Outside the Beltway

Comments

1. OzarkHillbilly says:
   Sunday, 12 November 2023 at 06:13

   I’m not gonna bother reading the article, there is probably nothing in it I don’t already know. But the pic of trump is perfect.

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2. charontwo says:
   Sunday, 12 November 2023 at 07:26

   On Jan. 6, there were a bunch of white flags with green pine trees in the crowd at the Capitol.

   The significance: The NAR (New Apostolic Reformation), a Christian Nationalist bunch that our new Speaker Michael Johnson is tight with.

   “Digby”

   You know by now that Mike Johnson is a far right theocrat who should not be let anywhere near power in our constitutional republic. His beliefs are way beyond the pale even for most evangelicals. But it gets worse. Keen eyes spotted a flag outside his office last week that tells a much more disturbing story:

   “NAR”

   The New Apostolic Reformation (NAR) is a dominionist movement which asserts that God is restoring the lost offices of church governance, namely the offices of Prophet and Apostle.

   Leading figures in this seemingly loosely organized movement claim that these prophets and apostles alone have the power and authority to execute God’s plans and purposes on earth. They believe they are laying the foundation for a global church, governed by them.

   They place a greater emphasis on dreams, visions and extra-biblical revelation than they do on the Bible, claiming that their revealed teachings and reported experiences (e.g. trips to heaven, face-to-face conversations with Jesus, visits by angels) can not be proven by the ‘old’ Scripture.

   “SevenMountains“

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3. OzarkHillbilly says:
   Sunday, 12 November 2023 at 07:34

   Four Ohio Republican state lawmakers are seeking to strip judges of their power to interpret an abortion rights amendment after voters opted to enshrine those rights in the state’s constitution this week.

   Republican state house representatives Jennifer Gross, Bill Dean, Melanie Miller and Beth Lear said in a news release on Thursday that they will push to have Ohio’s legislature – not the courts – make any decisions about the amendment passed on Tuesday.

   “To prevent mischief by pro-abortion courts with [the amendment], Ohio legislators will consider removing jurisdiction from the judiciary over this ambiguous ballot initiative,” said the mix of fairly new and veteran lawmakers who are all vice-chairs of various house committees. “The Ohio legislature alone will consider what, if any, modifications to make to existing laws based on public hearings and input from legal experts on both sides.”
   ………………………
   If the amendment or any other abortion restrictions were to end up being challenged in the courts, it’s unclear how they would fare. The state supreme court has a conservative majority and has the final say over state constitutional issues.

   The GOP just plain and simply does not believe women have rights beyond those allowed by men. And taking note that 3 of the 4 wannabe autocrats are women, I can only say Stockholm Syndrome.

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4. OzarkHillbilly says:
   Sunday, 12 November 2023 at 08:00

   She first came to Bristol in 2021 as a research associate on a £1.3m EU-funded project on literary activism in Africa. Her field work required her to spend large amounts of time in Kenya, so the family decided it was not necessary to uproot her daughter.

   However, when she was offered a permanent lecturer position, she committed to starting a new life in the UK with her daughter. Her husband, who is also an academic, cannot look after his daughter because he travels a lot for research, but hopes to move to the UK.

   Kiguru returned to Kenya to apply for her daughter’s visa in July. Expecting no problems, she had enrolled her at a primary school in Bristol from September and bought her uniform.

   The visa process should take 15 working days, but it was not until Bristol University intervened at the start of November that she discovered her daughter’s application had been rejected earlier in October. She now has only one week left to appeal.

   The Home Office’s rejection said it saw “no compassionate grounds” on which to allow the child to join her mother. The letter, addressed to the six-year-old girl, added: “It was your mother’s personal decision to depart for the UK.”

   As infuriating as that is, I had to laugh at this little tidbit near the end:

   A recent report by the Royal Society found academic visas were often rejected for “arbitrary and subjective” reasons. It said African nationals applying for a visitor’s visa – which scientists need to attend research conferences in the UK – were three to four times more likely to be rejected than applicants in east Asia.

   The report described a research conference that was focused on gathering insights from the global south, but ended up with no attenders from that part of the world.

   Stupid is as stupid does.

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5. CSK says:
   Sunday, 12 November 2023 at 08:08

   @OzarkHillbilly:

   Chef’s kiss for that pic.

   1
6. MarkedMan says:
   Sunday, 12 November 2023 at 10:29

   This is for Jax as the thread it started on is now dead: You might want to talk to a lawyer just so you understand your legal standing, regardless of what you decide for family reasons.

   5
7. Jax says:
   Sunday, 12 November 2023 at 10:48

   @MarkedMan: Thanks, I’m planning on it. My Mom has been admitted to the hospital, she’s very weak and can’t/won’t eat/drink enough to keep herself going. I may have to fly down there later this week.

   2
8. Sleeping Dog says:
   Sunday, 12 November 2023 at 10:49

   @Jax:

   Hoping for the best for your mother.

   2
9. OzarkHillbilly says:
   Sunday, 12 November 2023 at 10:54

   @Jax: Sorry to hear this.

   1
10. Jax says:
    Sunday, 12 November 2023 at 12:49

    The worst part is not being there to see for myself how she’s doing, and not being able to bring her home because her oncologist is down there. I can’t even talk to her, she’s too weak to call. She was very weak when she left to go back down there, since then they’ve removed another tumor off her bladder, and her general health has continued to deteriorate. I’m not sure what treatment options are left as far as the cancer in her bladder, other than removing it. I don’t think she’s strong enough for that kind of surgery right now.
11. CSK says:
    Sunday, 12 November 2023 at 12:59

    @Jax:

    Stay strong, and know we’re with you.

    2
12. Gustopher says:
    Sunday, 12 November 2023 at 14:51

    @Jax: Oof. I’m sorry to hear that, and I’m really sorry to hear that on top of everything else. That’s a lot to be going through. I’m so sorry.

    2
13. Just nutha ignint crackere says:
    Sunday, 12 November 2023 at 14:57

    @Jax: I happened to be in Seattle when the nursing home decided that my mom needed to go into hospice care and was available to sign the papers. My thoughts and prayers are with you.

    2
14. JohnSF says:
    Sunday, 12 November 2023 at 17:16

    @Jax:
    I wish for the best for you and yours.
15. Bobinyoungstown says:
    Sunday, 12 November 2023 at 20:56

    @Jax: Thinking about you and praying for the best for you and family.
16. JKB says:
    Sunday, 12 November 2023 at 23:48

    Seems AP, CNN, NY Times had photojournalists on a ride along with the Hamas rapist and murderers. Not unlike how CNN film crews show up when the FBI raid Democrats’ political opponents. Except, so far, the FBI has refrained from rape.

    On October 7, four photojournalists who provide reporting and photos for the likes of the Associated Press (AP), CNN, the New York Times, Reuters, and other outlets were allegedly at the Israeli border with Hamas terrorists who committed acts of atrocities against innocent Israeli civilians that shocked the world. Since an Israel-supporting news watchdog website reported the claim, everyone wants to know if these Gaza-based reporters knew in advance about the attack and, more importantly, if they could have saved lives by alerting the world about it. The question arises: Did the AP, CNN, the New York Times, and Reuters know about the Hamas terror attack in advance?

    Of course, in May 2021, the crack reporters at the AP were shocked, shocked they said to discover their offices were in the same building as Hamas. A building the IDF called to give them an hour warning before it was demolished.

    The AP declared the strike “shocking and horrifying.” By contrast, the AP expressed no shock or horror to find itself housed with Hamas. The AP asserted that it knew nothing about the presence of Hamas.