AUloggerhead

It takes a bizarre kind of delusion to declare (pretend?) you are a different race than that you really are. Rachael Dolezal anyone? In Warren's case, she kept up the lie to burnish her credentials early in her career and has only now tired to distance herself from the whole charade because it doesn't play well in the national electorate. She's apparently discovered that voters outside of MA are much harder to fool. On the plus side, this shows active learning. Old dogs can learn new tricks(!)

You're correct -- her apology"was for the "harm I have caused" which is a little self-serving since the harm she caused was to her own reputation. To her credit, her actions of publicly insisting she/her family has Native American roots didn't harm one single tribal member. So ... ... there's that.

SEC Officials opened a twitter account in July. What could go wrong? Heh heh.

I share your skepticism of the government being able to address the mental health/gun violence problem without curtailing rights of individuals. However, maybe there's something meaningful that can be gleaned from analyzing someone's social media presence to help prevent some of these attacks. Some of the "red flags" proposals by Dan Crenshaw have merit IMHO. Red Flag Firearms Law It's worth a try anyway. The recent info coming out about the Dayton shooter about him keeping "Rape & Kill lists" in his high school days seems like a too obvious kind of red flag. Sick Bastage

Nicely put. Thank God the founders didn't make this country a theocracy (pun intended.) As for what Jesus "said" or what the Bible "tells" us, there is ample room for interpretation and whomever is doing the interpretation will see what they want to see: e.g. "Jesus said that only sinless people can perform executions." Yeah, I remember the teaching somewhat differently: "Let he who is without sin cast the first stone." That doesn't say to me that Jesus is only reserving the right to execution to "sinless people." The old joke among us Catholic boys was that after Jesus said that, a single stone was seen being thrown from the back of the mob towards the adulterous woman hitting her. Jesus then says, "Oh come on, Mom!" 😁

Woodrow Wilson (D) was the most racist of all our chief executives -- and it's not even close. Arbitrarily killing the "racial equality" proposal by the Japanese at the Versailles Treaty conference had some long-lasting effects down the road: this near-sighted snub enraged the Japanese and no doubt contributed to the rise of nationalists in the 1920s within Japan.

I am in favor of the Congress increasing their salaries -- as long as they first submit the proposal to a national referendum for approval.

I recommend the author, Ian W. Toll, and his trilogy of of WWII in the Pacific: his website Pacific Crucible The Conquering Tide and a soon to be released final book (it's been promised to be released this year) Very engrossing writer. His description of the aftermath of Pearl Harbor in Pacific Crucible is heartbreaking & riveting at the same time. Also, a very good description of the lead up to the war from the Japanese perspective. Six Frigates is also excellent. Highly recommend it as well.

If a law is made to cap interest rates at some level, i.e. 14-15% or at a level one thinks should be the max (credit card interest rates were around 21% when I got out of college in 1979,) then that will just push the high risk borrowers who can't be approved for a credit card towards the "gambino"-type lenders. Better to pay a little more money in interest than to have your legs broken. Unintended consequences of well meaning laws and stuff ...

I acknowledge your point about 'pro-life.' To me it's just a label. I would also add that the states' infant mortality statistics being cited occurred well before any of the new abortion laws were passed so I don't associate the past stats with the new laws. It's coincidental.

WRT to abortion, NY has the least restrictive law while AL has the most restrictive law in the country. Label NY 'pro-choice' & AL 'pro-life.' WRT to prison reform, both states need to address the appalling conditions present in their state prison systems. Label them both 'lacking' in their respective efforts. Recognize that new prisons & staffing takes money, and any funding put toward reforms will take away from state budgets to do anything else. In this, NY & AL (and other states) are facing the exact same dilemma.

But that's a false dichotomy -- the condition of any state's prison system is not related to that state's abortion law. I noticed the article which you linked is from the NY Times. Google the conditions at Rikers Island and I'm sure you'll recognize strikingly similar conditions to the AL prisons. Also, depending on who you're talking to in the whole abortion debate, the 'pro-life' label could just as easily be referred to as 'anti-choice.' It's merely semantics.

Just terrible news. Prayers for their kids & other family members. Life is precious -- you could be here one minute and gone the next. The AU family won't forget Rod.

OR should be pretty good on offense. They return the QB Herbert, the RB and the entire OL. Question marks at WR. Don't know too much about their defense. Herbert is a legit pro prospect and given time to throw he's certainly capable of carving up a defense. If there's ever a time AU could use a consistent pass rush then this is the game.

Awesome. Both clips are great & Undercover Brother is one underrated movie! However, the ultimate bat shyte crazy movie clip of all time has to be from Richard Pryor in Which Way is Up? Language warning for the easily offended snowflakes: