Day: May 14, 2017

The cases of Rachel Dolezal and Caitlyn Jenner, regurgitated: Daily Bullshit, May 9-14, 2017

benfell

Updates

  1. May 9, 3:58 pm:
  2. May 9, 6:12 pm:
    • Philip Bobbitt doubts the stated rationale for James Comey’s firing.[2]
  3. May 9, 8:09 pm:
  4. May 9, 9:43 pm:
    • James Comey’s firing had been under consideration for at least a week but very few knew about it, even as Donald Trump sent the letter.[4]
  5. May 10, 12:13 pm:
  6. May 11, 1:51 am:
    • The emerging (and, of course, infallible) media consensus is that Donald Trump fired James Comey because the FBI was investigating alleged links between the Trump campaign and Russia.[6]
    • Many Democratic Senators want a special prosecutor appointed to investigate the Trump campaign’s alleged links with Russia prior to confirmation of James Comey’s successor, but Republicans disagree and don’t need Democratic support.[7] (Golden Showers)
    • A Cato Institute fellow pulls together a lot of thinking about James Comey’s firing (and this is an area where capitalist libertarian analyses are often useful).[8]
  7. May 12, 2:21 am:
    • The White House shit show is on full display in the James Comey firing as its explanations for the firing keep changing.[9]
    • The next time someone ridicules the idea of a “deep state,” remember this article by Zack Beauchamp in Vox suggesting that Donald Trump has made an enemy of the FBI that he doesn’t want to make, complete with ideas on how the Bureau might exact its revenge.[10] (James Comey)
    • The judge in Waymo’s suit against Uber for theft of trade secrets has asked federal prosecutors to investigate and temporarily partially restrained Uber in its self-driving car program.[11]
  8. May 12, 12:57 pm:
    • A federal appellate court has ruled that the civil suit in the Andy Lopez shooting by a Sonoma County Sheriff’s deputy should go before a jury.[12]
  9. May 13, 1:45 am:
    • Jordan Fabian writes that “President Trump added fuel to the fire engulfing his White House on Friday,”[13] which feels like an understatement. (James Comey)
  10. May 13, 12:32 pm:
    • This really is trouble for Uber that its lawyers (not that they seem to be doing so well in what they should be doing) can’t get it out of: The engineers who develop its self-driving car technology are jumping ship.[14]
  11. May 14, 9:05 am:
    • Wired’s Aarian Marshall fleshes out what I’m looking at in my suspicions regarding Uber’s seemingly increasingly perilous fight with Waymo.[15]
    • Former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper thinks U.S. institutions are under assault both from outside—Russia—and inside—Donald Trump—the country.[16] (Golden Showers)

Trangenderism and tranracialism

I comment on all this in a research journal entry.[17] But if you read nothing else on this, you should read Suzanna Danuta Walters who, actually having read Rebecca Tuvel’s article, and being a journal editor herself, condemns the reaction to Rebecca Tuvel’s article.

Suzanna Danuta Walters, “Academe’s Poisonous Call-Out Culture,” Chronicle of Higher Education, May 5, 2017, http://www.chronicle.com/article/Academe-s-Poisonous-Call-Out/240016

Lindsay McKenzie, Adam Harris, and Fernanda Zamudio-Suaréz, “A Journal Article Provoked a Schism in Philosophy. Now the Rifts Are Deepening,” Chronicle of Higher Education, May 6, 2017, http://www.chronicle.com/article/A-Journal-Article-Provoked-a/240021

Kelly Oliver, “If this is feminism…,” Philosophical Salon, May 8, 2017, http://thephilosophicalsalon.com/if-this-is-feminism-its-been-hijacked-by-the-thought-police/

Shannon Winnubst, “Why Tuvel’s Article So Troubled Its Critics,” Chronicle of Higher Education, May 8, 2017, http://www.chronicle.com/article/Why-Tuvel-s-Article-So/240029

James Comey

I’m usually not into the personality parade. I see it as a distraction from what they’re doing, and it’s what they’re actually doing that I think matters. I felt James Comey had managed to lose the trust of both Republicans and Democrats in his handling of the Hillary Clinton email scandal, but apparently while “his actions over the past six months may have drawn down that reservoir of goodwill, . . . they have not exhausted it.”[18] And at a time when his agency is looking into Donald Trump’s alleged Russian connection, I just don’t see is how anybody Trump appoints to replace him will be more trustworthy at a time when, even more than usual, we desperately need someone trustworthy. And of course it’s seriously nuts that the White House either cannot or does not care to be bothered to get its story straight on the reasons for this firing.[19] I mean, it isn’t just like “President Trump added fuel to the fire engulfing his White House on Friday,”[20] but rather Trump as arsonist to his own White House.

Philip Bobbitt, “The Comey Firing and the Rule of Law,” Just Security, May 9, 2017, https://www.justsecurity.org/40761/comey-firing-rule-law/

Jordan Fabian and Katie Bo Williams, “Trump fires FBI Director Comey,” Hill, May 9, 2017, http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/332613-trump-fires-comey

Josh Dawsey, “Behind Comey’s firing: An enraged Trump, fuming about Russia,” Politico, May 10, 2017, http://www.politico.com/story/2017/05/10/comey-firing-trump-russia-238192

Andrew Prokop, “More and more reporting is suggesting that Trump fired Comey because of the Russia investigation,” Vox, May 10, 2017, https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/5/10/15616344/trump-comey-russia

Julian Sanchez, “Some Obvious Thoughts About the Comey Firing,” Just Security, May 10, 2017, https://www.justsecurity.org/40770/obvious-thoughts-comey-firing/

Zack Beauchamp, “Why the FBI might wage “war” on Trump — and how they would actually do it,” Vox, May 11, 2017, https://www.vox.com/world/2017/5/11/15624544/fbi-trump-comey-war

Aaron Blake, “The White House explanations for Comey’s firing are crumbling before our eyes,” Washington Post, May 11, 2017, https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2017/05/11/the-white-house-explanations-for-comeys-firing-are-crumbling-before-our-eyes/

Josh Gerstein and Josh Dawsey, “Rosenstein takes heat over role in Comey firing,” Politico, May 11, 2017, http://www.politico.com/story/2017/05/11/rod-rosenstein-blamed-james-comey-firing-238266

Andrew Prokop, “Trump has now admitted he fired Comey because of the Russia investigation,” Vox, May 11, 2017, https://www.vox.com/2017/5/11/15628276/trump-comey-fired-russia

Byron Tau, Del Quentin Wilber, and Paul Sonne, “Acting FBI Head Says Agents Supported Comey, Contradicting White House,” Wall Street Journal, May 11, 2017, https://www.wsj.com/articles/acting-fbi-head-to-testify-days-after-comey-firing-1494495005

Jordan Fabian, “Trump’s warning to Comey deepens White House crisis,” Hill, May 12, 2017, http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/333212-trumps-warning-to-comey-deepens-crisis-for-white-house

Golden Showers

Seung Min Kim and Elana Schor, Partisan brawl shaping up on Comey replacement,” Politico, May 10, 2017, http://www.politico.com/story/2017/05/10/comey-fbi-trump-democrats-238231

Eli Watkins, “Clapper: US institutions ‘under assault,'” CNN, May 14, 2017, http://www.cnn.com/2017/05/14/politics/james-clapper-russia-collusion/index.html

Uber

I am not a lawyer, so I can’t say this[21] looks bad for Uber, but it sure sounds bad for Uber. And apparently the engineers who develop the company’s self-driving car technology agree.[22] If indeed “the development of self-driving cars is ‘existential’ to Uber,”[23] and the company has indeed bet its bank accordingly, the notion that Uber can survive probably moves from doubtful to fantasy. And here’s Aarian Marshall to flesh that out.[24]

Ryan Felton, “Self-Driving Engineers Are Looking To Flee Uber’s Sinking Ship,” Jalopnik, May 12, 2017, http://jalopnik.com/self-driving-engineers-are-looking-to-flee-ubers-sinkin-1795162066

Jack Nicas, “Judge Asks Federal Prosecutors to Investigate Uber’s Driverless Car Program,” Wall Street Journal, May 12, 2017, https://www.wsj.com/articles/judge-asks-federal-prosecutors-to-investigate-ubers-driverless-car-program-1494559677

Aarian Marshall, “Google’s Fight Against Uber Takes a Turn for the Criminal,” Wired, May 12, 2017, https://www.wired.com/2017/05/googles-fight-uber-takes-turn-criminal/

Andy Lopez

Paul Payne, “Erick Gelhaus may face jury in civil lawsuit over Andy Lopez shooting,” Santa Rosa Press-Democrat, May 12, 2017, http://www.pressdemocrat.com/news/6984782-181/justices-deadly-threat-not-there

  1. [1]Jordan Fabian and Katie Bo Williams, “Trump fires FBI Director Comey,” Hill, May 9, 2017, http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/332613-trump-fires-comey↩
  2. [2]Philip Bobbitt, “The Comey Firing and the Rule of Law,” Just Security, May 9, 2017, https://www.justsecurity.org/40761/comey-firing-rule-law/↩
  3. [3]Kelly Oliver, “If this is feminism…,” Philosophical Salon, May 8, 2017, http://thephilosophicalsalon.com/if-this-is-feminism-its-been-hijacked-by-the-thought-police/↩
  4. [4]Josh Dawsey, “Behind Comey’s firing: An enraged Trump, fuming about Russia,” Politico, May 10, 2017, http://www.politico.com/story/2017/05/10/comey-firing-trump-russia-238192↩
  5. [5]Suzanna Danuta Walters, “Academe’s Poisonous Call-Out Culture,” Chronicle of Higher Education, May 5, 2017, http://www.chronicle.com/article/Academe-s-Poisonous-Call-Out/240016↩
  6. [6]Andrew Prokop, “More and more reporting is suggesting that Trump fired Comey because of the Russia investigation,” Vox, May 10, 2017, https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/5/10/15616344/trump-comey-russia↩
  7. [7]Seung Min Kim and Elana Schor, Partisan brawl shaping up on Comey replacement,” Politico, May 10, 2017, http://www.politico.com/story/2017/05/10/comey-fbi-trump-democrats-238231↩
  8. [8]Julian Sanchez, “Some Obvious Thoughts About the Comey Firing,” Just Security, May 10, 2017, https://www.justsecurity.org/40770/obvious-thoughts-comey-firing/↩
  9. [9]Aaron Blake, “The White House explanations for Comey’s firing are crumbling before our eyes,” Washington Post, May 11, 2017, https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2017/05/11/the-white-house-explanations-for-comeys-firing-are-crumbling-before-our-eyes/; Josh Gerstein and Josh Dawsey, “Rosenstein takes heat over role in Comey firing,” Politico, May 11, 2017, http://www.politico.com/story/2017/05/11/rod-rosenstein-blamed-james-comey-firing-238266; Andrew Prokop, “Trump has now admitted he fired Comey because of the Russia investigation,” Vox, May 11, 2017, https://www.vox.com/2017/5/11/15628276/trump-comey-fired-russia; Byron Tau, Del Quentin Wilber, and Paul Sonne, “Acting FBI Head Says Agents Supported Comey, Contradicting White House,” Wall Street Journal, May 11, 2017, https://www.wsj.com/articles/acting-fbi-head-to-testify-days-after-comey-firing-1494495005↩
  10. [10]Zack Beauchamp, “Why the FBI might wage “war” on Trump — and how they would actually do it,” Vox, May 11, 2017, https://www.vox.com/world/2017/5/11/15624544/fbi-trump-comey-war↩
  11. [11]Jack Nicas, “Judge Asks Federal Prosecutors to Investigate Uber’s Driverless Car Program,” Wall Street Journal, May 12, 2017, https://www.wsj.com/articles/judge-asks-federal-prosecutors-to-investigate-ubers-driverless-car-program-1494559677↩
  12. [12]Paul Payne, “Erick Gelhaus may face jury in civil lawsuit over Andy Lopez shooting,” Santa Rosa Press-Democrat, May 12, 2017, http://www.pressdemocrat.com/news/6984782-181/justices-deadly-threat-not-there↩
  13. [13]Jordan Fabian, “Trump’s warning to Comey deepens White House crisis,” Hill, May 12, 2017, http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/333212-trumps-warning-to-comey-deepens-crisis-for-white-house↩
  14. [14]Ryan Felton, “Self-Driving Engineers Are Looking To Flee Uber’s Sinking Ship,” Jalopnik, May 12, 2017, http://jalopnik.com/self-driving-engineers-are-looking-to-flee-ubers-sinkin-1795162066↩
  15. [15]Aarian Marshall, “Google’s Fight Against Uber Takes a Turn for the Criminal,” Wired, May 12, 2017, https://www.wired.com/2017/05/googles-fight-uber-takes-turn-criminal/↩
  16. [16]Eli Watkins, “Clapper: US institutions ‘under assault,'” CNN, May 14, 2017, http://www.cnn.com/2017/05/14/politics/james-clapper-russia-collusion/index.html↩
  17. [17]David Benfell, “Transracialism and transgenderism, revisited,” May 9, 2017, https://parts-unknown.org/drupal7/journal/2017/05/09/transracialism-and-transgenderism-revisited↩
  18. [18]Julian Sanchez, “Some Obvious Thoughts About the Comey Firing,” Just Security, May 10, 2017, https://www.justsecurity.org/40770/obvious-thoughts-comey-firing/↩
  19. [19]Aaron Blake, “The White House explanations for Comey’s firing are crumbling before our eyes,” Washington Post, May 11, 2017, https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2017/05/11/the-white-house-explanations-for-comeys-firing-are-crumbling-before-our-eyes/; Josh Gerstein and Josh Dawsey, “Rosenstein takes heat over role in Comey firing,” Politico, May 11, 2017, http://www.politico.com/story/2017/05/11/rod-rosenstein-blamed-james-comey-firing-238266; Andrew Prokop, “Trump has now admitted he fired Comey because of the Russia investigation,” Vox, May 11, 2017, https://www.vox.com/2017/5/11/15628276/trump-comey-fired-russia; Byron Tau, Del Quentin Wilber, and Paul Sonne, “Acting FBI Head Says Agents Supported Comey, Contradicting White House,” Wall Street Journal, May 11, 2017, https://www.wsj.com/articles/acting-fbi-head-to-testify-days-after-comey-firing-1494495005↩
  20. [20]Jordan Fabian, “Trump’s warning to Comey deepens White House crisis,” Hill, May 12, 2017, http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/333212-trumps-warning-to-comey-deepens-crisis-for-white-house↩
  21. [21]Jack Nicas, “Judge Asks Federal Prosecutors to Investigate Uber’s Driverless Car Program,” Wall Street Journal, May 12, 2017, https://www.wsj.com/articles/judge-asks-federal-prosecutors-to-investigate-ubers-driverless-car-program-1494559677↩
  22. [22]Ryan Felton, “Self-Driving Engineers Are Looking To Flee Uber’s Sinking Ship,” Jalopnik, May 12, 2017, http://jalopnik.com/self-driving-engineers-are-looking-to-flee-ubers-sinkin-1795162066↩
  23. [23]Ryan Felton, “Uber Is Doomed,” Jalopnik, February 24, 2017, http://jalopnik.com/uber-is-doomed-1792634203↩
  24. [24]Aarian Marshall, “Google’s Fight Against Uber Takes a Turn for the Criminal,” Wired, May 12, 2017, https://www.wired.com/2017/05/googles-fight-uber-takes-turn-criminal/↩