Current or modern politics in the United States

[Arturo2nd]

Originally Posted by charliels531

I have a lot of fun trying to explain to anyone how the U.S. Supreme Court managed to rule that money in politics is free speech or how naked boobs are free speech except where alcohol is served.

The restrictions on nudity and the serving of alcohol are matters of local regulation. Most of our local jurisdictions prohibit the combination, but not San Francisco. I image that nudity and the serving of alcohol is permitted in San Diego, where much of the U.S. Navy's Pacific fleet is based.

I think topless dancers are permitted with booze serving in Las Vegas and full nudity allowed in Georgia and Iowa.

[charliels531]

Originally Posted by Arturo2nd

The restrictions on nudity and the serving of alcohol are matters of local regulation. Most of our local jurisdictions prohibit the combination, but not San Francisco. I image that nudity and the serving of alcohol is permitted in San Diego, where much of the U.S. Navy's Pacific fleet is based.

I think topless dancers are permitted with booze serving in Las Vegas and full nudity allowed in Georgia and Iowa.

-

That's why it's a kick to talk about. One of the unforeseen consequences if the 21st Amendment (ending prohibition) was that it gives states and localities absolute control over alcohol, including the right to ignore other parts of the Constitution, including free speech.

[dill99]

Via CNN

(Nathaniel Meyersohn reporting)

Walmart Ends All Handgun Ammunition Sales And Asks Customers Not to Carry Guns Into Stores

Walmart on Tuesday announced it will reduce its gun and ammunition sales, one month after more than 20 people were killed in a mass shooting at a Walmart in El Paso, Texas. Walmart also pressured Congress to enact gun safety measures.

The company, America's largest retailer, said it will stop selling handgun ammunition and ammunition for short-barrel rifles after selling all of its current inventory. Walmart (WMT) will also stop selling handguns in Alaska, the only state where it still sells handguns. And Walmart will request that customers no longer openly carry guns into its 4,700 US stores, or its Sam's Club stores, in states that allow open carry.

However, Walmart will continue to sell long barrel deer rifles and shotguns and much of the ammunition for those guns. Walmart will also continue to allow concealed carry by customers with permits in its stores.
In a memo to employees on Tuesday, Walmart CEO Doug McMillon said Walmart's changes were prompted by the El Paso, Texas, shooting, as well as recent mass shootings in Dayton, Ohio, and Midland and Odessa, Texas.
"In a complex situation lacking a simple solution, we are trying to take constructive steps to reduce the risk that events like these will happen again," he said. "The status quo is unacceptable."

Walmart represents about 2% of the market for guns today, the company said for the first time recently. Walmart believes it is not among the top three gun sellers in the industry, but it estimates it has about a 20% market share of ammunition sales.

On Tuesday, McMillon said that Walmart's changes to ammunition policies will reduce its market share from around 20% to between 6% and 9%. "We believe it will likely drift toward the lower end of that range, over time, given the combination of these changes," he said.

McMillion took pains to avoid alienating customers."We will treat law-abiding customers with respect, and we will have a very non-confrontational approach," he said. "Our remaining assortment will be even more focused on the needs of hunting and sport shooting enthusiasts."

In addition, McMillon said that he would send letters to the White House and congressional leaders that "call for action" on "common sense" gun safety measures. McMillon said Congress should debate re-authorizing the assault weapons ban and expand background checks.
"We encourage our nation's leaders to move forward and strengthen background checks and to remove weapons from those who have been determined to pose an imminent danger," he said. "Congress and the administration should act. Given our decades of experience selling firearms, we are also offering to serve as a resource in the national debate on responsible gun sales."

Spurred by El Paso shooting

On August 4, a Walmart in El Paso was the scene of one of the worst mass shootings in American history. Federal investigators are treating the shooting as an act of domestic terrorism.

In the wake of the shooting, Walmart has faced enormous pressure to remove firearms from its physical stores and criticized for selling pro-gun T-shirts on its website. Several Democratic candidates for president have called on Walmart to stop selling guns at its stores. America's largest teachers' union, The American Federation of Teachers, and gun safety groups have pressed the retailer to end its gun sales.

Walmart previously pulled displays of violent video games in its stores and also removed about 1,000 third-party items from its website.

Despite its history of selling hunting weapons that goes back to Walmart's origins, Walmart has shifted its gun policies and strengthened gun safety measures. It stopped selling assault rifles in 2015 and raised its minimum gun purchasing age to 21 last year after the Parkland, Florida, shooting. Walmart also stopped selling handguns in every state but Alaska in the mid-1990s and only sells a firearm to customers after receiving a "green light" on a background check."We understand that heritage, our deeply rooted place in America and our influence as the world's largest retailer. And we understand the responsibility that comes with it," McMillon said.

[bowlinggreen]

^ None of the above will really change anything, people will just buy ammo and "bad guns" elsewhere.

I'm still in favor of bringing back the universal draft and people who opt out of serving cannot buy a military style rifle.

That would keep these guns out of the hands of self-styled survivalist commandos and other nutjobs, for the most part. It would reduce the number of stolen guns too, since there would be less of them around.

Plus, the people most likely to use them in the service of the defense of our country would have them. That's what all this is supposed to be about, a trained and experienced militia to keep foreign foes or tyrants on the inside from conquering us, outside the political control of possible domestic traitors. Of which there is more than one in high office.

You'd have to grandfather all the old guns in, or you'd have a lot of rebellions and shootings and bombings and other violence. But over time, I think you'd see a very beneficial change, since the old guns would by law be taken out of circulation if a qualified vet wasn't buying them, they'd go back to the government for destruction. In 20-30 years the gun landscape would look quite different.

Anything sold to a qualified vet should be a government type rifle like what we are using now, the AR-15 type rifles. There is no reason for all of these foreign guns in our "militia", except people want them because they are "cool", and collect them. Too bad, the 2nd amendment is not about your sacred right to a gun collection. Use our army rifle, ditch everything else.

[charliels531]

Legal gun ownership in the U.S. is way more complex and psychological and is evolving. In 1970 40% of households owned at least one gun. By 2010 that had dropped to 33%. There are more that 330 million guns in private hands, but 50% of them are concentrated in 3% of households. That is why a significant fraction of illegal guns are stolen. One of the most significant gun safety laws, passed in a few states, makes it a crime to fail to report a gun theft.

[bowlinggreen]

Originally Posted by charliels531

Legal gun ownership in the U.S. is way more complex and psychological and is evolving. In 1970 40% of households owned at least one gun. By 2010 that had dropped to 33%. There are more that 330 million guns in private hands, but 50% of them are concentrated in 3% of households. That is why a significant fraction of illegal guns are stolen. One of the most significant gun safety laws, passed in a few states, makes it a crime to fail to report a gun theft.

It should be a crime if you don't report stolen guns.

It would be nice if everyone with say, a dozen or more guns had a really good safe to stick them in but I guess really secure solutions are quite expensive. So most people buy a cheap safe and use the money saved to buy more guns, if they buy a safe at all.

Around here the police tend to pick up on local assholes pretty quickly and nail them for most of the stuff they do, but I recall that a guy up the road had his house broken into and a bunch of guns stolen, back when I was a kid. Rural area, hardly any serious crime to speak of, but it happened anyway.

Somehow, criminals must have way to find out who has the gun collections and target them for thefts.

I'd make stealing guns a serious crime too, a minimum of 10 years in prison before you see the outside world again regardless of parole and good behavior, that would make it less worthwhile for these scuzzy thieving sorts of people.

[dill99]

YouTube based news media analyst Brian Tyler Cohen examines the powerful emotions on tap from top conservative CNN anchor S.E. Cupp in her stance on strengthening public safety measures in the face of the burgeoning onslaught of domestic terrorism currently ravaging the US-

Conservative Anchor Announces She’s Quit The NRA On National TV

link- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f4r8tuYJ3Ug

[dill99]

Via HEAVY

(Alyssa Choiniere reporting)

(article link here- https://heavy.com/news/2019/09/mckrae-game/ )


Man Who Founded Conversion Therapy Program Comes Out As Gay

McKrae Game: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know

McKrae Game, the founder of a gay conversion therapy organization in South Carolina, came out as gay and apologized for his work.

Game was raised Southern Baptist and founded Truth Ministry in 1999. Between the ages of 19 and 22, he was “kind of out,” he said on a Facebook Live video. He then got “saved,” he said, using air quotes, and founded Truth Ministry. He later joined the board of Hope for Wholeness, a gay conversion therapy practice.

Throughout his time as a gay conversion therapy leader, he said he was open about same-sex attractions. He struggled with watching gay pornography, and was fired from the Hope for Wholeness board because of it, he said. Game came out publicly in June. His story gained publicity after a Facebook post went viral. In it, he apologized for his gay conversion therapy work.

“I WAS WRONG! Please forgive me!” he started the lengthy post.

“The very harmful cycle of self shame and condemnation has to stop. It’s literally killing people!! Learn to love. Learn to love yourself and others,” he concluded the post.

Game, who is 51, lives in Spartanburg, South Carolina. He married a woman, Julie Game, in 1996. The couple have two adult children, and they remain together. Game said on a Facebook Live video he never called himself “straight.”

“I never lived a double life. I was 100 percent authentic all the time,” he said.

Even when he was leading a gay conversion therapy group, he said he was open about the fact that he was attracted to men and watched gay pornography. Still, he said he started as “a zealot.”

“I was a real zealot in the beginning, and I kind of softened over the years,” he said.

Here’s what you need to know:

1. Game & Wife Julie Game Are Still Together

Game married Julie Game in 1996, according to the Post and Courier. They remain together, and she knows he is gay. They have two adult children.

His Facebook status is listed as, “it’s complicated.”

“I’m still at home with my family, and my wife is being ridiculously kind and sweet,” he said on a Facebook live video.

He once used Grindr, a dating app for LGBTQ people, after he was fired from his board position at Hope for Wholeness. He said he wasn’t looking for a relationship, but felt like his social outlets were destroyed after he was fired.

Since then, he has met many people in the gay community and made many friends, he said on the video.

Game has also made friends following his Facebook post. Some of the interactions he received following the post were negative and angry. He asked two of those people if they wanted to talk on the phone. He had a lengthy conversation with one of those people, he said on the video.

“By the time we were done, we were good friends,” he said.

2. ‘I Was a Full Participant in my Own Brainwashing,’ Game said

Game said on a Facebook Live video September 3, 2019, that he was indoctrinated by evangelical beliefs when he lead gay conversion therapy groups. In his practice, he said he would ask a participant if they wanted to be gay. If they did not, he would attempt to counsel them through minimizing their same-sex attractions. People were only asked to participate if they wanted to minimize their attractions, he said. They could only participate under their own volition.

“I was wrong, but honestly that’s who I was at the time…I was indoctrinated into the Evangelical language of, you know, ‘homosexuality is an abomination.’ Frankly, homosexuality is the pet peeve of the church. I think it’s their repugnance, their disdain of the issue. It’s their tool to help them feel better about their own issues.”

He went through gay conversion therapy himself, and attempted to eliminate his own same-sex attractions. The process is not only ineffective, but also harmful, he said.

He later said on the video, “I was a full participant in my own brain washing.”

3. Game Said He Wishes He Stayed in Landscaping

Game discussed his background and answered questions in a Facebook Live video September 3, 2019, after his Facebook post went viral.

During the video he discussed his firing from Hope for Wholeness. He was fired because he frequently watched gay pornography. He said he was devastated at the time, but his wife said it was a blessing in disguise. He had three mental breakdowns during his time with Hope for Wholeness because he was not equipped to deal with the mental anguish people in the ministry were facing. At the same time, he was conflicted about his own same-sex attractions.

“Looking back, frankly, I wish I had never started all of it. I wish I had kept my landscaping business,” he said.

“Now I’m back in landscaping,” he said.

In the winter months, he works in ski patrol at Sugar Mountain Resort.

“I get to enjoy what I do,” he said.

He lives in Spartanburg, South Carolina. He is 51.

4. Game Was ‘Shocked’ By Response to Facebook Post

Game posted an apology for his work in conversion therapy in a post that went viral.

The post said:

20yrs in exgay ministry
I WAS WRONG! Please forgive me!
Unpacking the memories. In the discussions leading up to The Post & Courier coming to interview me, I’d told the young reporter that I’d still not unpacked from my having been fired. “It was just too painful. I’ve just been putting it off. “ It all had been stacked up in our home office, which is a wreck, thus taking it all up to the den. The young reporter asked, “Would u be willing to let us film you and me talk to u while u go through the boxes?” I said “I guess I could do that.” It was very cathartic going through the boxes, explaining each item, book, and pictures, including one of me and Joseph Nicolosi—author of Reparative Therapy and late director of NARTH, Joe Dallas, and my counselor Dan Garvin of Solid Rock. I went through each item, one at a time: my plaque from my 2010 marathon, ordination certificate, a toy Hummer I used to explain coveting, and garden gnome that was underneath one of my many plants that were in my office. Many books on understanding the roots of homosexuality, brokenness, sexual healing, Christianity, many Bibles, and my Hope for Wholeness badge I wore when displaying at conferences. Two cases of my book The Transparent Life. And my prize possession of my Promise Keepers hat that was signed by the men on the bus (to/from Bolder Colorado from Spartanburg, a 37 hr bus ride) that said me sharing changed their lives. He asked me after we got done what I would do with it all. I said I’d donate the normal books, throw away the books on homosexuality, keep the personal items like the embroidered Truth Ministry podium swath that someone (I don’t remember who) made for me. He asked me why I’d keep the items. I said, “That was 20-26 years (20 in ministry leadership) of my life, it’s a large part of me (though its like a distant memory). I will want to keep them to remember.” The memories aren’t all bad. There’s many good memories. But I certainly regret where I caused harm. I know that creating the organization that still lives was in a large way causing harm. Creating a catchy slogan that put out a very misleading idea of “Freedom from homosexuality through Jesus Christ” was definitely harmful. Promoting the triadic model that blamed parents and conversion or prayer therapy, that made many people believe that their orientation was wrong, bad, sinful, evil, and worse that they could change was absolutely harmful. People reported to attempt suicide because of me and these teachings and ideals. I told people they were going to Hell if they didn’t stop, and these were professing Christians! This was probably my worse wrongful act. At one time I was working with so many youth that I had a weekly youth group, where they’d share why they were there, and I would guide them in how to not be gay. What a sad commentary of my past verses today, or a bad joke as many may see it. I believe all of these young men are now out/gay and one that I worked with for many years is married to a man and living in San Francisco. I hope to catch up with him. I believe I’ll message him today. Hopefully he’ll not be too angry with me. When the reporter asked me if I’d like to see Hope for Wholeness shut down, I said I’d like all exgay ministry and conversion therapy counselors and organizations shut down. I told him I believed the only positive and productive use for HFW and exgay ministry is for those that believe that homosexuality is incongruent with their faith, to receive and have a community of like minded people so that they can live healthy lives, and in the end that was what I was trying to do. Today, I’m thankful to have it all behind me. I plan to communicate with anyone, including media, that wants to speak with me. I’ll take advantage of any opportunity I get to share my experiences, and my belief that exgay ministry and conversion therapy IS HARMFUL. At some point I’ll write a book about my experiences and certainly a revision of my Transparent Life book, which I plan to offer the ones I have on Amazon soon. I’ll include a note with where I am today and my new beliefs and hope they do not take personally my words against homosexuality. Largely the book is not about homosexuality, but how to live authenticly honest and open, though at the time I had not fully grasped this concept myself. It’s all in my past, but many, way TOO MANY continue believing that there is something wrong with themselves and wrong with people that choose to live their lives honestly and open as gay, lesbian, trans, etc. The very harmful cycle of self shame and condemnation has to stop. It’s literally killing people!! Learn to love. Learn to love yourself and others.

He said on a Facebook live video September 3, 2019 he was shocked by the response to the post which went viral several days after he posted it. He later shared a photo of a hard cider and a half-empty box of Oreos.

“My now after response to all of this. OMG!!” he wrote.

5. Game Said He Still Believes in God

Game said he still believes in God, although he no longer considers himself to be Southern Baptist.

He was raised as a Southern Baptist. He said on a Facebook Live video his father asked him if he still believes in God.

“Of course I still believe in God,” he said.

He said he was praying the morning of September 3, 2019 for a child he knows who was having seizures. Game said he still considers himself a Christian.

[dill99]

Via THE DAILY BEAST

(Will Sommer, Sari Fordham reporting)

(article link here- https://www.thedailybeast.com/jacob-...rrant?ref=home )


Jacob Wohl Charged With Felony in California

California authorities issued an arrest warrant for blundering conservative operative Jacob Wohl, who is now due to be arraigned on a felony charge next month, court records show.

As The Daily Beast first reported earlier on Wednesday, Wohl and a former business partner were both wanted on a warrant signed in Riverside County on Aug. 19.

The warrant was recalled after Wohl—best known for a spree of bizarre, half-baked political schemes—appeared in court on Wednesday. He was released on his own recognizance until his Oct. 24 arraignment on a charge of unlawful sale of securities, prosecutors said.

The allegation that Wohl and Johnson unlawfully sold securities centers on one of Wohl’s financial companies, Montgomery Assets. A warrant application filed by the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office notes that the three-year statute of limitations on the case was set to expire at the end of August 2019, meaning prosecutors had to file by the end of last month if they wanted to pursue charges.

“In 2016 Jacob Wohl and Matthew Johnson represented themselves as members of a company called Montgomery Assets,” the warrant application reads. “On July 27, 2016 through August 27, 2016 Jacob Wohl and Matthew Johnson offered for sale unqualified securities in violation of California Corporations Code 25110 which has a three year statute of limitations and must be tolled by the issuance of an arrest warrant.”

Wohl, who became infamous on Twitter for his devoted replies to presidential tweets and fake claims to have heard liberals praising Trump in “hipster coffee shops,” didn’t respond to a request for comment. Johnson also couldn’t be reached for comment.

Wohl’s detractors have often puzzled over how, until now, he had avoided serious legal consequences. That’s because Wohl has routinely pushed the legal and political envelope to seemingly absurd lengths.

In November 2018, Wohl teamed up with Washington lobbyist Jack Burkman for a spectacularly failed attempt to concoct a bogus sexual assault smear against then-Special Counsel Robert Mueller. The pair also attempted to fake a similar allegation against Democratic presidential hopeful Pete Buttigieg, which flopped after The Daily Beast obtained audio of Wohl and Burkman trying to pressure a potential “victim” into making a false allegation against Buttigieg.

In February, Wohl faked a death threat against himself, then reported the bogus crime to Minneapolis police. This summer, a phone number associated with Wohl was used to threaten a former GOP campaign worker, although Wohl denied involvement in the incident.

The California charge against Wohl, 21, dates back to his pre-politics career in finance.

In 2016, Wohl, then a teenager, portrayed himself in media reports and pitches to potential investors as a hedge fund wunderkind.

Investigators with the National Futures Association started to look into the operations of another Wohl company after a client complained that Wohl claimed to have rapidly increased the client’s $75,000 investment to $89,000. When the client tried to withdraw his money, however, Wohl allegedly only sent back $44,000.

The investigators noted in a report that Wohl’s promotional materials for the company claimed that Wohl had nine years of trading experience. That claim meant that Wohl, then 17 or 18 years old, would have been trading since he was 8 or 9 years old.

Wohl withdrew from the NFA ahead of the investigation, and eventually received a lifetime ban from the group.

Wohl has faced other consequences over his financial work. In 2017, the Arizona Corporation Commission ordered Wohl to pay nearly $33,000 in restitution, as well as an additional $5,000, for alleged violations of securities law. A commission spokeswoman told the Arizona Republic in Nov. 2018 that Wohl had not made any payments on the money that he owed under the fine.

Despite those setbacks, Wohl hasn’t left finance behind entirely. Ahead of the 2020 presidential race, Wohl solicited potential investors on a plan to profit from political betting markets by manipulating them with fake scandals and other fraudulent news stories. It’s not clear what happened to that plan.

[Arturo2nd]

Headlines say that the Federal Reserve Board of Governors does not expect a recession next year. Other headlines state that only a third of academic and professional economists expect a recession in the near future.

https://www.politico.com/story/2019/...ession-1711332

https://time.com/5655251/us-recessio...omists-survey/

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/is-rece...on-until-2021/

Given the track record of these guys, we are probably already in a recession. The economists that the Washington Post surveyed believe that a recession is imminent. Do you suspect bias?

https://www.washingtonpost.com/busin...?noredirect=on

I guess we will know in a year or two.