Another “safe” Republican quits rather than face voters in November

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WASHINGTON ― Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen, a 12-term Republican from New Jersey and chairman of the most sought-after committee in Congress ― the Appropriations Committee ― announced Monday that he would not run for re-election. Frelinghuysen’s announcement was a bit of surprise, considering he could still serve as the top Republican on the powerful Appropriations Committee for another four years under House GOP rules. But faced with the prospect of a tough race ― Hillary Clinton lost to Donald Trump in that district by only 1 point in 2016 ― as well as internal discussions about removing Frelinghuysen as chairman after he voted against the party’s tax bill, the 71-year-old GOP moderate decided to call it quits.
Keep quitting guys. You certainly don't want to be associated with Trump's next two years in office.

Not Breaking News: Right to Carry Increases Crime

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It has been a slippery fact to pin down statistically, but the scientific jury is in. Right-to-carry laws lead to more violent crime - not less. It is a combination of every confrontation ending with murder, and the legal gun owners who like showing off their guns so much that they get stolen.
"American gun owners, preoccupied with self-defense, are inadvertently arming the very criminals they fear,"

China no longer buying our garbage.

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We've had a tsunami of policy garbage, now a tsunami of literal garbage is headed our way.
On Jan. 1, China made good on its promise to close its borders to several types of imported waste. By the next day, panic had already taken hold in countries across Europe and North America as trash began piling up by the ton, with no one having a clue where to now dispose of it all.
For more than 20 years, China has been the world’s recycling bin, accepting an enormous quantity of recyclable waste from nations worldwide. In 2016, China processed at least half of the world’s exports of waste plastic, paper and metals. The U.S. exported 16 million tons of waste to China that year, worth about $5.2 billion. Britain sent China enough garbage to fill up 10,000 Olympic-size swimming pools.

Interregnum; or musing before battle

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By RE Vanella Briefer still. There are certain concepts people seem to understand in the abstract but can’t grasp in the totality of the moment. Fortunately, there aren’t too many of these people. And more fortunate is some can be convinced to stop worrying and love the bomb. The Delaware Way is a rotting carbuncle infecting our body politic. The only treatment against the staph is to kill it. Unfortunately, our abject apathy and lameness has allowed the boil to become resistant to the normal treatment. If you think games are being played, trust me, they are not. This isn’t a parlor trick or Hail Mary pass. This is an indication of grave concern about where we are. This is about developing and executing a plan to make it crystal fucking clear that she is not another tired politician and will not abide the same tired shit. For the many rather than the few. We're all in this together. Saturday, February 10th. Audere est facere.