DL Open Thread: Thurs., Jan. 2, 2020

Filed in Featured by on January 2, 2020

The Mysterious Invasion Of The Drone Hordes: Rural Nebraska and Colorado are the sites of these sightings. Drones flying in formation. And nobody knows why:

Unmanned drones, which have exploded into popular usage in recent years and can be used for everything from mapping to photography to farming, can be difficult to track. Operators of all but the smallest drones have been required to register with the federal government since 2015, but there is no straightforward, legal way for state and local officials to identify the owner of a particular drone or to track that drone’s location.

“Like in many other areas of drone regulation, the statutory and regulatory framework is lagging the technology,” said Reggie Govan, a former chief counsel to the F.A.A. who now teaches at the University of Pennsylvania Law School. “It’s just that simple.”

Residents have been urged not to shoot the drones down. Think everybody will heed that advice?

Netanyahu Seeks Immunity From Criminal Proceedings.  Gee, wonder who he took that cue from…

Chuck Todd Finally Realizes That Rethugs Use ‘Meet The Press’ To Spread Lies.  What does he do about it? This is an absolute must-read.  BTW, I wonder how MSNBC covers it.

BTW, I love this quote from Upton Sinclair who, BTWBTW, used to ‘summer’ in Arden:

“It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends upon his not understanding it.”

Bernie Might Just Win This Thing.  And, you know what? His age won’t be an issue against someone who is losing it as quickly as Trump.

In The Mood For Some Rethug Schadenfreude? I’m always in the mood. House Rethug leader from New York State blames D’s for being ‘soft on crime’, tells people that ‘(t)here is no excuse for driving impaired this holiday season’, and then, yes, on New Year’s Eve:

‘he allegedly drove off a road and into a ditch near his home and was arrested after flunking a breathalyzer test.’

I can’t make this stuff up.

Truth Or Fiction?  Most of it is true. Just don’t know about that ‘goat-blood drinking’ stuff…BTW, can Sol Invictus be his real name?

What do you want to talk about?

About the Author ()

Comments (11)

Trackback URL | Comments RSS Feed

  1. Dana says:

    Mr Somnambulo asked:

    Residents have been urged not to shoot the drones down. Think everybody will heed that advice?

    In July of 2015, William Merideth, a resident in Bullitt County, Kentucky, spotted a drone over his backyard, in which his 16-year-old daughter was sunbathing. He got his shotgun and shot it out of the sky. He was charged with felony wanton endangerment and criminal mischief, but those charges were eventually dismissed. The drone’s owner then sued him, but the judge dismissed that one, too.

    • Jason330 says:

      Cool. So much wingnut jo material in that story, bro.

      • RE Vanella says:

        How would we know what Fox is using for clickbait if Dana didn’t post?

        • Dana says:

          Actually, I simply remembered the story; if Fox was running it, it was four years ago.

          • Alby says:

            I didn’t remember the location, but I’ve seen either this story or another like it. Who among us has not had this urge when confronted with a drone? People like to shoot things out of the sky. Most of those goose hunters aren’t doing it for sustenance.

            • Dana says:

              The fact that it happened in my home state — even though I was living in Pennsylvania at the time — and that it was in Bullitt County sort if fixed it in my memory.

              Who among us has not had this urge when confronted with a drone?

              Actually, I’ve never been ‘confronted’ with one. If it was just passing over, I think I’d probably just ignore it. If it was hovering and getting into my business, it might be different.

          • RE Vanella says:

            I was absolutely sure of it. Thank you for confirming. You definitely understand the dynamic here. You’re winning.

            Please quote post this comment, as is your style.

  2. bamboozer says:

    Drones shot out of the sky? Count on it especially since they ran this story. Chuck Todd? Remain unconvinced that he’s woken the hell up, suspect that much like Chris Coons the ass kissing will go on unabated. Bernie or Warren, it’s all good.

  3. Jason330 says:

    “And as Garry Kasparov observes for us, “The point of modern propaganda isn’t only to misinform or push an agenda. It is to exhaust your critical thinking, to annihilate truth.” This exhaustion, this annihilation were on their way to the Sunday shows, and to all interactions with journalists. That is what Kellyanne Conway was saying that day on Meet the Press. But the people who run the show chose not to believe it“

  4. RE Vanella says:

    Merry Christmas from Hustler.

    https://mobile.twitter.com/MZanona/status/1212851941094699010

    Larry Flynt is the G.O.A.T.

  5. John Kowalko says:

    What I should have said and how I should have said it yesterday.

    For the most part Delaware is geographically separated from New Jersey by the Delaware River and has a mutual land border with Maryland to the south. What is inexplicable to me as an elected political leader is the very real fact that Delaware is so philosophically separated from these two neighboring states in matters of policy such as progressing toward a fair, livable wage given to working men and women who earned it. Both Jersey and Maryland have set a specific timetable to guarantee a $15 hr. minimum wage for working people and Delaware continues to languish in the throes of special interests such as the Chamber of Commerce, the Restaurant Industry and the Caesar Rodney Institute. Yesterday New Jersey announced another progressive step toward a fair wage when their minimum wage was increased to $11 hr. from $10 hr. on its way to $15 hr.
    No legislator who was in Dover, in June of 2017, should forget that as we fought to ever so slightly increase our state’s paltry minimum wage we were met with what amounted to extortion demands. Republicans threatened to hold the Bond Bill hostage by not voting even though a majority of the Bond money is spent on behalf of their constituents and the business community. These demands were crafted into an amended version of the minimum wage bill and further diluted an already weak piece of legislation that disserved the workers of Delaware. I would not support such a measure and voted against it declaring that we should force all members of the General Assembly to extend our session until the Bond Bill passed. I intended to repeal the Ramone exceptions when we returned in 2018 and here is the history of that effort.
    In January 2018 Representative Kim Williams and I introduced legislation (HB47) co-sponsored by all, but three, House Democrats. The bill would repeal the training and youth wages, created last year as a key part of the scheme that would allow lawmakers to pass the Capital Bond bill by July 1st. That scheme came about because the Republicans claimed to be upset, last June 30 2017, that the General Assembly was going to pass a minimum wage increase on the last day of the session even though the original minimum wage bill (SB 170) had been introduced on 3/28/18. The Republican minority decided to hold the Capital Bond bill and Grant in Aid bill hostage since a three-quarter vote was required for passage. HB 47 was/is bottled up in committee and despite my personal pleas to Speaker Schwartzkopf has not been permitted to the floor for a vote. The Speaker can explain his actions for himself but throughout the course of dialogues I personally engaged in with him he refused to give me an honest reply justifying his position.
    News Journal reporter Matt Albright tweeted: “I’m not a fan of the training wage. But if Dems do this, how can they expect Republicans to strike deals with them in the future, if Dems are just gonna go back the very next session and undo their side of the bargain”? #netde
    Let me correct Mr. Albright’s memory. There was “NO” I repeat “NO” bargain/compromise struck. Ramone, with the support of his Republican colleagues, and backed by the corporate ideologists crafted a blackmail/extortion plan that forced this horrible bill to a vote. I could not and would not vote for such an unnecessarily cruel blow to lower income workers and families and advised my colleagues that I would be willing to return after June 30th into September and beyond (if necessary) to pass the Bond bill without despoiling the minimum wage bill. Some have seen this concession (voting for Ramone’s bill) by Democrats as a failure of certain leadership to adequately prepare for such a circumstance or simply a lack of backbone by leadership. I would be hard pressed to defend anyone against such charges. I am sick and tired of the gnashing of teeth and the plaintive wailing of the corporate community ideologues and their political water carriers that anyone has breached any agreement, especially when such an agreement was never made and was foisted upon other (not UN-willing) public servants who refuse to consider their obligations to the people as paramount. So spare me the soul-searching repentance served up by the Republicans or their dupes in the media. Spare me the half-hearted/witted apologies of those who voted for self-convenience over concern for the hardworking needy and bring the bill out of committee and to the floor for a vote.
    New Jersey raised their minimum wage to $11 hr. yesterday and every Delaware government official and leader who remains silent while hard-working men and women are denied the dignity of a livable wage should be ashamed of themselves

    Representative John Kowalko