HorsesAss.Org

Last week, a boat carrying migrants and refugees from North Africa sank in the Mediterranean. Of the 300,000 plus who’ve attempted the journey to Europe this year, about 2,500 have died. In Austria, children crammed into a van were rescued, while others weren’t so lucky. And after pictures of a young Kurdish child washed up on a Turkish beach appeared in newspapers around the world this week, the humanity behind this crisis seemed to jolt the world closer to the response required.

In Syria alone, the refugee crisis is enormous. But that’s still only a part of the overall influx of those desperate to find a safer home for themselves and their families. I really don’t have anything more to say about this other than that this is an enormous tragedy that the wealthy nations of the world helped to bring about, and one that it can and should fix. But I have very little confidence that they will.

More news from the past two weeks…
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Jesus (video plays automatically at the link).

The Thurston County Prosecutor announced that the Olympia police officer who shot two men earlier this year will not face criminal charges.

Thurston County Prosecutor Jon Tunheim said that assault charges have been filed against Bryson Chaplin, 21, and Andre Thompson, 24. They are scheduled to be in court on September 22.

Tunheim said Officer Ryan Donald was “acting without malice” and had a “good faith fear” when he shot two men in May.

…

In documents released by the sheriff’s office last week, Donald reported that one of the men had been threatening him with a skateboard before the shooting.

Coming at a person with a skateboard is obviously not OK, if that’s what those people did (and let’s be honest, at this point we can’t take a cop’s word for these sorts of things). But even if you accept that’s what they did, it’s not something to get shot over.

Cops should be calming these situations down, not pulling out and using deadly weapons. They have Tasers and other non-lethal methods (not that those are without problems, but they aren’t bullets). So once again, I’ll say if police can’t do their job while armed, we should take away their guns.

Clinton	Walker
99.5% probability of winning	0.5% probability of winning
Mean of 317 electoral votes	Mean of 221 electoral votes

Gov. Scott Walker (R-WI) started out the election season with much buzz. But at this point, pollsters seem less interested in him, so there isn’t a lot of really current polling that pits him against a Democrat. There are only 83 state polls matching up Walker to Hillary Clinton (Jeb Bush has 212 such polls). Consequently, Walker at a bit of a disadvantage, since most of the polls were taken when Clinton was polling more strongly against all opponents.

No biggie…this is a shakedown for these analyses, so I’ll post it with the caveat that there just isn’t enough recent polling for this match-up. Perhaps pollsters will soon find reason to be more interested in the Governor.

After 100,000 simulated elections, Clinton wins 99,503 times and Walker wins 497 times (including the 103 ties). Clinton received (on average) 317 to Walker’s 221 electoral votes. In an election held now, Clinton would have a 99.5% probability of winning and Walker would have a 0.5% probability of winning.

Clinton tends to win in the classic swing states of Florida, Ohio, Virginia, Pennsylvania, Michigan as well as Nevada and New Mexico. But the most remarkable thing about these results is how poorly Walker does in his home state of Wisconsin. Here’s the polling picture:

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– Good on Mike O’Brien on Uber drivers.

– Another day, another Democrat going from the legislature to Inslee’s office.

– Another day, another office for Pam Roach to run for.

– This Denali thing sure brought out a lot of problematic people [h/t].

– More Case of the Week Quotient at Overthinking It.

Ten years ago today I received the following email from an HA reader:

I think I’ve told you that I’m into Arab horses. Well, for 3 years Michael Brown was hired and then fired by our IAHA, the International Arabian Horse Assoc. He was an unmitigated, total fucking disaster. I was shocked as hell when captain clueless put him in charge of FEMA a couple of years ago. He or the WH lied on the WH presser announcing him to FEMA. IAHA was never connected to the Olympic Comm, only the half Arab registry then and the governing body to the state and local Arabian horse clubs. He ruined IAHA financially so badly that we had to change the name and combine it with the Purebred registry.

I am telling you this after watching the fucking shipwreck in the Gulf. His incompetence is KILLING people.

After a little bit of sleuthing I turned the tip above into this scathing post that quickly went viral, transforming FEMA’s inadequate response to the tragedy in New Orleans into a national conversation about cronyism. Within days, FEMA director Mike Brown was out of a job. A month later, while testifying before congress, Brown would blame HorsesAss.org by name for his agency’s failures:

The path this story took—from a single reader’s small piece of specialized knowledge, to a local blogger, to a national blog, to the national media—may not be the first example of the transformative power of blogging. But it’s certainly one of the clearest. And I’ll always be proud to have played my little role.

It’s Tuesday…and that’s Drinking Liberally night in Seattle. So please join us for an evening of politics over a pint at the Seattle Chapter of Drinking liberally.

We meet tonight and every Tuesday at the Roanoke Park Place Tavern, 2409 10th Ave E, Seattle. You’ll find us in the small room at the back of the tavern. Our starting time is 8:00 pm, but some folks stop by even earlier for dinner.

Can’t make it to Seattle tonight? Check out one of the other DL meetings this week. The Long Beach, Tri-Cities and West Seattle chapters also meet tonight. The Lakewood chapter meets on Wednesday. On Thursday, the Tacoma chapter meets. And next Monday, the Yakima and South Bellevue chapters meet.

There are 184 chapters of Living Liberally, including eighteen in Washington state, four in Oregon and two in Idaho. Chances are good there’s a chapter meeting near you.

Ross Hunter is retiring from the legislature effective RIGHT NOW to head the state Department of Early Learning.

Hunter will start in the $150,000 a year job next Tuesday. He takes over at a time when the state is placing a major emphasis, and increased money, into early learning programs. He said he views the “opportunity to improve outcomes for hundreds of thousands of at-risk children (as) incredibly compelling.”

His departure could set off a scramble among senior Democrats for the job of House Appropriations Committee chairman, a powerful position that has major influence on how the state spends billions of dollars in its operating budget. The chairman of the Finance Committee, which sets taxes, may also be leaving. Rep. Reuven Carlyle, D-Seattle, has announced plans to seek a Senate seat if its current occupant, Jeanne Kohl-Welles, wins a seat on the King County Council in November.

Hunter has a long list of accomplishments, but mostly I’ll remember him saying on Podcasting Liberally that people should vote for him for exec because he couldn’t figure out the Metro Trip Planner. Anyway, I’m sure he’ll be good at his new job.

Is there anyone you’d like to see replace Hunter, either in the district or as the main budget person for for the House Dems?

Clinton	Bush
56.0% probability of winning	44.0% probability of winning
Mean of 273 electoral votes	Mean of 265 electoral votes

Poll analyses are back! Yes…after about four years of rest, I’ve decided to get back into the poll analysis business. If you are unfamiliar with my analyses, take a look at the FAQ. This is a shakedown run with a new HA template, so feel free to mention quirks or problems in the comment thread.

I’ve started with a match-up between Hillary Clinton and Jeb Bush. I know, I know, it should be a match-up against Donald Trump instead of Bush. The problem is, there are a total of 20 state head-to-head polls available that match-up Hillary and Donald. For Clinton–Bush match-ups at the state level, there are 212 polls. Apparently, pollsters haven’t quite gotten serious about Trump. I expect that most state head-to-head polls will start including him, however.

For the same reason—lack of state head-to-head polling—I cannot really provide analyses for Sanders, O’Malley, Webb, Biden, Warren, Warner, Cuomo, Schweitzer, or any other Democrat (for now). I will, however, do Republicans other than Jeb Bush, because the polling exists.

After 100,000 simulated elections, Hillary Clinton wins 56,003 times and Bush wins 43,997 times (including the 2,369 ties, which go to the Republican for 2016). Clinton received (on average) 273 to Bush’s 265 electoral votes. In an election held now, Clinton would be expected to win with a 56.0% probability and Bush with a 44.0% probability. That is a close result…damn near a tie.

I remind you that these analyses are driven by state head-to-head polls, not national polls. The state-wide polls are aggregated in a way that emulates the electoral college.

A peek at the long term trend is given after the jump….
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– Another Birthright Citizenship link in an open thread. This time from Eric Foner in The Nation.

– Other than the legitimate dome-related questions I raised on Twitter, my main issue with Walker’s Canada wall idea is will it go all the way to the Beaufort Sea?

– Seattle, nice job using somewhat less water.

– Feminist_Tinder is pretty funny.

– I’m not a big fan of country music, but I found this analysis of some Martina McBride songs interesting.

– God-Man! (with minor character God-Girl)

I am not a Seahawks fan. I will never be a Seahawks fan. At best, I couldn’t give a flying fuck about the Seahawks; at worst, I root against them, if only to return the schadenfreude some local friends and family members have enjoyed in rubbing the Seahawks’ recent success in my face.

One score and seven years since leaving my native Philadelphia, I remain a loyal Eagles fan. And any Seahawks fan who questions the depth of my unswerving loyalty doesn’t really deserve the designation “fan” at all. (Note: this is different from all you Packers fans and Cowboys fans who have no geographic or familial connection to your teams. You’re just assholes.)

Which brings me to my annual preseason rant: Why won’t the NFL let me pay to watch my team?

Yes, DirecTV offers a streaming only version of its NFL Sunday Ticket, but I’m not sure to whom—every zip code I plug in doesn’t qualify. And even if I did qualify, I’m not sure I’d be willing to pay $400 (plus tax, I presume) for 10 or so Eagles games (some are available broadcast, others I’ll miss due to other commitments), let alone the minimum $1,000 or so a year it would cost to fully subscribe to DirectTV and Sunday Ticket.

I don’t want to purchase every out-of-market game. I just want the out-of-market games of one team. My team. The Philadelphia Eagles. So why won’t the NFL let me stream my games legally?

Charge me a reasonable price for a high-quality stream of just one team—say, $200 a season, or maybe $15 a game—and I’ll happily pay it. But if the NFL continues to put its head in the sand and pretend expatriate fans like me don’t have other options, don’t blame us if we look to the black market.

Genesis 11:10-24
Two years after the flood, when Shem was one hundred, he had a son named Arpachshad. He had more children and died at the age of six hundred. This is a list of his descendants:

When Arpachshad was thirty-five, he had a son named Shelah. Arpachshad had more children and died at the age of four hundred thirty-eight.

When Shelah was thirty, he had a son named Eber. Shelah had more children and died at the age of four hundred thirty-three.

When Eber was thirty-four, he had a son named Peleg. Eber had more children and died at the age of four hundred sixty-four.

When Peleg was thirty, he had a son named Reu. Peleg had more children and died at the age of two hundred thirty-nine.

When Reu was thirty-two he had a son named Serug. Reu had more children and died at the age of two hundred thirty-nine.

When Serug was thirty, he had a son named Nahor. Serug had more children and died at the age of two hundred thirty.

When Nahor was twenty-nine, he had a son named Terah. Nahor had more children and died at the age of one hundred forty-eight.

Discuss.

Mark Fiore: Smokey the Climate Scientist.

Mental Floss: Does ginger ale really help with stomach aches?

The 2016 Clown Show:

• This is The Republican Party
• Young Turks: Trump is in denial about his standing with Latinos.
• Ann Telnaes: President Trump…Twitter troll-in-chief.
• Jonathan Mann: Trump mocks Asian negotiators (remix):

• Sam Seder: Trump is now openly mocking Asians
• Donald Trump says “China” (234 times).
• David Pakman: White Supremacists flock to Donald Trump
• Farron Cousins: Donald Trump may put the final nail in the G.O.P. coffin
• David Pakman: Former KKK Grand Wizard and G.O.P. Congressman David Duke supports Trump
• Young Turks: Trump kicks Jorge Ramos out of press conference
• David Pakman: Donald Trump kicks Jorge Ramos out of press conference
• Donald Trump:“Positive influence?!?”
• Maddow: Trump’s racial comments causing GOP approval ratings to crash
• Young Turks: After Trump expels Jorge Ramos, Trump supporter tells Ramos to “Get out of my country!”
• David Pakman: Trump supporter tells Hispanic-American reporter to “get out of MY country”
• Kimmel: Trump’s newest ad
• Sam: Trump vs. Luntz…the battle of the right-wing pinheads
• Trump live-tweets The Kelly File
• Trump’s big movie role.
• Thom: A corporatist peek behind Trump
• Is Donald Trump an evil wizard?
• David Pakman: Does Donald Trump put an end to Republican ‘family values’ nonsense?
• Sam Seder: Why Donald Trump is so dangerous
• Maddow: Trump vs. FAUX News! Godzilla vs. Mothra!
• Megyn Kelly Kicks the shit out of Donald Trump. Makes him bleed from…wherever
• Young Turks: Trump v. FAUX News, Round 2
• Chris Hayes: Trump stumped by Bible question
• David Pakman: Trump’s brilliant answer to Bible verse question
• PsychoSuperMom: Trump’s the monster the G.O.P. created.
• Can Trump win without Latinos?
• Young Turks: Sarah Palin will interview The Donald
• Maddow: The Paul family scandal you don’t know about:

• Farron Cousins: Jeb gets desperate, and turns to his brother for fundraising.
• Jeb! and The Donald scuffle over “anchor babies”
• Sam Seder: Jeb Bush…When I say anchor babies, I mean Asians!
• Farron Cousins: Jeb Bush apparently hates Hispanics AND Asians
• Sam Seder: To stop “evildoers,” Jeb Bush wants to spy on more Americans
• Farron Cousins: Jeb Bush made millions by bankrupting Florida’s pension funds
• White House on Sen. Cruz’s & Trump’s pro-war rally
• Ann Telnaes: Ted Cruz courts evangelicals.
• Young Turks: Ted Cruz wants to deport millions, just please don’t talk about it
• Young Turks: Lil’ Bobby Jindal new 2016 strategy…copy Trump
• Sam Seder: Lindsey Graham, in a desperate attempt for relevancy, threatens to “Beat Trump’s brains out.”

Mental Floss: Misconceptions about cancer.

Young Turks: Terrorist attempts to bomb abortion clinic.

Gunzzzz:

• Young Turks: Emotional plea for gun control from father of VA shooting victim
• Lawrence O’Donnell: Father of VA shooting victim calls for gun laws
• Thom: Time to start treating guns like abortions.
• American gun violence versus the World
• Young Turks: Science says…more guns, more gun deaths
• David Pakman: So far….U.S. averaging one mass shooting per day in 2015.
• Farron Cousins: Gun violence in America is out of control. Is the 2nd Amendment outdated?
• Young Turks: Mark Hamill’s gun tweet enrages conservatives

Mental Floss: 31 amazing facts about household items.

Bill Maher with some New Rules.

White House: West Wing Week.

New Orleans, Ten Years after Katrina:

• 10 years later: Has New Orleans been rebult…or just gentrified?
• Hurricane Katrina relived through media clips
• Maddow: The 10th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina (with a cameo by Heck-of-a-job-Brownie):

• George W. Bush back in New Orleans after 10 years.

Sam Seder: FAUX News, “It’s hard out there for white people”.

Congressional hits and misses: Best of Ted Cruz.

Eric Schwartz: Fuck You:

Nuclear Football:

• A real nuclear physicist explains the Iran deal.
• Is Sen. Wyden (D-OR) on the path to war?

Slate: What is sex like in space?

Last week’s Friday Night Multimedia Extravaganza can be found here.

Three tourists from Rhode Island were beaten, burned and robbed outside the 3rd Avenue transit tunnel entrance on Monday night. Why am I not surprised?

The 3rd and Pike area is so terrible that it has it’s own Twitter feed. On most days the tunnel entrance and sidewalk outside are full of drug dealers and thugs who fuck with people coming in and out of the tunnel. I stopped using that tunnel entrance and now use the one across the street next to Macy’s because of this reason. The King County Sheriff department seems to be less interested in providing security and more interested in getting themselves fired. The city and SPD have tried with the 9 1/2 block strategy to reform the area, and it has had some success, apparently not as much as could have been hoped for.

My favorite part (if you want to call it that) of the incident is this:

Police arrived at the scene, but the group of suspects had fled. However, officers did arrest one man at the scene after he interfered with medics’ efforts to treat the victims, and told the victims they “deserved’ to be beaten and robbed. Police are investigating whether the man was also involved in the robbery.

If you have anything to share regarding the crime, you can contact the SPD Robbery Unit at (206) 684-5535.

– Huzzah. It’s raining. Remember, people forget to drive in the rain every summer in Western Washington, and I’m sure this year will be worse than normal.

– A homeless woman was beaten to death so can we all just get on board with encampments now?

– The Seattle Times Editorial Board Can Go Phở Itself

– I think Donald Trump could check out the HA Bible Study if he wants to find a new favorite verse.

– The real place voting and civic engagement matters is in local politics. And how would anyone know to care about those? TV news doesn’t cover it – they’re busy chasing fires and car crashes. Even if someone happens to read a newspaper, they have a fraction of the local reporters or coverage they once did. Most schools certainly don’t teach civic engagement or explain why it might be fun or interesting, let alone effective. Unless you and your friends happen to be affected by an issue, local politics won’t be on your radar. Ever.

– My worst nightmare would be being Tim Eyman.

Rand Paul came to town recently. He said some nonsense about guns:

It was a terrible morning to glorify guns. At the exact same time that everyone on the internet was horrified by the latest in a seemingly unending string of mass shootings, Paul’s adulation of the 2nd amendment felt awkward and dripping with an unpleasant machismo. ( “If you doubt me on the 2nd Amendment, come into my house unannounced,” Paul warned as the room applauded the thought of Paul shooting another person to death.) Before Paul took the stage, local politician Elizabeth Scott was proudly introduced as a member of the NRA. Meanwhile, on Twitter, people were scrolling past auto-play videos filmed by a man as he murdered two innocent people in cold blood. For a candidate who repeatedly claims to be uniquely in touch with reality, Paul is surprisingly out-of-step with an America that overwhelmingly favors commonsense gun safety laws.

When I talk about gun control with my pro gun friends, I’ll almost always hear someone talk about responsible gun ownership. But this sort of braggadocio is alarmingly common. Oh, give me the chance to kill the fuck out of someone who comes to my house unannounced. That’s not a death penalty offense, but I’m so excited about it I’m going to share this fantasy that to a decent person would be one of the worst days of their life with several hundred supporters.

It’s something decent people aren’t fantasizing about. It isn’t something the sort of people who feel responsible would say. And if people wanted hold him responsible, they could boo instead of applaud.

Now sure, I realize that one candidate from one party who isn’t doing very well in the polls isn’t indicative of the whole of gun owners. But this sort of thing rarely, if ever, gets called out from the people who tell me they’re the responsible sort. Hell, a dickbag can wrap bacon around his gun, get what type of gun it is wrong, and nobody who claims to be all about responsible gun ownership is like “Um, noppers buddy. That’s not how ya’ do it.”

So you know, step the fuck up. Or people like me — that rare breed who do actually want to take your gun away — are going to keep being the ones to call it out.