The_Nybbler
In the game of roller derby, women aren't just the opposing team; they're the ball.
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User ID: 174
The_Nybbler
In the game of roller derby, women aren't just the opposing team; they're the ball.
11mo ago
Do you have anything here? Anything at all, besides some vitriol?
A felony is a kind of serious crime.
Is it now? Suppose you're going to an airport. Your flight is canceled and the next one's not for a few hours, so you drive over to the nearest bar. You have some food, a few beers, head outside to have a smoke and realize you don't have a lighter with you, so you snag a couple of packs of matches from the bar (which still gives them out) and have a smoke before driving back to the airport and getting on your flight. What crimes have you committed? Well, DUI, but that's possibly just a misdemeanor. But also you've violated 49 USC 5124 by knowingly carrying TWO packs of matches aboard the aircraft; only one is allowed. Thats a felony carrying up to 5 years in prison. That's how serious a felony is in this day and age.
I'm a classic 'law and order' conservative and Trump lost me on January 6th.
You're not fooling anyone.
The_Nybbler
In the game of roller derby, women aren't just the opposing team; they're the ball.
8mo ago
It's trolling, and trolling designed to validate Democratic views of the nastiness of the other side, further demonstrating that Fuentes is controlled opposition.
That's entirely separate from the fact that the "body autonomy" argument is wholly fake. "Body autonomy" refers abortion and nothing more. Oh, bodily autonomy... so I can take drugs. Marijuana... too easy. Cocaine? Heroin? Testosterone? Penicillin? Oh, that's different is it? OK, then I can choose what medical treatments I have... including vaccination? Including the COVID vax? Ah, different again. Bodily autonomy is a fake argument because in practice nothing else follows from it aside from abortion.
The_Nybbler
In the game of roller derby, women aren't just the opposing team; they're the ball.
7mo ago
It was easy for ProPublica to find a fertile topic here since they were willing to fertilize it with bullshit themselves. Which is to say, they skirted the truth in ways which I think are properly characterized "lies", even if someone might be able to say "well, technically...". One of the clearest cases is
But Texas’ new abortion ban had just gone into effect. It required physicians to confirm the absence of a fetal heartbeat before intervening unless there was a “medical emergency,” which the law did not define.
If you check the Texas code on abortion, Chapter 171, you find
Sec. 171.002. DEFINITIONS. In this chapter: [...] (3) "Medical emergency" means a life-threatening physical condition aggravated by, caused by, or arising from a pregnancy that, as certified by a physician, places the woman in danger of death or a serious risk of substantial impairment of a major bodily function unless an abortion is performed.
So how can ProPublica say the law did not define "medical emergency"? Well, "the law" in that case was Subchapter H, Section 171.201 et seq. The definition of "Medical emergency" was pre-existing in Section 171.002. Same chapter, and you can see above the definition explicitly applies to the whole chapter (including the new law). So as close to a lie as you can get without technically being an untruth.
The_Nybbler
In the game of roller derby, women aren't just the opposing team; they're the ball.
5mo ago
He's not a centrist. He's very leftist. He's a gay furry who couldn't stand to share a forum with people who advocated for lethal self-defense. That he's being called a fascist for this is just an indication of how far the leftist purity spiral has done.
The_Nybbler
In the game of roller derby, women aren't just the opposing team; they're the ball.
4mo ago
If the NSF is funding programs for undergraduates with terms which effectively range from "favors women over men and non-Asian minorities over whites and Asians" to "no white or Asian men need apply", those programs are discriminatory, illegal under a plain reading of the law and (in the case of race) Constitution, and absolutely should be canceled. It is not some sort of error caused by too-wide searching; it is an intended and correct result.
From the NSF:
REU projects offer an opportunity to tap the nation's diverse student talent pool and broaden participation in science and engineering. NSF is particularly interested in increasing the numbers of women, underrepresented minorities, and persons with disabilities in research. REU projects are strongly encouraged to involve students who are members of these groups. (Underrepresented minorities are Blacks and African Americans, Hispanics and Latinos, American Indians, Alaska Natives, and Native Hawaiians and Other Pacific Islanders.) When designing recruitment plans, REU projects also are encouraged to consider students who are veterans of the U.S. Armed Services and first-generation college students.
There's a more recent version of that that's less specific about who is being excluded, but still clear enough:
REU projects offer an opportunity to increase the participation of the full spectrum of the nation's diverse talent in STEM. Several million additional people — specifically, individuals from groups historically underrepresented in STEM fields — are needed for the U.S. science and engineering workforce to reflect the demographics of the U.S. population. (See the reports Vision 2030 [https://nsf.gov/nsb/publications/vision2030.pdf], The STEM Labor Force of Today [https://ncses.nsf.gov/pubs/nsb20212/], and Diversity and STEM: Women, Minorities, and Persons with Disabilities [https://ncses.nsf.gov/pubs/nsf23315/].) Reaching these "missing millions" is central to the nation's economic competitiveness and is a priority for NSF.
The_Nybbler
In the game of roller derby, women aren't just the opposing team; they're the ball.
1mo ago
From the article:
The nation desperately needs this sense of proportionality in dealing with its educational and cultural institutions. Harvard, as I am among the first to point out, has serious ailments. The sense that something is not well with the university is widespread, and it’s led to sympathy, even schadenfreude, with Mr. Trump’s all-out assault. But Harvard is an intricate system that developed over centuries and constantly has to grapple with competing and unexpected challenges. The appropriate treatment (as with other imperfect institutions) is to diagnose which parts need which remedies, not to cut its carotid and watch it bleed out.
Fact is, the right has tried that, most recently with SFFA v Harvard, which Harvard essentially thumbed its nose at. And Pinker himself, by his own testimony in this article, has tried that. It did diddlysquat; Harvard doubled down on the bad behavior. So either those opposed to what Harvard is doing must back down, or they must escalate.
Also, universities are committed to free speech, which includes speech we don’t like. A corporation can fire an outspoken employee; a university can’t, or shouldn’t.
FIRE (not a right wing organization) listed Harvard as the worst US university for free speech two years running. And it got the worst score EVER for any US university in 2023. Harvard cannot credibly use a commitment to free speech as a defense for anything, because it lacks one. Yes, I know Pinker objects to this ranking, but not really credibly.
The_Nybbler
In the game of roller derby, women aren't just the opposing team; they're the ball.
2mo ago
Unlike Columbia, Harvard is willing to send a costly signal that it is, indeed, an elite private university, and it plans to stay that way.
Good. Emphasis on the private. They can join the ranks of colleges which refuse federal funds. They can also lose their 501(c)(3) status the same way Bob Jones University did, and for the same reason.
The_Nybbler
In the game of roller derby, women aren't just the opposing team; they're the ball.
5mo ago
Letting Enrique Tarrio out of a 22 year sentence is reprehensible imo.
This would be the Enrique Tarrio who wasn't even present in DC for the riots?
Also, those who committed violence against Capitol police who were doing their jobs and were rightly found guilty, should not be let go.
There's no way to distinguish at this point. The time for such individualized determinations would have been the trials, where you could figure out whether someone was committing violence against the police, merely defending themselves against cops enjoying the opportunity to give out a beating, or simply standing near people who were. The prosecutors decided not to do this, instead throwing the book at everyone they could knowing DC juries would convict. A pardon for all is the best Trump can do.
(Personally I'd except those on film vandalizing the Capitol, since it's clear the building itself did no wrong. But it may be too difficult to distinguish even them)
The_Nybbler
In the game of roller derby, women aren't just the opposing team; they're the ball.
5mo ago
The term "medical emergency" is not defined in the statute.
This is, to all intents and purposes, a lie. It is not defined in the heartbeat law itself, but it is defined in the chapter the heartbeat law is part of, and that definition explictly covers the whole chapter.
Anyway, this case has been discussed before
They identified several missed opportunities, which began when she arrived at the first hospital and was misdiagnosed with strep.
When she went to another hospital she screened positive for sepsis, but as her fetus still had a heartbeat, she was discharged.
If you're sending someone home with untreated sepsis, it isn't the heartbeat law that's the problem.
The_Nybbler
In the game of roller derby, women aren't just the opposing team; they're the ball.
5mo ago
The name of the concept you're reaching for is "target-rich environment".
The_Nybbler
In the game of roller derby, women aren't just the opposing team; they're the ball.
5mo ago
Trump may be doing it because of immigration, but it's not just immigration. DEI/*-Studies. Trans stuff. Environmental/Climate change stuff. Homeless stuff. Criminal justice "reform". Not sure about Palestine stuff but maybe. You name a left-wing issue and it's being funded by an interlocking set of NGOs who are probably siphoning at least some of their money off the US Federal Government. That's the largest part of what I call "Left, Inc." (another part being ordinary for-profit companies which have been co-opted, and another the mainstream-left press), and if Trump can cut it off, it'll be "yuge".
The_Nybbler
In the game of roller derby, women aren't just the opposing team; they're the ball.
8mo ago
· Edited 8mo ago
Because we weren't born yesterday. The NYT is not some fringe; they're a major institution in the progressive machine that Kamala is a part of. And they are notorious for message discipline. If the NYT takes a shot at you, it's that machine taking a shot at you.
As for Trump's "democratic backsliding", I will note there is one party which attempted to remove their major opponent from the ballot in several states, had said opponent criminally convicted with the assistance of people from the Justice Department, and continues to make a mockery of the law by prosecuting him with an unauthorized prosecutor on the Federal level, and it's not the Republicans.
Members and allies of said party also attempted to violently disrupt the 2017 inauguration and physically interfered with the confirmation hearings on at least one of his appointed Supreme Court justices. Further, Democratic-allied members of the government bureaucracy both supported false information (e.g. the Steele dossier) and falsely denigrated true information (the Hunter Biden laptop) under the color of their authority. They also "partnered" with social media to suppress the Biden laptop story among others. The party which presents the by far the greatest threat to democracy is the Democrats.
The_Nybbler
In the game of roller derby, women aren't just the opposing team; they're the ball.
5mo ago
Yet they ignore the fact that analysts have produced a great deal of research and economic analysis arguing that such policies are good for Americans.
Yes, organs of the left have produced voluminous analyses saying "what we want is good for you too". On trade, this is credible (not in the least because not all free traders are on the left). On immigration... it is clearly not their true reason, because the ones not toiling away in the bowels of the NBER producing such papers are making arguments based on how the US has an obligation to the poor foreigners, and leftist NGOs are busy helping get the poor foreigners to the US by hook or by crook.
This is gaslighting.
The_Nybbler
In the game of roller derby, women aren't just the opposing team; they're the ball.
8mo ago
I don't want tax dollars given to Starlink, or anyone else, to subsidize rural broadband. But if we're going to have such an award, I'd rather not it be given out or not according to how much the various players suck up to the party in power. Especially when the quid-pro-quo isn't just campaign funds and endorsements but censoring the opposition.
The_Nybbler
In the game of roller derby, women aren't just the opposing team; they're the ball.
2mo ago
Schoenfeld, arguing for Montgomery County, says these books that are part of a curriculum that preach uncontroversial values like civility and inclusivity. Alito, skeptical, said Uncle Bobby's Wedding had a clear moral message beyond civility or inclusivity.
Alito should have been more skeptical that "civility" and (especially) "inclusivity" are uncontroversial. Any teaching of "civility" is teaching not just that people should act in ways which are civil and not in ways which are uncivil, but teaching WHICH ways are civil and WHICH ways are uncivil, and those things vary sharply across the population. "Inclusivity" is worse, in that it's basically a positive label for progressive values rather than a label for anything uncontroversial at all.
The_Nybbler
In the game of roller derby, women aren't just the opposing team; they're the ball.
4mo ago
Good news: We've cleansed the hated outgroup nearly completely from the institutions!
Bad news: The hated outgroup is now shelling the institutions from the outside!
The_Nybbler
In the game of roller derby, women aren't just the opposing team; they're the ball.
2mo ago
It's a different Supreme Court. You cannot at the same time have
-
Lack of disparate impact according to a protected characteristic
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Lack of disparate treatment according to a protected characteristic
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A test which truly measures merit.
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Merit which is correlated with the protected characteristic.
If the Supreme Court were to confront this head-on, they'd have the job of deciding between
A) Banning tests based on merit. This is practically absurd but legally sound
B) Deferring to the legislature and allowing disparate treatment (discrimination against the group whose membership is correlated with greater merit) in such instances. We are, in effect, here.
C) Ruling that "equal protection" in the Constitution bans disparate treatment and striking down the requirement to avoid disparate impact.
However, the Supreme Court will not confront this head-on; they will do almost anything to allow B) to remain the case while pretending that it isn't and 4) does not attain.
The_Nybbler
In the game of roller derby, women aren't just the opposing team; they're the ball.
5mo ago
Nobody's hit "defect" here but the Democrats. First by pardoning actual terrorists, then by inflicting harsh punishments on people who did many of the same sort of things that are commonplace and go unpunished or lightly punished in leftist protests.
The_Nybbler
In the game of roller derby, women aren't just the opposing team; they're the ball.
4mo ago
· Edited 4mo ago
The extent of most researchers in the hard sciences' capitulation to progressive ideology is that they filled out the mandatory "broader impacts" portion of a grant application and made up some shit they didn't believe about how whatever they're doing will incidentally improve the lives of women or minorities.
Why should I believe they didn't believe it? The gatekeepers of the hard sciences were all too ready to expel Tim Hunt (and of course James Watson) from their ranks for violation of that "shit". They were happy to put Alessandro Strumia on the shit-list for opposing it. (and not hard science, but they censured Peter Boghossian for "unauthorized human experimentation" for submitting bogus articles to a woke journal). All public polls say they're strongly aligned with the left on this.
Denouncing every recipient of such a grant for doing what was required of them to obtain one is akin to punishing everyone in the Soviet Union ex post facto who praised the communist party to keep their job, needlessly making enemies of people who would otherwise be on your side.
All this is, is taking away the grants which include the praise of Stalin. No one is even being blacklisted.
Should they have had the courage to stand up for their convictions despite the threat of censure or worse? Perhaps, but people in glass houses shouldn't throw stones. How many of us here fought the advance of wokeness tooth and nail in every aspect of our professional and public lives, and took all the hits that that entailed?
Perhaps not "tooth and nail", but I fought my battles and took my hits. I certainly never endorsed woke views.
The_Nybbler
In the game of roller derby, women aren't just the opposing team; they're the ball.
4mo ago
I think it gives far too much credit to DEI and "political correctness" as examples of an "open society" and "individual liberation". They may well be outgrowths of such a movement for that, but they are cancerous outgrowths. Their tools and methods -- cancellation, punishment of speech, discrimination against individuals for being members of the oppressor classes -- are diametrically opposed to those goals. It may indeed be true, as many on the right say, that classical liberalism inevitably leads to that, but even if so, that means classical liberalism contains the seeds of its own destruction, not that those things are fulfillment of its goals.
The_Nybbler
In the game of roller derby, women aren't just the opposing team; they're the ball.
2mo ago
You're getting lost in the details (which are mostly lies from both sides), when this is a case of simple conflict theory. Amazon thinks, correctly, that if they label the products with the tariff this will make people angry at Trump. Trump realizes this and opposes it.
The_Nybbler
In the game of roller derby, women aren't just the opposing team; they're the ball.
4mo ago
This would be a lot more credible if it weren't for feminist vulcanology.
That is to say, there is very good evidence that quite a few fields are in fact entirely fraudulent. Nothing about right-wing anti-intellectualism created or could create or sustain these fields. This makes it far more likely that the right wing is merely correct about the total ideological capture of the academy, than for the capture to have been caused by the withdrawal of the right wing.
The_Nybbler
In the game of roller derby, women aren't just the opposing team; they're the ball.
2mo ago
We've talked a few times about New York's congestion pricing program. On February 19, Secretary of Transportation Duffy revoked authorization for this program based on two defects. One, that cordon pricing where a toll-free route exists is allowed for Interstates, but no other roads -- and in any case no toll-free route exists under New York's program. Second, that the program in fact exists to fund the MTA (state run public transportation, including the subway), not to reduce congestion. By statute any congestion pricing program requires authorization from the Department of Transportation, so this is the end of the program, right?
Wrong. Governor Hochul refused to shut it down by a March 21 deadline, calling instead for "orderly resistance". The US DOT extended the deadline until tomorrow. Hochul still refuses to shut down the program.
Unsurprisingly, there has been nothing said about the flagrant disregard for rule of law by the executive of New York.
The_Nybbler
In the game of roller derby, women aren't just the opposing team; they're the ball.
3mo ago
How can people trust with this level of malfeasance? How do we get the trust back?
In Star Trek: The Next Generation, a powerful immortal trickster being ("Q") who has tangled with the Enterprise many times appears on the bridge of the Enterprise. He tells a story of having his powers stripped for his sins and begs the crew's help. The crew are, understandably, skeptical. He plaintively claims to be mortal and asks what he can do to convince the crew that he is indeed mortal. The Enterprise's Klingon security officer has the answer:
Die.
Trump did not lock up Hillary. There were no show trials with extreme penalties for Floyd rioters. The both-sidesism is wrong; the Democrats have been dishing it out a lot more than they've been taking it.
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