[Yossarian]

I’d love to see a US climbing forum discussing the intricacies of early day motions, turnout comparisons with the last Rochester and Strood by-election, and Keir Starmers haircut...

[jwi]

Yeah, but do you have a blatantly racist reality-TV star gunning for the prime minister post? If not, there's better entertainment value to be had elsewhere...

And be careful what you wish for. Having suffered ridiculously ill informed articles in international media (not so much in German media though) about the last elections in France and in Sweden...

[Yossarian]

That was kind of my point...

[Teaboy]

Yeah, but do you have a blatantly racist reality-TV star gunning for the prime minister post?

Sort of, Johnson owes his early fame to his Have I Got News for You appearances. Not quite reality TV but close

[Yossarian]

I’ve had arguments with a number of Johnson fans who basically love him because of that exact thing. It’s amazing that a programme that originated as anti-establishment satire unwittingly unleashed / made palatable not just him but also Farage. And Rod Liddle too, to a certain extent. It gave them a platform to perfect their act without being held to account.

[Falling Down]

Sessions fired. Rosenstein on his way to the WH.  Trump visibly rattled and furious during the presser earlier.  I hope Bob M has indictments and subpeonas already filed...

This is madness!

[Oldmanmatt]

I’ve had arguments with a number of Johnson fans who basically love him because of that exact thing. It’s amazing that a programme that originated as anti-establishment satire unwittingly unleashed / made palatable not just him but also Farage. And Rod Liddle too, to a certain extent. It gave them a platform to perfect their act without being held to account.

I don’t think it was “unwitting” in the least. Both of those arses have been relentlessly promoted by the BBC for almost a decade.

.......

I see Trump has accelerated his coup...

[jwi]

Yeah, but do you have a blatantly racist reality-TV star gunning for the prime minister post?

Sort of, Johnson owes his early fame to his Have I Got News for You appearances. Not quite reality TV but close

That's me told. So I should start to pay attention then?

[Yossarian]

I’ve had arguments with a number of Johnson fans who basically love him because of that exact thing. It’s amazing that a programme that originated as anti-establishment satire unwittingly unleashed / made palatable not just him but also Farage. And Rod Liddle too, to a certain extent. It gave them a platform to perfect their act without being held to account.

I don’t think it was “unwitting” in the least. Both of those arses have been relentlessly promoted by the BBC for almost a decade.

.......

I see Trump has accelerated his coup...

In between coke-fuelled binges at the Groucho and dealing with Angus Deayton’s prediliction for prostitutes, I’m sure those television comedy producers had loads of time to orchestrate a global popular nationalist conspiracy...

[Oldmanmatt]

I’ve had arguments with a number of Johnson fans who basically love him because of that exact thing. It’s amazing that a programme that originated as anti-establishment satire unwittingly unleashed / made palatable not just him but also Farage. And Rod Liddle too, to a certain extent. It gave them a platform to perfect their act without being held to account.

I don’t think it was “unwitting” in the least. Both of those arses have been relentlessly promoted by the BBC for almost a decade.

.......

I see Trump has accelerated his coup...

In between coke-fuelled binges at the Groucho and dealing with Angus Deayton’s prediliction for prostitutes, I’m sure those television comedy producers had loads of time to orchestrate a global popular nationalist conspiracy...

So....

You actually think comedy is the BBC’s sole programming endeavour and neither of the above mentioned fuck nuggets have been featured on any, I don’t know, “Current affairs” type programs?

And you think I said anything about “orchestrating a global nationalist conspiracy”?

Are you getting enough roughage and B12 in your diet?

Edit:
Having a bad day and feeling a little too prickly.

[Oldmanmatt]

Talking of editing...

FFS:

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/jim-acosta-trump-cnn-press-conference-pass-white-house-infowars-sarah-sanders-a8623441.html

[AMorris]

Talking of editing...

FFS:

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/jim-acosta-trump-cnn-press-conference-pass-white-house-infowars-sarah-sanders-a8623441.html

Christ.

The irony of Jim Acosta having his hard pass revoked for brushing the arm of a female intern trying to snatch his microphone away, whilst questioning a man who is known to be sexually aggressive towards women.

I am feeling anxious, where did I put my soma?

[andy popp]

Apropos the gun debate, California proved again how hard it is to defend against these attacks. Obviously, Trump didn't cause this problem (even if several extremely bad shootings have taken place so far in the less than two years of his presidency) but he's shown his response is quite as facile and weak as any other politician's.

[Oldmanmatt]

Apropos the gun debate, California proved again how hard it is to defend against these attacks. Obviously, Trump didn't cause this problem (even if several extremely bad shootings have taken place so far in the less than two years of his presidency) but he's shown his response is quite as facile and weak as any other politician's.

Hmmm...

As I write this, there’s a breaking news story about an Active Shooter in a school in NC.

Interesting to see the difference in response in Australia overnight, where the attacker was not carrying a fire arm. I watched the vid of several officers trying very hard to bring him down with batons and non-leathal methods, for around ten minutes; before the armed response guys dropped him.
They couldn’t  stop him without bullets. Thankfully, the gas cylinders in the car didn’t unwrap...

The Thousand Oaks incident, I would suggest, only came to an end when it did; because the shooter knew he now had determined, trained, responders to deal with. His level of training would have meant nothing else except running out of ammo or bad luck, would have stopped him.

It’s not the responders or the guards that are the problem, it’s the prevalence of guns in that society. As I said earlier, unless they are willing to (pretty much) engage in Civil War, there’s no way to put that genie back in the bottle.
So, guards it is.

[andy popp]

It’s not the responders or the guards that are the problem, it’s the prevalence of guns in that society. As I said earlier, unless they are willing to (pretty much) engage in Civil War, there’s no way to put that genie back in the bottle.
So, guards it is.

Absolutely, its the prevalence of guns that is the problem. I just think it is too pessimistic to argue that the only response is a continuing escalation of that prevalence (which is the current reality) and the inevitable escalation of the resulting carnage. AR-15 style weapons were banned before and they can be again, for example (Calif is extremely unusual in that the shooter used a handgun).

More guns is a counsel of despair.

[andy popp]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/voters-sent-a-message-in-the-midterms-enough-is-enough-on-guns/2018/11/08/0053f3be-e2d7-11e8-ab2c-b31dcd53ca6b_story.html?utm_term=.ddc28db9328b

[mrjonathanr]

It’s not the responders or the guards that are the problem, it’s the prevalence of guns in that society. As I said earlier, unless they are willing to (pretty much) engage in Civil War, there’s no way to put that genie back in the bottle.
So, guards it is.

Absolutely, its the prevalence of guns that is the problem. I just think it is too pessimistic to argue that the only response is a continuing escalation of that prevalence....

More guns is a counsel of despair.

The problem is whether more guns makes you safer. There could be many specific instances where armed guards make for a less deadly outcome. But that isn’t the question. Rather, would the ubiquity of armed personnel in public areas result in lower loss of life than now?

Consider the sad events of the last few weeks. Should schools now be guarded by armed personnel? Churches? Shopping malls? Yoga studios?

If yoga studios need armed guards then surely every public venue needs armed guards? And if everywhere needs guarding you are recommending a massive militarisation of public space.

Will the US be safer as a result?

[Sasquatch]

on the gun issue -
We got to this point by people saying we need better access to guns to protect against wackos with guns.  So now there are more people with guns overall, leading to a higher number of wackos with guns (it's just a percent question isn't it) and now the answer again is more guns.  Just wait until the armed guard at the school goes postal and starts shooting kids.  Then what?  tanks?

The #1 problem we have is how easy it is to get and own guns and the lack of responsibility in connection with gun ownership.  Increase the registration and ownership requirements (maybe like cars), increase the training required, increase the background checks, and increase the penalties to lack of personal control over the firearm.  If someone takes your gun and uses it to kill someone, you can be held criminally liable for lack of control (not for murder).  This will lead to fingerprint safeties (the technology exists), and such.  Everyone is right that the guns are out there, but to think that more guns are the answer is to repeat history and therefore I call you a fool and/or moron. 

On the vote republican=trump supporter issue - Voting republican in the Western USA, particularly in local, governor, and senate races is not really a trump issue.  It is a philosophical issue, but moral turpitude isn't generally being rewarded.  Rather than a referendum favoring trump, this was more of a standard question of philosophy.  A democrat won the senate seat in Montana - A MASSIVELY RED state, because his opponent was morally corrupt.   I think there is a big difference when you get to the midwest and south.   I think in the south this is very much a trump issue.  There is still a massive amount of residual and continuing racism, both personal and structural, that is becoming more and more apparent. 

[TobyD]

US democracy is in crisis. But Trump is only the symptom

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/nov/09/us-democracy-trump-white-rural-minority-majority?

[TobyD]

Norm Ornstein, a resident scholar at the AEI, said in Thursday’s panel discussion: “If you look at the House votes and project that on to a presidential election next time, Donald Trump could lose the popular vote by eight or nine million and still win the electoral college. Popular will is declining as a force in American politics. By 2040, 70% of Americans will live in 15 states, which means that 30% of Americans will elect 70 of the 100 senators.”

from: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/nov/10/donald-trump-midterm-elections-2020-democrats-republicans

30% which is  disproportionately conservative and disapproving of gun regulation.

[tomtom]

Our electoral system has many ‘issues’ (imho) but at least the size of constituencies is loosely scaled to population size...

Though you could argue that skews things towards cities.

Some interesting commentaries I’ve read this week comparing it to confederate/union splits....

Anyway. One thing I’m glad of with Trump is that he usually takes the weekends off - so we get a small break from his insanity... (relatively)

[Oldmanmatt]

Though you could argue that skews things towards cities.

Ummm... Good?

A democracy is supposed to represent the majority of the people, not the square acreage they occupy.
(Even if I personally think the franchise should be earned, not automatic. Never been a great fan of “the people”. “The People” give you agues like “X Factor”, “The Kardashians” and “Tommeh”).

(Oh, and “Dance Moms”.... That is possibly the nadir of human cultural evolution. A harbinger of the end times, even more ominous than Trump attending his next press briefing, naked and clutching a scale figurine of Cthulu).

[Offwidth]

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/nov/09/malibu-wildfire-caitlyn-jenner-lady-gaga-celebrities-evacuated

[tomtom]

Though you could argue that skews things towards cities.

Ummm... Good?

I think it’s fairer on balance - but the rural/urban argument is more nuanced than just population.

Rural areas typically suffer from poorer facilities/spending/whogivesafuckaboutthem etc.. per head because they are more spread out. Less economic for services etc... not coming down on either side - just saying.

[Offwidth]

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/nov/10/nancy-pelosi-donald-trump-whitaker-acting-attorney-general-constitution