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There was a massive ICE raid a couple of days ago on the east side of Madison, one which I apparently missed by mere moments. The Madison law enforcement were NOT notified of this, as stated by both Mayor Soglin and Police Chief Koval...though, of course, their primary concern (at least on the air) was "breakdown in communications" rather than "Jesus fuck, WHY are these people conducting damn near paramilitary raids without warning?!"

There is a way to fight illegal immigration. This is not how. Instead of enforcing the laws we have and going after the causes of the problem--this being large businesses like meatpacking plants who bring illegals in as essentially slave labor--they go after the individuals themselves. Not only is this about as useful as locking the barn door after the horse bolts, not only is it a tacit wink and nod to said virtual slavers, but it ends up being open season on these people. Because they're illegal (presumably; we do NOT know everyone targeted in these raids is!), they are not truly human in the eyes of many, and I guaran-fucking-tee you the kind of person who signs up for ICE is even less likely to see them as human beings than the average Joe or Jane on the street.

It's Happening Here.

"Oh, it's JUST the spics," people will say. "They ought not to come here illegally," they say. Well, that last one is true, but they ARE here, and how we deal with them speaks to who and what we are as a nation. There are better ways to handle this. What is being done is possibly the worst way aside from simply rounding up any suspected illegal immigrant and summarily executing him or her...and, frankly, not that far off. What is being done is, again, tacit approval to the big businesses profiting off these peoples' vulnerability in the first place.

One of the reasons I am not a fan of Franklin D. Roosevelt for any reason aside from his economic policy is because he ran internment camps. Or as they are better and more properly called, *concentration camps.* And I don't know how else to describe what ICE is doing in these so-called "detention centers." If you ask me, "detention center" is to concentration camp as "enhanced interrogation methods" is to *torture.* Call it what you want, but if it concentrates "undesireables" it's a concentration camp.

It's Happening Here.

Because people say it can't happen here, when it *is* happening here, they refuse to understand that it is. It's not in their worldview. This is why the euphemism treadmill that, among others, George Carlin called out for its dishonesty and evil is so sinisterly effective: because It Can't Happen Here, when it *does* happen here, people will latch onto anything to believe that it's not happening here.

It's Happening Here.

What's next? Where is this going? Once the infrastructure for concentration camps is in place, once warrant standards are lax and paramilitary action against citizens is legalized, once we have secret courts, once We The People "have a reason" to suspend the Constitution--whose basic clauses apply to EVERYONE, NOT just citizens!--a turnkey fascist state is in place, just waiting for the right crisis to come along, or indeed, to be manufactured.

It's Happening Here. First they came for the illegal immigrants...

Posting this in anticipation of a trending hashtag. See also: #KavanaughHearings.

https://twitter.com/mihow/status/1045325066857263104

A Second Front Door.

Consider this for a second.

A SECOND FRONT DOOR.

This is what sexual assault does to a person. This is heartbreaking. Deeply heartbreaking.

Get Mark Judge into one of these hearings.

Ooh, Dr. Ford used the encrypted Washington Post tip line (generates a "utm_term" in the URL, which doesn't sound so secure...). Good advertisement for the existence of that service, I think. The ratings for this event are probably high.

Ford mentions the death threats. We don't care!

That coffee break moment.

Dianne Feinstein enters into record 140 letters from friends and neighbors, and "1,000" from female physicians. Also she is actually asking the witness questions, whereas Grassley has deferred to his female proxy.

Turns out she has that #SecondFrontDoor. And her home is a place to host Google interns...?

She brings up epinephrine and norepinephrine to explain how her basic memory functions work and that she knew it was Brett Kavanaugh who assaulted her.

She brings up her hippocampus again in a response to Senator Leahy.

Party or gathering?

Uncomfortable encounter at the Potomac Village Safeway! She said "Hi" to Mark Judge, who was arranging shopping carts.

Did she say something about reporters trying to talk to her dog?

Answer about other PTSD risk factors sounds about as evasive as it does scientific.

Mitchell is attacking Ford's fear of flying!

Ford got her polygraph within 24 hours or so of her grandma's funeral.

Booker: "speaking YOUR truth".

---

Kavanaugh (BK) is pissed off.

He won't be intimidated into withdrawing from the process. "I have never sexually assaulted anyone... ever."

BK has a friend who was sexually abused! BK's voice wavered as he was talking about his mother. And a lot more as he talks about his 10-year-old daughter praying for Dr. Ford.

Choked up as he talks about his father keeping detailed calendar-diaries, a practice he adopted. BK is listing actual dates he was in D.C. on weekends. June 4, August 7, August 20-22.

"I liked beer. I still like beer."

Lol: https://twitter.com/jameshohmann/status/1045396951846539265

Brett Kavanaugh notes that the summer that the sexual assault allegedly took place, when Christine Ford says he pinned her down on a bed, he had spent a lot of time lifting weights and doing strength training.

^ Tweeter is a WaPost reporter.

Good thing there is a recess, because while BK was emphatic and pretty clear in his opening statement, he seemed a bit flustered during questioning.

Chris Garrett is "Squee"!

Durbin tries to get BK to turn his head to Don McGahn. Doesn't work. But he is getting BK flustered on the subject of an FBI investigation.

Senator Lindsey Graham mounts the defense.

BK defends his use of "Ralph Club" in his yearbook. Because he has a weak stomach. And "Renate Alumnius" has nothing to do with sex.

Dem overplaying his hand: "Do you believe Anita Hill?"

U.S. President Donald Trump faced a round of laughter from world leaders Tuesday afternoon at the United Nations General Assembly after boasting that his presidency “has accomplished more than almost any administration in the history of our country.” This hiccup didn’t bother Fox News, however, which promptly cut out the laughter on Twitter. And Fox News edits like this aren’t so uncommon.

During Trump’s UN speech to the assembly, Fox News uploaded two clips that circumvented the awkward moment. In the first clip, Fox cut off Trump’s speech as soon as he finished saying that the U.S. has accomplished more than any other presidential administration.

Three minutes later, Fox posted a second excerpt for viewers, this time beginning right after the uncomfortable moment had ended. This effectively cut out the entire moment, from world leaders snickering at Trump to the entire assembly bursting out in laughter. For Fox viewers checking their Twitter timelines during the event, it was almost as if the moment had never happened at all.

Fox News roasted on Twitter after editing out world leaders laughing at Trump

Why you don’t really have a ‘type’

“Beauty still is in the eye of the beholder, but our on-going work suggests that the beholder may be changing constantly,” says Haiyang Yang, assistant professor at the Johns Hopkins University Carey Business School and author of a study that found that our sense of beauty can change based on other people’s opinions. “It can be argued that the advent of the internet age may be causing people to change their beauty standards faster than ever before in human history.”

Sexy 'Handmaid's Tale' Halloween costume pulled after sparking online outrage

I Don't Know How to Feel About This Sexy Handmaiden Costume

Now you'll have to go as a Roblox instead.

Brett Kavanaugh, wife and Christine Blasey Ford all receiving death threats: GRAPHIC LANGUAGE

It's 2018. Why is a public figure receiving death threats "news"? There must be individuals out there making death threats to several people every day (hundreds per year), and the chance of them getting caught and brought to trial is minimal.

Pointing out that you receive death threats or mere angry emails does not mean you should get any sympathy. It was news a decade or two ago, but no longer. The Internet is a whirlwind of hate, and as long as (relative) anonymity exists, it will stay that way. And that anonymity is more valuable than the chance to get rid of (a % of) routine death threats.

Are we to the point yet where we can mostly agree that the name game is fucking stupid? You know, the one where as soon as everyone gets used to referring to a group by $name it gets declared *ist and a new and wildly less accurate one is created? This isn't a thing I lose sleep over and it doesn't offend me when someone uses one of the retarded terms but the fact that it is still a thing that happens annoys me much in the same way people not using their turn signals does.

Let's go through a few here. Mine first. Native American. I was born here, so I'm a native American. So is little Chewy who was born in east L.A. even though his parents were illegals. So is Tyrone who was born in Detroit. So is Sally who was born in Vermont. Which is to say, it's a fucking idiotic term. I prefer Indian or wagon burner but I'll answer to anything that isn't trying to paint my race as delicate snowflakes; even Azuma's favorite racial slur, Chief Shitting Bull, is better.

African American next. For starters, not all black people are American. Not by a long shot. Also, the vast majority of them are no more African than they are Martian. If you just emigrated from Africa and got citizenship, this term would make sense. Most black folks though can't even tell you which quarter of that continent their ancestors came from. They have zero genuine ties to Africa.

Asian Americans? They're generally fucking proud of being from their nation of origin and would prefer that nomenclature-wise. Don't believe me? Call a Japanese person Chinese and see what happens. Lumping them all together is actually insulting if you know their ancestry. You're basically saying they all look alike. See African American for the American bit.

Middle Eastern? See above but switch Israeli and Egyptian for Japanese and Chinese.

Hispanic? Did you know you can call a person from Germany German, a person from Canada Canadian, but not a person from Mexico Mexican? That's some fucktarded shit.

People of Color? Strictly a term to exclude white people. Damn fine way to spot a racist asshole though.

Now how about some that have been declared reee-worthy simply so you can call someone a bigot...

Retard/retarded. See, this word has an actual meaning and is not an insult to anyone who it is an accurate description of. But it's been around a while, so it must be offensive and need changing.

Ditto disabled, handicapped, etc...

Tranny? Short for trans-whatever using the long standing habit of chopping a long word and adding "y" to shorten it. No more insulting than Tommy for a guy named Thomas. Jimmy for James never made sense to me on account of having the same number of letters but at least it follows a pattern that makes sense in general even if not in every specific case.

We don't even need to go into the pronoun game much. Anyone who can't decide on male or female can fuck right off and anyone getting offended about not being called the one they prefer should stop fucking looking like the other one.

If you're pissed off and want to discuss this, please try and present a rational argument. You being offended isn't going to cause any fucks to be given by me, no matter how hurt your butt is.

Trump on Sessions: 'I don't have an attorney general'

my name jeff

A growing number of Republican senators are calling for a delay on Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation vote until they have time to hear from a woman accusing the judge of sexual misconduct when they were both in high school.

Christine Blasey Ford, 51, came forward publicly Sunday with a detailed account in The Washington Post of an incident that took place at a party when she was 15 and Kavanaugh was 17. Ford claims Kavanaugh held her down and tried to remove her clothes while covering her mouth with his hand and leading her to believe that he could "inadvertently kill me."

In light of the allegations, Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., who sits on the Senate Judiciary Committee, said he does not think the committee should advance Kavanaugh's nomination until Ford is heard out.

"If they push forward without any attempt with hearing what she's had to say, I'm not comfortable voting yes," Flake told Politico on Sunday. "We need to hear from her. And I don't think I'm alone in this."

Republican senators call for delay on Brett Kavanaugh vote until they can hear from accuser

But he hires the best people!

Potential Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh is having his Anita Hill moment. The White House expects that Christine Blasey Ford will testify in some capacity at Kavanaugh's confirmation hearing. White House counselor Kellyanne Conway says "This woman should not be insulted, and she should not be ignored."

Obviously, Kavanaugh could still make it onto the Supreme Court. But perhaps the President will have to look to the bench instead. How about Amy Coney Barrett? She's a woman, and the dogma lives loudly in her.

Remember, for every member of the Administration you defeat, there is an evangelical waiting in the wings. ✞👼

Trump picked the wrong judge (July 9)

The long silences of Christine Blasey Ford and Dianne Feinstein