India builds 1,640-foot wall to hide slum from Trump visit

@Wipqozn Indiana professor suspended after calling police on student who wouldn't change seats

> A Texas driver is accused of fatally striking a pedestrian who went through the windshield and into the passenger's seat where he remained while the man drove on before going to a beer garden

ಠ_ಠ

oh hell yeah washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/02/18/…

I'm not sure I can take such a pure cut this early in the morning

@Memor-X I regret looking at those twitter replies

@Unionhawk Given what I know of you political leanings, I can't quite tell if this is an endorsement or just sarcasm.

@TimStone democracy dies because we are killing it and it's cool

AP source: Barr tells people he might quit over Trump tweets

More like Barr starts rumor he might quit in an attempt to make him look slightly less like the Trump lapdog he really is

The reaction on twitter to this news was laughter - nobody believes this is sincere.

Utah Senate votes to decriminalize polygamy among consenting adults

> "A $52,983 Mercedes (along with a personal driver), an $11,000-a-month luxury apartment, an Exclusive Resorts membership, and buying back artwork seized from him, are not standard daily living expenses"

lmao

Also Andrew Yang has joined CNN as a political commentator

Yang Gang versus Cillizza Clan in cable news' most insufferable late night program yet

@BradC but like didn't the Mormons decide that wasn't okay?

ugh this sucks

Young people expected to not vote due to apathy in Iranian elections

so the hardliners among the limited group of candidates will win

@TimStone crossfire 2

More extensive results of the poll about Collins vs Gideon

79% of respondents watched the impeachment trial closely. not sure about the actual national numbers, but it does sound like more than I'd think

@Stormblessed From a theological perspective, yes, I think "mainstream" Mormonism rejected polygamy quite a while ago. These are small non-orthodox offshoots. That's a different question from whether it is or should be criminalized

lolololol

Assange is saying he has a witness that will state he was offered a pardon but only if he said Russia had nothing to do with the DNC leaks

Very hard to decide who I find least trustworthy in this pairing but it does seem extremely dumb so I assume it's true

@TimStone if its a witness and not a document, the offer must have been made in person, or by phone?

Or by a "read and delete" secure messaging app, I suppose

> The EU will tell Britain to give back the ancient Parthenon marbles, taken from Greece over 200 years ago, if it wants a post-Brexit trade deal

And so the UK learns that maybe being a part of an economic bloc can be useful in negotiations. Greece definitely wouldn't be in a position to ask for the Marbles if it weren't in the EU.

@Yuuki Nice. This is going to be fun

This one's for all the marbles

So the UK lost its marbles over Brexit?

@SaintWacko applauds

@SaintWacko can't decide on get_out.gif or applause.gif

@BradC I think one of the premises underlying Roger Stone's case was that he probably conveyed some stuff to Assange but we don't know for certain because he obstructed the investigation

lol The Federalist has questions about who funds Bill Kristol

@BradC From what I understand per an exmo comrade, decrim is what ex-polygamists (people who got out) wanted to eliminate the threat of "well, you'll be in trouble too if you leave the compound" and such

Article about the Assange pardon offer

> According to Edward Fitzgerald, who is representing Assange in his ongoing extradition hearing in the UK, Assange’s representatives received messages from then-Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA), effectively offering a pardon from Trump in exchange for false statements relating to the source of the DNC leaks.

looooooooooooooooooooool

Somehow this is even better than it being Roger Stone

get his ass joe twitter.com/JoeBiden/status/1230174235471089666?s=19

twitter.com/JoeBiden/status/1230207883721179136?s=19

Bloomberg 2020: Everyone agrees, he's bad!

@Unionhawk legolas-and-gimli.gif

I mean but also, joe you literally have endorsed republicans, but that's beside the point here

@BradC when the President hardly knows you

But also per the thread very high chance Rohrabacher pretended to have more pull than he did in an effort to get dirt that would give him more pull

Because everything is transactional and dumb now

> Two well-liked Twitter employees accessed thousands of users’ private information and illegally passed it to the Saudi Royal Family, per the FBI. It is a crazy story. With many twists and turns, including a fake invoice, an escape from SF, and more.

Oh uh. Okay

> “All evil begins with a verification request,” one of Abouammo’s former colleagues at Twitter joked.

I mean, fair

@TimStone o.O

"Want the personal info of people criticizing you? Sure! I'm sure you'll just send them a nice postcard thanking them for their dissenting view!"

E. Jean Carroll fired from ELLE magazine following Trump rape allegation

Tell me again how accusations destroy men's careers

Appeals court rules that Florida cannot deny ex-felons the right to vote just because they can’t afford to pay outstanding court fines

@Unionhawk The 15th amendment needs to have "on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude" removed from it. Yes, I get that it was granting African Americans and former slaves the right to vote, but it should have given every citizen the right to vote.

@MBraedley I'm pretty convinced that the "Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation" clause in the 15th (and later voting-related Amendments) gives Congress a lot more power than has so far been taken advantage of

BUT MAH STATES RIGHTS!

By that I mean, I think its entirely possible for Congress to pass very detailed requirements that states have to satisfy, addressing ex-felons, and lots of other related issues

@BradC Not just ex-felons, but current felons. I mean, Canada only enfranchised prisoners in 2002 (first federal election in 2004), but still.

@MBraedley heck yeah, I'm down for that.

That's an example of a policy that we ought to do, out of fairness and equity and human rights. But also one that would likely benefit Democrats politically; which (ironically) means that Dems are less likely to support it, so they're not accused of being partisans

Like the DC and/or Puerto Rico statehood thing

it's true, every presidential primary candidate opposes it

(except one)

(also I forget where yang was but he was some weird middle ground)

every primary candidate opposes which? enfranchising prisoners? or DC statehoood?

(I hadn't heard they'd taken a position on either)

@BradC Double Dog Dare you Barr, and no you can't count yourself as one of the Dogs

> When presented with a picture in which they were both photographed at a 1987 party alongside Carroll’s former husband, John Johnson, Trump maintained that he had "no idea" who Carroll is.

someone is trying to do a Prince Andrew. next he'll say he wasn't even in that location because his Bone Spurs prevented him from sweating

@BradC on prisoner enfranchisement, sanders and apparently Beto are yes (some others like warren are apparently at "it should be part of the conversation")

Ha, nice subtitle: Bloomberg’s plan to buy the presidency endangers democracy: Even if Bloomberg would be a good president, he’d be a terrible precedent.

Most of the field except probably Bloomberg is for felon enfranchisement at least

@Unionhawk Yep. Might make sense to move the overton window a bit by fully enfranchising former inmates first

nah, just go for the whole ball of wax.

Giving every single person the right to vote is literally the least we can do if we want to continue pretending we live in a so-called "democracy"

Fun fact did you know that prisoners count towards district apportionment

@Unionhawk yep, gives higher population for rural red districts

Hard hitting reporting from the NY Post:

Mark Zuckerberg reportedly gets his armpits blow-dried before speeches

Even the wording, he doesn't simply blow dry his own armpits, he "gets his armpits blow-dried"

In case you haven't heard, Democratic primary debate tonight

NBC, 9pm Eastern, 8pm Central

2 hrs planned

resident Trump expected to tap Ric Grenell for ODNI