About That Pardon Power ...

Many of the same people who are (correctly) pointing out that US president Donald Trump was constitutionally empowered to pardon terror kingpin Joe Arpaio continue to whine about "Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals," former US president Barack Obama's reprieve of punishment (deportation) for immigrants who came to the US as children with parents who didn't get the (unconstitutionally) required permission slip.

So, recap:

The President shall be Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, and of the Militia of the several States, when called into the actual Service of the United States; he may require the Opinion, in writing, of the principal Officer in each of the executive Departments, upon any Subject relating to the Duties of their respective Offices, and he shall have Power to grant Reprieves and Pardons for Offences against the United States, except in Cases of Impeachment. -- Article II, Section 2, US Constitution (emphasis mine)

Any questions?

The KN@PP Stir Podcast, Episode 135: Now We're Not Cooking With Gas

This episode of The KN@PP Stir Podcast is brought to you by Paul Stanton, who wants me to throw some peace at ya. So, OK, I encourage you to check out Antiwar.com, the Libertarians For Peace Facebook group, and Veterans For Peace.





In this episode: A bunch of digression concerning the fine art of slow-smoking ribs :: Thanks For Asking! (El Caudillo del Maricopa; Trust not in antitrust litigation; It's my party and I'll cry if I want to) :: The Lollipop Guild wants its credit limit increased.

Meeting of the Minds ...

For various reasons (including work for clients), I'm always keeping an eye on new social media outlets. Lately I've been using Minds. (yes, that's a referral link -- they have reward/affiliate mojo, although I haven't signed up for the financial affiliate part; you can accumulate "points" with which to "boost" your posts, that is, have them displayed on timelines of people you aren't connected to yet).

Minds has been around for a couple of years (in public release, but it had a lengthy development period). It's trending lately (meaning I finally noticed it) as one of the "free speech alternatives" for various types of posters/content becoming less and less welcome at e.g. Facebook and Twitter. That means everything from open racism to porn (or at least porn-ish stuff). Lots of "regular" content as well for those who aren't comfortable with the uglier or racier stuff (I've done a bit of blocking myself).

I like the format at Minds. The timelines are somewhat like Twitter without the 140-character limit. Not a lot of formatting flexibility, but you can post full articles. There are also interest "groups" a la Facebook.

If social media's your thing, it's worth checking out. So far I'm liking it better than most of the "alternatives to the big dogs" that I've seen.