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Last posted Nov 21, 2024 at 03:49AM EST. Added Jan 01, 2017 at 06:26PM EST
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Not having the courtesy to read a source when I linked to it is one thing, but it's something else when you apparently don't bother to read the same source when you link to it. Because otherwise you would realize the article was talking about ad money spent per electoral vote in each state. Since Wisconsin has 10 electoral votes and Trump spent $52k per electoral vote in that week, it means he spent $520k.

I don't have the time for this. You win – congratulations. For the future, I humbly recommend you take a page out of Rivers' habits of actually looking at data.

omg there's not just one graphic there, scroll down for "general election tv ad spending by state over time" and "general election tv ad spending to date".

They also point out that: { It’s notable that Clinton is spending money in states where Democratic ad dollars historically haven’ t been considered a necessary (or good) investment. } She wouldn't be doing that if those electoral votes didn't matter.

If you weren't treating the discussion as a competition you might remember what you're trying to prove here: whose votes are being ignored by the current electoral system? TRUMP SPENT TWICE WHAT WISCONSIN SHOULD TECHNICALLY BE WORTH ACCORDING TO MY PERCENTAGES does not answer that question.


Or, you know, give up and don't answer the question.
It's fine, look, politics is not for everyone, you tried.

Last edited Jan 03, 2017 at 08:56PM EST

Megan Kelly on switching from Fox to NBC:

"Over a dozen years ago I started at Fox News in a job that would change my life. Now, I have decided to end my time at FNC, incredibly enriched for the experiences I've had. I have agreed to join NBC News, where I will be launching a new daytime show Monday through Friday, along with a Sunday evening news magazine program. I will also participate in NBC's breaking news coverage and its political and special events coverage.

While I will greatly miss my colleagues at Fox, I am delighted to be joining the NBC News family and taking on a new challenge. I remain deeply grateful to Fox News, to Rupert, Lachlan and James Murdoch, and especially to all of the FNC viewers, who have taught me so much about what really matters. More to come soon.

Happy New Year, and God bless." – Source


Further reading on this, if you want:

BBC – Anchor Megyn Kelly to join NBC after 12 years with Fox News

Fox – Why Megyn Kelly is leaving Fox News for NBC

WSJ – Megyn Kelly to Leave Fox News to Join NBC

Last edited Jan 03, 2017 at 09:32PM EST

Verbose said:

I’m just waiting for someone to call out the attempt to weaken the independent Office of Congressional Ethics by Republicans or to say that it was actually good Idea.

It was a stupid idea and I'm glad angry constituents called and yelled at them about it. I don't want the foxes checking themsevles to make sure they don't go near the henhouse.

Particle Mare said:

$500,000 in a single week is “almost no ad money”.

Yes, it is.

I don't even really know what you're arguing about here. You already admit Clinton looked at the NYT, Huffpost, WAPO, and 538's predictions and decided to follow standard electoral college campaigning procedures and only focus on the "toss ups" while ignoring her base, while Trump saw a path to winning.

Last edited Jan 03, 2017 at 10:15PM EST

can y'all stop piling on? I'm trying to give up here.


Source that graph please. It doesn't mean anything out of context and without labelled axes.

You already admit Clinton

That's not an admission – it's my point, being that both Clinton and Trump followed a strategy of focusing on "toss up" states. The difference is that Clinton failed to properly determine which states were truly competitive while Trump succeeded and hence became President.

That's the third of three graphs from MY link!

By focusing on states that Democrats usually ignore because "their dollars are not historically worth it" Hillary was following a strategy of focusing on toss up states??

It don't make sense. Different states are competitive depending on who is running for what. The coasts may be focused on during one election and rural states the next. That's because our current electoral system truly works as it's meant to.

Last edited Jan 03, 2017 at 11:22PM EST
It doesn't mean anything… without labelled axes.

The axes don't need to have names-- if you look at the axes, what they stand for is self-explanatory.

I personally find this talk about proportional state attention pointless-- in school, you don't down additional resources into a class you're already doing well in when you have classes where you're borderline. It's inefficient. Likewise, it's almost certain that states in the Deep South would vote Republican, just as it's almost certain that New England and the West Coast would vote Democrat. And considering that a vote is an expression of interest, in the context of how most states distribute their EC votes (winner takes all), that they vote for you means that-- ideally, yet necessary to assume-- you best represent them. They're literally not being ignored, or else the state wouldn't turn your way.

But there are states in which you may be borderline, and so you need to prioritize those to minimize your chances of failure there, while also making sure to not neglect your good areas. That's the point of prioritizing swing states.

At least, in principle.

The axes don’t need to have names-- if you look at the axes, what they stand for is self-explanatory.

Not necessarily. For example, that graph could've stood for income or expenditure; income/expenditure per given week or in total; etc.

But that's going off topic. I know the context of the graph now – my bad for not recognizing it immediately.

Honestly, the Washington Post may have single-handedly just destroyed any credibility "Russian hacking" threats had left. After the joint report which was supposed to be damning evidence contained honestly nothing, even liberal pundits were viewing it with skepticism. WashPo replicated the exact logical process.

Russians hacked the election/power grid → ok well no but they hacked the DNC's emails to get Trump elected/a laptop that could have potentially threatened the grid → alright the Russians didn't hack anything we surrender MAGA

Russia didn't hack the American elections.
Russia influenced the American elections by releasing factual data in emails that seriously undermined Clinton during the election.

Clinton herself opened the floodgates when she tried to influence the election process in Russia. Putin's response is what we have seen.

The problem is that the Democrats, the far left, and the MSM are still unwilling to accept some fundamental truths about this election. That:

> The rust belt, middle America was largely suffering economically since 2008, with little to no growth, while seeing the Cities grow.

> Clinton was a bad candidate, with a lot of baggage, that no one liked.

> People are so fed up with politicians and politics they desperately wanted an outsider to come in – both right and left, however the DNC snuffed left-Wing populism in the manifestation of Bernie Sanders, out.

> The two candidates represented the new culture war – and, in the online spheres, team Clinton had allied itself with outright, and blatant authoritarians.

They have instead doubled down on their efforst to undermine, and de-legitimize the Trump election. First with the assault on "alternative News", then with the re-count attempts, and now with the Russian hacking.

The Republicans, seeing a massive sweep in the political process, are doing everything they can to react to this attempt. They are denying any Russian influence – because it is an assault on the legitimacy on their win.

Meanwhile, an entire new paradigm is shaping up, and could become fatal Achilles heel for Western Democracies.

If the Republican party thinks that Putin is on their side over the Democrats they have it coming. They have no idea how deep their own servers and emails have been already hacked. If the Republicans think they can do anything about the Iran deal, they risk having some major exposure on their end. Maybe some questionable emails between the higher echelons of the GOP?

I really hope that both sides can get beyond the partisan bullshit to see the serious threat to America's electoral process. I really hope that both sides can agree that Putin is not a friend, or an ally. That he does hold America in contempt for various reasons.

I really, REALLY, hope that Trump stands up to Putin and doesn't take shit from the former KGB super-star.

I have to come back to these threads for a breath of fresh air after reading the garbage in the comments sections.

Anyway, as Lisa already mentioned on the first page, Assange himself has already stated several times that the leaks didn't come from Russia in the first place; as far as I know, Wikileaks has the closest thing to a perfect record regarding world politics, so I'm gonna believe them until someone can prove them wrong. The whole thing seems like a last-ditch effort to start a war in order to keep Trump busy, and, given Russia's response, it's failed spectacularly.

In other news, when do you think people are gonna stop with the doomsaying? I can't seem to catch a break from the constant "we're all fucked" attitude anywhere, and even trying to be optimistic with these people is hopeless. I feel like I'm living in some alternate universe just because I don't think Trump is Literally Fascist Hitler Satan™.

MiloticExalted wrote:

I have to come back to these threads for a breath of fresh air after reading the garbage in the comments sections.

Anyway, as Lisa already mentioned on the first page, Assange himself has already stated several times that the leaks didn't come from Russia in the first place; as far as I know, Wikileaks has the closest thing to a perfect record regarding world politics, so I'm gonna believe them until someone can prove them wrong. The whole thing seems like a last-ditch effort to start a war in order to keep Trump busy, and, given Russia's response, it's failed spectacularly.

In other news, when do you think people are gonna stop with the doomsaying? I can't seem to catch a break from the constant "we're all fucked" attitude anywhere, and even trying to be optimistic with these people is hopeless. I feel like I'm living in some alternate universe just because I don't think Trump is Literally Fascist Hitler Satan™.

Remember, you don't hear the people who aren't panicking.

I really hope the leftist media calms down after inauguration day in a couple of weeks because honestly all of this is just getting ridiculous and annoying.
I mean we have talk of the democratic politicians forming some sort of "shadow government" to undermine Trump's administration (which sounds highly illegal to me). They've outright stated they are having people protest around the country. Washington Post literally has no credibility whatsoever because they're one of the few news outlets that didn't admit that "hey, maybe we were a little biased during the election" when almost every other news outlet did and are still desperately clinging on to the "Trump is the antichrist" narrative. And people are still saying the Trump's going to turn America into an authoritarian state and start World War III.

And Trump has physically done nothing yet.

I mean at least complain when the man does something that's actually bad.

Last edited Jan 04, 2017 at 12:44PM EST

@Rivers
It was only a matter of time before Kelly left. Fox has been unwilling to defend Kelly from Trumpist attacks or blow back from the sexual harassment fiasco. Note how several other long-time Fox commentators have left lately: Kirsten Powers, Mary Katharine Ham, and Greta Van Susteren. Maybe it is a coincidence that four high-profile women left Fox within a year of each other, but I wouldn't be surprised if they find the environment distasteful.

lmao Kelly didn't "leave" a primetime slot on the highest rated cable news network following the highest rated cable news network program for a daytime show on CBS, no matter how she and Fox try to present it as amicable. Kirsten Powers? Since joining CNN she's been getting into twitter wars over Christianity. She hasn't commentated on CNN since October, her TV career is at a standstill for the time being. MKH literally disappeared from the media spotlight to give birth and hasn't returned, and her own website hasn't been updated, says she's still a Fox contributor. Greta is doing nothing, she just posted on twitter last weekend that she was "considering" getting back into TV, rumor is with MSNBC. Their new channels should be parading them around for the world to see, "haha we stole talented female reporters from FOX's sexist white guys", but where are they? Buried. Forgotten. Byeee Megyn, too bad you developed such an inflated ego after pecking a few crumbs from liberal media figureheads.

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2016/12/30/trumps_new_wh_messaging_model_will_bring_challenges_132680.html
“My biggest frustration is that this White House has chosen an approach with the White House press corps, generally speaking, to engage us as little as possible,” reporter David Gregory, then working at NBC News, told The New Yorker in the same story.

Well gee, I wonder whose fault that is…

I've been a fan of civil disobedience for a while. Slap them with some jail time or fines, don't give them a felony. At that point you're just giving protestors more reason to protest.

I'm kinda speculating here, but wouldn't the kind of people who do crazy stuff to protest be the kind of people who would protest harder if they end up getting slapped with bigger punishments? Seems like they'd be the anti-establishment, civil disobedience is good group.

My verdict is "not helping".

"Economic Terrorism"
Didn't that sort of happen with 9/11, with the Twin Towers being the current hub of American economics at the time?

Anyway, I think this country should first focus on the violent protestors out there before we focus on the other ones. I mean did you see all the White Police on Black protests last year? Or the Donald Trump Protests? Those basically devolved into riots and people starting beating each other, destroying public property, and looting shops and stores. I honestly think we should leave the non-violent ones alone because at least they're actually showing some sort of restraint.

It looks like my very own state of Virginia is the next one in line to be stupid.

Virginia, with a budget deficit, has decided that the best course of action would be to shadow North Carolina's 600 million dollar mistake – because it's very important to us that we fight something that has no basis in reality.

An individual who accesses a restroom, changing facility, or private area located in a government building that is designated for use by such individual's sex may bring an action against the government entity that owns, leases, or controls such building if (i) such individual encounters a member of the opposite sex in such restroom, changing facility, or private area and (ii) the government entity allowed the member of the opposite sex to use or failed to take reasonable steps to prohibit the member of the opposite sex from using such restroom, changing facility, or private area. An individual may be awarded actual damages for physical and emotional pain and suffering, in addition to reasonable attorney fees and costs.

That's not the end of it, though! Check out this rad add-on:

The principal of a public school attended by a child shall notify the child's parent, guardian, legal custodian, or other person having control or charge of a child within 24 hours of any request by a child to be recognized or treated as the opposite sex, to use a name or pronouns inconsistent with the child's sex, or to use a restroom or changing facility designated for the opposite sex.

(H.B. 1612)

I know this might seem like an odd concept to some, but for some trans people, school can be a place of refuge from unaccepting parents. For some (a disturbing amount) being outed to their parents can be outright dangerous.

This makes this bill not only as bad as HB2, but even more ridiculous.

Thankfully, our governor has promised to veto it. However, this just brings up another question – our governor is a Democrat. This isn't a new fact, because our elections for this stuff are held in off-years. What did they expect to happen with this?


A lot of things like this are happening around the country right now. It's quite ridiculous. Washington Blade recently made an article about it if you want more detail.

The most notable one, I think, is in Texas, where we had a gem of a bill combined with a gem of a line:

It exclusively targeted transgender woman, because "men can defend themselves."

WEW

Why not do something useful, like work on unemployment or crime?

Devil's advocate time: HB2 barely made a dent in North Carolina's economy:


North Carolina’s GDP is around $510 billion. So even a $500 million loss would only represent 0.1 percent of that.

And even after HB2 passed and the backlash became apparent, CNBC rated North Carolina the fifth-best state for business. And the trade publication Site Selection Magazine ranked North Carolina and Texas as tied for the title of "most competitive state."

We can argue about the morality of the bill, but the economic angle doesn't hold up. Frankly, this is an outrage exclusively to the Left. Despite the enormous beating McCrory and Republicans took in the press over HB2, only 2 of the 89 Republican legislators who voted for it lost their seats and McCrory nearly won. Trans bathrooms are just not a high priority issue to most voters.

Last edited Jan 04, 2017 at 07:02PM EST

Chicago police just reported a case of 4 people filming and torturing a young man, shouting 'Fuck white people, fuck Trump'
(Link to the r/news article since the video itself is probably a bit spicy for KYM)

Apparently the victim was a special needs, "high-risk missing person from northwest suburban Crystal Lake", and the four perpetrators are now in custody.

I'll be placing my bets that this will either be ignored by the media or dismissed with a nice "motives were unclear" stamp.

Media is Busy Ignoring This Story as Well

"A refugee newly arrived from Somalia has been tried and convicted for attempting to sexually assault a special-needs woman while she was sitting outside of a home for the disabled in Aberdeen, South Dakota.

Liban Mohamed, 39, was in the United States for only about a week when he tried to force himself on a 31-year-old woman with severe disabilities. He is not a U.S. citizen, but whether he will be deported in the wake of his conviction remains unclear.

The trial for Mohamed was held just a few days before Christmas and not a word of the conviction has made it into the local media, residents of Aberdeen told WND on Tuesday.

Mohamed speaks no English and required two interpreters at trial, according to the state’s attorney who prosecuted the case."

"The incident occurred on July 30, when a caregiver sat the victim on a bench outside so she could enjoy some fresh air, along with one other resident of the home. The caregiver then went back inside to get more residents, and when she returned found Mohamed allegedly with his hand placed between the woman’s legs, reaching for her private parts.

When caught in the act he claimed he wanted to marry the woman.

The worker saw what was happening and pulled the woman away from her assailant.

Mohamed allegedly claimed to authorities that if he were in his country, he’d done nothing wrong.

White said the woman cannot talk, although she is able to say her name and to let caregivers know when she’s hungry."

Alright, fair enough if the economic idea doesn't hold up.

However, they still clearly have better things to do, and it's not going to pass anyways – so why are they wasting their time? They're on the tax payroll – our money is going to blatant waste.

Trans bathrooms are just not a high priority issue to most voters.

They may not be, but that doesn't make them not an issue to anyone, or just not an issue. The consensus doesn't mean anything in deciding what's right and wrong.

Also, "trans bathrooms" is misleading and doesn't capture the issue. We're dealing with a legal requirement to out children to parents, as well as trans people using basically all government facilities that they designated for a specific sex.

"Facilities" includes changing rooms, I should add. At least, for this bill. Should that guy ^ really be made to go into a changing room with women?

The bill is stupid, that's my point. The politicians pushing it are stupid. There's no reason to have it, and it can be shown to cause more issues than it solves.

Last edited Jan 04, 2017 at 08:12PM EST

>Mohamed allegedly claimed to authorities that if he were in his country, he’d done nothing wrong.

Well guess what, bub: you're not back there. Things aren't the same wherever you go, especially not here.

Rivers: This whole situation is stupid. There should be no legal fuss over what gender someone wishes to profess themself as. Nor should it have reached media attention.

MiloticExalted wrote:

Chicago police just reported a case of 4 people filming and torturing a young man, shouting 'Fuck white people, fuck Trump'
(Link to the r/news article since the video itself is probably a bit spicy for KYM)

Apparently the victim was a special needs, "high-risk missing person from northwest suburban Crystal Lake", and the four perpetrators are now in custody.

I'll be placing my bets that this will either be ignored by the media or dismissed with a nice "motives were unclear" stamp.

Why do I get the feeling that very soon a new group will form that's basically the KKK for white people?

@Rivers
It’s one of those culture war things. The bills are overblown, no doubt, but it was a fight begun by the Left. Liberals attempt to push a new view of reality on the law. Conservatives, with much flourish, provide an obstacle. Everyone else just shrugs their shoulders. Why do we hear so much about transgender people when they make up such a small part of the population? Because they are valuable for pushing the new orthodoxy: Objective, physical reality is less important than emotion. There are dozens of genders and they have nothing to do with reproductive features. A man must be accepted as a woman, because he says so. If you disagree, you are a bad person. Get them in the bathrooms, then the locker rooms. Have conservatives overreacted? Yes. For example, outing the children to the parents, as you mentioned above, is terrible. Conservatives do themselves no favors by not including reasonable accommodations to transgender people like gender-neutral bathrooms in public facilities. But in the original case of North Carolina, a firm response to a liberal attempt at redefining the basics of gender in policy was necessary.

MiloticExalted wrote:

Chicago police just reported a case of 4 people filming and torturing a young man, shouting 'Fuck white people, fuck Trump'
(Link to the r/news article since the video itself is probably a bit spicy for KYM)

Apparently the victim was a special needs, "high-risk missing person from northwest suburban Crystal Lake", and the four perpetrators are now in custody.

I'll be placing my bets that this will either be ignored by the media or dismissed with a nice "motives were unclear" stamp.

They better be charged with a fucking hate crime because that's what it was, a hate crime.

This shit did not happen when Barack Obama became president in 2008 so why do they think they're privileged to attack people who voted for Donald Trump?

Last edited Jan 04, 2017 at 08:54PM EST

Colonel Sandor wrote:

Media is Busy Ignoring This Story as Well

"A refugee newly arrived from Somalia has been tried and convicted for attempting to sexually assault a special-needs woman while she was sitting outside of a home for the disabled in Aberdeen, South Dakota.

Liban Mohamed, 39, was in the United States for only about a week when he tried to force himself on a 31-year-old woman with severe disabilities. He is not a U.S. citizen, but whether he will be deported in the wake of his conviction remains unclear.

The trial for Mohamed was held just a few days before Christmas and not a word of the conviction has made it into the local media, residents of Aberdeen told WND on Tuesday.

Mohamed speaks no English and required two interpreters at trial, according to the state’s attorney who prosecuted the case."

"The incident occurred on July 30, when a caregiver sat the victim on a bench outside so she could enjoy some fresh air, along with one other resident of the home. The caregiver then went back inside to get more residents, and when she returned found Mohamed allegedly with his hand placed between the woman’s legs, reaching for her private parts.

When caught in the act he claimed he wanted to marry the woman.

The worker saw what was happening and pulled the woman away from her assailant.

Mohamed allegedly claimed to authorities that if he were in his country, he’d done nothing wrong.

White said the woman cannot talk, although she is able to say her name and to let caregivers know when she’s hungry."

Okay, so he's not a U.S. citizen, but was convicted of attempted sexual assault, and they're not sure if he's going to be deported.

Why wouldn't he be deported?

When caught in the act he claimed he wanted to marry the woman.
Mohamed allegedly claimed to authorities that if he were in his country, he'd done nothing wrong.

…somehow, with Somalia being a country whose adherents are predominantly adherents of a religion where they're strict about male/female relations when the two aren't of the same family or married, I find this hard to believe and if I were to believe it, I'd also have to admit that Somalia's general culture has issues… apart from the female genital mutilation.

…oh.

Last edited Jan 04, 2017 at 10:12PM EST

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2017/jan/3/donald-trumps-cabinet-nominees-aided-in-confirmati/
Democrats already faced an uphill battle to defeat Mr. Trump’s Cabinet picks because in 2013, when they were in the majority, they resorted to the “nuclear option,” changing Senate rules to confirm nominees with 51 votes instead of 60.

Republicans occupy 52 seats in the 100-member chamber.

It's like poetry.

Lycanroc wrote:

They better be charged with a fucking hate crime because that's what it was, a hate crime.

This shit did not happen when Barack Obama became president in 2008 so why do they think they're privileged to attack people who voted for Donald Trump?

Cause a sense of moral righteousness and a massive dose of outrage are all you need for someone to do monstrous things and justify it to themselves. The people in the south during the civil rights thought they were defending some bastion of moral sanctity when they committed their hate crimes.

People have been fed so much malarkey about white male privilege and systemic racism that they believe they have a moral right to do violence against people they view as oppressors and aggressors. They've had these kinds of things primed and planted and cultivated by years of affirmation, and now we're seeing the horrible chicken come back to roost.

[Okay, so he’s not a U.S. citizen, but was convicted of attempted sexual assault, and they’re not sure if he’s going to be deported.

Why wouldn’t he be deported?]

Because Somalia won't take him back?

A growing problem with criminal immigrants is a refusal by the immigrant's government to allow reparation.

The Berlin Christmas Market attacker was due for deportation, but Tunisia initially refused to acknowledge his nationality and then dragged its feet on submitting paperwork. This is a common practice by the Tunisian government and as a result there is massive backlog of deportations. Had the German system worked as intended, he wouldn't have been in Germany when he attacked.

In the US at least, there is a law which states that if a foreign government refuses reparation of its criminal nationals, the US must- not shall, must- refuse further entry of that government's citizens. And guess what… that law hasn't been enforced in about 20 years. So there is no reason for foreign governments to take back their criminal citizens scheduled for deportation, and- surprise- they resist doing so. Which means the US is stuck with such criminals unless it asks very nicely enough times. This has been a source of tension between the US and Brazil in the last year or so.

In this case, it might have something to do with this individual being a refugee as well. Refugees are eligible for deportation, but it doesn't appear to be a straightforward process, and the outgoing administration hasn't had much interest in deporting anyone. Some combination of these facts might be responsible for the ambiguity about whether he will be deported or not.

Colonial2.1 wrote:

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2017/jan/3/donald-trumps-cabinet-nominees-aided-in-confirmati/
Democrats already faced an uphill battle to defeat Mr. Trump’s Cabinet picks because in 2013, when they were in the majority, they resorted to the “nuclear option,” changing Senate rules to confirm nominees with 51 votes instead of 60.

Republicans occupy 52 seats in the 100-member chamber.

It's like poetry.

While it certainly is amusing that this came back to bite them, between the polarization of parties and the lack of support for Trump that was previously demonstrated, I would think that the only way that this could bite them hard is if partisanship shines at full force among the Republican senators as it may among the Democrat senators.

Oh dear, looks like I'm going to have to do this again.

It’s one of those culture war things

Doesn't mean it doesn't matter, if that's the point you're making. If not, ignore this.

The bills are overblown, no doubt, but it was a fight begun by the Left

"They started it" is the argument of 5 year olds. You're expected to have the maturity not be an idiot in response to idiots once you grow up.

Liberals attempt to push a new view of reality on the law

I'm going to assume you mean the "orthodoxy" you mention later. Otherwise, this is meaningless.

Conservatives, with much flourish, provide an obstacle

If you consider directly singling out people groups for attacks an obstacle, sure.

If not, "religious freedom" bills do not count as obstacles. "Religious freedom" would require the freedom to discriminate against anyone in order to be true religious freedom. However, Republicans are not attempting to repeal discrimination laws around race, even though I'm certain there are people who would like to refuse discrimination for religious reasons. Why? Well, the only reason is that they prefer to give religious freedom to the people who want to discriminate against LGBT people over other people. That's not religious freedom – that's "freedom for the people I agree with".

And no, bathroom bills don't count either, because trans people have been using bathrooms of their choice for a long time. They aren't an obstacle when they're attempts to scale back what's already been in place long before the issue became an issue.

And forced outing is definitively an attack.

Everyone else just shrugs their shoulders

Except all 1.4 million trans people, plus their friends, and "allies".

Why do we hear so much about transgender people when they make up such a small part of the population?

Be careful with percentages. While they "only" constitute 0.6% of the population, that's 1.4 million. That's more than the population of multiple US states.

It's easy to forget the US is a big place. As such, there are a lot of people of different groups in it, as well as a lot of public workers and tax dollars. Just because the percentage isn't big doesn't mean they don't matter.

Although, your quarrel seems to be with how often they come up. In which case, I have no way to respond, because almost the only times I ever hear about transgender people and issues are when I go and look for it myself, or talk to people who care a LOT about it.

As an actually measurable point, LGBT people were only mentioned like, 3 times at most in the presidential debates. That's not a lot.

Because they are valuable for pushing the new orthodoxy

Okay… let me stop you there. And I wish I could actually have stopped you there, because it would've saved both of us a lot of typing.

This is such a negative way of looking at things. It's not because they care about us? It's not because of the severe discrimination and horrible risks we're at? Or were you just not aware of this, and assumed we lived in basically the same scenario as you?

Here, let me give you some stats, from the largest and most reliable study on transgender people yet.

  • The majority of respondents who were out or perceived as transgender while in school (K–12) experienced some form of mistreatment, including being verbally harassed (54%), physically attacked (24%), and sexually assaulted (13%) because they were transgender.
  • In the year prior to completing the survey, 46% of respondents were verbally harassed and 9% were physically attacked because of being transgender. During that same time period, 10% of respondents were sexually assaulted, and nearly half (47%) were sexually assaulted at some point in their lifetime.
  • Nearly one-third (29%) of respondents were living in poverty, compared to 14% in the U.S. population.
  • A major contributor to the high rate of poverty is likely respondents’ 15% unemployment rate--three times higher than the unemployment rate in the U.S. population at the time of the survey (5%).
  • Among the starkest findings is that 40% of respondents have
    attempted suicide in their lifetime--nearly nine times the attempted suicide rate in the U.S. population (4.6%).
  • Thirty-nine percent (39%) of respondents experienced serious psychological distress in the month before completing the survey (based on the Kessler 6 Psychological Distress Scale), compared with only 5% of the U.S. population.

This is only a sample of the full, concerning findings of the report. Remember, this applies to 1.4 million Americans. There are 11 states and D.C. that are smaller in population than 1.4 million people. Nobody would say we shouldn't care about North Dakota because it has a small percentage of the total population of the US, and if North Dakota had stats like I mentioned above I highly doubt many would assume people only cared because they were useful for some sort of end goal, and not because people actually matter to them.

Objective, physical reality is less important than emotion

I'm pretty sure this is a bipartisan problem.

There are dozens of genders and they have nothing to do with reproductive features

Burden of proof is on you. I don't know of many politicians that actually comprise the American Left (y'know, the people we're talking about) that actually believe the former. Remember, internet != reality.

Gender in this context has nothing to do with reproductive features. Let's make sure we're on the same page – that's how we're defining it. That's how the American Left tends to define it. I understand if you're using it with a different meaning, but don't get into semantics debates. Understand what the other person is saying and strike them on that, not their choice of words.

A man must be accepted as a woman, because he says so

Yeah, that's how this works.

Of course, you can call people out for BS – if they don't seem to have dysphoria, don't try to look female, are fine with being called a dude, you can confidently say they're a liar.

However, if someone shows these signs… what's the point of getting fussy?

If you disagree, you are a bad person

Yeah, if someone's claiming "accept transgender people as transgender or you're horrible" they need to tone it down a notch. This doesn't excuse anything the Repubicans are doing with these laws, however.

Get them in the bathrooms, then the locker rooms

Again, what's the point of being fussy if they're actually transgender?

Have conservatives overreacted? Yes. For example, outing the children to the parents, as you mentioned above, is terrible

Beautiful, a point of agreement. Harmony is nice.

Conservatives do themselves no favors by not including reasonable accommodations to transgender people like gender-neutral bathrooms in public facilities

This is a fairly complicated point. I'm going to leave this one up in the air. If needed, just assume I agree with you.

But in the original case of North Carolina, a firm response to a liberal attempt at redefining the basics of gender in policy was necessary

So close at ending it well.

This line is so vague it's almost impossible to respond to. How as it necessary? What's the basics of gender in policy? How were they redefining it? How was it an attempt? This line tells me so little, it's borderline meaningless.

However, it'd be stupid of me not to attempt to shut this down.

Let's say there is such a thing as "basics of gender in policy". Let's say that it was a "liberal attempt" at redefining it. The only thing they were responding to was Charlotte's ordinance, so that must've been the "liberal attempt at redefining the basics of gender in policy".

Beyond the fact that the city of Charlotte voted in people who openly supported these redefinitions, and thus this was a waste of tax money that literally trampled on the will of the citizens of Charlotte…

These laws have been around since 1975. 18 states and more than 200 municipalities have adopted it. If you look around, these 18 states and 200 municipalities have not fallen to horrible things that'd make "a firm response" to it "necessary". Here, try checking this out. That's a lot of cities with nondiscrimination rules. I don't see anything that makes it necessary to stop them.

But let's say, for some reason, it's just bathrooms and locker rooms you're worried about. Even though there are laws against sexual harassment and the such, and it'd be pretty easy to tell if someone was transgender or not in a court of law, I'd like a real example of someone pretending to be transgender to go to them (other than those people at Target who decided to purposefully abuse their rules to make a point). No, not just that, I'd like many examples. Whatever proof you can bring, it has to match up to the fact that you're inconveniencing 1.4 million people, and that building gender neutral bathrooms will cost money.

There is no good reason to deny them access. There is no good reason to stop Charlotte. There is no good reason, at all.

Last edited Jan 04, 2017 at 11:29PM EST

Colonial2.1 wrote:

I'm a little curious, Rivers. Why do you care so much about this singular issue? Does it affect you directly? Someone close? I just see very little reason otherwise to get so invested in it.

The answer was in the post, although it was subtle:

It’s not because they care about us? It’s not because of the severe discrimination and horrible risks we’re at? Or were you just not aware of this, and assumed we lived in basically the same scenario as you?

I also have a transgender friend (really big coincidence because we met before either of us realized we were trans). So, not surprisingly, I know and care a lot about this.

Colonel Dude wrote:

I’m pretty worried about a lot of things in a Trump presidency, especially about net neutrality. I’ve been hearing about how Trump is likely to get rid of net neutrality, and I can’t help but stress out about it.


It's curious that there's a new group of people who are going to grow up to love A) Privacy rights and B) Internet freedom. It's a very interesting combination that's not represented in politics, probably because they're mostly pretty young.

But yeah, I'm a bit worried about that too. I don't want my internet TV-ized.

Whatever happens, exercise your ability to do things. Donate to groups like the EFF, maybe volunteer for advocacy groups, contact your representatives, etc. You don't have to sit there and take it.

Last edited Jan 05, 2017 at 12:43AM EST

I can't remember the last time I made a wallpost, and now I can make a wallpost without breaking it up into wall chunks.

yee

(For the record, this all is less of a whole argument and more of a collection of points on which I disagree with you.)

“They started it” is the argument of 5 year olds. You’re expected to have the maturity not be an idiot in response to idiots once you grow up.

Later on, Farm Zombie elaborates by asserting that the left is using this bathroom issue as a means of promoting their ideologies-- which the right opposes. "They started it" is the argument of 5 year olds when it's used as an excuse for your actions as to attempt to escape culpability, not when it states a cause and effect. If someone hits you and immediately relents and you contribute to escalating it into a brawl, saying "he started it" is cheap. If someone mugs you and you fight back, "he started it" makes sense as a reasonable explanation for your own actions. I'm not directly likening this to the given situation, but the principle's the same.

The questions would then be "well, did they?", and "what's the technical value in determining this in the discussion?".

“Religious freedom” would require the freedom to discriminate against anyone in order to be true religious freedom. However, Republicans are not attempting to repeal discrimination laws around race, even though I’m certain there are people who would like to refuse discrimination for religious reasons. Why? Well, the only reason is that they prefer to give religious freedom to the people who want to discriminate against LGBT people over other people.

This seems… off. Of all the religions well known to the general American consciousness, there isn't one that I can think of that legitimately discriminates based on race (I'll limit the scope of this, because while I'm almost certain that there's no religion period that actively discriminates based on race, I can't be sure). However, all three Abrahamic religions (America having been greatly influenced by one, which is a logical offshoot of another, and related to the third in some capacity) have edicts (lethal or otherwise, depending on the religion, but that's less the point), against homosexuality or what is now interpreted as transgenderism (cited back then, at least in Judaism/Christianity, as crossdressing because "sexual orientation" and "gender identity" were not concepts to them (certainly) or anyone of that time (I don't think) EDIT: Silly, dumb me, nothing was "cited" as something because they weren't aware of the concepts that we identify as being behind them-- they didn't care about the feelings involved, anyways). I imagine nobody considered to include race as a basis, then, because they'd thought it'd be superfluous., given the aforementioned religious influence on our general consciousness. It's a waste of ink and just makes the bill look worse for no reason.

The last two sentences may as well be irrelevant, however, since I don't think I've heard of a religious freedom bill that allows wholesale discrimination of someone on the basis of whatever, even if your service consists of nothing that would put you in violation of your religous tenets by providing your service to said person.

And no, bathroom bills don’t count either, because trans people have been using bathrooms of their choice for a long time. They aren’t an obstacle when they’re attempts to scale back what’s already been in place long before the issue became an issue.

The fact that there are male and female bathrooms demonstrates that there was already a prohibition against someone that wasn't of the sex that the bathroom was intended for entering the bathroom, or else there wouldn't be a point of the signs and possibly the different functional interior designs. Of course they've done it for a long time, but that doesn't mean that everyone was universally or even mostly alright with it, or that each establishment didn't handle it differently. It's not a scale back if the initial purpose of male/female bathroom designations was based on sex and never on gender identity-- it's giving a tacit law legal teeth.

Though, this is relevant only to places where the freedom to choose your bathroom based on your gender identity wasn't expressly protected by law.

This is such a negative way of looking at things.

I would call it cynical because it lies on the assumption that politicians are mostly, if not wholly self-serving and only act on the preferences of their supporting constitutents. I think it discredits the very real possibility that politicians may be altruistically motivated, but it's not like transgender rights aren't a valuable banner to hold to make yourself look better.

Of course, you can call people out for BS – if they don’t seem to have dysphoria, don’t try to look female, are fine with being called a dude, you can confidently say they’re a liar.

I would call these imprecise methods. Outside of someone outright stating that they have gender dysphoria specifically expressly for a hypothetically-based point, the conclusion that someone "seems" like they don't have dysphoria based on these types of simple and freely interpretable observances doesn't hold up because everyone invariably deals with it-- as with almost anything-- in their own way, and how they do is invariably interpreted differently between observers.

Applying the matter to the topic at hand (though I'm almost certain you were speaking of the above in a primarily social context, this ability to determine is important in the long run), there has to be some sort of standardized solution, and whether or not gender neutral bathrooms have their own issues, they're the best that we got, as I see it. If you allow people to use the bathroom based on their gender identity, then you allow people to freely identify as appropriate to use a bathroom. You may as well not bother to have people identify, which means you might as well not bother with labeling the bathrooms by sex, even if they're made different. But why stop at unlabeling bathrooms? It almost seems like it begs the question of "why label bathrooms?", which seems like a question the constituents of a given administrative area ought to answer.

The only place where you can efficiently enforce an "identity check" is at K-12 schools, where staff can be notified about the gender identity of a student ahead of time so that they understand and permit them going into a bathroom that doesn't match their sex. This better ensures reasonably given choice while also not rendering the labeling of bathrooms pointless. But if it can't be continued everywhere-- and it can't even be feasibly continued at the college level-- it's tantamount to harmful coddling.

And I can't stress enough that you can't just look at someone and say that "oh, they're transgendered-- it's obvious. That doesn't float in law-- you have to be able to prove that with some sort of documentation or research into the person('s life.) Making a standardized system of determination preemptively nullifies the need of further legal involvement, but the issue is coming up with one that's reasonable and able to be implemented.

However, it’d be stupid of me not to attempt to shut this down.

…actually, it'd be unwise to not ask, such that you can go on a diatribe you're sure is correctly directed. Opinions, though. Mine, I mean.

Last edited Jan 05, 2017 at 02:04AM EST

Mom Rivers wrote:

The answer was in the post, although it was subtle:

It’s not because they care about us? It’s not because of the severe discrimination and horrible risks we’re at? Or were you just not aware of this, and assumed we lived in basically the same scenario as you?

I also have a transgender friend (really big coincidence because we met before either of us realized we were trans). So, not surprisingly, I know and care a lot about this.

Colonel Dude wrote:

I’m pretty worried about a lot of things in a Trump presidency, especially about net neutrality. I’ve been hearing about how Trump is likely to get rid of net neutrality, and I can’t help but stress out about it.


It's curious that there's a new group of people who are going to grow up to love A) Privacy rights and B) Internet freedom. It's a very interesting combination that's not represented in politics, probably because they're mostly pretty young.

But yeah, I'm a bit worried about that too. I don't want my internet TV-ized.

Whatever happens, exercise your ability to do things. Donate to groups like the EFF, maybe volunteer for advocacy groups, contact your representatives, etc. You don't have to sit there and take it.

>answer
I see. In that case, I will recuse myself from further remarks or questions on the subject, beyond this: don't neglect your own mental health. I rather dislike seeing transexuals descend into derangement, and so I'd rather not see another who seems to have their head on (mostly) straight fall.

Now then…

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2017/jan/4/tom-steyer-liberal-billionaire-loses-big-gamble-on/

Even so, Mr. Steyer, who jumped into politics three years ago to push climate change as a campaign issue, said after the Nov. 8 elections that he wouldn’t change a thing.

I wonder whether that was to soothe his conscience or his coffers. In the end it soothed neither.

RIP Lisa. Who will support Walker in the 2020 primaries now?

Remember how terrible McConnel was and how horribly obstructionist the GOP was for opting out of confirmation hearings of Garland for a year? The Democrats want to do it for Trump's entire Presidency.

I could see a Waterloo fight if Ginsberg kicked the bucket and the court went firmly 6-3, but why dig your heels in and fall on the sword for Scalia's seat? It's not as though that would radically alter SCOTUS's makeup.

Evilthing said:

Basically the law that allows government to give serious felony charges for non-violent protesters, using “economic terrorism” as an excuse.

I'd say it depends on how impactful the protests were. I could easily see and agree with a Class C felony if it held up emergency responders or caused accidents. It's the "right to peaceably assemble" not the "right to screw over thousands of other people's days and indirectly kill people."

Of course, this is Washington State we're talking about, so it's about as likely to pass as Texas banning firearms is.

Rivers said:

….so why are they wasting their time?

Easy, pandering to their base. In 2018, they can send out junk mail proudly stating how they "defended traditional blah blah" to their voters. Just be glad they're wasting their time with that rather than a seven cent gas tax increase to make their state rank in the top five while most of the money gets shoveled into the never ending dumpster fire that is Detroit Public Schools.

Dang, that's a lot to take in. I went through several false starts responding when I finally realized why I was having so much trouble. The reality is that I just don't care enough about this issue to write an essay laying out my feelings. I'm too far removed from the situation. Obviously, you are not, so I must bow to your superior emotional investment in the issue. As a result, everything I write will look paltry compared to what I'm responding to, but I still want to hit the main points.

Well, the only reason is that they prefer to give religious freedom to the people who want to discriminate against LGBT people over other people. That’s not religious freedom – that’s “freedom for the people I agree with”.

Nope. Republicans are concerned with protecting businesses which do not wish to take part in gay marriages. If a baker refuses to make a bake for a gay man’s birthday, that’s discriminatory. If he refuses to bake a wedding cake for a gay wedding on religious grounds, that’s avoiding a ceremony his religion forbids.

Although, your quarrel seems to be with how often they come up. In which case, I have no way to respond, because almost the only times I ever hear about transgender people and issues are when I go and look for it myself, or talk to people who care a LOT about it.

You and I must have had very different experiences. In 2015, it seems like I would hear about Caitlyn Jenner or HB2 every other day. It was huge news.

Be careful with percentages. While they “only” constitute 0.6% of the population, that’s 1.4 million. That’s more than the population of multiple US states.

And concessions should be made to them. That’s why laws protecting trans people from discrimination in hiring are necessary. However, when 300 million+ people see things one way and 1.4 million see things another, the smaller group is inevitably going to be inconvenienced. That doesn’t give the majority the right to walk all over the minority, but when it comes to something like “the majority do not want biological males showering with biological females in a high school,” the minority is not going to get exactly what it wants.

Here, let me give you some stats, from the largest and most reliable study on transgender people yet.

I’m well aware of the terrible challenges trans people face, and we should try to improve their psychological and safety concerns. However, sympathy is not the same thing as telling someone they are right about everything. Anti-bullying and anti-discrimination are one thing. Removing restricted access based upon nothing more than feelings is another.

Burden of proof is on you. I don’t know of many politicians that actually comprise the American Left (y’know, the people we’re talking about) that actually believe the former. Remember, internet != reality.

Alright, the dozens of genders thing is more of a Facebook/Tumblr kind of thing, but it is “gaining ground”: http://live.att.net/news/read/article/the_associated_press-kansas_schools_libraries_offer_students_pronoun_pi-ap on college campuses as well.

TL;DR
Both the initial Charlotte law and HB2 were political posturing. Neither would have been easy to enforce. If you could assure me that it would end at bathrooms, I wouldn’t even mind that much, since there is a certain amount of privacy expected. However, I have no confidence that it would end there. Already, we are hearing about the occasional school controversy where a male wants to shower in the girls’ locker room and the faculty caves in. Many parents and students are not cool with this, even if the boy in question feels he is a girl.

Nobody can legislate the workings of you mind. You can identify as whatever you want. However, that does not mean the rest of society must agree with you and change its rules accordingly. For the overwhelming majority, biological sex and psychological gender are inescapably connected. Some accommodations are necessary for the minority who don’t fit into this situation, but only within reason. That is what the above bills were really about. One side says we are obliged to accept a male as female and vice versa. The other refuses. Not exactly productive as a matter of policy, but telling as political symbolism.

there isn’t one that I can think of that legitimately discriminates based on race

The Church of Latter-day Saints has a pretty infamous history with race relations. It hasn't been reflected in official policy since 1978, but depending on who you ask there are still some discriminatory attitudes between white and black members.


I am not very familiar with transgender issues, so excuse me if I am slow on the uptake.

Rivers,

As a quick Google search confirms, there are many examples of men being arrested and charged for spying on women's bathrooms. (I am not presently aware of any women doing the same to men's bathrooms, but my point is applicable regardless of sex.) It should be reasonable to assume that these people would still exist if gender non-discrimination laws were passed in their states, in which case they would have a legal defense. Furthermore, if these laws included locker rooms, in which undressing in plain view is typical, I imagine it would allow said men to circumvent any alternate charges like "peeping".

So what is the mechanism for preventing incidents like this from occurring? I try to be open-minded and I would like to be sympathetic to your cause, but if someone who clearly has a male body and probably a male mind walks into the women's locker room and begins undressing, all the ideological conviction in the world won't stop me from feeling deeply uncomfortable – and lots of other people feel the same, evidently. The sheer fact that the law can be abused in such a way, even if incidents are exceedingly rare, should be cause for dissatisfaction.

The remedy for this seems to be your assertion that transgenderism is easily proven in a court of law. What evidence do you have for this? How does one conclusively prove gender dysphoria? Some of the "tells" you offer are dubious and seem to be generalizations – KYM's very own Ms Fortune, for example, frequently states that she does not mind being misgendered. At what point does indifference become incriminating?


Farm Zombie,

we should try to improve their psychological and safety concerns

I've heard this sympathetic proposal raised a lot by people who are skeptical of liberal views on transgender issues, but I rarely see the discussion continue from there onwards. Do you have a comprehensive list of changes to the status quo that you believe would accomplish these ends?

Last edited Jan 05, 2017 at 08:24AM EST
So what is the mechanism for preventing incidents like this from occurring?

Hey Particle I just wanted to mention that in Britain, in order to have reassignment surgery on the NHS (i.e. not privately fund it yourself) you need to be able to prove that you've been living as the other gender identity for a significant period of time. So for example providing documentation that you've changed your legal name and have lived under that name for a few years, or proof from a medical consultant that you attended Gender Identity Clinics on a regular basis.

IDK much about the law, but is there a chance this would this be a suitable requirement for court defences as well? So in the hypothetical trial where a transwoman stands accused of voyeurism or some such, the judge asks the accused "how long have you been living as a woman" and the accused would be able to prove it with records of attendance at a GIC dating back at least say, 1 – 3 years (or not, and so being unable to provide legal proof that they are transgendered or gender dysphoric). My only concern though is that this shifts burden of proof onto the accused.

even if your service consists of nothing that would put you in violation of your religous tenets by providing your service to said person.

Pardon-- I wanted to correct my wording and I couldn't edit at this point: I meant "consists of something", not nothing.

PM:

Huh-- didn't know that. shrug Though, none of their beliefs (now disavowed) even had the potential to affect their secular work, assuming they worked in the private sector.

Still, duly noted.

Colonial2.1:

He got elected; they did recounts only in some states he won, only to find out he won even more than originally counted. There were more people trying to not vote for the candidate that lost anyways than there was for him. He's thoroughly the President-elect-- there's no point in protesting now, except to make things harder for everyone the next four years by having a house unnecessarily divided against himself. And why? He hasn't even sit in the Oval Office yet.

What even is the end goal?

From the article, quoting the councilwoman:

"History demands that we immediately begin building mass peaceful resistance to Trump’s anti-worker, misogynist, anti-immigrant, and racist agenda.”

Okay, "anti-worker" is a new one that I'm unsure makes sense, since he's been getting people to gamble on bringing jobs back into the States, and even negotiated a deal to have Carrier definitively retain jobs in the States-- regardless of how big or small the victory actually was.

Last edited Jan 05, 2017 at 02:59PM EST

IDK much about the law, but is there a chance this would this be a suitable requirement for court defences as well?

I thought about this for a while, and came to the conclusion that the mere possibility of having to prove one's identity in a court of law for something like using the bathroom would only do more to isolate the transgender community.

Imagine being transgender, using the bathroom that aligns with your gender, and having to fear that anyone you offend could get you slapped with a court appearance in which you would have to endure an examination of your personal life and past. Undergoing taxpayer-funded surgery is one thing, but for using the bathroom? It seems like overkill, and would probably add to the anxiety felt by transgender people.

So is there a feasible method of punishing abusers of the law that wouldn't also disadvantage legitimate transgender people? I would love to be able to take everyone on their word, but my experiences inform me that there are always going to be people who will take advantage of good faith.

Last edited Jan 05, 2017 at 07:40PM EST

Ok so if this is true they will have to be replaced… by people who will vote for trump because thier districts voted trump.

Why does this matter?

Last edited Jan 05, 2017 at 08:01PM EST

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