Is this a trend? Actually listening to homeless people? Daily Bullshit, August 13, 2016 (updated)

Updated for an article on the possible collapse of the Islamic State^[1] and an article arguing for the expulsion of Turkey from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).^[2]

Homelessness

I’m just not sure what to make of this. Yesterday, I saw a story in which, at the direction of Albuquerque’s Republican mayor, workers are actually “[g]enuinely ask[ing] why they are in the predicament they are.”^[3]
Today, I see a county supervisor in rock-solid Republican Orange County talking about “sit[ting] and talk[ing] with people who are currently living at the Civic Center”^[4] and learning that they really need access to bathrooms at night.^[5] I hope it’s a trend. We could do with a lot more listening and a lot less lecturing to the poor generally.

Jordan Graham, “Bathrooms for homeless to be installed at Santa Ana Civic Center,” Orange County Register, August 11, 2016, http://www.ocregister.com/articles/homeless-725476-civic-center.html

Failed Turkish Coup

I realize I’m supposed to believe it’s better that the coup failed. But given all that has transpired since,^[6] I’m having a harder and harder time with that claim. Doug Bandow recommends expelling Turkey from NATO;^[7] a move I would not oppose, even if Bandow writes for capitalist libertarians.

Doug Bandow, “Toss Turkey Out Of NATO,” Cato, August 9, 2016, http://www.cato.org/blog/toss-turkey-out-nato

Deutschewelle, “Turkey says no compromise on Gülen extradition ahead of US VP Biden visit,” August 13, 2016, http://www.dw.com/en/turkey-says-no-compromise-on-g%C3%BClen-extradition-ahead-of-us-vp-biden-visit/a-19473023

Steve Andreasen, “Let’s get our nuclear weapons out of Turkey,” Los Angeles Times, August 11, 2016, http://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-andreasen-nuclear-weapons-turkey-20160811-snap-story.html

Racist Police

Jelani Cobb, “The Ordinary Outrage of the Baltimore Police Report,” New Yorker, August 12, 2016, http://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/the-ordinary-outrage-of-the-baltimore-police-report

Islamic State

Mohammed Nuruzzaman, “Is the ISIS Caliphate Collapsing?” National Interest, August 13, 2016, http://nationalinterest.org/feature/the-isis-caliphate-collapsing-17338

1. ^[1]Mohammed Nuruzzaman, “Is the ISIS Caliphate Collapsing?” National Interest, August 13, 2016, http://nationalinterest.org/feature/the-isis-caliphate-collapsing-17338↩
2. ^[2]Doug Bandow, “Toss Turkey Out Of NATO,” Cato, August 9, 2016, http://www.cato.org/blog/toss-turkey-out-nato↩
3. ^[3]Kellie Tillerson, quoted in Colby Itkowitz, “This Republican mayor has an incredibly simple idea to help the homeless. And it seems to be working,” Washington Post, August 11, 2016, https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/inspired-life/wp/2016/08/11/this-republican-mayor-has-an-incredibly-simple-idea-to-help-the-homeless-and-it-seems-to-be-working/↩
4. ^[4]Andrew Do, quoted in Jordan Graham, “Bathrooms for homeless to be installed at Santa Ana Civic Center,” Orange County Register, August 11, 2016, http://www.ocregister.com/articles/homeless-725476-civic-center.html↩
5. ^[5]Jordan Graham, “Bathrooms for homeless to be installed at Santa Ana Civic Center,” Orange County Register, August 11, 2016, http://www.ocregister.com/articles/homeless-725476-civic-center.html↩
6. ^[6]Associated Press, “Arrests mount in Turkey after failed coup,” Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, July 21, 2016, http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/arrests-mount-in-turkey-after-failed-coup-1.3688939; Robert-Jan Bartunek, “Turkey government seemed to have list of arrests prepared: EU’s Hahn,” Reuters, July 18, 2016, http://www.reuters.com/article/us-turkey-security-eu-hahn-idUSKCN0ZY0EA; Ken Bredemeier, “Turkey Escalates Purge of Teachers, Workers Allegedly Connected to Failed Coup,” Global Security, July 19, 2016, http://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/library/news/turkey/2016/turkey-160719-voa01.htm; British Broadcasting Corporation, “Turkey coup attempt: Crackdown toll passes 50,000,” July 20, 2016, http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-36842073; Deutschewelle, “Turkish President Erdogan declares three-month state of emergency following coup attempt,” July 20, 2016, http://www.dw.com/en/turkish-president-erdogan-declares-three-month-state-of-emergency-following-coup-attempt/a-19415502; Deutschewelle, “Turkey says no compromise on Gülen extradition ahead of US VP Biden visit,” August 13, 2016, http://www.dw.com/en/turkey-says-no-compromise-on-g%C3%BClen-extradition-ahead-of-us-vp-biden-visit/a-19473023; Pinar Ersoy, “Women are being silenced in Turkey’s crackdown,” Public Radio International, July 19, 2016, http://www.pri.org/stories/2016-07-19/women-are-being-silenced-turkeys-crackdown↩
7. ^[7]Doug Bandow, “Toss Turkey Out Of NATO,” Cato, August 9, 2016, http://www.cato.org/blog/toss-turkey-out-nato↩