Links 6/24/16

Dear patient readers, I am behind for the obvious reasons. I’ll add more Brexit links.

Teen stuck inside giant Barney dinosaur head is freed by firefighters Boing Boing (resilc)

Driverless cars: Who gets protected? Study shows public deploys inconsistent ethics on safety issue PhysOrg (Chuck L)

Amazon Video’s traffic is spiking, which means internet video is now dominated by three big companies Quartz

Mating Hemophiliacs Seldom Turns Out Well Streetwise Professor (Richard Smith). On Elon Musk. I know I should write up his latest machinations, but it is basically old economy chicanery being sold as new economy bottles.

Bot Platforms and the race for Nation-State Advantage Global Guerillas (furzy)

Fix for 3-billion-year-old genetic error could dramatically improve genetic sequencing PhysOrg (Chuck L)

Scientists just doubled the number of known contagious cancers Washington Post

Brexit

Britain plunges into constitutional crisis after vote to leave EU Financial Times

Europe in Shock over Brexit Der Spiegel (nobody)

Is the EU referendum legally binding? Guardian (resilc)

What now for Brexit punished markets? MacroBusiness

Does the Brexit Vote Mark the End of Internationalism? Foreign Policy in Focus

Key Brexit Question: Is Cameron the Biggest Liar in History? Michael Shedlock

Do the Experts Know Anything? Bloomberg (resilc)

Schäubles Geheimplan für den Brexit Handelsblatt

Opinion: Brexit Vote Is an Act of Self Mutiliation By British Der Spiegel (resilc)

THE BRITISH VOTE ISN’T AGAINST EUROPE – IT’S AGAINST THE WARS OF BARACK OBAMA, ANGELA MERKEL, AND EVERY SERIOUS NEWSPAPER IN THE WORLD AS WE USED TO KNOW IT John Helmer. Includes map of Leave v. Remain votes.

Revenge Would Be the Wrong EU Response to U.K. Exit Bloomberg

Brexit: The System Cannot Hold Ilargi

This was the day the British people defied their jailers Telegraph

Brexit earthquake has happened, and the rubble will take years to clear” Guardian (nobody)

Consequences of Britain’s Vote to Leave the EU Ian Welsh (nobody)

An orchestrated move against Jeremy Corbyn appears to be under way as Labour’s shadow cabinet prepares to convene this morning Guardian (from its live blog)

Kevin Schofield, from PoliticsHome, has heard there is a letter going around demanding the resignation of leader Jeremy Corbyn… Michael Crick of Channel 4 even wonders if this day might see Corbyn’s resignation too.. Financial Times (live blog)

The World Changed Overnight Zero Anthropology (nobody)

Brexit Cover Story: Please Don’t Go Der Spiegel (resilc). A little late. Germany has been running the Eurozone (not that the EU is the Eurozone, but the Eurozone gives EU members an idea of what greater integration might look like) as the Greater German Co-Prosperity Sphere.

Brexit fact of the day Tyler Cowen (resilc)

Robots May Pay Taxes Under European Proposals Newsweek (resilc)

China?

China second tier city bubbles begin tightening MacroBusiness

Big Brother is Watching You Watch

Federal Court: The Fourth Amendment Does Not Protect Your Home Computer Electronic Frontier Foundation (Chuck L). Lordie.

Google is the World’s Biggest Censor and Its Power Must Be Regulated USNews (Bill B). Today’s must read.

154 million voter records exposed, revealing gun ownership, Facebook profiles, and more DailyDot

Ukraine/Russia

Is the US Pursuing a Rogue Policy by Waging Undeclared War Against Russia? The Nation (resilc)

Syraqistan

Pakistan’s ‘University of Jihad’ is getting millions of dollars from the government Washington Post

Imperial Collapse Watch

The Coming End of the EU-USA Military Industrial Complex? Counterpunch (resilc)

Clinton E-mail Tar Baby

CLINTON FAILED TO HAND OVER KEY EMAIL TO STATE DEPARTMENT Associated Press (resilc)

The Clinton Foundation – warts and all Sic Semper Tyrannis (Chuck L)

Emails: State Dept. scrambled on trouble on Clinton’s server Associated Press (furzy)

Clinton IT specialist invokes 5th more than 125 times in deposition Fox (furzy)

2016

Bernie Saynders: Here’s what we want Washington Post (furzy)

Sanders supporters push to block Andrew Cuomo as DNC delegate after chaotic meeting Raw Story (furzy)

Are Bill and Hillary Still Making a Mint Off Pardoning Mark Rich? American Spectator. Resilc: “A golden oldie”.

Elizabeth Warren’s Endorsement of Hillary Clinton Is a Shrewd Move Esquire. Resilc begs to differ.

Top Clinton aide mocks donor’s appointment to board McClatchy

Finally…….Trumps Puts The Wood To Hillary, Appeals To Sanders Supporters, Too David Stockman (resilc)

Hillary Clinton Criticizes Donald Trump for One of the Few Things He Is Right About

Donald Trump’s speech about Hillary Clinton was terrifyingly effective. Slate (resilc). Despite the screeching of the Acela corridor media, the people I know who listened to it gave it good marks. Not a 10, more like an 8.5. But still…

Trump and Clinton Place Bets to Woo Undecided Voters Bloomberg (resilc)

Trump: The Descent by Elizabeth Drew New York Review of Books

What Republicans’ Obstruction Costs Them Bloomberg (furzy)

Supreme Court immigration decision means millions of workers will be deprived of crucial labor protections Economic Policy Institute

This US City’s Move to Divert Great Lakes Drinking Water Is Just the Beginning Motherboard (resilc)

Orlando

Omar Mateen’s ‘gay lover’ says Orlando attack was about revenge – not Isis Independent (JTM). Not that anyone will try to change the now-well-established narrative…

Orlando police chief blames Mateen for any Pulse victims killed by police McClatchy (resilc)

Gunz

The Daily 202: House sit-in guarantees gun control will be a top issue in fall election Washington Post (furzy) Lovely. The Democrats will make theater over ineffective reforms, which will lead gun enthusiasts to stockpile more arms and ammo.

On guns, stop talking about terrorism. Start talking about domestic violence. Vox

The next recession is already here—and there isn’t much the Fed can do—commentary CNBC (furzy). A big part of the reason we are in this mess is the mistaken idea that the Fed can do much about recessions. Monetary policy is asymmetrical in its effect. It can do a lot to dampen activity but not much to stimulate it. But the neoliberals who have fallen for the loanable funds fallacy believe otherwise.

Big U.S. Banks Cleared ‘Stress Tests,’ Are Poised to Win Approval to Boost Dividends Wall Street Journal

Saudi Arabia Declares Cease-Fire in Oil War Bloomberg

Volkswagen to Pay Over $10 Billion to Settle Emissions Claims From U.S. Owners Wall Street Journal

European bankers to politicians: Save us from the Americans Politico (margarita). What this Eurobanker friendly story fails to mention is the reason American banks would do better is that US banks went into the crisis better capitalized than US banks and after the criss, the US banking regulators were tougher about making them hold more capital than the Europeans were. Plus more and more economic research confirms that out-sized banking systems are bad for economic growth, so shrinking Eurobanks (and US banks) would be a good thing in the long haul.

The Most Important Agency You’ve Never Heard Of Washington Monthly. Haha, I bet many of you have heard of it!

House Republicans Think the Fed Is In Conspiracy With the Rich: Are They Right? Pam Martens and Russ Martens (Glenn F)

Goldman Sachs to drop on-campus interviews Financial Times

The U.S. Cities Where Manufacturing Is Thriving Forbes

Class Warfare

Beyond Meritocracy Stumbling and Mumbling

Leaked Documents Reveal How Much Uber Drivers Really Make Vanity Fair

Austin, After Driving Out Uber and Lyft, Launches Sting Operations Against Those Who Dare to Serve the Public with Rides Reason (resilc)

Underneath Five-Star Veneer, High-End Restaurant Employees Get Worked Over American Prospect (resilc)

Elite travellers skip the airport security line – for a price Bloomberg

Antidote du jour (Kittie Wilson via Lawrence R):

hummingbird links

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188 comments

    1. DJG

      BDBlue: Ian Welsh gives an excellent analysis. The comment section is full of insight, too. Definitely worth reading.

        1. tony

          http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2014/04/mmt-policy.html#comment-2036051

          I looked up his comments, and from what I can tell, he is really angry about MMT not being full socialist.

          It’s pretty incoherent, but he does not seem to like the commodification of labour or work being “meaningless”, which I suppose refers to the lack of worker ownership. From what I can tell, if the unemployment problem is abolished, that is either not enough and thus the left should not focus on it, or abolishing unemployment removes one of the main incentives for revolutionary socialism.

          Other argument I have seen is, “MMT will not bring back the passenger pidgeon”. Kind of like paying your rent won’t clean your clothes.

          1. Massinissa

            “I have referred to MMT as Magical Monetary Thinking from time to time. I once asked rhetorically whether MMT dollars could bring back the passenger pigeon if the government just issued enough of them.”

            I think youre misquoting him, possibly by accident.

      1. readerOfTeaLeaves

        Hugh has two comments over at Ian Welsh’s link from the Brexit list.
        Insightful as ever; I happen to agree with Hugh’s analysis.

        1. Bob

          I counted four comments from Hugh. This was my favorite:
          “Clinton is a studied liar. Trump is an off-the-cuff, first thing that comes into his gut kind of liar. Clinton lies are the lies of the grifter. Trump’s lies are the lies of the guy at the end of the bar who has had a few.
          We know what we will get from Clinton. We don’t know what exactly we will get from Trump, but it is pretty obvious that it mostly won’t be good.
          We come back to this. They are both shit sandwiches. There is no point in comparing them. There is no such thing as a better or a worse shit sandwich. We are screwed either way. So we should reject them both.”

  1. Tom Denman

    It was such fun to see U.K. voters thumb their noses at the shameless scaremongering by the big banks’ mouthpieces, like Messrs. Cameron, Carney and Obama.

    Of course the British vote was motivated by multiple domestic issues, though many of the talking heads I saw on BBC last night invoked the same analyses as their American counterparts have about Trump and Sanders (e.g. a rejection of neoliberal policies, “voters are angry about not being listened to” and “people were tired of being told what to do”).

    Dark clouds on the horizon for America’s own liberal class. But after all democracy, like payback, can be a bitch.

        1. polecat

          she just needs to swallow………

          something about apples not far from trees and all that!

        1. polecat

          Nice Antidote du jour Ives……..

          At this time of the year (locally, almost summer) the hummers abound in mr. polecat’s surround…..I’ve planted up the yard specifically to attract hummingbirds, pollinators, and beneficial insects….working as planned !!

          when I’ve reached my tolerance level of crapified national and/or global human events…..I open the door …and step out into the real world!

  2. DG

    Brexit – Yes! Yes!! Yes!!!

    Although as a Canadian, I have to keep a wary eye out on Quebec…

    Oh well – glad the elites are getting a kick in the nuts.

    1. James Levy

      The only kick in the nuts viz. elites I care about is giving millions of working people good, safe jobs at high wages with strong unions to protect them. If Brexit leads to that, great. If it doesn’t, then the last thing we need or should care about are symbolic victories that are materially meaningless.

      1. DJG

        James: Yes. And even though the votes of the Scots aren’t a great surprise, Northern Ireland and many of the comments here (and in Ian Walsh’s article) are enlightening.

    2. Code Name D

      Congratulations and “Good show” to the Brits. Nice to know Democracy still works some where out there,

      1. Arizona Slim

        I view the Leave victory as the first big eff you vote of 2016. Neoliberalism, you are going DOWN.

        1. Jim Haygood

          Surely, says HRC, there is some way we can triangulate this.

          “Hillary: challenging the status quo since the Wellesley graduation ceremony!”

          Errrr …. okay, it was a first draft.

          1. DG

            The elites are so invested in the current set-up, I think they’re only going to double down. I hope they choke!

            Hope Bernie sticks to his guns, the revolt against elites is gaining steam and it’s his game to lose in the next 4 years.

  3. James Levy

    If you take a look at the comments section of the CNBC article on how we are likely in a recession already, you see the problem: it’s all Socialist Obama’s fault! And Hillary is going to rob from the deserving rich and give to those colored parasites! I don’t know what’s worse, that Trump supporters really believe that crap or that Hillary supporters think it’s true.

    The level of unreality that so many people labor under is just staggering.

    1. abynormal

      it’s difficult for a consumer to stop gorging long enough pick up a book like Econned or research the global bodies they march over to fulfill their daily pigout. at the same time, it’s difficult for the struggling to do anything but survive. now it is too late…the level of unreality will rise. ‘Good Luck and Good Night’

    2. RabidGandhi

      1. I’m not sure how representative internet comboxes are of what most people think. Reading many of them is directly incompatible with a well-functioning nous (eg, Fox, Rolling Stone, CNBC, WaPo…)

      2. Since forever, people in the US have been taught by media and the educational system to ignore policy and politics or treat them as entertainment with no real-life effects, so it is no wonder there will be many people who are clueless. (plus with 3 über jobs, a ziggurat of student debt and ACA payments overdue, who has time to sift through all that BS?).

      3. What does the US going into recession even mean to most people? They know their personal economies have been increasingly suckified for the last 40 years, and GDP numbers seem to have little to do with that. Better just to have a good time arguing Red vs. Blue in a dumb combox.

    3. MyLessThanPrimeBeef

      I believe ex-Bernie Trump supporters are likely to say

      1. It’s all (a great deal) faux Socialist Obama’s fault
      2. Hillary will rob from the rich to give to herself and her Foundation.

      1. Andrew Watts

        Obama could’ve accomplished practically anything and he chose to bailout the bankers and step in front of the pitchforks. Personally I’m going to blame him when Trump is elected president.

        1. OpenThePodBayDoorsHAL

          Read the transcript of Donald’s speech and let me know if you can find a single phrase to disagree with.
          Sometimes the hateful, ridiculous and stupid option really is the better choice.
          Meantime maybe we can get the transcripts of Hilary’s Goldman speeches. No? Why not, pray tell?

          1. J Bookly

            It was a wonderful speech! His words are so much better when separated from his delivery of them! Do you think he believed the words as he was saying them? If so, will he still believe them next week, next month, etc.? Has his ADD ever been formally diagnosed? These are important questions, because if he believes what he said, and will continue believing them, he is definitely a better candidate than Clinton, for whom I will not vote unless I am being waterboarded.

          2. Andrew Watts

            Oh, I’m fully prepared to tolerate the pain of President Trump. Who’s hurting ethnic minorities in this country anyway? The Democrats might protect us from being called nigger or gook but by embracing open borders and free trade they’re swelling the ranks of the reserve force of labor that is primarily made up of people of color. Furthermore by abandoning the policy of full employment they’ve sacrificed economic justice in favor of their own self-interested sense of moral superiority. #BernieMadeMeWhite

            That doesn’t mean I have to like the idea of President Trump. A member of the privileged classes will inevitably look after his own. /rant

  4. ahisa

    CLINTON FAILED TO HAND OVER KEY EMAIL TO STATE DEPARTMENT Associated Press (resilc)

    Contrary to her statement under oath suggesting otherwise, Mrs. Clinton did not return all her government emails to the State Department,” Fitton said. “Our goal is to find out what other emails Mrs. Clinton and the State Department are hiding.”

    From The Clinton Email Scandal Timeline ©2016 #ClintonEmailTimeline

    An email shows that five State Department officials learned of Clinton’s private server after installing equipment in her house. The State Department’s telecommunications manager Purcell Lee sends an email that contains the agenda for “Secretary Residential Installation Hotwash.” A “hotwash” is an after-action discussion. An attached file lists the electronic equipment in Clinton’s Chappaqua, New York house. It mentions the recent installation of a phone and fax machine for classified communications. But most crucially, it also mentions the existence of Clinton’s private email server with the comment: “Unclassified Partner System: Server: Basement Telephone Closet.” None of the agenda items refer to the existence of the unauthorized server. Lee’s email is sent to four other State Department officials: Kevin Wagganer, John Bentel, Andrew Scott, and Bruce Duncan. (US Department of State, 6/20/2016) Bentel is the director of the department’s bureau of Information Resources Management (IRM). He will later deny having any knowledge of Clinton’s server and some will claim he participated in a cover-up, telling others that she had legal authority to use it when she did not. (Yahoo News, 5/27/2016)

    It’s just lies upon lies; not careful, lawerly parsing; not plausible deniability.

    Bald. Faced. LIES. (under oath!?!).

    1. RabidGandhi

      If memory serves there was a President named Clinton who was impeached for lying to a grand jury. What a coincidence.

      Of course, he got away with it and now most people think he was impeached because of a BJ and a Vast Rightwing Conspiracy. Wouldn’t it just be the darndest of coincidences if this Clinton managed to deflect scandal in the same way?

      1. Steve Gunderson

        Don’t forget Ronald Reagan and his “I don’t recall” in regards to questions about Iran-Contra.

        And George W Bush’s “I fell asleep at the cabinet meeting were that was discussed”.

  5. Pol

    The English people refuse to be underneath the German boot. They refuse the 4th Reich, “deutchland uber alles” and “alles ist erlaubt” (Nietzche). I hope the Greeks, Italians, Spaniards et al. will follow. The EU & EZ KAPUT. Enough misery they created.

    1. MyLessThanPrimeBeef

      The Battle of Britain is over.

      But this is not even the beginning of the end. Perhaps the end of the beginning.

      Scotland, Taiwan, Greece, Spain, Catalan, Quebec, Puerto Rico, California, Tibet, Basque, Kurdistan, etc.

  6. Quentin

    Oh what a sneaky little worm Boris Johnson is: ‘there is no rush to invoke Brexit’, that is, Article 40. So now Britain has the EU by the balls. Johnson becomes Prime Minister and shoves the decision to factually leave the EU down the long road. Britain will not be in and not out (despite what some 52 % of the Brexit voters might think!). How will the EU be able to function without placating Britain whose populace has voted in the majority to stick it to the EU? Britain has a say until it ends membership. Cameron foresaw this and resigned because he could not go on without invoking Resolution 40 and probably didn’t want to be the man to make the fateful decision, which he would have had to do alone. Then it would all be his fault. The game of the Brexit leaders will bite Britain mightily in the bum = ass. A lot Greeks must be feeling like real asses for being so respectful of and obedient to their European betters.

    1. RabidGandhi

      Boris Johnson: it’s not so much as campaign left and govern right, as it is campaign for the rabble and govern for the élite.

    2. PlutoniumKun

      Yeah, Boris’s game is all too clear. He hopes to become PM, then keep putting off the formal split, hoping to negotiate some sort of ‘stay in, in all but name’ type agreement, so he can (in his mind) end up as a hero to the City and the more sensible Brexit types. I suspect most of his former Brexit comrades know this all too well, so will do what they can to stop him. Mind you, the alternative would seem to be Gove, who is even more horrible.

      1. Clive

        My Tory friends tell me that (Home Secretary — the U.S. equivalent is Secretary of Homeland Security) Theresa May is probably going to get the leadership. Theresa has been very adept and is a consummate politician — backing Remain of course and so demonstrated the ability to be seen to tow the party line but not being seen as too pro-EU either. And all the while managing to not be coming across as too calculating. A compromise party-unity safe-pair-of-hands not-too-swivel-eyed candidate then. To emerge from all this chaos in that position is no mean feat.

        I’d say a pox on the Tory house whatever they do, but I can understand why the Tory heartland (certainly the bits of it that live in genteel retirement on the South Coast which makes the population of Florida look like a bunch of swingers) would rise from their fainting couches and turn to Theresa to steady their ship.

        Theresa wouldn’t try any sleight of hand non-exit exiting, she’d just get on with it as well as it is possible to complete the task. And any attempt to ask the electorate to vote again and this time pick the right answer or other fudges will be electoral suicide. See one we made earlier — the Liberal Democrats.

        1. vidimi

          May is much despised for her australian-styled detention centres, but i suppose that doesn’t matter to the silent majority.

          cameron wanted to have his cake and eat it to. his (and osborne’s) austerity is the pain that finally made the working class tap out and vote leave.

        2. grayslady

          Theresa May is one of the worst politicians on the planet–right up there with Hillary. I hope your sources are wrong.

      1. Skip Intro

        Just a misquote. David Brock has a bounty out for placing stories that claim Bernie has conceded or endorsed Clinton.

      1. Anon

        Looks like BAR was right after all. This is kind of a downer, to be honest and this makes it worse for the next time. Now, the Ds being neoliberals will mean that they’ll see his fundraising success as a misnomer and continue to peddle for that moderate R vote.

        1. edmondo

          Hey, his whole run was a giant success! He got Hillary to “consider working hard to build a consensus to move forward to examine the alternatives that might be explored in areas peripheral but not central to income inequality in this country”

          This is a great moral victory for the left, and that’s much better than a real victory. Now shut up, get in line and vote for the woman who wipes her butt with copies of the party platform.

          1. craazyboy

            And to do so in a time frame more or less congruent with a campaign run for second term as president.

        2. Yves Smith Post author

          This was the Faustian bargain to be on the Democratic ticket. There was NO WAY he would have gotten more than 1% with a third party bid. He has to endorse Clinton.

          And you ignore the messages he has delivered consistently that are are not very supportive of her, like:

          1. Constantly presenting his positions, which are miles apart from hers

          2. Saying Clinton has to make her case to his voters, he can’t deliver them.

          3. Saying he will campaign against Trump. Maybe he has relented, but as of last week, he did NOT say he was campaigning for her

          4. He is not giving up his list which is what they want above all else.

          5. As of now, 22% of Sanders voters poll as voting for Trump. That factoid should put the Clinton campaign in a panic, but they live in their bubble and are convinced the Sanders voters will come around, so they can woo moderate Republicans.

          One of my colleagues saw Sanders on TV very recently in an interview. She said that Sanders had trouble hiding that he loathed Clinton.

              1. Vatch

                Yes, I and several other commenters at NC plan to do that. I’m still hoping for an indictment before the convention, but that’s a pretty far fetched fantasy.

          1. MyLessThanPrimeBeef

            On several issues, Sanders CAN NOT effectively campaign against Trump.

            It will be more (but not completely) about Trump personally, and that’s not something Sanders has shown proclivity towards doing (at least against Hillary).

            1. cwaltz

              I suspect Sanders will stick with his stump speech and campaign for her where he pushed her left therefore trying to box her left.

              I still contend strategically my choices are vote for Stein with a clean conscience because she is the best choice of the remaining candidates or vote for Trump and give the DNC the finger. They aren’t going to change until the left FORCES them to.

          2. Steve C

            Hillary keeps opening her mouth and stepping in it. As per the Intercept piece, her attacking Trump from the right on the deficit makes me do another face-palm. Just like Obama adopting the kitchen table analogy. How’d 2010 work out for ya? I’m not voting Republican-lite.

          3. grayslady

            6. He is not dropping out as a nominee. He is taking it to the convention

            Like the rest of us, Bernie knows how quickly things can turn around in politics, especially when one or both of the Clintons are involved.

            1. juliania

              Many supported Sanders knowing he would fold. Some in my family, young folk, for instance. What was important to them was the message; they didn’t believe the party bigwigs would ever let him in.

              The message, only the message. They paid to have that broadcast, knowing he would fold in the end. This is not like what happened with Obama. This is going to be very interesting indeed.

              Thanks, Bernie. We had you figured. Bye bye.

          4. Jonathan Holland Becnel

            Sanders always said he would get behind Clinton if he lost.

            I don’t fault him for that, as he is a man of his word.

            It’s up to us ordinary hoi polloi to keep the momentum moving forward!

            Brandnewcongress.org

            Jill Stein!

    1. Roger Smith

      Where did they hear that at? His (great) speech last night was the furthest he has ever been from endorsing her. He basically said that he was directing the movement to skip starting from him at the top and was now working on getting new people involved and elected at all the lower levels (aka undermining whatever worthless candidate we get).

            1. Jim Haygood

              He seemed to like his honorary title Dr Ralph.

              http://drralphstanleymusic.com/

              He was “irreplaceable” in a literal sense. The music that was floating around the hollers of SW Virginia in the Depression, and the folks who played it, aren’t around no more.

              1. EndOfTheWorld

                A very good memoir about the music “bidness” is Ralph’s MAN OF CONSTANT SORROW: MY LIFE AND TIMES. Gets into the whole story of the hillbilly diaspora up Hillbilly Highway, etc. Damn near a SEVENTY year musical career.

                1. EndOfTheWorld

                  OT, but BTW some other musical memoirs I enjoyed: SEARCHING FOR THE SOUND, by Dr. Philip Lesh, DEAL, by DR. Bill Kreutzman, and IT’S A LONG STORY: MY LIFE, by Dr. Willie Nelson, the only person known to have smoked a joint on the roof of the White House.

          1. craazyboy

            That’s the big mystery. He completely flip flopped overnight. Like he got home and found a horse head in his bed.

              1. OpenThePodBayDoorsHAL

                Is it time for Bernie to spray his mouth silver?

                And hat tip to Adrian Mitchell:

                TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN (TELL ME LIES ABOUT VIETNAM)
                I was run over by the truth one day.
                Ever since the accident I’ve walked this way
                So stick my legs in plaster
                Tell me lies about Vietnam.

                Heard the alarm clock screaming with pain,
                Couldn’t find myself so I went back to sleep again
                So fill my ears with silver
                Stick my legs in plaster
                Tell me lies about Vietnam.

                Every time I shut my eyes all I see is flames.
                Made a marble phone book and I carved all the names
                So coat my eyes with butter
                Fill my ears with silver
                Stick my legs in plaster
                Tell me lies about Vietnam.

                I smell something burning, hope it’s just my brains.
                They’re only dropping peppermints and daisy-chains
                So stuff my nose with garlic
                Coat my eyes with butter
                Fill my ears with silver
                Stick my legs in plaster
                Tell me lies about Vietnam.

                Where were you at the time of the crime?
                Down by the Cenotaph drinking slime
                So chain my tongue with whisky
                Stuff my nose with garlic
                Coat my eyes with butter
                Fill my ears with silver
                Stick my legs in plaster
                Tell me lies about Vietnam.

                You put your bombers in, you put your conscience out,
                You take the human being and you twist it all about
                So scrub my skin with women
                Chain my tongue with whisky
                Stuff my nose with garlic
                Coat my eyes with butter
                Fill my ears with silver
                Stick my legs in plaster
                Tell me lies, tell me lies about Aghanistan.
                Tell me lies about Israel.
                Tell me lies about Congo.
                Tell me, tell me lies Mr Bush.
                Tell me lies Mr B-B-Blair, Brown, Blair-Brown.
                Tell me lies about Vietnam.

        1. Skip Intro

          Don’t fall for this further attempt to but a bogus story out. The ‘Bernie endorsed’ or ‘Bernie conceded’ stories are just more Hillary inevitability-meme propaganda meant to send his revolution home reaffirmed in their disillusioned apathy and learned helplessness.

          Speaking with CNN host Chris Cuomo, Sanders was pressed about not directly endorsing Clinton before being asked about his vote.

          “Simply stated, when the day comes in November and Sanders has to cast his vote, to whom does it go, Cuomo asked Sanders.

          “In all likelihood, Hillary Clinton,” Sanders replied.

          Cuomo asked, “When you say all likelihood, what percentage of error –?” before Sanders cut him off saying, “I don’t want to parse words right now.”

          Look how Cuomo struggled to maneuver him into something that could be twisted into an endorsement, basically failed. But then the media team went out with their fake headline anyway. And now it is emerging on social media, and comment forums.

      1. edmondo

        Sanders says he will vote for Clinton

        By Nolan D. McCaskill
        | 06/24/16 07:47 AM EDT
        | Updated 06/24/16 08:06 AM EDT

         Bernie Sanders on Friday said he will cast his vote for Hillary Clinton in November.

        “Yes,” the Vermont senator said when asked on MSNBC if he would vote for the former secretary of state this fall. “I think the issue right here is I’m gonna do everything I can to defeat Donald Trump.”
        .
        The Vermont senator has yet to formally concede the Democratic primary to Clinton, instead maintaining his pledge to campaign through the Democratic National Convention. But on Friday he offered the clearest sign yet that he will support his primary rival, if only to prevent a Trump administration.

        “I think Trump in so many ways will be a disaster for this country if he were to be elected president,” Sanders told MSNBC. “We do not need a president whose cornerstone of his campaign is bigotry, is insulting Mexicans and Latinos and Muslims and women, who does not believe in the reality of climate change when virtually every scientist who has studied this issue understands that we have a global crisis. This is not somebody who should become president.”

        Sanders insisted that his role right now “is to fight for the strongest possible platform” at the Democratic convention in Philadelphia next month.

        “And as we speak, in St. Louis, that’s going on right now,” he said. “And that means a platform that represents working people, that stands up to big money interests.”

        The Vermont senator in recent weeks has signaled the end of his campaign. In a lengthy interview with C-SPAN on Wednesday, he acknowledged, “It doesn’t appear that I’m going to be the nominee.”

        1. Christopher Fay

          He’s thrown away leverage. I regret my last contribution. I will ask that it be returned as it was given under false premises.

          1. Roger Smith

            He never had leverage. The party doesn’t care. They haven’t in decades, they don’t now. They have gone out of their way to discredit Sanders’ (YUGE) response and movement for the past year. The official stance is ignorance. All he can do is keep the public going and force them to keep recognizing the flaws.

          2. jgordon

            Hah. Hillary wasn’t even willing to lie to rope in Sander’s supporters. Leverage huh. That’s rich.

          3. Friar Tuck

            What’s he going to say? “I’m voting for Trump!”

            I’m a Bernie supporter, but realistically, this was going to be the outcome if he lost the primary. Whether its now before the convention (when he’s already been able to get many people on the platform committees) or after, he was going to be made to get in line though the pressure of the DNC and his many congressional colleagues.

            …however, my hope is that his supporters do believe that the movement is bigger than him. Him capitulating to the DNC doesn’t mean that we all can give up hope for our policy priorities.

          4. Michael

            You only have leverage against someone who cares about their self-interest more than about harming you. The only thing you can do with the truly abusive is defeat them; you can’t negotiate with them.

              1. OpenThePodBayDoorsHAL

                Correct, the honorable thing to do was to boycott the convention, make the Hilbots show up and have to pretend there was some democracy happening inside the convention center.
                His entire shtick has been about campaign finance reform, he could release a simple statement about the many ways the process was rigged to thwart any semblance of representative democracy.
                Instead it seems Bernie chose to make some meaningless bluster, try for a few meaningless concessions, and then skulk back to Vermont.
                “The best lack all conviction, and the worst are full of a passionate intensity”.
                Bernie-ites will protest this view but it’s times like these that demand real character and the courage of your convictions.

          5. MyLessThanPrimeBeef

            “(T)o fight for the strongest possible platform….”

            That’s not false premises.

            It’s more like false hope (of effecting real change).

        2. Otis B Driftwood

          Sigh … confirmed on the twittershpere. And so now down comes my Bernie 2016 yard sign.

          This was expected, but why did he do this before the convention? I feel betrayed.

          1. EndOfTheWorld

            I still have my Bernie bumper sticker but right underneath it is HILLARY FOR PRISON 2016 (there’s still a few months left, so who knows?).

          2. Skip Intro

            Wow finally they twisted a story into a concession before the convention. I haven’t seen that in almost a week.

      2. Nemo

        Stating that he will vote for her isn’t exactly an endorsement. He has repeatedly and unequivocally stated that he will work hard to prevent Trump, the bigot, from being elected. That implies that he must vote for Hillary, it seems to me. Surely he agrees with many of the criticisms leveled against Hillary here. But he also believes (obviously) in working within the system to achieve change. He sees Trump as a threat to everything. He’s adopting a rational approach – he’s not inclined to trash everything out of frustration. He’s not running down the street with his hair on fire. I respect that.

        1. MyLessThanPrimeBeef

          If you say that implies he must vote for Hillary, that means, he has said that all along and many just didn’t want to believe that implication.

          So, for some time now, he has been saying (or implying) “I must (and will) vote for Hillary.”

          Not just this morning.

      3. so

        Saw it coming when he sold his vote for Obamacare. Same old same old. No ones coming to save us. Except us.

          1. Roger Smith

            It always felt like a condition of our strong monotheistic history to me. The Abrahamic religions all (at least largely, I am no scholar) focus on one god and one central savior figure or prophet. Societies and general civilizations have been framed around these for centuries.

            When people lose all hope and have no where to go, whom are they told to turn to? All that history teachers them, “the savior”, “the lord”, “God”. I would extend that to say that is why people obsess so much over the Presidential Office. It is simpler and familiar to pine over one person.

            (On the other hand you can look at all that same history objectively and see that those same religions facilitated so many of the problems people have and currently faced.)

        1. ChiGal

          No sellout, but yes Bernie ain’t your daddy (unlike Trump). No change from last night to today. Speech last night was all about US, explicitly not just HIM.

          Get yourselves a Bernie hair & glasses sticker with no words, without the For President 2016 language it still stands for whatever “revolution” we the people make going forward.

      4. m

        Did anyone expect Bernie to do anything different. Don’t kick Bernie to the curb, he is our man on the inside-sort of.
        He is pushing many good people I wasn’t even aware of, like Tulsi Gabbard.
        Now many people know the reason we are screwed and no it’s not robots or immigrants taking our jobs.
        We also saw election fraud out in the open.
        This is just the beginning, hopefully.
        Brexit!

        1. craazyboy

          Yeah, I don’t hold it against him. I think he did a heroic job and had more perseverance than anyone I’ve ever seen. He did illuminate the Monolithic Party to us all.

          1. Rhondda

            I agree. Lately I’ve been seeing those pictures of him with his white hair all mussed and his face flushed and thinking how brave it was for such an old guy to take up the gauntlet. I didn’t agree with many of his positions, especially re foreign policy, but I supported his principled effort to “be the change.” I don’t think he was a sheepdog. And besides, this little lamb is gamboling Green.

            1. OpenThePodBayDoorsHAL

              Lost his nerve at the critical moment, should be boycotting the convention.

              1. OpenThePodBayDoorsHAL

                If Bernie wants leverage he should be talking to Donald, not Hilary, boycott the convention and find common ground with Donald, there’s plenty of it. Not unlike LibDem and the Tories coalition in Angleterre, but for different reasons.

                1. Code Name D

                  I don’t know about boycotting the convention. (Worth thinking about.) But talking with Trump is an idea I had as well. This will also build pressure against Clinton. If Trump can adopt even one of Sander’s planks – its a whole new ball game.

        2. Code Name D

          Did anyone expect Bernie to do anything different. Don’t kick Bernie to the curb, he is our man on the inside-sort of.

          He is not giving us much choice. If the revolution is to keep going – they have to cut Bernie lose. By indorsing Clinton, Sanders has made himself into Don Quixote, destined to titling at windmills.

          If you are not familiar with the story, Don Quixote thinks himself a knight of the people, a righter of wrongs and defender of the common good. As kind, generous, and courageous a hero as any you might name.

          His only real flaw was that he was a little bit crazy, he saw the wind-mills used to mill wheat as giants, terrorizing the land. Against which he would attack on sight. And thus a great man is deemed the fool, and rightfully so. The moral of the story being that what is in one’s heart doesn’t really mater – its one’s actions that mater, and its best to look upon the world as objectively as possible.

          Like Don Quixote, Sander’s can not perceive the real problem, which is what we know as the lesser of two evils. This is not an argument that picks “the lesser evil” in an attempt to maximize our chances after being dealt a crapy hand. No, it’s an argument that smuggles in the neo liberal agenda as well as further corruption under the banner of “the lesser evil.” It’s a strategy DESIGNED to force compliance and to quell the very revolution he claims to be fighting for.

          Consider this. If Clinton wins the Whitehouse, she will be able to consolidate her power over the DNC. She will likely appoint even MORE super delegates; get rid of open primaries, further rig the primary calendar for more conservative states, to continue purging voters and make it even harder for the next Sanders to compete in the primary. Her corruption will continue to hollow out the Democratic Party, making the blue states even less competitive, the battle map will shrink even further.

          You can forget about even the pretense of reforming the party for another eight years. Until once again, we find ourselves with another establishment Democrat running against another Trump like Republican, and once again we will have to vote for the lesser of two evils.

          Don’t get me wrong. Sanders did an amazing job representing the issues. And through his efforts, we can learn a lot. But thanks to the DNC hacks, we now know the primary was a forgone conclusion from the onset. Sanders was distend to lose. But worse, he doesn’t seem to know or suspect this.

          And now as we head into the end game, we are supposed to believe his strong showing in the primary has won him some concessions in the party. He has managed to place some impressive progressive voices on some key committees in the party. But these are just tokens designed to keep him pliant and under control. We are already observing at the state level that they wield their majority as a solid block.

          The thing is we have already tried this. We already know it to be tilting and windmills. Sanders is still thinking inside the box and abiding by the rules out of some miss-placed sense of honor or loyalty. If Clinton has won the nomination fairly – this would be commendable. But now that we know Clinton and the DNC rigged the primary – Sanders endorsement becomes another form of enablement.

          Trump is a distraction, and always has been. This was a battle for the soul of the DNC. To keep Trump out of the White House is indeed charging against windmills. If he wants to reform the Democratic Party – than he needs to keep applying pressure, and keep exposing how rigged the system is. If the DNC is truly interested in keeping Trump out of the White House, then they will surrender and accept Sanders demands for reform. If not – well we will know for certain that the DNC never believed in LOTE then won’t we.

          If Trump wins, Clinton his kept away from the most powerful post in the Democratic Party. Not only that, but the DNC will be completely discredited. The rank and file will demand change – and demand the heads of those who resist change, and who rigged them system. And the Democratic Civil War can begin in earnest.

          1. Skip Intro

            Bernie did not endorse Clinton

            Spreading this lie is counterproductive, no matter how much sincere sounding hand wringing you accompany it with. Did Brock finally target NC?

            1. Code Name D

              Sorry. Saying that you will vote for some one IS an endorsement. Really, how are people supposed to take it?

      1. nycTerrierist

        Every time I see that odious headline I wish it ended ‘When Hell Freezes Over’…

      2. NotTimothyGeithner

        He said he would for her in the fall. How is this different than what he has said all along. Sanders has said he would support the nominee.

        1. Roger Smith

          I agree, it is being pushed more than I think he meant it as an endorsement or concession. Still he should have known better than to throw the media this kind of bait.

        2. RabidGandhi

          +1000.

          I’m astounded that anyone could be shocked or outraged at Sanders doing exactly what he has been saying he would do all along.

          Also, the only way to substantiate the “sheepdog” accusation would be if Sanders fails to follow through on building a grassroots movement that either completely revolutionises or thoroughly rejects the Democrat Party as per ante.

          That remains to be seen. But for now, Sanders should contininue to find the most effective way to get his message out– regardless of who wins the quadrenniel electoral charade.

          1. hreik

            This.

            And fwiw, he was asked in the interview if he would vote for her. He didn’t toss this out. And the follow up about endorsing her was that she had not done what he wanted so right now he’s not endorsing her.

            Give the guy a break. He did what no one has been able to do w/o cheating… against the biggest, meanest and maybe most corrupt machine in electoral politics to date.

          2. Christopher Fay

            It’s the morning of excessive democracy, Brexit squeak through due to those damn hand counted ballots.

          3. HBE

            No, If he hands over his email list then we will know it was sheepdogging, with a fair amount of certainty.

            I hope not, but unfortunately I think he very well may.

            1. RabidGandhi

              I too hope he doesn’t, but I don’t see the HRC camp making a big play for the Sanders list. In their view, it’s just a list of losers who can’t afford a $2700/plate fundraiser.

        3. RabidGandhi

          Also I would add to my comment above: the US left has a pretty lousy recent history of folding at the first sign of pushback. We saw this in Madison, in Occupy…. If the Sanders presidential campaign ultimately does not win the White House, I should hope the left does not use this as an excuse to piss away all the very valuable organising and awareness-raising progress he made in his campaign.

          1. nippersmom

            With whom do you expect him to negotiate? The DNC? What good are promises from that group of liars?

            I am disappointed but not surprised by Sanders’ statement. He has said all along he would support the Democratic nominee, but I had hoped the events of the campaign would have encouraged him to consider, or at least support, a third-party run.

            Characterizing his statement, which was clearly not an endorsement, as proof of his being a “sheepdog” is unfair and unreasonable, in my opinion. He hasn’t even suggested that his supporters should follow his lead; on the contrary, he has specifically stated that it is Clinton’s responsibility to convince the people who voted for him in the primaries an caucuses that she deserves their votes in November.

            1. DG

              You’re right – I think he’s better off setting up a liberal Tea Party within the Democrat party, if he doesn’t have the fortitude to start a third party.

              But that said, he’s just too nice and easy to push around! He’s being a gentleman, when he should be calling her out on her rightward drift. And it’s hard to watch Hillary get away unscathed with all the primary vote-rigging and the corruption scandals.

              Just want someone to draw serious establishment blood is all!

        1. Christopher Fay

          What just happened? There goes any chance of accountablity of Hillary. We will go direct to let the criminals rule because of otherwise Trump. Then we have a war and a division of disloyal Americans.

          1. nippersmom

            As long as we have an AG who refuses to prosecute and an FBI that won’t publish their findings we had no chance of accountability from Hillary. If the primary process hadn’t been rigged, and Sanders had a level playing field, we would have had an opportunity to be represented. As it is, her success in cheating her way to the nomination has only made her more brazen. She doesn’t care what we think or what we know, as long as she isn’t incarcerated and still has the support of her corporate overlords. And her minions and surrogates will continue to fear-monger and to paint those of us who refuse to come to heel as the problem.

      3. JM

        I think there is more than a little nuance here that even I initially overlooked because of such high hopes for Bernie.

        In fact, all he said is he would vote for her. He did not make a formal endorsement of her. In an unusual act of actual reporting, NPR this morning made this distinction very clear for listeners.

        In any case, I would wager that Bernie is taking a page from the recently written Republican party book on dealing with Trump: you can state you will vote for a candidate without endorsing them. While that might read as an oxymoron, it does not escape the irony of our current political economy. In fact, with the two party system in place now, a MAJORITY OF THE electorate will have to vote for a candidate they do not endorse!

        Not that I have any hope for the FBI or the Justice department, but Bernie is playing the game here with constraints and barriers that were not of his (or our) making. Clintonian politics comes at a high price (the social cost of policies and the hundreds of millions of dollars they rake in from special interests) but the contradictions of Clintonian politics provide a wedge that can be exploited. And that is that the logic of “lesser of two evilism,” which is the Democrats flagship message, does not necessarily associate a vote with an endorsement.

        I actually think this framing of his decision helps Bernie in the long run. Most importantly, it shows he keeps his word which is why many people support him. But the bigger point is that I think there are many, many voters who deep down agree with Bernie’s platform (and consider Clinton as hopelessly corrupt) but at this point are not totally comfortable with Bernie’s politics. Consider them members of the credentialed class that could be picked off from Clintonian politics under the right circumstances. I read all of this as Sanders threading the needle. If Bernie’s revolution is to continue and maintain influence, that albeit small subset of the electorate must be brought around.

        1. Roger Smith

          This is some good analysis. I wish we were in a place where we could, finally, say “change starts now” but unfortunately we are not there and have to move forward with the “fight continues”. Largely that is what he is doing. I think his plan is to combat the complacency and depression that follows the failure of movements by keeping everyone on track, which is extremely admirable.

        2. cm

          I wish he had answered along the lines of “I will support whoever the Democratic National Convention nominates for President.”

      4. JohnnyGL

        Everyone, let’s read a bit more of his statement before we get disheartened….all he said was “yes”.

        from the link….not so much sheep-dogging here…

        But Sanders also dismissed the idea that he should withdraw from the Democratic race now that Clinton has secured the nomination.

        “Why would I want to do that when I want to fight to make sure that we have the best platform that we possibly can, that we win the most delegates that we can?” he said.

        And in a later interview on CBS, Sanders declined to formally endorse Clinton, although he indicated that he “hopes” to before the convention.

        “I haven’t heard her say the things that need to be said,” he said.

        Sanders also insisted that his continuing presence in the race is not causing disunity in the Democratic Party.

        “You talk about disunity. I talk about involving the American people in the political process,” he said.

        1. marym

          CNN reporting additional walk-back on voting for Clinton “In all likelihood..”

          He also declined to say whether the time will come that he fully endorses Clinton, saying he is waiting to see what she says about his priorities. He also would not say explicitly, when pressed by Cuomo, that she won the nomination fairly.

          At this point in the process though, he should have been better prepared for the question the first time around this morning!

          1. Code Name D

            Sanders is feeling the pressure. But I don’t think he understand just how much damage he has done.

            1. Skip Intro

              No matter what he said, there would be a hundred headlines and a million online personae claiming he conceded and endorsed Hillary.
              Some will cynically note ‘I knew he was a sellout al along’, others will bemoan the crushing of their last hope with turing-grade sincerity. Just look around at how this rephrasing of his ‘anyone but Trump’ code has somehow triggered an avalanche of despair and withdrawal in self-proclaimed Sanders supporters.

      5. fritter

        It’s ok, he has to say that so some Dems will consider him when/if Hillary is indicted. We can help him by not voting for Hillary in such large numbers that his vote doesn’t matter. The Democratic party may have to get steam rolled in order to clean itself up.

        1. Christopher Fay

          Sanders folding eliminates any possibility of Hillary accountability. We have decided to go all in with our criminals.

      6. rich

        Good for him..but not me…and I’m sorry I gave a dime to his campaign. If you endorse HRC then you endorse the corruption.

    2. Amateur Socialist

      The NPR story on this morning pointed out he “stopped short of endorsing her”. Works for me.

      He’s as entitled to his vote as anybody else. And I’m still proud of my yard sign. It’s staying up.

  7. timbers

    BREXIT – The Animals have escaped their cages (from Down With Tyranny)

    (I think one benefit of Brexit is that will suck so much time from the elites who will have to respond to it that it may derail at least for a while our hurtling towards WW3 with Russia. Putin recently compared our troop build up on Russia’s borders to that of Hitler’s….)

    “Scotland wants to hold another referendum on leaving the U.K. so that it can remain part of the E.U. Meanwhile, the neo-Nazi parties in Europe all started howling for their own referendums. Votes weren’t even fully counted when Dutch right-wing extremist (and Trump ally) Geert Wilders tweeted that he wanted Holland out next. (This morning on a promotional tour of a golf course he has a stake in in Scotland, Trump’s interpretation of the worldwide financial turmoil caused by Brexit was that it would be good for his golf course business.)”

    France’s Front National (FN) saw it as a clear boost for Marine Le Pen’s presidential bid next year and momentum for the party’s anti-Europe and anti-immigration line.

    Le Pen told RTL radio: “Like a lot of French people, I’m very happy that the British people held on and made the right choice. What we thought was impossible yesterday has now become possible.”

    Florian Philippot, the party’s vice president, tweeted: “The freedom of the people always ends up winning! Bravo United Kingdom. Now it’s our turn!”

    The Dutch far-right and anti-immigration leader Geert Wilders called on Friday for a referendum on the Netherlands’ membership of the European Union.

    “We want be in charge of our own country, our own money, our own borders, and our own immigration policy,” he said in a statement.

    In Germany, Beatrix von Storch, an MEP for rightwing populist party Alternative für Deutschland, who was recently expelled from the Tories’ party group in the European Parliament over her “shooting refugees” comments, welcomed the result.

    “The 23 June is a historic day. It is Great Britain’s independence day. The people were asked– and they decided. The European Union as a political union has failed.”

    1. fresno dan

      ANYTHING that in any way impedes the neoliberal takeover is xenophobic, racist, and of course fascist.
      The best and the brightest have designed the EU and it works perfectly to reward the meritocracy.

      The masses look at this obnoxiousness, and rightly conclude that Davos man views the common man much as a strip miner views coal – a resource to be exploited as cheaply as possible with all profits to himself, and all costs borne by others

    2. Skip Intro

      Why didn’t they have quotes from world leaders on the left?

      Oh right, there aren’t any.

  8. fresno dan

    Orlando police chief blames Mateen for any Pulse victims killed by police McClatchy (resilc)
    Any deaths caused by police fire as they battled Omar Mateen inside the Pulse nightclub in the wee hours of June 12 should be blamed on Mateen and not on the responding officers, Orlando Police Chief John Mina said Monday.

    =====================================================
    I would say that is a premature view, considering we don’t know how many (if any) were killed by police. But it looks like a peremptory justification if there are any victims killed by the police – and it strikes me that the statement would not have been made unless there was some evidence that some innocent people were shot by police. The very statement seems prejudicial to an objective investigation of whether the police shot too much or in an undisciplined a manner.

    Undoubtedly, it was chaotic in the club. But if the police shot anyone who was not armed, than they are too quick to fire – the police have a right to protect themselves, but not a right to face no threat whatsoever by shooting anyone they see.

    1. Roger Smith

      Again, what (should) make the police noble or respectable is their agreement to put themselves on the line to save others. They take extra risk and (should) have advanced training for crisis situations. We have seen none of that type of behavior in the police stories bombing the press in the last 1-2 years. Shooting first is not their mandate, beating on kids or brown people is not either. They signed up to take a risk so others wouldn’t have too. Any old woman with a gun outside of Home Depot could shoot indiscriminately at potential criminals.

    2. samhill

      A mini Beslan school siege / Moscow theater hostage crisis? Police went all anti-terrorist hyper para-military rather than first try passe’ hostage negotiation? Did he walk in shooting as in Paris as the media sold it, or was this actually a hostage situation? Made today the film Dog Day Afternoon would be a 10 minute short.

    3. Jagger

      I still wonder how many of those bikers were killed by the police in the Texas shootout between those two biker gangs. That whole story sort of disappeared.

      1. Gaianne

        “That whole story sort of disappeared.”

        Sometimes the lack of evidence is indeed evidence.

        –Gaianne

      2. kareninca

        It was NOT a shootout between biker gangs. It was a murderous ambush by cops (http://www.gq.com/story/untold-story-texas-biker-gang-shoot-out). Almost none of those bikers had guns; they had dumbass “rumble” equipment like heavy knuckles. The cops then let their victims bleed to death without treating them or allowing them to be treated. The city of Waco should be looking at huge legal liability, but the system there is so corrupt it won’t happen. First the cops get to murder a bunch of people, and then there are no consequences:

        “Nevertheless, the Waco 177 still have their work cut out for them. The judge in the case, Matt Johnson, is the former law partner of district attorney Abel Reyna. Incredibly, the foreman of the first grand jury to be convened, James Head, is a Waco P.D. detective. “He was chosen totally at random, like the law says,” Reyna insisted to local reporters. If this seems brazen, consider that the commission to appoint jurors was originally going to be led by Reyna’s own father. Reyna only backed down under pressure, acquiescing to the process that led to Head’s selection. Asked why he’d permit an active police officer to lead a grand jury investigating possible police misconduct, state district judge Ralph Strother said, “I just thought, ‘Well, he’s qualified. He knows the criminal-justice system.’ ”

        And people think COPS should have guns. NO.

    4. Antifa

      If police are to be given a blanket pardon in advance for shooting whomever while dealing with such a situation, clearly they should all be issued three hand grenades each, which they can hang on their belts between their tasers and pistols. Grenades can be thrown through windows and around corners without risking the lives of our peace officers, and bring rapid cloture to whatever’s going on in there.

      1. jgordon

        Exactly. I was confused about the horrific body count inside of Pulse, but if the police stormed in and mowed many people down while they taking out the perpetrator, then that would go a long way towards explaining things.

        Also, this incident has persuaded me that at least some arguments for gun control are right. The question is, is there enough political will to get it done and if so how do we then get these guns out of the hands of the police without inciting mass violence from them if so?

  9. vidimi

    re the streetwise professor’s article on musk

    this article identified what it was about musk that always triggered my con alarm. it’s that he’s a conman.

    a few days ago i read about how moscow is planning to be the first city to implement a hyperloop public transportation system. at first i thought, good for them. now i am thinking the simpsons and the monorail.

    1. Arizona Slim

      Tucson was in the running for the battery factory that wound up in NV. I, for one, am glad that we didn’t get this one.

      1. Steve Gunderson

        DeLorean was fired from Chevrolet for adding inspectors at the end of the assembly lines to make sure the cars were built correctly. They even road tested some of the cars.

        Quality was not something GM wanted back then.

    1. JohnnyGL

      I imagine that someone must write these “grand dragon” losers a check to endorse their opponents all the time. They’re only relevant to beltway pundits to get a few clicks.

  10. Jim Haygood

    How to pursue a parallel career in grifting while holding public office:

    Clinton met that morning in Sep. 2009 with a dozen chief executives, most of whose firms had lobbied the government and donated to her family’s global charity, the Clinton Foundation. The event was closed to the press and merited only a brief mention in her official calendar, which omitted the names of all her guests — among them Blackstone Group Chairman Steven Schwarzman, PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi and then-New York Bank of Mellon CEO Robert Kelly.

    The AP review of Clinton’s calendar — her after-the-fact, official chronology of the events of her four-year term — identified at least 75 meetings with longtime political donors and loyalists, Clinton Foundation contributors and corporate and other outside interests that were either not recorded or listed with identifying details scrubbed. The AP found the omissions by comparing the 1,500-page document with separate planning schedules supplied to Clinton by aides in advance of each day’s events. The names of at least 114 outsiders who met with Clinton were missing from her calendar, the records show.

    http://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/politics-government/national-politics/article85708367.html

    When did we see this before? Right — in the closed, secret insider meetings of Hillary’s health care task force in 1993-94.

    When Hillary assumed the Sec State post in 2009, she already had her private server set up to facilitate her Clinton Foundation influence peddling, off the grid of official communications.

    As Jerry Zeifman — Hillary’s boss in her first post-law school job on the House Judiciary Committee — observed in 2013, “She was a liar. She was an unethical, dishonest lawyer.”

    1. m

      Is Obamacare really the old Hillarycare? Why was everyone around Obama from Bill’s administration? I never knew Eric Holder was involved with the Marc Rich pardon, how did he get to be AG?

    2. Christopher Fay

      Indra Nooyi is a woman so a twofer right there. Three-fer if you include she’s the PepCo CEO but that’s a given. How much did Indra personally contribute to the Clinton Foundation for Ending Peace Now? I’m guessing PepCo gave.

    3. Carolinian

      Hey that last quote would be good in DT’s next speech. We luv red meat.

      One of the media pushback talking points to Trump’s “always corrupt” theme was that she started out at the Children’s Defense Fund. They forget to mention that she was later condemned by Marian Wright Edelman after Hill supported Bill’s welfare gutting. Disillusionment follows in HRC’s wake.

  11. Wyoming

    Bad link. The below link

    Google is the World’s Biggest Censor and Its Power Must Be Regulated USNews (Bill B). Today’s must read.

    leads to a WSJ article on VW.

  12. EndOfTheWorld

    Bloomberg asks the question: “Do the experts know anything?” The answer: not much. They know what they WISH the elections results would be. And if the US went to hand-counted ballots like England, we’d have a lot of “surprises” here too.

    1. MyLessThanPrimeBeef

      The experts are not wishing.

      These opinion-makers are making opinions…manufacturing something out of nothing.

      It may look that they are wishing.

      I wish they were just wishing.

      1. EndOfTheWorld

        I disagree that they are “making opinions.” They are giving the APPEARANCE of making opinions, so when the election is stolen by nefarious means (ie hacking the computers) people will say they made the opinions. In England, where the votes were counted by hand, they just made a lot of hot air.

  13. paul

    Has a week passed since his leadership began that there was not ‘a letter circulating’ from the wretched blairites calling for Corbyn’s removal?
    Each one cooed over like a new born by the guardian and other political adults.

    1. MyLessThanPrimeBeef

      Robots are too be taxed.

      NO TAXATION WITHOUT REPRESENTATION.

      Thus, robots may be able to vote.

      And know this: These are not ‘driveress’ cars. The cars are driven by robots. Robots are people too.

      So, technically, they are not ‘driverless’ cars. They are robot-driven cars.

      Please, be more sensitive, and less anthropocentric.

      1. NeqNeq

        Or…

        All robots will be considered DC residents.

        Voting and personhood problem solved!

  14. Jim Haygood

    U.S. traded shares of Spain’s flagship bank Santander (symbol SAN) are down 20% today. Eurozone banks in general are trading near their March 2009 crisis lows, with Santander well below its 2009 trough.

    If Mario Draghi can find his bazooka (bloody difficult, with 10-year bunds at negative yields), the ECB’s blind panic to fend off a eurozone banking crisis will fuel a global round of central bank easing.

    In turn — believe it or not — this could furnish the rocket fuel for a blazing speculative finale marking the end of Bubble III. Call it 2,626 on the U.S. S&P 500 index, just to make up a number.

    Psycho bullish!

    1. MyLessThanPrimeBeef

      The People’s Money bazooka.

      “Let the banks fail. The Little People will get fresh minted money delivered to their doorsteps every morning.”

  15. allan

    Hooray! There’s reason to celebrate that CO2 levels are still rising [National Post]

    The benefits to the planet of heightened CO2 levels are immense and indisputable. The costs? They are murky at best, the scary scenarios all based on computer models, none of which has held up. Until global alarmists can point to a computer model that’s valid or, even better, real facts on the ground, CO2 levels will remain the world’s best index of planetary health.

    I’m pretty sure this isn’t snark. File under The Jackpot, Batsh*t Crazy Edition.

    1. MyLessThanPrimeBeef

      What bacteria, viruses and other human-incompatible animals (I make sure I don’t make the mistake of calling them pests) will thrive at heightened CO2 levels?

    2. Amateur Socialist

      CO2! It’s what plants crave!

      Apologies to Mike Judge’s sublime Idiocracy

      1. Plenue

        Idiocracy is garbage. The entire concept of the movie is bigoted middle and upper class tripe. ‘Intelligence is genetic and the dumb poor people just won’t stop breeding’ is the entire foundation of that movie.

        Once I realized that I stopped liking Mike Judge.

  16. MyLessThanPrimeBeef

    Five star, high end restaurant employees get worked over.

    In some (not sure if most) of those places, they, the worked over employees, take it out on their rich, fashion-conscious customers.

  17. MyLessThanPrimeBeef

    Trump and Clinton place bets to woo undecided voters.

    How come they don’t woo decided voters?

    “Now that you have decided to marry me, I can stop wooing you now.”

    I want to undecided forever.

    (I also want to be forever 21).

  18. notabanker

    Interesting segment on BBC news. After taped cuts of a couple of village idiots complaining about immigrants, they went live to real people in a beauty salon in Burnley. Interviewed the owner who point blank stated he votes for MP’s and not MEP’s. And then 2 others complaining about the economy. No mention of immigration.

  19. Plenue

    >Hillary Clinton Criticizes Donald Trump for One of the Few Things He Is Right About

    “In fact, an increasingly influential school of economics, known as Modern Monetary Theory”

    Is it ‘increasingly influential’ though? We know about it, and Sanders brought a bunch of them on board (but didn’t go out of his way to draw media attention to their ideas), but is MMT carving out a place for itself among students (people who are already degreed academics are a lost cause)? I know that since 2008 there’s been a growing rebellion against standard textbook economics, but how widespread is it? And how many of the rebels are shifting to Post-Keynesianism? I’m sure members of the commentariat will have first hand experience with any changes.

  20. Escher

    >old economy chicanery being sold as new economy bottles

    do it on a computer and people are mystified. they just stop thinking.

    it’s the second best racket going these days, right after gov’t-guaranteed profits.

  21. evodevo

    “On guns, stop talking about terrorism. Start talking about domestic violence.”

    One of the major reasons you cannot have a rational conversation about gun “no fly” lists – I bet almost half the cops in the country would not be able to carry due to current or former EPOs out on them …

  22. Ray Phenicie

    My experience with this topic-Google, Inc., isn’t just the world’s biggest purveyor of information; it is also the world’s biggest censor-was profound. For the longest time in the previous ten months, when I would look at Google News (sigh, one is desperate from time to time for links-much as Cookie Monster’s cookies get so quickly gobbled up, my appetite for links is insatiable) I would see off to the side an ever changing list of subcategories under the heading of ‘Elections.’ The latest iteration of stuff that left me flabbergasted, this was about five days ago, was a list off to the side of the page that included of course ‘Clinton,’ ‘Trump’ and (are you ready?) Kasich!

    Yet no links to stories about ‘Sanders’ who indeed, never had appeared in that list for many months.

    But John Kasich is newsworthy some forty days after he drops out?
    ?
    Now today, after Sanders has all but stopped actively campaigning, his name appears on the list of topics. I guess because he states he will vote for Clinton. So while he’s actively campaigning and millions are flocking to his rallies, he is not worth a collection of links. John Kasich is however, after he has stopped campaigning. Sanders becomes newsworthy only after he states he will vote for Clinton.

    Hmm.

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