I read the news today, oh boy

[Lethal Interjection]

http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/bison-calf-1.3585204

In summary:
Some ignorant tourists came upon a bison calf in Yellowstone National Park. Thinking it was too cold outside, the tourists loaded the calf into their vehicle. Park rangers were unable to reunite the calf with the bison herd and had to put it down.

Maybe I shouldn't find this story funny but I do. If it makes me a bad person, fine. It can't make me as bad as the sheer ignorance of these tourists does. And any shame I might feel for laughing must pale in comparison with the shame that the tourists must feel since their gross ignorance and horribly misplaced 'compassion' resulting in the bison calf being euthanized.

[Kaharz]

If stupid crap like this was far less common, I might find a dark humor in it. But unfortunately people going out into parks and causing damage either willfully or due to ignorance happens too much for me. Yellowstone does get around 2M visitors a year, and most of them don't make a mess of things. But between crap like this, people trespassing into fragile areas, people trying to take selfies with bears, idiots starting forest fires, and the uptick in graffiti, it is getting tiresome. I used just have broken glass strewn all over campsites and permenant fire rings in random back country to be annoyed about.

[Liriodendron_fagotti]

I want them to be thrown in jail. And yeah, like Kaharz said, it's more symptomatic than anything else. My family was planning on going to Montana/Yellowstone this year, then remembered Nat. Geo listed it as their Nat'l Park of the Year for the whateverth anniversary of the park system*, so will doubtlessly be even way more crowded than normal.

*Understandably, since it was the first national park anywhere, ever**
**Followed by the Royal Nat'l Park south of Sydney!

[smiley_cow]

http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/bison-calf-1.3585204

In summary:
Some ignorant tourists came upon a bison calf in Yellowstone National Park. Thinking it was too cold outside, the tourists loaded the calf into their vehicle. Park rangers were unable to reunite the calf with the bison herd and had to put it down.

Maybe I shouldn't find this story funny but I do. If it makes me a bad person, fine. It can't make me as bad as the sheer ignorance of these tourists does. And any shame I might feel for laughing must pale in comparison with the shame that the tourists must feel since their gross ignorance and horribly misplaced 'compassion' resulting in the bison calf being euthanized.

This story was so weird for me because it broke the same day as a local much less depressing bison calf story. (Sioux Valley being about a 20 minute drive from here.)

Fun fact: apparently white bison only occur in about 1 in every 10 million births.

[Lethal Interjection]

That would be a little confusing and weird, having both stories pop up simultaneously and unrelatedly (I assume, anyways).

[smiley_cow]

'Pokemon Go' players find corpse in San Diego park

I can't believe people have found three dead bodies so far playing Pokemon Go.

[DonRetrasado]

I guess people just weren't going outside a lot before Pokemon Go came around.

EDIT:

“That’s not a part of the game,” Easter said.

[smiley_cow]

'Pokemon Go' players find corpse in San Diego park

I can't believe people have found three dead bodies so far playing Pokemon Go.

Danish Pokémon Go player finds dead body

I can't believe pokemon go players have already found four dead bodies.

[Lethal Interjection]

'Pokemon Go' players find corpse in San Diego park

I can't believe people have found three dead bodies so far playing Pokemon Go.

Danish Pokémon Go player finds dead body

I can't believe pokemon go players have already found four dead bodies.

And as chilling as that is, it's still kind of awesome. Not for that particular player, obviously. But awesome because it could mean for quicker resolutions for those crimes, not to mention potentially fresher evidence.

[smiley_cow]

Interestingly enough, so far no one is ruling any of the deaths foul play. Though it probably wasn't fun for the people who found them, their families are probably relieved to know they've been found.

[Lethal Interjection]

Trying to get a broader perspective...

What are the ropes that Trump/GOP think they are up against? That seems to be the basis for their platform.

I don't think many (if any) swing at all in that political direction. I'm really just grasping at straws, trying to see their perspective. As fundamentally flawed as it might be.

[Liriodendron_fagotti]

Publicized attacks on police = total state of lawlessness and anarchy. Ignore the fact that they're only 3 higher than this time last year. Gotta have a strongman to restore rule of law. Same goes for ISIS - no GOPer can say what they would do that Obama isn't already doing, yet Obama is clearly making a huge mess of it. Obamacare is a failure even though over 11 million more USians have health insurance now. Trump even expressed support for universal healthcare as a "well duh", but GOPers didn't notice/care because they only want to be in power/soil Obama's image/defeat Hillary.

They've got to portray Obama's America as a failed state despite his 51% approval rate. For reference, GWB's approval rate when he left office was 22%. Bill left office with a 65% approval (but Gore tried to distance himself from Bill cause of the sexxi business).

[Lethal Interjection]

Publicized attacks on police = total state of lawlessness and anarchy. Ignore the fact that they're only 3 higher than this time last year. Gotta have a strongman to restore rule of law. Same goes for ISIS - no GOPer can say what they would do that Obama isn't already doing, yet Obama is clearly making a huge mess of it. Obamacare is a failure even though over 11 million more USians have health insurance now. Trump even expressed support for universal healthcare as a "well duh", but GOPers didn't notice/care because they only want to be in power/soil Obama's image/defeat Hillary.

They've got to portray Obama's America as a failed state despite his 51% approval rate. For reference, GWB's approval rate when he left office was 22%. Bill left office with a 65% approval (but Gore tried to distance himself from Bill cause of the sexxi business).

Okay, that's more or less what I've picked up from the coverage.
I ask because I see something that I never really grasped from the pre-convention press, something I've not really seen before in any US election (that I've followed). That there is a huge push towards an insular America from the GOP. Maybe I should have seen it coming with the "Make America Great Again" slogan...
What really concerns me is Trumps suggestion about renegotiation/withdrawal from NATO. But I'll work up to that:
A:) Xenophobia/racism isn't unfamiliar territory for the Republican convention (and certainly not absent from the Democratic one, either). But, from my limited exposure, it is usually more targeted than this convention/platform. Blacks-vs-Law, Mexicans-vs-Jobs, Islam-vs-Freedom are usually on the table, but I don't recall an election where the xenophobia/racism seemed so blanketed, giving considerable time to each. So many internal targets present an America-first position, and hugely WASPy one, that is terrifyingly insular.
B:) "Bringing jobs back home" is fairly standard GOP rhetoric. I'm no economist, but I feel fairly certain that it's good for the campaign while ignorant of the actual global economic climate. But I get why Trump would latch on to it, promising to renegotiate/withdraw from global trade agreements. But, again, its a very insular America-first position bent on ignoring the US as a part of the world as a whole.
C:) NATO, though, is a political treaty. A treaty that, like the UN (and kind-of stronger than the UN), is based primarily on the preservation of the global status quo. Even the suggestion that Trump would potentially reject America's involvement in that treaty? That brings the America-first position to an entirely different level.

A + B + C (especially C) suggest that the GOP think that they can campaign on the idea that America is backed into a corner. It's a corner that is primarily fictional, but it seems that the GOP think they might win with that strategy. And if they are right? Well, God help us all. Because there aren't many (if any) historical instances where that perspective has positive results for humanity.

Honestly? Even just a few days ago I was mostly dismissive of Trump. I thought that his nomination might represent a political realignment; a catalyst that might change the American political climate for the better. But the last few days have put a pit in my stomach.

[Kaharz]

It will be interesting if he is elected and tries to nullify the US's acceptance of the North Atlantic Treaty. The constitution requires acceptance by 2/3rds of the Senate and the president to enter into a treaty. But there is nothing about breaking one. Bit of an oversight there. In the past when presidents have unilaterally withdrawn from a treaty, they were not opposed by Congress and the Supreme Court declined to hear any suits over it due to the lack of congressional opposition. So there is currently no law in the US as to whether a president can break a treaty unilaterally. But I'm guessing that if Trump tried to pull out of NATO, there would be considerable opposition from Congress.

And yes, Trump and a lot of his supporters are terrifying. And I say that as a white, hetero, cis male. So none their hatred is directed at me personally, other than my liberalism. Those people and those hatreds have always been there, but the amount of public voice and exposure they get has been increasing. Trump and others of his ilk are empowering them.

I want to think that it is backlash against increased liberalism and a so far somewhat successful push for equality under the law at the federal level. I want to hope that this is the last charge of a desperate movement of hatred. But I know it probably isn't. I know that even if they are crushed, they will just go quiet again until the next time the political and social situation gives them an edge. I just hope the next time they are even weaker.

[Liriodendron_fagotti]

Yeah. Trump's supporters are way scarier than the man himself. I wonder how many of them have longstanding, deep-seated feelings about their hatreds or whether a significant portion of them are just happy to ascribe blame to an easy target. Either way it's spooky.

It's not dissimilar to 'progressive' dislike for trade deals. Most detached economists agree Nafta probably didn't have much of an effect in one direction or the other. Sanders' railing against them gave me the greatest discomfort with his candidacy - it showed a definite lack of rigor over policy, at least in that area. And a willingness to use unfounded dislikes to rally supporters. At least in the case of trade deals they're abstractions and not groups of people.

I hope that Tim Kaine's support for them doesn't push away Sanders voters. I'm also worried about Clinton going into wonk mode (like Kerry) during debates and Trump dismissing her arguments as boring and elitist or something along those lines.

It's hard to combat a slew of falsehoods coming out of Trump's mouth when so many are eager to believe the picture of a doomed America he creates.