Winston Churchill: Racist, imperialist, murderer

I get angry at the routine lionization of former British prime minister Winston Churchill in the west. Among US politicians he is treated almost as a god-like figure. There is now a new film about him and I fully expect it to continue that hagiographic trend. But his image in other parts of the world, especially in the former British colonies, is far less complimentary. Hence I was glad to see this article by Ishaan Tharoor that strives to provide some balance.
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A local election worth following

You may remember Kim Davis, the clerk of a rural county in Kentucky who refused to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples even after the US Supreme Court said that same-sex marriage bans were unconstitutional. She said that having her name on the licenses violated her religious freedom because her faith did not allow for same-sex marriages. She then defied a local judge who explicitly ordered her to issue the licenses and she went to jail for five days for contempt of court while her subordinates issued licenses. Naturally Davis became a hero to the most odious religious bigots and groups such as the Family Research Council, and people like the Mike Huckabee and Ted Cruz went to greet her at a rally when she was released from jail.
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Republicans don’t even bother to hide their contempt for the poor anymore

The Republicans have the votes to pass the big tax giveaways to the rich that they have long been salivating over. It has always been thus but at least in the past, they tried to create a façade of how these moves would also help the poor and middle class, though they could not maintain that pretense as well as some Democrats, especially Bill Clinton who was a master at the game of catering to the oligarchy while acting like he was a champion of the poor.
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Brilliant one-minute film about a prepper

‘Prepper’ is the name given to those people who take extensive precautions to survive in the case of a major calamity such as nuclear war breaking out or the US being invaded and taken over by (say) Costa Rica or electing a socialist lesbian of color as president. These precautions take the form of heavily arming themselves, creating well-stocked bunkers, and learning skills that will enable them to survive in the wild and live off the land.
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Is Donald Trump really going crazy?

Seth Meyers reveals the revolting things that Matt Lauer did and also discusses the possibility that Trump is nuts.

It is incredible that Lauer got away with that behavior so long. Like others, Meyers has noted the detail that Lauer had a secret button installed under his desk that would lock the door remotely. Observers seem to think that this was to prevent his target from escaping by running from the room. That may be true but I think it is more likely that it was to prevent others from accidentally entering and seeing him while he was making his gross moves on the women. This detail also raises broader culpability questions for NBC. I doubt that Lauer did the secret wiring himself. It had to be something that was requested through management and directed to the building manager to implement. How come no one raised any questions about the reasons for this strange request?
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It’s good to be the king or, failing that, rich

Some may recall a post of mine from back in August that dealt with how the extremely wealthy people living along a private street known as Presidio Terrace in San Francisco failed to pay the appropriate taxes for it and the city went ahead and sold the street at auction to a couple of investors who planned to charge the residents for parking. Naturally, this caused an outrage.
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Can there be redemption for those who have behaved badly?

I believe that people can redeem themselves, that just because they have done something wrong at some point in their lives does not mean that they are beyond the pale and permanently unworthy of our regard and even friendship at some later point in their lives. Hence I try not to be too judgmental about others. Part of this is admittedly self-interest. In my own past, I have believed, said, and taken stands on issues such as race, gender, sexuality, and a whole host of other political and social issues that I now deeply regret and am ashamed of. All I can say in mitigation is that I did not know any better then. I like to think that over time I have grown, matured, and perhaps even become enlightened. I would hate to be thought of now as the person that I was then.
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Sleazy sting artists get badly bitten

Project Veritas and its head James O’Keefe are a sleazy right wing outfit whose mode of operation is to interview people in any organization that does not serve their agenda and then misleadingly edit their footage to make it appear that the organization is deceitful and unlawful. They recently tried to come to the aid of Alabama senate candidate Roy Moore, who has been accused by many women of pursuing them when they were teenagers, and engaging in sexual contact with a girl when she was just 14.
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