What's in the news?

[Trieste]

In this particular case, it's not actually McConnell deliberately delaying. The ballots have another week to get in, plus results have to be certified. The earliest that the state could deliver the official document to the Senate informing them of the election and the result is late December, when Congress will be out of session unless they have to remain over the holidays for something. The precincts have until early Januaryish to certify, if they take their sweet time - and that's if they're even meeting the deadline.

McConnell doesn't have to play fast-and-loose with anything. The state of Alabama will delay seating Jones as long as they can, too, which means Strange will be in that seat until 2018 (and could potentially be there until February, depending on how much Alabama drags their feet).

[TheVillain]

I've said it before and I'll say it again. Claiming your position is the morally superior one is way more convincing if you actually act morally superior.

[Trieste]

I think that knife probably cuts both ways.

[TheVillain]

It should cut everybody. It's just that in the US the Christian Conservatives are particularly notorious for preaching morality while being utter sociopaths.

[Lustful Bride]

It should cut everybody. It's just that in the US the Christian Conservatives are particularly notorious for preaching morality while being utter sociopaths.

+1 and not ashamed to admit it :/  Truth hurts but we must admit it.

[Orval Wintermute]

The UK Government has just lost a rather important vote on Brexit. During the referendum the Leavers kept going on about "bringing back control and sovereignty to the UK Parliament from the EU", but the Brexit bill had clauses that would have allowed the Government to do pretty much what it wanted on Brexit without getting Parliamentary approval. In a triumph of democracy Parliament narrowly voted that the Government can't do whatever the hell it likes, of course all of those who were in favor of leaving the EU and "restoring Parliamentary sovereignty" voted against giving Parliament any say in Brexit.

[TheGlyphstone]

For those of us not used to sensible legislative systems, what are the consequences of this for Brexit, in terms of effects and timeframe?

[Orval Wintermute]

Short answer, nobody knows. The amendment that passed forces the Government to give Parliament a "meaningful vote" on the final deal, of course they're already disagreeing about what a "meaningful vote" is. In theory Parliament gets to look at deal and then could send the Government back to the negotiating table if it's not good enough, but that then opens a whole can of worms about the 2 year limit on talks and then what if there is no deal, what would a "meaningful vote" look like then?
All of this just before a major EU summit, where instead of looking "strong and stable" Theresa May will look "weak and wobbly" in front of the people she has to make a deal with.


And the Orange One is at it again, apparently Jones' victory shows just how right he was to back Strange. If there was a way to harness his ego it could power the planet for the next 10 centuries solving the problem of fossil fuels increasing CO2 levels.
https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/940904649728708609

[Oniya]

If there was a way to harness his ego it could power the planet for the next 10 centuries solving the problem of fossil fuels increasing CO2 levels.

Only if it could involve him not expelling so much hot air that he causes more global warming. 

[gaggedLouise]

Only if it could involve him not expelling so much hot air that he causes more global warming. 

Now I know the real sense of the phrase "U R Fired!"

[Missy]

Random funny:



Can you spot the problem?

I saw it before I saw what it was supposed to be

[Ket]

The amendment that passed forces the Government to give Parliament a "meaningful vote" on the final deal,

I'm sorry, I'm not that knowledgeable of how the UK is run. What is the difference between the Government and Parliament?

[Cassandra LeMay]

I'm sorry, I'm not that knowledgeable of how the UK is run. What is the difference between the Government and Parliament?

In a parliamentary system, Parliament is the elected legislative body (like the US Congress), whereas Government (the executive branch) is composed of members of Parliament (usually from the strongest party, or several parties if there is a coalition government). In those systems the head of state is typically not the head of government, unlike the presidential system of the USA. In the UK, for example, the prime minister (Theresa May) is head of government. but the Queen is the head of state. Usually the head of the government is either appointed by the head of state with the consent of Parliament, or nominated by the head of state and then voted on by Parliament. Those details differ between countries that use the parliamentary system.

One potential advantage of this system is that the excutive often has a strong position in the legislative chamber, making the passing of laws easier than in a system where president and parliamentary majority have an adversarial relationship because they belong to different parties. The flipside is that individuals can not really run for the head of the executive, as they need the support of a strong party, unlike presidents who could (in theory) be elected without running on a party ticket.

[Orval Wintermute]

I'm sorry, I'm not that knowledgeable of how the UK is run. What is the difference between the Government and Parliament?

I'll do a very bad job of comparing the UK and US political systems.
The US President is both Head of State and Head of the Executive Branch. UK has the Queen as Head of State but she doesn't have any political authority the Executive part is separate and that's the Government.
Parliament is the equivalent of Congress; two Houses, holds the executive to account etc. Where the big difference is in the US heads of Government departments are appointees that can come from anywhere, the UK counterparts have to come from within Parliament. Because UK department heads have to report back to the House of Commons, they have to be members of the Commons so they can speak on the floor of the House. Where Boris Johnson is both Foreign Secretary and MP for Uxbridge, it'd like Rex Tillerson being both Secretary of State and a Congressman for some safe Republican seat.

[gaggedLouise]

Disney buys Fox for 52 billion $ - and in the process gets a powerful stake in Rupert Murdoch's Sky media empire in Europe

http://www.bbc.com/news/business-42356485

With Disney already owning Lucasfilm and Pixar, this is going to make them, I guess, the leading force in animated and family adventure movies in America.

[Lustful Bride]

Disney buys Fox for 52 billion $ - and in the process gets a powerful stake in Rupert Murdoch's Sky media empire in Europe

http://www.bbc.com/news/business-42356485

With Disney already owning Lucasfilm and Pixar, this is going to make them, I guess, the leading force in animated and family adventure movies in America.

Welp, seems like Disney will be the first Megacorporation in the future.

[gaggedLouise]

Welp, seems like Disney will be the first Megacorporation in the future.

Or even the first Gigacorporation... ^_ ^

[Lustful Bride]

Or even the first Gigacorporation... ^_ ^

Get the netrunners and the Rockerboys ready. 

Time for some Cyberpunking.

[TheGlyphstone]

Welp, seems like Disney will be the first Megacorporation in the future.

Well, Disney World is its own privately owned municipality already.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reedy_Creek_Improvement_District

They contract out law enforcement to nearby county departments, but that's a small change to make for them to become a legally sovereign territory.

[TheVillain]

Get the netrunners and the Rockerboys ready. 

Time for some Cyberpunking.

Sweet. Love me some Cyberpunk, chummer.

[Cassandra LeMay]

This has probably gone underreported with all the Alabama election news and stuff dominating the news, but two of Trump's nominees for federal judgeships apparently just fell through. They are so flawed on various levels that not even Senate Republicans will vote for their president's nominees in these cases.

[Orval Wintermute]

A few weeks back Britain First hit the headlines after Trump retweeted their misleading, racist videos. The leaders of Britain First were charged with hate speech offenses in Ireland back in May and today they were in court for the formal reading of charges. Now here's where it gets fun, on their way into court the leader and deputy leader were re-arrested for committing the same hate speech offenses earlier this week. Some people just don't learn.

[Hades]

A few weeks back Britain First hit the headlines after Trump retweeted their misleading, racist videos. The leaders of Britain First were charged with hate speech offenses in Ireland back in May and today they were in court for the formal reading of charges. Now here's where it gets fun, on their way into court the leader and deputy leader were re-arrested for committing the same hate speech offenses earlier this week. Some people just don't learn.

I would imagine it is less that they didn't learn and more that they are taking the old adage of "bad publicity is better than no publicity".  Groups like this need media attention to be in the spotlight and maybe draw in that one or two new members each time they're on the TV screen or have an article written about them.  If they get arrested, face penalties, and so forth as a result of spewing their hateful gibberish, more the better for them because that allows them to present themselves as martyrs to the cause, and that keeps their base happy and the money rolling in from the yokels.

[Lustful Bride]

I would imagine it is less that they didn't learn and more that they are taking the old adage of "bad publicity is better than no publicity".  Groups like this need media attention to be in the spotlight and maybe draw in that one or two new members each time they're on the TV screen or have an article written about them.  If they get arrested, face penalties, and so forth as a result of spewing their hateful gibberish, more the better for them because that allows them to present themselves as martyrs to the cause, and that keeps their base happy and the money rolling in from the yokels.

Same trick the WBC loves to use when protesting funerals.

[DominantPoet]

Disney buys Fox for 52 billion $ - and in the process gets a powerful stake in Rupert Murdoch's Sky media empire in Europe

http://www.bbc.com/news/business-42356485

With Disney already owning Lucasfilm and Pixar, this is going to make them, I guess, the leading force in animated and family adventure movies in America.

I'm psyched and sad about this.

Psyched because Marvel movie rights now reside under the same banner once again for the most part. Sony is playing ball and Disney just outright buys Fox, haha! Awesome Now we can see what this Dark Phoenix movie amounts to, then someone can get to work making GOOD X-Men films.

Sad, however, because apparently Fox News and like parts of Fox in general are being spun off into their own company. So Trump doesn't have a reason to get pissy about one of the only news sources he trusts. Yet. Crossing my fingers Fox News still gets a major overhaul due to this and pisses Pumpkinhead off none the less