… Read the rest
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The simmering distrust
Dec 11th, 2016 11:48 am | By Ophelia BensonFurthermore, the relationship between Donnie from Queens and the intelligence professionals is tanking. That could be a problem.
… Read the restThe simmering distrust between Donald Trump and U.S. intelligence agencies escalated into open antagonism Saturday after the president-elect mocked a CIA report that Russian operatives had intervened in the U.S. presidential election to help him win.
The growing tensions set up a potential showdown between Trump and the nation’s top intelligence officials during what some of those officials describe as the most complex threat environment in decades.
…
Trump’s reaction will probably deepen an existing rift between Trump and the agencies and raised questions about how the government’s 16 spying agencies will function in his administration on matters such as counterterrorism
Let Mikey do it
Dec 11th, 2016 11:11 am | By Ophelia BensonMore on Trump the smart person who doesn’t need to read intelligence briefings, from the Atlantic.
… Read the restTrump complained that his briefings are repetitive, and insisted he’s receiving the information he needs, even he takes the briefings only once a week. “I get it when I need it,” Trump told Chris Wallace. “First of all, these are very good people that are giving me the briefings. And I say, ‘If something should change from this point, immediately call me. I’m available on one-minute’s notice.’”
Trump also pointed out that Vice-President-elect Mike Pence receives the daily briefings he declines, although he did not explain why Pence—like every recent president—finds value in receiving the daily assessments while he does not. “And I’m
The Times on Trump’s insistent lying
Dec 11th, 2016 10:46 am | By Ophelia BensonThe Times editorial board has a think piece on what to do about Trump’s relentless lying. They use that word a lot. As I mentioned a week or two ago, newspapers don’t do that lightly – they don’t do it at all unless they’re very sure they can back it up. This piece treats Trump’s lying as not even in doubt.
Mind you, they start with an odd claim.
… Read the restDonald Trump understood at least one thing better than almost everybody watching the 2016 election: The breakdown of a shared public reality built upon widely accepted facts represented not a hazard, but an opportunity.
The institutions that once generated and reaffirmed that shared reality — including the church, the government,
He’s like a smart person
Dec 11th, 2016 9:53 am | By Ophelia BensonPresident-elect Donald J. Trump said in an interview broadcast on Sunday that he did not believe American intelligence assessments that Russia had intervened to help his candidacy, casting blame for the reports on Democrats, who he said were embarrassed about losing to him.
“I think it’s ridiculous. I think it’s just another excuse,” Mr. Trump said in the interview, on “Fox News Sunday.” “I don’t believe it.”
Except the intelligence people who made the assessments are civil servants, not political appointments.
… Read the restHe also indicated that as president, he would not take the daily intelligence briefing that President Obama and his predecessors have received. Mr. Trump, who has received the briefing sparingly as president-elect, said that it
Evidence of enormous vitriol
Dec 10th, 2016 4:52 pm | By Ophelia BensonJack Halberstam on intersectionality at Reed College.
… Read the restIn 1999, just six years after the rape and murder of a young gender variant person, Brandon Teena, and two friends in a small town in Nebraska, Kim Peirce released her first film, a dramatic account of the incident. The film, Boys Don’t Cry, which took years to research, write, fund, cast and shoot, was released to superb reviews and went on to garner awards and praise for the lead actor, Hilary Swank, and the young director, Kim Peirce, not to mention the film’s production team led by Christine Vachon. The film was hard hitting, visually innovative and marked a massive breakthrough in the representation of gender variant bodies. While there were
A big stake
Dec 10th, 2016 12:53 pm | By Ophelia BensonToday in Trump News –
Yesterday’s fascist rally in Michigan:
Thank you Michigan. We are going to bring back your jobs & together, we will MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!
Watch: https://t.co/cJK323RDYl pic.twitter.com/JjhIdFXCGV— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 10, 2016
Again: this isn’t what presidents-elect do. They work hard to get up to speed on the job, they read intelligence briefings, they learn as much as they can. They don’t bounce around the country working up their fans.
Another thing presidents-elect and presidents don’t do: produce tv shows. The NY Times reports that Donnie from Queens will be executive producer of The Apprentice starting in January (funnily enough, the same month he takes over that other job).
… Read the restPresident-elect Donald
Meanwhile in a basement in New Jersey
Dec 10th, 2016 11:59 am | By Ophelia BensonIt’s disconcerting for the Republicans to have Trump jeering at the intelligence agencies.
… Read the restThough Mr. Trump has wasted no time in antagonizing the agencies, to carry out priorities like combating terrorism and deterring cyberattacks he will have to rely on them for the sort of espionage activities and analysis that they spend more than $70 billion a year to perform.
At this point in a transition, a president-elect is usually delving into intelligence he has never before seen and learning about C.I.A. and National Security Agency abilities. But Mr. Trump, who has taken intelligence briefings only sporadically, is questioning not only analytic conclusions, but also their underlying facts.
“To have the president-elect of the United States simply reject the
The arrogant young woman
Dec 10th, 2016 11:22 am | By Ophelia BensonTrump didn’t just start bullying individuals via Twitter yesterday. Oh no. More than a year ago, for instance, he went on Twitter to attack a college student for daring to ask him a question at a political forum.
… Read the restIn October 2015, then-18-year-old Lauren Batchelder asked Trump a question at a political forum in New Hampshire. “So, maybe I’m wrong, maybe you can prove me wrong, but I don’t think you’re a friend to women,” she said. Trump defended himself, and Batchelder took the mic again, asking if she’d get equal pay and access to abortion with Trump as president. Trump answered: “You’re going to make the same if you do as good of a job, and I happen to
Cozy Bear and Fancy Bear
Dec 10th, 2016 10:26 am | By Ophelia BensonSo, yeah, apparently it is the case that we have this rampaging idiot monster preparing to destroy everything because Putin put his elbow on the scale.
… Read the restAmerican intelligence agencies have concluded with “high confidence” that Russia acted covertly in the latter stages of the presidential campaign to harm Hillary Clinton’s chances and promote Donald J. Trump, according to senior administration officials.
They based that conclusion, in part, on another finding — which they say was also reached with high confidence — that the Russians hacked the Republican National Committee’s computer systems in addition to their attacks on Democratic organizations, but did not release whatever information they gleaned from the Republican networks.
In the months before the election, it was
Listen up, Donnie
Dec 9th, 2016 5:56 pm | By Ophelia BensonJohn Glenn didn’t agree with Trump on the flag:
John Glenn played a key role in the U.S. Senate helping to defeat an amendment making the "descrecration" of the American flag a crime. pic.twitter.com/rgcyNH4Ayz
— ACLU (@ACLU) December 9, 2016
The pile of rubble grows
Dec 9th, 2016 5:30 pm | By Ophelia BensonRex W. Tillerson, the president and chief executive of Exxon Mobil, is the leading candidate to be Mr. Trump’s secretary of state, according to a person with direct knowledge of the search process.
Mr. Tillerson went to Trump Tower in New York on Tuesday to meet with Mr. Trump, who is said to be close to making a decision. Mr. Tillerson has been strongly recommended by a number of business leaders.
What does running an oil company have to do with being the country’s foreign minister?
And then there’s this questionnaire.
… Read the restPresident-elect Trump’s transition team has circulated an unusual 74-point questionnaire that requests the names of all employees and contractors who have attended
Bubble shmubble
Dec 9th, 2016 4:52 pm | By Ophelia BensonAh the old latte-drinking elitists trope – it just won’t go away, will it. Kevin Baker at the New Republic hates it as much as I do.
… Read the restThe most irritating media trope to emerge in the aftermath of Donald Trump’s election is the idea that it was a rebuke to “condescending” liberals who live in our own “bubbles.” Steve Schmidt gave us a preview on MSNBC even before the race for the White House was decided. “The people who are for Trump are not embarrassed to be for Trump. This is a fiction of New York City,” the former Republican political consultant told us early on election night. “This is a fiction of the New York City, Acela Corridor
Feathers in amber
Dec 9th, 2016 4:13 pm | By Ophelia BensonNow we get to look at a dinosaur’s tail with feathers.
It’s a tiny dinosaur, the size of a sparrow.
Researchers described the remarkable specimen in a new study, identifying it as the first evidence in amber from a nonavian theropod — a meat-eating and feathered dinosaur that doesn’t belong to the lineage that led to modern birds. The remarkable preservation provides a snapshot of dinosaur biology that can’t be retrieved from the fossil record, and offers a rare glimpse of feather structures in extinct dinosaurs, which could help scientists better understand how feathers evolved across the dinosaur family tree. [Photos: Amber Trap Nabs Feathered Dinosaur Tail]
Feathers!
… Read the restThe findings were published online Dec. 8 in the
Guest post: Etiquette for the server-diner relationship
Dec 9th, 2016 12:44 pm | By Ophelia BensonGuest post by Josh Spokes.
As a former waiter of many years from greasy spoons to fine dining, my politics are entirely on the side of the serving class. Wait staff are regularly abused, and a tipping culture is merely cruelty and theft codified.
However, there are certain standards of service that wait staff at any type of restaurant should observe. They are not difficult, they are not demeaning, and when used correctly they make each party’s day nicer and more efficient. I find eating out so annoying anymore—and specifically because of wait staff—I avoid it. Here are the reasons.
1. We are in a customer-vendor relationship. You, “Justin,” are not my friend. That doesn’t mean we have an … Read the rest
But if you could see him with his eyes
Dec 9th, 2016 12:19 pm | By Ophelia BensonGoldman Sachs. Clinton’s $200k fees for chatting to them over dinner probably cost her a good few votes, and certainly gave Donnie from Queens useful talking points, but now…well now is now, and all is transformed.
President-elect Donald Trump is expected to name a top Goldman Sachs executive, Gary Cohn, to lead the National Economic Council, handing the Wall Street veteran significant sway over his administration’s economic policy.
The council includes the heads of various departments and agencies and works within the administration to coordinate economic policy. As director, Cohn would be in position to advise Trump as he attempts to fulfill some of his chief campaign promises, including lowering corporate taxes and rethinking U.S. trade policy.
And generally … Read the rest
Bullying is bullying
Dec 9th, 2016 11:09 am | By Ophelia BensonEven some Republicans can still see that Trump is a bully. His personal attack on a working class guy in “flyover country” has not met with universal approval.
… Read the restThe Twitter message from the president-elect at 7:41 Wednesday night, and a second one urging Mr. Jones to “spend more time working — less time talking,” continued Mr. Trump’s pattern of digital assaults, most of them aimed at his political rivals, reporters, Hollywood celebrities or female accusers. On Tuesday morning, Mr. Trump used Twitter to assail Boeing for escalating costs on the development of a new Air Force One.
But rarely has Mr. Trump used Twitter to express his ire at people like Mr. Jones, the president of United Steelworkers
Fewer, fewer
Dec 9th, 2016 10:27 am | By Ophelia BensonGeert Wilders has been convicted of incitement.
… Read the restGeert Wilders, the far-right politician who is seen as a likely contender to become prime minister when Dutch voters go to the polls next year, was convicted on Friday of inciting discrimination and of insulting a group for saying that the Netherlands would be safer with fewer Moroccans.
The three-member judiciary panel found that Mr. Wilders, the leader of the Party for Freedom, had violated Dutch law with his remarks on March 19, 2014, but it elected not to convict him of inciting hatred, and it imposed no punishment, rejecting the prosecutors’ request to fine him 5,000 euros, or about $5,300.
Mr. Wilders was found to have violated laws on
Mo to women: You are the WORST
Dec 8th, 2016 5:26 pm | By Ophelia BensonVia Ex-Muslims of North America on Twitter:
Mohammed on why women are deficient in intellect and religion, as well as why the majority of them shall burn in hell #feminism pic.twitter.com/MkBfz7N0UH
— Ex-Muslims of North America (@ExmuslimsOrg) December 8, 2016
I found it on the holy internet:
… Read the restIt is narrated on the authority of ‘Abdullah b. Umar that the Messenger of Allah observed: O womenfolk, you should give charity and ask much forgiveness for I saw you in bulk amongst the dwellers of Hell. A wise lady among them said: Why is it, Messenger of Allah, that our folk is in bulk in Hell? Upon this the Holy Prophet observed: You curse too much and are ungrateful to
Guest post: They are, in fact, louder than the rest of us
Dec 8th, 2016 4:39 pm | By Ophelia BensonOriginally a comment by iknklast on Refreshing, in response to Megyn Kelly on “political correctness.”
I understand how flyover country feels, how Republicans feel about this. And my general sense is that they feel they’ve been lectured to enough on how they’re supposed to speak and how things that were very innocuous or innocent over the past several years were spun back to them as you’re racist if you say that, you’re racist if you do this, things, you know, that are not racist. And so they’ve gotten their backs up
I swear, if I hear anything more about “how the middle of the country feels”, I might scream…vomit…fly into a rage. Why are we supposed to be taking … Read the rest
