Blue Footed Booby posted:

Yeah absolutely. It's just...really obvious. It's not a hollow point, so either this cop was smart enough to not just pop a round out of the mag of their duty pistol and actually put some effort into it, or they roll with wadcutters on the reg. I'm not sure which would be sadder.

Meanwhile, in Florida:
https://www.salon.com/2021/06/23/desantis-signs-bill-requiring-florida-students-professors-to-register-political-views-with-state/

Imagine being terrified that a gun registry will be used by the government to round on dissidents, but not being worried about this.

Serious question: is this being cribbed from some pre-written agenda from a think tank or whatever, or is Desantis free-styling? A lot of the stuff I've been seeing coming out of Florida isn't just standard Republican cliches. I get raises my eyebrows when these ghouls exhibit creativity.

FizFashizzle posted:

https://twitter.com/sharifajackson/status/1544167574837100544?s=21&t=PUOQM9c6SfnRmMwNoWtrfg

Thank god for that mythril weave in his hat.

Blue Footed Booby posted:

Ah, ok, thanks. I've got a respiratory infection and between the meds and the sleep deprivation I'm not firing on all cylinders.

Bishyaler posted:

Bullets, famously known for nestling neatly into the sides of hats with zero deformation and still attached to their casing. Imagine the contempt you need for everyone around you to even consider selling this story.

bird food bathtub posted:

Is that really "Free-styling"? Forcing undesireables to register themselves has a pretty well known historical basis. I wouldn't call it an agenda, more of a playbook for fascists and authoritarians.

projecthalaxy posted:

OK so this is coming from a position of moronic ignorance but is there really no rule that says people get to vote for the President? Like I see the Constitution says the several states shall send electors to Washington to pick the President or whatever but there was never a statute or anything saying "by the way, hold a popular vote to see which electors you send"? I know a lot of the stuff like that is technically just party rules and norms and whatnot but you'd think we would have written down "people get to vote for the President" explicitly on the books at some point.

projecthalaxy posted:

OK so this is coming from a position of moronic ignorance but is there really no rule that says people get to vote for the President? Like I see the Constitution says the several states shall send electors to Washington to pick the President or whatever but there was never a statute or anything saying "by the way, hold a popular vote to see which electors you send"? I know a lot of the stuff like that is technically just party rules and norms and whatnot but you'd think we would have written down "people get to vote for the President" explicitly on the books at some point.

haveblue posted:

It is written down, in the laws and constitutions of the states. ISL is a purported legal hack that nullifies those

Toaster Beef posted:

After the past six years I'm more surprised when something I assumed to be codified into Constitutional law actually is codified into Constitutional law

quote:

A photo supplied to NBC10 by John McNesby, president of the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge No. 5 union, showed a bullet lodged in an officer's cap. Inside the cap was a memorial card for a Philadelphia police chaplain who recently died.

FlamingLiberal posted:

I mean that reporter immediately just tweeted out the photo uncritically so….

selec posted:

There’s no reforming them. You can’t trust the cops, they lie all the time, and they insist you remember all the times they did something right, and never bring up the times they hosed up.

Abolish them before they abolish you. There are better ways to live than with an unreliable gang of armed paranoid weirdos you have to pay for running around.

projecthalaxy posted:

OK so this is coming from a position of moronic ignorance but is there really no rule that says people get to vote for the President? Like I see the Constitution says the several states shall send electors to Washington to pick the President or whatever but there was never a statute or anything saying "by the way, hold a popular vote to see which electors you send"? I know a lot of the stuff like that is technically just party rules and norms and whatnot but you'd think we would have written down "people get to vote for the President" explicitly on the books at some point.

projecthalaxy posted:

So I tried to trace my rights just for my own interest, as it relates to voting for President. The US Constitution as mentioned punts the whole thing to the states, the NM Constitution says any US Citizen who is resident within New Mexico can vote in all elections for local, county, state, and fed officials as controlled by the US and NM houses of legislature, and that those must be ballot elections held on the same day across the state. The legislature punted the entire process over to the NM Secretary of State, who currently decides that the Federal Electors shall be apportioned entirely to the party that wins a majority or plurality of the popular vote for President within New Mexico but I'm having trouble finding anything that says they can't decide like tomorrow that actually they'll just say who gets our electors themselves and lol at you.

BRAKE FOR MOOSE posted:

the only real check is that it probably has to be decided before the election happens, and it'd be unpopular to say "lol gently caress you we pick" before the election happens

Toaster Beef posted:

After the past six years I'm more surprised when something I assumed to be codified into Constitutional law actually is codified into Constitutional law

projecthalaxy posted:

So I tried to trace my rights just for my own interest, as it relates to voting for President. The US Constitution as mentioned punts the whole thing to the states, the NM Constitution says any US Citizen who is resident within New Mexico can vote in all elections for local, county, state, and fed officials as controlled by the US and NM houses of legislature, and that those must be ballot elections held on the same day across the state. The legislature punted the entire process over to the NM Secretary of State, who currently decides that the Federal Electors shall be apportioned entirely to the party that wins a majority or plurality of the popular vote for President within New Mexico but I'm having trouble finding anything that says they can't decide like tomorrow that actually they'll just say who gets our electors themselves and lol at you.

bird food bathtub posted:

Every one else will be placated with the same bullshit Republicans have been doing for decades. Everyone pointing out how the laws can be abused will just be labeled fearmongers or soyboy cuck liberal commie traitors or whatever lies are convenient depending on timing and audience. It will all be 'emergency measures' that nobody would use that way and 'taken out of context' and so on.

Then when those laws get used to declare the winner it's 50/50 in my mind whether it's just allowed to happen because "well that's what the book says it's totally legit" or whether there's a challenge that ends up before the Supreme Court and welp wouldn't ya know it that's just how the cookie crumbles you sore losers the people in robes said you lost. Now is the time to come together under our winner for the good of the nation to allow healing to begin.

FizFashizzle posted:

Huh. Well that’s certainly unexpected.

https://twitter.com/andrewfeinberg/status/1544377749309165569?s=21&t=PUOQM9c6SfnRmMwNoWtrfg

These aren’t congressional subpoenas either.

Nessus posted:

You don't have to do the legwork for them, you know

Oracle posted:

Wonder if they were on a conference call.

Also is the Georgia AG appointed or elected?

Discendo Vox posted:

Elected; the current one was appointed to fill a vacancy, then ran in and won election. He's up for reelection this year.

Oracle posted:

Oof. He better finish up before November.

Blue Footed Booby posted:

Yeah absolutely. It's just...really obvious. It's not a hollow point, so either this cop was smart enough to not just pop a round out of the mag of their duty pistol and actually put some effort into it, or they roll with wadcutters on the reg. I'm not sure which would be sadder.

Meanwhile, in Florida:
https://www.salon.com/2021/06/23/desantis-signs-bill-requiring-florida-students-professors-to-register-political-views-with-state/

Imagine being terrified that a gun registry will be used by the government to round on dissidents, but not being worried about this.

Serious question: is this being cribbed from some pre-written agenda from a think tank or whatever, or is Desantis free-styling? A lot of the stuff I've been seeing coming out of Florida isn't just standard Republican cliches. It raises my eyebrows when these ghouls exhibit creativity.

projecthalaxy posted:

OK so this is coming from a position of moronic ignorance but is there really no rule that says people get to vote for the President? Like I see the Constitution says the several states shall send electors to Washington to pick the President or whatever but there was never a statute or anything saying "by the way, hold a popular vote to see which electors you send"? I know a lot of the stuff like that is technically just party rules and norms and whatnot but you'd think we would have written down "people get to vote for the President" explicitly on the books at some point.

Main Paineframe posted:

"Left-wing college professors brainwashing your kids" has been a conservative boogeyman for at least half a century.

As such, the intent of this move is fairly obvious:
1) collect statistics to support their claims that colleges are overrun by liberals and socialists who oppress the poor conservative minority
2) use that data as basis for a new round of culture war against universities, pressuring them to hire more conservative faculty and dismantle anti-bigotry policies and give preferential treatment to conservative groups

That's correct. For the first couple decades of US history, many states didn't hold presidential elections at all - the state legislature directly picked the electors with no public input. There's nothing in the US Constitution that mandates a popular-vote election.

Florida could pass a law today saying presidential elections are canceled and that the choice of electors rests in the hands of DeSantis. It's entirely legal.

Epic High Five posted:

No, only a relative handful of people alive today have ever actually been permitted to vote for President, that spot on your ballot is basically a change.org petition that gets sent to the person representing your area who actually gets to cast the vote.

Primaries are their own thing and run entirely in house to whatever rules the parties like.

edit - I should specify that this is very much a macro level analysis of it and the nitty gritty is about as insane and convoluted as you'd imagine it would be in the core of a nation in decline

selec posted:

Just lie about your political views jeez.

If you get caught out claim you had a conversion the night previously.

Main Paineframe posted:

The Salon article doesn't mention it, but the bill also has a provision that gives students the right to record professors without their knowledge or consent for the express purpose of making a complaint against that professor.

There's also a bunch of other smaller things, like a provision reforming university disciplinary systems to have standards similar to those of real courtrooms, such as a presumption of innocence, a right to remain silent or plead the fifth, a statute of limitations, and a right for the accused to have a dedicated advisor who will have full access to advocate on their behalf and basically act as their lawyer.

Overall, it's basically just a wishlist for right-wing firebrand students, turned into a bill and shoved through the legislature.

Blue Footed Booby posted:

Meanwhile, in Florida:
https://www.salon.com/2021/06/23/desantis-signs-bill-requiring-florida-students-professors-to-register-political-views-with-state/

Imagine being terrified that a gun registry will be used by the government to round on dissidents, but not being worried about this.

Serious question: is this being cribbed from some pre-written agenda from a think tank or whatever, or is Desantis free-styling? A lot of the stuff I've been seeing coming out of Florida isn't just standard Republican cliches. It raises my eyebrows when these ghouls exhibit creativity.

quote:

More than 4 in 10 Americans (42%) say they are struggling to remain where they are financially. This is the first time since Monmouth started asking the question five years ago that the number topped 3 in 10 – the range in prior polls was 20% to 29%. Just under half (47%) say their current financial situation is basically stable and only 9% say it is improving. The high point for improving was 25% in April 2019. The number of people who say they are struggling has increased by 18 points since last year (from 24% to 42%), with that increase being fairly across the board when examining key demographic groups, including income, race, and partisanship[...]. Currently, reports of struggling financially come from 58% of those earning under $50,000 (up 18 points from June 2021), 35% of those earning $50,000-$100,000 (up 15 points), and 28% of those earning over $100,000 (up 18 points).

Nearly half of the public names either inflation (33%) or gas prices (15%) as the biggest concern facing their family right now. The economy in general (9%) and paying everyday bills (6%) are among other financial concerns mentioned. Abortion, which has registered less than 1% on this question in prior Monmouth polls going back to 2015, is currently named by 5% – predominantly among Democrats (9%). Inflation and gas prices are the top two family concerns across a wide variety of demographic groups, including income, race, and partisan identity. Inflation as a top concern emerged in Monmouth’s July 2021 poll at 5% and then grew to 14% in December, before more than doubling in the current poll. The current poll is also the first time that gas prices are mentioned by more than a handful of Americans as their predominant issue. One year ago, the poll registered a wider variety of top issues, including the pandemic (17%), the economy (11%), everyday bills (11%), health care costs (7%) and job security (7%).

***

A majority of 57% say that the actions of the federal government over the past six months have hurt their family when it comes to their most important concern. Just 8% say Washington has helped them and 34% say federal actions have had no real impact on their top concern. In prior polls, between 34% and 47% said government actions have hurt them on their biggest family concern. The current poll marks the first time this sentiment is in the majority. The results also indicate little optimism about the future – just 23% expect that future government actions over the next few years will help improve their family’s top concern while 45% say Washington will hurt them. One year ago, that response was basically flipped (40% expected to be helped and 34% expected to be hurt).

Currently, 54% of Americans say the middle class has not benefited at all from Biden’s policies. This is up from 36% one year ago and it is also higher than 36% who said the same about former President Donald Trump at about the same point in his term (April 2018). It is even higher than 46% who said the same about former President Barack Obama in 2013, when Monmouth first posed this question. Just 7% say the middle class has been helped a lot by Biden’s policies and 34% say they have been helped a little. A majority (52%) also say that poor families have not benefited from Biden’s presidency, up from 29% in July 2021. The current result was similar for Trump in 2018 (53%) but it is higher than it was for Obama in 2013 (37%).

Willa Rogers posted:

Bellmaker posted:

Despite the dislike for the President it seems it hasn't changed folks' opinions on what party they want in charge, which I find interesting.

Folks can't be any more polarized than they already are? This probably isn't fully accounting for the Roe v Wade decision given that was on 6-24?

SimonChris posted:

A lot of people who dislike Biden are probably democrats who think he isn't doing enough.

He is hardly popular on these forums, but I am pretty sure most people here would prefer to have the democrats in control of congress.

Bellmaker posted:

Despite the dislike for the President it seems it hasn't changed folks' opinions on what party they want in charge, which I find interesting.



Folks can't be any more polarized than they already are? This probably isn't fully accounting for the Roe v Wade decision given that was on 6-24?

quote:

Former classmates describe Highland Park shooting suspect as withdrawn and odd

Former classmates of the Highland Park, Illinois, shooting suspect on Tuesday described him as an odd, soft-spoken kid who didn’t participate in class or school activities and showed little interest in engaging with his peers.

The few friends Robert “Bobby” Crimo III had tended to be troublemakers who seemed to relish the notion of being outsiders, a couple of his former classmates said.

"They wanted to be the 'anti-' group, like the rebels," said Mackenzie, a former classmate who asked to be identified only by her first name to protect her privacy. "The aura they presented was opposite, negative and harsh."

Mackenzie said she attended middle school and high school with Crimo and once shared a Spanish class with him. "Whenever I heard him speak, it was very lifeless and negative," she said. "He's always been down and not enthusiastic."

One former classmate who requested anonymity for privacy reasons said he and Crimo used to hang out and play video games and skateboard together in middle school but that they drifted apart when they were freshmen at Highland Park High School.

“He was a skater kid,” he said of Crimo in middle school. “He would make YouTube videos all the time back then. Kind of DIY videos on how to grip a skateboard or replace a wheel, stuff like that.”

But in high school, the former classmate said, Crimo grew more insular and distant.

“He was always by himself,” he said. “No one seemed to try to be his friend.”

Just before Crimo dropped out of Highland Park High in 2017, he splattered “Awake” stickers in the school’s stairways and bathrooms, the former classmate said. Crimo made rap music under the name “Awake the Rapper.”

On Monday, when authorities announced that Crimo was “a person of interest” in the Fourth of July shooting, a one-time friend said he “was not shocked.”

Molly Handelman, who also said she attended middle school and high school with Crimo, described him as a “very quiet” guy. “When he did talk, he was very soft. He didn’t seem aggressive ever, at all.”

Handelman, who worked with Crimo on class projects a few times, said “something definitely seemed off” with him.

“If he was asked to speak, he definitely had an opinion,” she said. “I just remember if he was asked to speak, he would be like, ‘I don’t care,’ kind of thing.”

“He made it very clear he didn’t care about school,” Handelman said. “His friends got into trouble pretty often in school. He stayed pretty reserved and quiet, so it seemed pretty interesting how he was very quiet but his friends were very rebellious,” she added.

Handelman said she was shocked to learn of Monday’s shooting. “It’s very traumatizing. A lot of people in Highland Park feel like it’s a very safe community,” she said.

Another former classmate, who also requested CNN not use his name due to privacy concerns, said Crimo “kind of kept his head down, listened to music, walked through the hallways, minded his own business.” This classmate, however, said he didn’t think there was a darker side to Crimo’s reclusive nature. “By no means was I like ‘this kid has demons,'" he told CNN.