleaded guilty, and two defendants were sentenced this week to federal prison.

Today, U.S. District Judge Richard D. Bennett sentenced Mohammad Shafiq, age 51, of Baltimore, Maryland to 46 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release. Judge Bennett ordered Shafiq to pay restitution in the amount of $3,712,353.00.

In a separate sentencing hearing held on May 18, 2017, Judge Bennett sentenced Mohammad Irfan, age 59, of Baltimore County, Maryland, to 51 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release. Judge Bennett also ordered Irfan to pay restitution in the amount of $3,550,662.00.

http://www.nbc-2.com/story/352...

NBC2 started tracking local court cases to see how Heacock’s team is doing.

From 2012 to 2014, 31 people were charged with welfare fraud in Lee, Charlotte, and Collier counties.

That number has nearly doubled in recent years. Since 2015, 71 people have been charged with welfare fraud, almost all of it from false reporting.

“We're pursuing it more,” Heacock said.

“We don't go after misdemeanor cases. We only go after felony cases.”

The results are easy to see.

DPAF discovered $20,719,036 in fraud in FY 2015-16. Compare that to just $5,527,677 in FY 2010-11.

But there’s another area of food stamp fraud that Carroll would like to see better enforced.

Food stamp trafficking, as it’s called, consists of retailers trading cash for government benefit dollars. Here’s how it works:

Store customer offers retailer food stamps for cash;

Store charges $100 of food stamps then gives customer $50 cash;

Store receives $100 reimbursement from government and makes $50 profit.

“It's organized crime,” Carroll said.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/...

Sami Deffala, who's managed a corner store in Chicago's Englewood neighborhood for 13 years, said he hears that every day from customers vying for a private moment in hopes of using their Link cards to exchange SNAP benefits, the modern-day version of food stamps, for cash — an illegal practice called trafficking by federal regulators. And every day, Deffala said, he hears them out but refuses to take part in the scheme.

"I have peop

The short answer is that the statistics don't tell the story, not least because bottled water which doesn't cross state lines is exempt from oversight. That means that only in California do you even theoretically even have the right to know what's in most of the water that's on the shelf. Most bottled water is (as you say) produced by major beverage companies that have bottlers in every state. They can say whatever they want, nobody has the right to check up on them.

but any evenhanded analysis of

Nice. So, any analysis that disagrees is automatically not evenhanded

I did not make that claim. If you have reference to good analysis that finds otherwise, cite it.

else we'd never have needed the Civil Rights Act and related legislation.

If anything, that legislation has proven itself a remarkable failure 50 years later. For all the "reverse" racist laws and policies, for all the self-flagellation of the Whites, the dissatisfaction among Blacks is still remarkably high — indeed higher now after the first Black President, than it was before.

Should have left it to the market-forces.

Your conclusion does not follow from your observations, mostly because your observations are very shallow. Also, you are engaging in a blindingly blatant false equivalency. I won't attempt to address all of the problems in your statement, but I'll pick just one: the fact that black dissatisfaction appears to be higher after the first black president was elected. Note that I'm not claiming to offer an authoritative explanation of that fact, but just a plausible explanation which suggests a completely different conclusion than the one you're uncritically assuming.

I think the reason that black dissatisfaction has increased is because blacks saw the election of Obama as a turning point in race relations, as evidence that the country really was ready to listen to their concerns about the extensive and systemic oppression under which they live. Prior to that point, they had focused instead on the slow, steady improvement they were seeing, but Obama's election seemed to indicate a step change. In particular, a change that indicated that they were now free to speak out about issues they hadn't previously felt it was safe to speak about.

But the step change didn't actually happen. The system didn't suddenly become fair and evenhanded, and when blacks complained about old injustices what they got was a backlash. Anyone who thought that white supremacy was dying learned that there was a lot more of it than anyone had realized. This backlash resulted in the election of wink-and-nod racist as president, with the full-throated support of lots of open and outspoken white supremacists. The more cynical -- and racist -- blacks took this as confirmation of what they already thought they knew, and the more optimistic blacks felt their hopes crushed.

So I am not in the least bit surprised that blacks are more dissatisfied. They achieved a triumph of progress, only to have their hopes dashed by discovering that it doesn't really mean what they thought it would, and that in fact their situation is even worse than they thought it was. That'll disappoint even the most optimistic.

And how in the world can you possibly equate the dissatisfaction we see today with the open, bald-faced oppression that existed in Jim Crow? That's mind-boggling.

but any evenhanded analysis of

Nice. So, any analysis that disagrees is automatically not evenhanded... One would've thought, this method for pre-emptively disarming a dissenter was mocked out of existence by Hans Christian Andersen in the 19th century, but no, evidently, the "sophisticated" debaters continue to employ it with smug self-satisfaction...

else we'd never have needed the Civil Rights Act and related legislation.

If anything, that legislation has proven itself a remarkable failure 50 years later. For all the "reverse" racist laws and policies, for all the self-flagellation of the Whites, the dissatisfaction among Blacks is still remarkably high — indeed higher now after the first Black President, than it was before.

Should have left it to the market-forces.

https://www.centerforsecurityp... [centerfors...policy.org]

You're going to cite a poll done by Frank Gaffney? You pitiful scumbag.

This is Frank Gaffney:

http://www.chicagotribune.com/...

And even HIS poll doesn't show what you (and he) says it shows. Read the motherfucking poll, not Gaffney's "analysis". You alt-Right jackoffs really are a sick and twisted bunch, you know? And you've done a whole lot more damage - perpetrated a whole lot more terrorist attacks - than Muslims or BLM or any other group in the US. You, buddy. You're the baddie.