Monday Open Thread

23 thoughts on “Monday Open Thread”

1. Huffington Toast reports SCOTUS has sent the Gavin Grimm transgender rights case back to fourth Circuit to reconsider in light of Trump administration dumping Obama policy in support of transgender rights.   It had been set for hearing next month.

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   1. So I saw from Equality Case Files. The boy at the heart of the case will graduate this spring with the issue still unresolved, but it's not just about him. There are a lot more trans kids coming up behind him. The Fourth Circuit ruled in his favor. It was the Glouster County School District that was appealing to SCOTUS. I'm afraid he may not win unless the Fourth Circuit again interprets Title IX in the broadest sense, and it's not exactly the most liberal circuit. It encompasses the Carolinas, the Virginias, and Maryland.

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   2. I am a little confused, V.

      Why would a court reconsider a case because of a change in presidential policy?

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      1. I'm no lawyer, Duke, but essentially you had the school district challenging Department of Education policy in interpreting Title IX to say it bans discrimination against transgender students.  The change in Trump administration ruling means they are now on the same side.

         Accorditionally, courts award some deference to the views of administrative agencies and don't overturn them lightly.  The policy they would defer to is now 180 degrees different from the policy they would have deferred to under Obama.  SCOUTS thus wants 4th circuit to review the case in the light of the changed legal lineup.

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         1. Thanks, V.

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            1. Duke, here's a more nuanced explanation about what happened in this case. No disrespect to V.

               http://www.advocate.com/transgender/2017/3/06/grimm-case-vacated-sessions-sets-back-trans-rights-supreme-court

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               1. Thanks, skinny…that was very helpful!

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2.  

   This is a very thorough look at the subject from CBS News….

   Fact-checking what Trump has taken credit for

    

   WASHINGTON — The start of a new administration is never a clean slate, even when parties flip. Day One is just another day for military operations, a budget that is still in place from the old crowd and a vast array of economic, social and law enforcement initiatives left over from the last president.

   You would not know this from President Donald Trump.

   He loudly and proudly takes credit for any positive development that has bloomed since he took office Jan. 20, even when the roots and buds of it were from President Barack Obama’s time. In his speech to Congress and other remarks in recent days, Trump has claimed credit for:

   -Big savings in an F-35 fighter jet contract that were in motion well before he became president.

   -Corporate job announcements that also had been months or longer in the making.

   -An infusion of money from NATO partners that has not materialized at all, but reflects a long-standing intent by some members to increase their military capabilities.

   -A tough-on-criminals approach to immigration enforcement that was planned and put into place during Obama’s presidency.

   -A $12 billion drop in the U.S. debt, a routine blip traced to the regular timing of tax payments and other fiscal factors unconnected to any president.

   -His plan to restore military supremacy, though he inherited military capabilities that are already second to none.

   Trump does, though, seek to shift some responsibility to the last administration for an operation he authorized that did not go smoothly – the covert mission in Yemen in which a Navy SEAL and civilians were killed.

   That mission “was started before I got here,” Trump said.

   It can take months for a new president to pile up achievements or failures that are truly his own. A look at a selection of his statements from the past week:

   TRUMP: Speaking of the NATO alliance, “Our partners must meet their financial obligations. And now, based on our very strong and frank discussions, they are beginning to do just that. In fact, I can tell you the money is pouring in. Very nice. Very nice.”

   THE FACTS: No new money has come pouring in from NATO allies. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis made a strong case when he met with allied defense ministers at a NATO gathering last month, pressing them to meet their 2014 commitment to spend 2 percent of their gross domestic product on defense by 2024. Mattis and other leaders said the allies understood the message and there was some discussion about working out plans to meet the goal.

   Only five of the 28 member countries currently meet the 2 percent level, and no new commitments have been made since the NATO meeting. Others in the alliance have routinely said they will work toward the increase. In any event, the commitment is for these nations to spend more on their own military capabilities, which would strengthen the alliance, not to hand over money. 

   There is much more in the linked article….

   As I recall, mama and I had a challenge to our most recently acquired troll to come up with a list of Der Drumpenfurhrers' accomplishments after six months…not looking good for the Yam and his little band of Yamsters.

    

    

    

    

   http://www.cbsnews.com/news/fact-checking-what-trump-has-taken-credit-for/

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3. Andrea Mitchell has to be one of the stupidest, mindless, morans in our Big Time press – she surely makes millions a year, but is letting some Trump apologist bamboozle her about Trump/Russia for a solid 5-10 minutes now. Blame Obama, cloud the fact that Trump and his entire staff have been lying about Russia for months.

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   1. I keep wondering where the hell is Manafort? His whereabouts and activities should reveal a lot. He was in on this from the beginning, bailed halfway in, and hasn't been seen much lately. I can't imagine he just stopped being involved.

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   2. Zap, here's your Andrea Mitchell refresher.  Here she is trying hard to ask tough questions of Sec State Tillerson, and being blocked and pushed out of the room.

       

       

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4. Where's Modster these days? Crushed by the wave of millions thousands hundreds of Trump supporters in Denver yesterday?  Would someone break it to him that in addition to having one of the most liberal abortion policies in the developed world, Israel is now decriminalizing adult-use marijuana consumption?  

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   1. Well, dozens ofTrumpees anyway.

       

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   2. I'm proposing that we stop chasing troll comments and simply add whatever comments we think are relevant to the topic that the article is about.  It is time to stop having these threads hijacked by some weenie who never comes back and defends his comments.  They aren't worth responding to and it is kind of disrespectful to the writers of these articles to go off topic because some weenie lies with the first comment (interesting how they always get the 1st comment) and then disappears.  We're better than that.

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      1. 

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      2. Recipes are also good

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         1. Policy Recipes are even better.

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            1. 

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5. “Only when the last tree has been cut down, the last fish been caught, and the last stream poisoned, will we realize we cannot eat money.”

   ~ Cree Indian Prophecy

   Well, there we have it boys and girls: we've reduced the business burden on those poor, over-burdened Fossilonians.  What's a little methane between friends? (still wondering when Farm Bureau is going to wake from their slumber and take notice?)

   EPA Withdraws Obama-Era Requirement for Companies to Provide Methane Data

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6. According to N.Y. Times, in his first appearance before HUD employees, Dr. Ben Carson compared slaves to immigrants coming to this country. Whoopi Goldberg told him to read or watch "Roots."

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7. While Der Führer wants $54 billion more for his military – and with no foreign policy plan – Saudi Arabia sees $50 billion and says, 'let's build solar and wind'. 

   Saudis Kick Off $50 Billion Renewable Energy Plan to Cut Oil Use

   This on the day Der Führer signs his new and improved Moozlim ban – with no accommodation for the very country that gave us nearly every one of the 9/11 perpetrators.  

    

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8. "There's no such thing as a free lunch"

   ~Betsy DeVos (after inheriting billions of dollars for doing nothing but being born) 

   PS: the National School Lunch Program amounts to about 0.03 percent of the entire United States budget (roughly $12 billion). For perspective, that’s just under 2 percent of the U.S. military budget, which rings in at $597 billion. 

   This, friends, is our modern-day Pro Life Birth party.

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   1. Yet another winner in the Lucky Sperm Club….

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