Why the Flynn Pardon Matters https://t.co/RQ6Wclo7Z6 @benjaminwittes via @lawfareblog

Trump has long loved the pardon power, though not because of the good a president can do with it. He loves it because of the unchecked power it offers to make statements, make constituencies happy, give out goodies to friends and anger enemies.

As Quinta Jurecic @qjurecic has written, the pardon power works the way Trump wishes the entire presidency works.

For this reason, the Flynn pardon is likely to be the first trickle of what will ultimately be a flood of postelection clemencies—a flood composed mostly of controversial actions designed to energize core Trump supporters and irritate others.

Look for this flood to include a number of different categories of pardon:

The “own the libs” pardons. These serve chiefly to anger Trump’s political opponents by rewarding someone who both flatters him and represents some value or set of values offensive to liberal opinion.

I'm going to be honest: I'm struggling with myself over how I feel about the mass banning that Ali faced from the entire internet this weekend.

He is a bad person from every angle: on an interpersonal level, on a political level, from a moral level, everything. He is a convicted felon and a straight-up BAD guy. I really cannot stress this enough.

All of that being said: I don't think I'm comfortable with his ejection from the Internet (Twitter, Venmo/Paypal, etc). He hasn't been convicted of anything over Stop the Steal. I'm SURE he has been grifting and honestly probably engaged in fraud, again.

Do I think he should be investigated for his role in the violence from 1/6 and financial impropriety? Yes, abso-freaking-lutely. But absent that investigation turning up actionable evidence, I am not comfortable with his wholesale booting from the Internet/commerce.

This pains me to say, because the Internet (and America) would be better off without him. But there has to be a certain amount of due process and transparency, even on Venmo and Twitter.

okay but seriously though i've had to swallow down a lot of objections to transphobic comments from people who are friends! with other trans people! but apparently not good enough friends to put in effort not to do like 101 fuckups

real fucking hard to carve out any space in gamedev at all as it is let alone having to swallow down and smile politely to shit basic research would point out is Not Okay

is it an NT thing or what bc when i make friends with someone whose identity I don't already understand i go and research to try and ensure i don't accidentally cause them pain with basic fucking mistakes that are incredibly dehumanizing

not even touching on how fucking common it is to see established people deciding that today they're going to shit on a shitpost by a marginalized junior being excited about something

i was really excited when i first started being able to establish myself as a dev and now im just filled with dread all of the time because frankly a lot of devs are fucking MEAN and the leftist presentation crumbles on the slightest fuckin provocation

THREAD

1. @bobforgovernor OP-ED for @WSJ about Hartford clearly struck a nerve as members of the democrat establishment have come out of the woodwork to criticize him. Thus far, the criticisms have all been political and no one has provided a counterfactual.

2. Hartford, like many other Connecticut cities, is a financial mess. The city has not had a Republican Mayor for 50 years since Antonina Uccello, the city’s first female mayor, resigned in 1971 for a Federal Appointment. Before that, the last Republican mayor served in 1948.

3. The history of the common council is similar. E.g. Democrats have controlled the state’s capital for over 50 years and implemented their policies accordingly. You can try to spin it how you want but the results are clear from the economy to crime to education.

4. More recently, the current Mayor of Hartford, Luke Bronin, sought a $550 million dollar bailout from the state. That is not exactly indicative of a city that has been managed effectively. The mill rate and debt are out of control.

5. Are there examples of cities in CT that are run well? Yes. The best run cities in Connecticut are run by Republicans - @erinstewartct in New Britain, Mark Lauretti in Shelton, & until recently Danbury by Mark Boutghton. You can debate policies, you cannot debate the outcomes.

#JoburgUpdates Fellow South Africans, in just 4 days from now, we will be ushering in a new year. This is traditionally a time of festivity & celebrating. Unfortunately, for us here in South Africa & others around the world, there is little cause for celebration this year ^GZ

#JoburgUpdates Yesterday, we passed the mark of more than one million confirmed coronavirus cases in our country. Nearly 27,000 South Africans are known to have died from #COVID19 #FamilyMeeting ^GZ

#JoburgUpdates The number of new coronavirus infections is climbing at an unprecedented rate. More than 50,000 new cases have been reported since Christmas Eve #FamilyMeeting #Covid19 ^GZ

#JoburgUpdates The majority of new cases are emerging in KwaZulu-Natal, the Western Cape, Gauteng and the Eastern Cape. Infections are also alarmingly on the rise in Limpopo #FamilyMeeting #COVID19 ^GZ

#JoburgUpdates Infections are on the rise in part because, as humans, we are social beings and have a need to socialise with one another. We feel the need to visit friends and family, we attend religious services and we go to parties #FamilyMeeting #COVID19 ^GZ

thokozani. i understand that consulting with isangoma is still an act that is shrouded in secrecy and is a source of shame for many. it is this shame and secrecy that makes people ripe for exploitation and harm.

i am not here to perpetuate already existing boogeyman narratives about my job but i beg you all to never, ever go to a sangoma without alerting at least one person of your whereabouts.

unless you know you are up to no good wena self, it should be an easy location pin drop and "friend, this is where i am should you not hear from me in x hours." no further explanation necessary.

we must admit without taking it with our chests that certain generalisations exist because there are certain individuals that perpetuate them. that's life. i will give personal anecdotes:

there is a client that came asking for help some months back. her life was at a standstill and she didn't understand why until, together, we connected the dots. her secret trips to isangoma sakhe were not what i would call normal.

Anyone want to help me play yarn detective? I...picked up a couple more balls from the box upstairs (it's been there for days, apparently, so people have Had A Chance) but they have no labels.

Ok, mystery yarn A has clearly been knitted before, and this is several balls of it. Between about 12 and 16 WPI, single ply, but fairly tightly spun. Burns like it's a wool/acrylic blend; self-extinguishes quickly. Colors are very short—often only ~1"

Mystery yarn B is 20 wpi on the nose, is mostly wool, three-ply, very round. Reminds me of Happy Feet DK but has way more of a sheen than I remember HF having.

Mystery yarn C, 14 wpi. I was sure that it was going to be a weird soft acrylic, but the burn test makes me think it's another acrylic/wool blend. The color's a gradient and each shift lasts about 6". I don't even know where to start with this one.

It's worth noting that in A, the colors are very distinct—there's nowhere that the colors were blended in the spinning. (There are lots of single plies that are almost right, but were clearly dyed before spinning, and this was not, imo.)

Dear Sydney: some tips for wearing masks....

* Invest in finding the right mask for your face. Some material may be irritating, some designs may be the wrong shape for your head, some ties may hurt your years. If you’re going to be wearing a mask every day have a think about what works best for you

* Get the seal tight to your face: it shouldn’t be bagging around your chin or cheeks.

* You can stop glasses fogging up by making sure the seal of the mask is close to your skin of your nose or using a little cloth tape to stick it down

* Brush your teeth before leaving the house. Chew gum or suck on a mint. Don’t eat anchovies and onion just before putting a mask on

I JUST CAME ACROSS THE MOST ADORABLE PEER-REVIEWED RESEARCH I HAVE EVER SEEN AND HAD TO MAKE A THREAD ABOUT IT HAVE AN AMAZING WEEKEND!!!!

Every intro to cognitive psychology course has at least one chapter where we ask how people know that dogs are dogs - after all, they look so different from each other.

This research one-ups our question and asks: HOW DO DOGS KNOW THAT OTHER DOGS ARE DOGS??

First, let's meet our subjects in Figure 1 of this article. LOOK AT HOW CUTE THEY ALL ARE! THEY ARE ALL SUCH GOOD BOYS AND GIRLS AND CUSCO IS ABSOLUTELY SERVING!!

Next, let's see how they were trained to identify other dogs. They would sit and see pictures of one dog and one not-dog. If they poked the dog picture, they got a treat. LOOK AT BAHIA CHOOSING CORRECTLY BECAUSE BAHIA IS VERY GOOD AND VERY SMART!!!

AND BY THE WAY, IT SEEMS THAT THE PICTURES OF THE DOGS AND NON-DOGS WERE SPECIALLY SELECTED FOR HIGH LEVELS OF CUTENESS AND HUGGABILITY!!!

(except for the cat.)

https://t.co/guIGzPvBBA

"I had learned too much history not to know that the great masses always and at once respond to the force of gravity in the direction of the powers that be. I knew that the same voices which yelled “Heil Schuschnigg” today would thunder “Heil Hitler” tomorrow."
- Stefan Zweig

“The herd instinct of the mob was not yet as offensively powerful in public life as it is today; freedom in what you did or did not do in private life was taken for granted...toleration was not deplored as a weakness & debility, but was praised as an ethical force”
- Stefan Zweig

“It remains an irrefragable law of history that contemporaries are denied a recognition of the early beginnings of the great movements which determine their times.”
- Stefan Zweig, The World of Yesterday

“How Lilliputian all those anxieties were, how serene that time!”
- Stefan Zweig, The World of Yesterday

“For a society is always most cruel to those who disclose and reveal its secrets, when through dishonesty society itself has outraged Nature.”
- Stefan Zweig, The World of Yesterday

@jay_21_ So far...

(1) Shorts must always be very small. Max 1.5-2.0% for large cap structural decliners. 20-40bps for frauds and promotes.

(2) No hero shorts.

(3) Wait for things to crack before putting a position on in any type of size (which for a short, is still very small). $700 to $0 and $200 to $0 are both 100% returns.

(4) Must be willing to cover aggressively if going against you. After cracking, need to be willing to add on the way down (particularly for promotes or frauds).

January 6, I will be watching the Republicans in the House who plan to try to overturn the Electoral College and when they fail, will completely support those Congressional districts succeeding from the union as they threaten.

Best of luck.

It’s tough starting a new country under any circumstance. Having Mo Brooks instead of Thomas Jefferson and a handful of proud boys instead of Washington’s Army will add to the challenge.

(This is a rant, not a spelling bee.)

Secede, succeed.

All the big talkers like Ted Cruz will likely down posture in their chairs when they yell “who’s with me?” Marco Rubio will be reciting enigmatic verses.

The tea party will be like “just joking. We kind of have to tax you” because all that’s left is a factory Trump promised to open but never did & the Museum of Creation which hasn’t been a big money maker (but is highly interesting if you’re in Northern Kentucky).