Category: Society

Clinton: I Cannot Be Part Of The “Establishment” As A Woman Running For President

225px-Hillary_Clinton_official_Secretary_of_State_portrait_crop220px-nancy_pelosiDWSPortrait225px-dianne_feinstein_official_senate_photo

 

 

 

 

 

I have found the Democratic debates really interesting to watch. For the first time in my lifetime, these debates actually have some substance and drama. There was a couple of interesting moments last night, including the suggestion by Hillary Clinton that it is out of bounds for Sanders to raise the money that she has taken from Wall Street as a “smear.” I thought that Clinton did a good job on various points with strong responses, including the progressive label issue.  However, one of the most intriguing moments was Clinton saying that it was ridiculous to call her the “establishment” candidate because she is a woman. For many, the Clintons are the personification of the establishment with huge donors, PACs, control of the DNC, and a massive political machine. Even the Washington Post responded with “Come on” to the suggestion that she is not the ultimate establishment candidate.  Yet, Clinton’s point is that she is also the trying to become the first woman president and thus must be considered an outsider candidate. It seemed to resonate with the crowd, though Sanders appears to have tied Clinton in a national poll despite an concerted campaign from Democratic leaders and politicians aligned with Clinton. I thought it would make for an interesting discussion on the blog.

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Alleged Terrorist “Deplanes” After Blowing Hole Through Side of Airbus in Somalia

Daallo-AirlinesThe Wall Street Journal is reporting a relatively happy ending to a terrorist attack. Officials reportedly believe that the man who died after being sucked out of a Somali passenger jet in midair on Monday was the man who set off the explosion. He succeeded only in blowing himself out of the plane. Problem solved.

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Intern Becomes Internet Sensation After Falling Asleep At First Day At Work

56b2714b1a00009c01ab1f5fThis is why I love this country. An intern starts with a tech startup and falls asleep. The response? A group picture of course. What followed was a hilarious series of photoshops of the now famous but nameless intern. The guy even has his own teeshirt as an inspiration to us all.

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No Car For You: Tesla’s Musk Punishes Customer For Critical Posting By Canceling His Car Order

Elon_Musk_2015Screen Shot 2016-02-03 at 5.56.33 PMHere goes any chance I have in getting a Tesla. Tesla CEO Elon Musk is at the heart of an interesting controversy after he punished a customer for a critical posting about the badly planned launch event for the new model. Musk appears to have a rather authoritarian view of critics like an automotive version of the Soup Nazi from Seinfeld.

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Voir Dear: Court Summons Potential Jurors With Referral To Sex Hotline

170px-Sound-Powered_Telephone_SystemsThere is voir dire and then there is voir dear. The court in Pascagoula, Mississippi, sent out a jury summons this month but, when prospective jurors called the telephone line, they found themselves speaking to a sex hotline. It does not help that the Clerk’s name is Randy but he is really really sorry.

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Critics: UConn to Create Black-Only Housing (Updated)

University_of_Connecticut_Seal.svgThe University of Connecticut is under fire this week after a report that it would create a living space segregated by race. The school is concerned about the lower graduation rate for black students. So it has arranged for black-only housing to try to maintain a more supportive environment. Others call is segregation and a return to pre-Brown v. Board of Education values. The university has insisted that it is not a separate dorm and that the reports have been overblown, as discussed on Snopes.

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Report: Marijuana Sales In 2015 Grew To $5.4 Billion

We have previously discussed how the economics of legalization of marijuana could be changing the dynamic in the politics surrounding the issue. If that is true, legalization advocates must be pleased by the figures just out from 2015. Legal U.S. pot sales have risen to $5.4 billion for 2015 — that is a 17.4 percent increase from 2014. With both taxes and revenues flowing from the legal pot market, legalization may be becoming entrenched in the country.

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Report: Clinton Emails Contained “Operational” Information and Put Lives At Risk

Hillary_Clinton_Testimony_to_House_Select_Committee_on_BenghaziWe have been closely following the Clinton email scandal and this morning additional information was leaked on the 22 “top secret” emails withheld by the States Department An official is quoted as saying that some of those emails contained “operational intelligence” and jeopardized “sources, methods and lives.” While I agree with the Clinton campaign that these leaks are themselves problematic (both in terms of their timing and their disclosures from an ongoing investigation), I have long maintained that this was a serious scandal and that Clinton’s evolving defense does not track with national security rules or procedures. I consider the decision to use exclusively an unsecure server for “convenience” to be a breathtakingly reckless act for one of the top officials in our government. I am also deeply concerned about the level of “spin” coming from the campaign that is misrepresenting the governing standards and practices in the field. Much of what has been said in defense of Clinton’s use of the email system is knowingly misleading in my view.

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Citizen Captures Connecticut Troopers Discussing Charges Against Protester To “Cover Our Asses”

Screen Shot 2016-01-31 at 9.41.22 AMA new citizen videotape has triggered an internal police investigation of Connecticut State troopers who are heard discussing charges for Michael Picard, 27, who was warning citizens of a DUI checkpoint. One of the officers is heard to say “we gotta cover our asses.” The officers are also heard threatening the citizen recording them. The police union has said that the officers acted appropriately.

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Kuwaiti Legislators Move To Ban Construction of New Churches As Insult To Islam

125px-Flag_of_Kuwait.svgWe have another close ally this month attacking the most fundamental principles of freedom of religion. While Kuwait was only too happy to see non-Muslim U.S. troops fight (right) and die to save its country from the Iraqi invasion, it announced a few days ago that it would not allow new churches to be built in the country as an insult to Islam and Sharia law.

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We Have Ways Of Knowing If You Vote, Round Two: Cruz Campaign Cited For Intimidating Mail Campaign

By Darren Smith, Weekend Contributor

Ted_Cruz,_official_portrait,_113th_CongressIn November of 2014, I wrote an article describing how a New York based political committee had been accused of sending what many saw as an intimidating letter to party voters who have chosen not to vote in previous elections. Whether this was considered peer pressure, inducing worry, or encouraging others to vote had not diminished the controversy and showed an insight into some of the tactics political parties use to generate more votes to their cause. Letters such as this raise questions as to the ethics of shaming citizens to vote. The right not to vote is considered a lawful option of the electorate.

Now, Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate strongly rebuked the Ted Cruz campaign for performing the same scare tactics to worry or shame voters into turning out for caucus voting in Iowa.

The mailing sent to voters gave them poor grades based upon their voting history. One side of the mailing read, “ELECTION ALERT: VOTER VIOLATION,” “PUBLIC RECORD” and “FURTHER ACTION NEEDED.” The other that had printing in large red letters reading, “VOTING VIOLATION”.

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Washington State Health Care Exchange Website Broken, Again.

By Darren Smith, Weekend Contributor

TRS-80 Model 1In November of 2014 we featured an article describing how the Washington State Healthcare Exchange website failed to properly calculate tax credits just hours after its launch. A year earlier, the system crashed under heavy user load. Now, it is once again broken–this time a day before the deadline for new enrollees to begin coverage beginning March first.

Those who do not sign up by tomorrow or otherwise have health care provided from employers or other sources may face heavy fines under the ObamaCare statues. Penalties range from seven hundred dollars levied on individual’s tax filings next year to as much as two thousand for families.

But once again incompetence in the state’s healthcare system puts the onus upon the individual citizen to remedy situations caused by the state.

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Seattle To Pay $10,000.00 For Artist To Write Poems, Etc. Describing Bridge

By Darren Smith, Weekend Contributor

It is often that people are concerned with the money diverted to art attached to public works  projects sponsored by government. The basis providing art from legislation or policies can mandate one percent of project costs be dedicated to art deemed reflective of various ideals approved by officials.

But one particular project regarding a bridge in the Fremont Neighborhood of Seattle is puzzling as to any long term benefit to be experienced, or of any tangible substance.

The City of Seattle budged ten thousand dollars and placed a call for bids for an artist to write a work of poetry, essay, or oral history of a drawbridge.

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State Department: 22 Emails Will Not Be Released As “Top Secret”

Hillary_Clinton_Testimony_to_House_Select_Committee_on_BenghaziThe email scandal has deepened for former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton today with the announcement that the State Department will not release 22 emails because they contain “top secret” information, the highest level of government classification. The latest batch of emails contains seven email chain with top secret information.  While Clinton once insisted that she never sent or received classified information, it is now official that many of the emails did indeed contain classified information. Clinton later argued that she did not send or receive information “marked” as classified. While many of us in the field noted that such markings are not the only issue for those who handle classified information, the classification level given so many emails will likely increase the criticism of Clinton’s decision to use exclusively her own, unsecure email system over the protected system in place at State. She has insisted that this was done for “convenience” and recently rejected the suggestion that the use of the system showed “an error in judgment.” In the very least, the decision to use a private email system was a horrendously bad decision for a Secretary of State when a secure system was available. It is hardly a compelling argument to advance that you took this reckless step for “convenience.”

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