White House fires its chief usher — the first woman in that job 

When the White House residence staff arrived at work Friday morning, they were told that Angella Reid was no longer employed.

“She is no longer employed here at the White House,” Sanders said when asked about Reid’s departure. “We left on very good terms and wish her the very best and certainly hope for great things for her in the future. However, it’s not uncommon you might have a transition of staff when a new administration comes in.”

[Which is total bullshit because…}

The job is one that typically involves a long tenure — there have been just nine since the beginning of the 20th century. 

White House fires its chief usher — the first woman in that job – The Washington Post

sighhh

Donald and Ivana Trump’s Divorce: The Full Story 

Donald is a believer in the big-lie theory,” his lawyer had told me. “If you say something again and again, people will believe you.”

…Last April, perhaps in a surge of Czech nationalism, Ivana Trump told her lawyer Michael Kennedy that from time to time her husband reads a book of Hitler’s collected speeches, My New Order, which he keeps in a cabinet by his bed. 

…Trump’s negotiations, according to one lawyer who worked on the acquisition of the Atlantic City casino of Resorts International, were always unusually unpleasant. After the success of The Art of the Deal, Trump’s lawyers began to talk about “Donald’s ego” as if it were a separate entity. “Donald’s ego will never permit us to accept that point,” one lawyer said over and over again during the negotiations. “The key to Donald, like with any bully, is to tell him to go fuck himself,” the lawyer told me.

Donald and Ivana Trump’s Divorce: The Full Story | Vanity Fair

An oldie but a goodie.

A majority of the American people either voted for this or refused to support the only plausible alternative.

A majority of the American people deserve what they get.

#snakeoilsalesman

Jeff Sessions Wants to Kick the War on Drugs into High Gear

Gather ’round, kids.

It is now conventional wisdom that one of the worst mistakes the country ever made was launching its idiotic, wasteful “war”on drugs. In the three decades in which this “war” has been waged, we have lost two generations of African-Americans to the prison system, shaved the Bill of Rights down to a nub, tied the hands of the judiciary, and, finally, made not an appreciable dent in the problem of drug use and drug addiction. We have blessed ourselves with private prisons and militarized police forces, so there is that.

…There was a strong, evolving, and bipartisan consensus that it was time to call a truce on the “war” we were making on our own citizens. The country was getting sensible about marijuana and mandatory minimum sentences at the same time; conservatives abandoned simplistic law ‘n order coding and hopped on the bandwagon of criminal justice reform; in many cases, they took the wheel on it. And, at least rhetorically, the response to the opioid crisis was more reasoned and measured than the response to the crisis of crack cocaine was—and the reasons for that are worth exploring. But nobody wants to, least of all JeffBo. Over the weekend, we learned that this brief, fragile truce had ended.

Jeff Sessions Wants to Kick the War on Drugs into High Gear

Sigh….

The Republican Lawmaker Who Secretly Created Reddit’s Women-Hating ‘Red Pill’

A web of secret online identities connects the creator of the misogynistic Red Pill forum to a New Hampshire state representative.

…The Red Pill—an online Reddit community of nearly 200,000 subscribers that promotes itself as a “discussion of sexual strategy in a culture increasingly lacking a positive identity for men.”

…On Reddit’s Men’s Rights forum, [Fisher’s associate] Youssef described “the corruption, greed, lies, and abject depravity of the feminist system…” 

Youssef and Fisher aren’t the only New Hampshire politicos to have espoused anti-feminist beliefs. In 2015, New Hampshire State Rep. Al Baldasaro, a Republican, publicly mocked the breasts of fellow female lawmakers in the name of protecting “family values.” 

And yet Fisher’s past comments on a host of Reddit forums are arguably far more disturbing than what his colleagues have said in public. He blasted women for their “sub-par intelligence.” He said that women’s personalities are “lackluster and boring, serving little purpose in day to day life.” And Fisher once commented, “It is literally the [female] body that makes enduring these things worth it.”

…“You take the blue pill—the story ends, you wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe. You take the red pill… and I show you how deep the rabbit-hole goes.”

In manosphere-speak, the rabbit hole is feminism, which the red pill reveals to be a War on Men. In this [delusional departure from] reality, the “feminine imperative” reigns; masculinity is its victim. As a result of this power struggle, old gender dynamics formerly seen as mutually beneficial, such as marriage, have all but disappeared, but female expectations of a pedestalled life unfairly remain. A common refrain among men’s rights activists is “take the pussy off the pedestal.”

The Red Pill ….community also subscribes to the beliefs that women lack both intelligence and substance, are programed to cheat on their partners, and expire after the age of 30. Its darkest sections are heavy with rape denial and apologia.

…On The Red Pill, Fisher commonly expressed disappointment that the institutions of marriage and religion were destroyed by women’s equality. He maintained that as a result of financial independence, women were no longer compelled to remain faithful and as a result, men needed to protectively adapt their sexual strategy.

“Marriage, and yes, female oppression, slut shaming, religion, these were all a means to control hypergamy [infidelity]. Marriages might be considered loveless, and women might have been unhappy, but for men it meant marriages that lasted, commitments that continued, and protection against the fickle whims of females,” Fisher wrote on The Red Pill in November 2012.

“To give women autonomy is to take away the very thing that made marriage a realistic institution… what I dislike is the general attitude that somehow we owe [women] something for sex…” …Fisher wrote.

…“Understand that in the old days, women were not brought up the way they are today. Before feminism, there was less freedom, and therefore it was not necessary to teach women consequence. Consequence was strictly a man’s game. Feminism took the lid off pandora’s box, but the mothers, and the daughters of those mothers never internalized, learned, or passed down the concept of responsibility for their freedoms, only the freedom itself.” Fisher wrote in 2013.

In addition to anti-feminist screeds, The Red Pill teaches “sexual strategy.” This includes how to “spin plates,” or balance sleeping with several women at once; how to respond to women’s “shit-tests,” a social device used to determine a suitor’s “fitness”; and how to practice “negging,” a game tactic involving a backhanded compliment calculated to undermine confidence and make a woman more vulnerable to advances. Red Pillers practice “dread game,” or intentionally instilling “dread” in a partner that you have other options, and various other techniques.

Of gaming women, Fisher said, “[Women have] absolutely done this to themselves. I feel zero regret or shame pumping and dumping.”

…Fisher seemed obsessed with the negative effects feminism was having on his dating experience.

…He felt  …that women get a free ride, believing “a pair of boobs grants [them] equal footing with somebody bringing intelligence or a personality.” 

…Fisher posited that the notion that “rape is bad” was not an absolute truth. He wrote, “I’m going to say it—Rape isn’t an absolute bad, because the rapist I think probably likes it a lot. I think he’d say it’s quite good, really.”

Though he stated he “doesn’t advocate breaking the law,” Fisher said online in 2012 that a 40-year-old man asking to see the breasts of a 15-year-old wasn’t creepy. Instead, he said it was “evolutionarily advantageous and perfectly natural.”

Besides, Fisher argued, historically, statutory rape and age of consent laws gave the sexes unequal treatment in that only females were given protection under such laws. He noted that these laws were intended to protect “teenage girls” from having their virginity stolen. Indeed, age of consent laws were originally intended to preserve virginity—a “commodity” at the time—however, in Colonial America, where statutory rape was considered a property crime, the age of consent was generally 10 or 12.

…“Regret-rape” accusations refer to the theory that women, to alleviate feelings of guilt, shame or promiscuity, accuse men of rape to detach themselves from responsibility. Men’s rights activists refer to this as an “anti-slut defense,” and have an acronym for it, ASD.

…Among Red Pillers, the notion that women commonly abuse the judicial system for means of retaliation, or “cry rape” for attention, is viewed as a matter-of-fact element of the feminist “agenda.”

The Republican Lawmaker Who Secretly Created Reddit’s Women-Hating ‘Red Pill’

And this is what NH GOP has to offer women… Charming!

Under the GOP’s health plan, sexual assault could be considered a pre-existing condition

Under the amendment, states would have the all-clear to waive the ban preventing insurance companies from denying coverage to patients based on pre-existing conditions. That means companies could also deny preventive health care services, like mammograms and gynecological exams, to these patients, which many sexual assault survivors in particular rely on following an attack.

In 2010, before the ACA became law, the Huffington Post reported the story of Christina Turner, a 45-year-old woman who was turned away by her insurance company because she’d been raped. 

After she was drugged and sexually assaulted, Turner was prescribed a month’s worth of prophylactic medication to prevent HIV infection, just in case. Though it turned out Turner hadn’t been infected with the virus, when a prospective insurer saw the prescription on her health record, the company said it wouldn’t cover her until — “in three or more years” — she proved she was still AIDS-free.

…Other conditions like postpartum depression, being a survivor of domestic violence or having gotten a C-section could also be considered pre-existing conditions.

“Most of the people who have C-sections identify as women, so that’s a shorthand for a gender discriminatory policy.” 

Under the GOP’s health plan, sexual assault could be considered a pre-existing condition

sigh….

Family Kicked off Delta flight after Employees Refuse to Allow Toddler to Sit in an Approved Child’s Seat

Staff members began arguing with the Schears because they wanted their 2-year-old son to be allowed to fly in an individual seat while fastened into a car seat, according to the video.

…The employees can be heard telling Schear that both Delta’s guidelines and Federal Aviation Administration rules stipulate that a 2-year-old child must fly while seated on their parent’s laps, but rules posted on each agency’s website appear to contradict that.

…“How did we get through security with two kids, two car seats, go all the way through your gateway, and through the gate and then they come down and say that we have to get off this plane?” he asks.

An employee insists they were simply trying to help the family, prompting another irritated response from Brian Schear.

“Trying to help us would have been not overselling the flight and not trying to get him out of that seat, that I paid for,” he said.

Orange County family says they were kicked off Delta flight after argument over child’s seat – LA Times

Lesson here? Do not fly airlines based in the US!!!!!

Trump threatens to break up 9th Circuit Court after it rules against him 

President Trump is considering breaking up the 9th Circuit Court after a federal district court judge in its jurisdiction blocked his order to withhold funding from “sanctuary cities.”

In a Wednesday interview with the Washington Examiner, Trump said “there are many people who want to break up the 9th Circuit. It’s outrageous.”

In the interview, Trump accused liberals of “judge-shopping” for a court that would strike down his executive order.

The 9th Circuit Court covers Arizona, California, Alaska, Nevada, Idaho, Oregon, Montana, Washington and Hawaii, as well as Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands.
 
Eighteen of the court’s 25 judges were appointed by Democratic presidents.

Trump says he may break up 9th Circuit Court after rulings go against him | TheHill

OK, King George.

The Mother of All Bombs: How badly did it hurt IS in Afghanistan? 

Reports of the bomb had made me think that it had wiped out the IS stronghold here in Achin district. I assumed that US and Afghan troops would have sealed off the area and that IS (or Daesh, as it is known here) would be in disarray.

An Afghan officer corrected me. “For a start this bomb wasn’t as powerful as you think,” he said.

“There are still green trees standing 100m away from the site of the impact.”

…”Daesh hasn’t gone anywhere; there are hundreds of caves like the one the Americans bombed,” the officer says, adding that strikes have continued since the bomb was dropped. “They can’t get rid of them like this.”

…Unlike the Taliban, who tend to have many supporters in their core areas, IS seem to have angered a lot of people. Few seemed unhappy about the US bombardment.

…However, there was anxiety. One man, Khaled, said local people were pawns in a US game.

“[Dropping the bomb] was a trick to show the world that their mission was going well. But this wasn’t the type of bomb they showed in the media. The bomb did nothing.”

“Will IS come back?” I asked.

“Yes, as soon as the government leaves, the locals won’t be able to fight them. If the government makes permanent bases in the area and helps us, then we will be happy,” he answered.

The Mother of All Bombs: How badly did it hurt IS in Afghanistan? – BBC News

hmmmm