Political Hippo Circle Jerk - America, farg YEAH!

[Geowhizzer]

Visited my grandfather's grave today, but I waited until after lunch to avoid the crowds.  Don't get into the rah-rah stuff.  Kind of goes against what the holiday means to me, which is more of a quiet reflection.

(Edit:  Pappy didn't die in service, but the day gives me a reason to visit his grave.  I take my kids with me and tell them stories about him, trying in some way to bring him to life for them, as he passed about a year before my oldest was born.)

[ice grillin you]

What is it about days like today that brings out the absolute worst in people on the internet?

Facebook is a just a festering sewer of jingoistic false patriotism today.   I guess it's a requirement now to try and out-do everyone else in the fervor to be politically correct about Memorial Day. 

Jesus...

i block my closest friends on facebook...well not block but i have it set up where none of my friends posts hit my page...god knows why you would read the facebook pages of people you dont really know...and that goes for everyday not just the super annoying ones like yesterday

[ice grillin you]

really cool map on the political shifts thruout the country over the past three elections

http://www.vox.com/2015/5/26/8660229/2004-vs-2012-map

[MDS]

really cool map on the political shifts thruout the country over the past three elections

http://www.vox.com/2015/5/26/8660229/2004-vs-2012-map

lol old school democract ass massachusetts got redder because....because....black dude

[Eagles_Legendz]

Probably because Mitt was running I would assume...

[Geowhizzer]

Probably because Mitt was running I would assume...

Also, Kerry in 2004 was a democrat from Massachusetts.  So that would also add to the swing.

[Diomedes]

Dennis Hastert, Child Molester? 

Who'd a thunk it?

[ice grillin you]

shocker of the century....a fat jabba the hut family value republican loves little boys?

[PhillyPhreak54]

Orgy with the nineteen kids people? Naked bible readings?

[ice grillin you]

this is something...

http://www.vox.com/2015/5/30/8693325/joe-biden-beau

[Geowhizzer]

this is something...

http://www.vox.com/2015/5/30/8693325/joe-biden-beau

Poignant. 

[ice grillin you]

this is something...

http://www.vox.com/2015/5/30/8693325/joe-biden-beau

Poignant.

Really was...same week as fatty hastert....holy polar opposites batman

[General_Failure]

Meanwhile, the Senate voted to extended the Patriot Act again.

[Rome]

The single worst piece of legislation created in this century.  So, of course, let's go ahead and keep spying and collecting massive amounts of information on law-abiding citizens.  Hell, at least people know about it now.  They don't care, but they know.  Besides, if you're not breaking the law, you have nothing to worry about, amirite?

[General_Failure]

Section 215 Expires—For Now

The Senate let three provisions of the Patriot Act expire: Section 215, the section the government uses to collect phone and other business records in bulk, the "Lone Wolf provision," and the "roving wiretap" provision. Section 215 now—at least temporarily—reverts to its pre-Patriot Act form, which doesn't permit any collection of financial or communications records, and requires the Government to provide "specific and articulable facts" supporting a reason to believe that the target is an agent of a foreign power.

All indications are that this lapse will be temporary and that the Senate will soon pass the USA FREEDOM Act, which has small but important improvements over the now-lapsed section 215 and important additional transparency to the secret FISA court. USA Freedom passed the House with overwhelming support.  EFF is neutral on USA Freedom—we think that Congress can do much better and should, but we're still now in a much better place than we've been since the 1970s with regard to Congressional action reining in the NSA.