Politics

[Crazed_Insanity]

This board is now mostly lefties. Just do a poll around here to see how many really believe in Jesus.

Anyway, that's really not my main point.

My main point is that people are not perfect. I'm sure we've all done stupid things we're not proud of in the past. Stop allowing your party to be destroyed by these stupid smears!!!

Judge your party by what the members are doing now, not by what the members have done while they were young and stupid. If such member is reasonably competent and productive and not broken any laws, leave them alone! Stop allowing smear campaigns to destroy yourselves.

These latest movements have pretty much handed the Republicans an easy weapon to use against the dems. There'll probably be a lot more Al Frankens if these movements continue.

[MR2 Fan]

AOC just mic dropped on the whole f-ing goverment

https://twitter.com/JKCorden/status/1093634176845139968

[FaultyMario]

"All children born and unborn are made in the holy image of god, the final part of my agenda is to protect American security"

-DJT

[Freude am Fahren]

I don't agree with her on everything. But that right there, is my biggest gripe with our country. The power and lack of accountability that our government has. And not just in term of legality, but that people will just look at their side and forgive anything. I love what she's trying to do in terms of revealing how shitty our government is and change it, from within. That last part being key.

[Crazed_Insanity]

AOC just mic dropped on the whole f-ing goverment

https://twitter.com/JKCorden/status/1093634176845139968

I think based on low voter turn out, most Americans probably already know all this... of course it’s nice of AOC to force congress to publically acknowledge its brokenness.

If AOC could somehow get congress to actually do something to fix our govt, then I’m definitely in favoring of lowering the age limit of presidency to her age! But of course it wouldn’t hurt for her to keep swimming with the sharks for a while and learn until she reaches 35... that way she could be an even more competent president.

But of course I hope she won’t lose her way and become a real bad guy after swimming with the sharks for too long... for example I used to like the young Hillary...

[MR2 Fan]

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DzIoOiAXcAAL9pX.jpg:large

:smh:

(/me waits for witty comment from Billi)

[Freude am Fahren]

Had to look that up. He was clearly joking.

The context may have still been stupid, if he's just being anti-vax or whatever, and he may actually not wash his hands, but I'm pretty sure he believes in germs (he did say "I inoculate myself" right in the middle of that quote).

[Crazed_Insanity]

Not sure he’s for real or joking. Hard to tell these days... using the same logic, can he see Jesus? I guess he can safely conclude Jesus isn’t real.

[Tom Servo]

One of my wife's friends met a guy a while back, and since meeting and marrying him has gone from pretty liberal to a Trump-supporting conservative. They don't make a lot of money, she stays home with their child and he's a contractor with a job that's lucrative when there is work, but there's not always work. They live in a trailer on his uncle's property in Colorado.

They just had to cancel their vacation plans after it turned out they owed a bunch in taxes this year under the new tax plan. That said, it's not enough that she's given up hope on Trump yet, but I wonder how much longer his base will put up with things like this/be willing to make excuses that it was someone else's fault.

[Crazed_Insanity]

If she has very high IL for him and he has very high IL for Trump, Our president can get away with murder as long as his base loves him.

Consider the alternatives, it’ll be pretty hard for trump to lose his base. Just as there’s nothing Hillary could do for her base to switch camp.

Hope we have a sensible and charismatic moderate in 2020.

[Tom Servo]

Oh god, tell me IL isn't a "System" thing.

One of the things that bugs me most about the tax plan is that so much of it seemed...not really fully thought out. It seems like a lot of companies had no idea how much to withhold, and a lot of people are getting unpleasant surprises right now. I already know that I'm losing out a bunch on what I'd normally get for mortgage interest, I have a feeling things are going to hurt a lot this year.

I don't mind paying taxes. I just want to be able to say "go ahead and withhold at least as much as I'll owe from my paycheck". If they withhold more, great! I love a nice surprise next year at tax time. I just don't want the bad surprise, and it seems like the half-assed way they put together this tax plan is leaving a bunch of us in the "wait, but why do we owe so much, I don't claim any dependents?" camp.

[Freude am Fahren]

I haven't done mine yet, but I did do the estimator on HR Block's website, and while I'd still get a refund if correct, It'll be about half of what I got the last few years (though I did make a little more with the new job, it wasn't new tax bracket more).

[Tom Servo]

Until I found all the different places where I didn't realize I was claiming some sort of dependent or some reason why they shouldn't withhold so much, I kept owing a few thousand every year. It's only the past couple of years that I've gotten refunds, and I kinda want to keep it that way.

[Tom Servo]

Being Raised by Two Narcissists Taught Me How to Deal with Trump (https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/3kga4j/being-raised-by-two-narcissists-taught-me-how-to-deal-with-trump?utm_source=vicetwitterus)

[MR2 Fan]

Dotard just declared a National Emergency for a wall....that he said IN the press conference that he didn't need to do.

25th Amendment plz

[Crazed_Insanity]

If a narcissist wants a wall, I’d say... let him have just enough wall to not throw a tantrum. I really don’t think it’ll do us any good to continue to shut down the govt. He’s just not gonna care. Congress should go on record saying that this fucking wall is stupid, but they’re only doing this for the sake of the welfare of the American people. Wall is not war. At least it won’t hurt anybody.

Anyway, enough about Trump. What do you guys think of the green new deal?

[Tom Servo]

It might actually be important that he said he didn't need to declare the national emergency in the press conference. When it gets to the courts, as it inevitably will, part of the process is proving there were extraordinary circumstances that required it, especially now that he's essentially circumventing part of the separation of powers that our government has in that the legislature is supposed to be in charge of the budget. If he's literally saying "this wasn't necessary", that'll be really hard to defend.

As for the green new deal, I don't know a ton about it yet except that it appears to almost completely ignore transportation, which is one of the biggest contributors to greenhouse gasses.

[The359]

He also said that he's using money from the Department of Defense that he didn't even know what to do with because they have so much money, which really must be a kick to the balls of the poor in this country.

[Crazed_Insanity]

What happened to money from Mexico?

Anyway, regarding green new deal, if the whole country is committed to fight climate change like fighting nazis, maybe it can be worthwhile. However obviously that’s not the case.

Might as well push ourselves to get to mars or back to the moon and make it a launch pad for mars or something. Develop tech and make America great again...

We’ll need to develop green tech for the moon base or mars colony along the way anyway... and we should be able to get both sides onboard much easier than just a green deal.

Plus, though climate change is for real, we don’t really know if we could reverse it. So mars as a back up makes sense.

Thing thing is, if Trump pushes for space exploration, will the dems block it by default? Politics...

[Tom Servo]

Thing thing is, if Trump pushes for space exploration, will the dems block it by default? Politics...

I think it all depends. The democrats didn't do anything to block criminal justice reform, which is one of the few things I think Trump did that was good.

[G'day Mate]

Watch from 6:20 to 7:00 - incredible smackdown


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c3BuX1SwQFQ

[Yw-slayer]

The whole thing is a smackdown.

[drew]

So much winning!

[JoeW]

Dude that video is so funny.

"The only national emergency is that our president is an idiot."

That is so classic...I hope it's in future history books.

[Dicknose]

We have a federal election coming up (date unknown - yes, thats the most stupid part of our system) and one of the local members is Tony Abbott, ex prime minister (lost in an internal party fight) and a right wing remanent from a past age. He was one of the leading figures against same sex marriage - when his electorate was one of the areas most in favour - talk about "out of touch with your people". He is also very anti-climate change (as in anti doing anything about it)
Now the seat he is contesting is extremely safe - basically you would say his party (Liberal) would win this if they put a banana as their candidates (well who doesnt like bananas), but poor old Tony has gotten so out of touch with his local area that there is a massive campaign to get rid of him.

You see plenty of "vote Tony out" and "times up Tony" tshirts and people walking the streets to drum up support against him. Funny thing is that it is just that - get rid of him, not a particular "vote for this specific person against him"
Actually with our preferential voting that can work, they dont care who you vote for as #1, as long as your put pretty much everyone ahead of Tony (except maybe Labor - the left wing opposition)
Now its extremely unlikely Labor will win - but there is a couple of independents and one is real strong, she is a lawyer/barrister and a winter Olympic medalist (one of Australias first) - Zali Steggall. She is getting a fair bit of media coverage, she already had a profile and lots of people (including media) keen to back anyone who is not Tony. She is also politically very similar (right wing) - except for issues like climate change where she is quite progressive.

Will be interesting to see how this goes.
But I dont think Ive seen anything here that has been so much "NOT HIM" rather than a campaign for someone else.

ps go Zali
pps this is not my area, so I cant vote (my local member is a tennis champion John Alexander - a former world ranked 8, won grand slam doubles titles)
ppss just wanted to add something not about Trump!!

[G'day Mate]

I know that name from the Ice Dream! Perisher was too short so Roy and HG were going to dump garbage on Smiggin Holes to create Mt Zali Steggal :lol:

(also, I’ve skied Zalis)

[Crazed_Insanity]

Is there a good reason why you guys want to keep election date a surprise? Very interesting. Maybe that way your airwaves won’t be bombarded with political ads when elections coming up?

[Dicknose]

Is there a good reason why you guys want to keep election date a surprise? Very interesting. Maybe that way your airwaves won’t be bombarded with political ads when elections coming up?

We dont have a fixed date, there are rules on when it can occur, its then up to the prime minister to pick the date.
Crazy that the party in power picks when it happens!
The whole process takes about a month. Basically they pull the trigger, cancel the existing parliament and election process starts.
Campaigning is often underway before this since the window for when it will happen is known. Luckily the full election crazy campaign only goes a month.

Voting is always on a Saturday (a weekday seems very odd!) and voting is compulsory. We usually get about a 90% turnout.
You rarely hear much fuss about voter supression. If your name is on the roll then you can vote. Even if its not, you can vote, have it put aside and your eligibility can be checked later. For most people once you are on the electoral roll its an easy process. Ive rarely even been asked for id - just tell them name and address, they will ask if you have already voted! They cant actually check on the day and even later its hard for them to prove you voted twice, rather than it being a mistake by the officials.

[Crazed_Insanity]

So it's quite possible for you guys to end up with more than 100% turnout... :eek:

Yeah, I think our Tuesday elections were legacy of US's farming and religious culture... People needed roughly a day to travel to polling places... weekends are problematic if most attend church and Wednesday is farmer's market day... so after church... travel about a day on Monday... Tuesday became the national standard election day. Our elections, at least presidential, happen during fall because that's when most folks are done with harvesting and right before the cold winter... I think US decided to standardize a national date only after many hassles of election cycles. Australian government, formed in 1901, probably didn't have too many elections cycles to worry about when tech became advanced enough for this to be a non-issue.

Still, I find it amazing that you guys can just vote by mentioning your name and address without any sort of IDs.

[The359]

I vote by just mentioning my name.

[Crazed_Insanity]

What? Really?

[Tom Servo]

Yeah, there's no ID requirement in California, at least, and I've never shown my ID when I voted. Just find your name and address in the voter roll, sign your name next to it, get your ballot, vote.

Looks like 16 states have no ID requirement at all (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voter_ID_laws_in_the_United_States).

[George]

Just find your name and address in the voter roll, sign your name next to it, get your ballot, vote.

That's how I remember doing it in North Carolina.

In Colorado, we get ballots mailed to us, complete with return envelopes. My wife lets me know when I've voted.





(not really, but I'm sure it happens in some households :lol:)

[Tom Servo]

Oh, yeah, I do the vote-by-mail thing now too, so same deal here. They *just* changed it so that you don't need postage to send it back in, which is sweet.

[Crazed_Insanity]

Hmm..., am I just remembering it wrong? I always brought me ID and that voting booklet that was mailed to me because it has all my ‘answers’...

So they don’t really care about my ID? Gotta remember to try this no ID thing next time..., but I always have it in my pocket anyway...

Even without ID, because we signed next to our names, so duplicate votes shouldn’t happen.

Anyway, so it’s basically only the red conservative states require ID? Interesting that we don’t have a national standard...

[Tom Servo]

I always brought my booklet too, I figured it was the least I could do to figure out my vote beforehand and then get in and out of the booth as quickly as I could if there were lines, but I was never asked to show it. I usually do, though, my last name is spelled unusually and it just made it easier for the poll workers to find my name.

[The359]

What is this booklet you speak of?

[George]

What is this booklet you speak of?

I think they use this one in California.

http://www.lepantoinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/Communist-manifesto.jpg



Intended only in fun and good humor

[FaultyMario]

I think they use this one in California.

bookface.jpg


Intended only in fun and good humor

Did you hear about the Adam Smith quote superimposed on a photo of Ocasio Cortez giving a speech that was posted to a libertarian fb group? Posters lost their minds over it, and it was only until like the 40th commentator that identified the text, because, well, they were supposed to be libertarians. I found that funny.

[Tom Servo]

What is this booklet you speak of?

The sample ballot they send to you.

http://www.topangamessenger.com/Photos/v40n11/ballot_june7_lavote.jpg

[Dicknose]

Hmm..., am I just remembering it wrong? I always brought me ID and that voting booklet that was mailed to me because it has all my ‘answers’...

So they don’t really care about my ID? Gotta remember to try this no ID thing next time..., but I always have it in my pocket anyway...

Even without ID, because we signed next to our names, so duplicate votes shouldn’t happen.
Interesting that we don’t have a national standard...

We dont sign - they put a line thru our names (mostly to check we did vote, since you can be fined for NOT VOTING).

We have multiple polling booths we can go to (technically we could go at any/all of the thousands that exist across the whole country)
But even a "local vote" (ie a booth in my area) could be a dozen booths. They arent connected on the day, so I could go to each one and vote and they would only work it out later. If that did happen Id get in trouble and if the result was close it could cause the election to become invalid. "vote early, vote often"

As for "national standard" - thats a major flaw with the US system - its basically run at the state or even county level. We might have some odd rules, but its the same rules and voting method across the whole country. One organisation (independent of the Govt, but funded by them) runs the whole event - the Australian Electoral Commission.

We have some options other than turn up on the day at a local booth
- vote out of region on the day (they wont have a list of names to mark, but will record your name and let you vote - means that each place requires a pile of voting cards for all 150 electorates)
- vote by mail, this is an easy option, you need to "apply" but typically the major parties letter drop everyone with a "how to vote for us and how to apply for mail vote"
- pre-poll (before the day) at a special centre. I do this often, as I used to work on election day doing the tv coverage, so I was busy or even in our capital. Up to about two weeks before (which is when the nomination of candidates close) you can go and do a "vote early". Usually there is only 1 or 2 places in a given area. But in a city (where most of us are) its not too far. Interestingly your votes wont get counted on election day - so dont go towards the TV stations predictions of the winner.

As I mentioned above - we have basically only 1 way to vote (but several ways/times/places you can do it).
Thats pencil on paper. (we do have some options for visually impared...)

Here is a sample... https://www.aec.gov.au/Voting/How_to_vote/practice/practice-house-of-reps.htm
You must number every box and it must be clear - dont use the same number twice (actually you can number n-1 boxes! their sample wont let you do that! You can use a number that is too big eg 6 candidates use 1-5 and 7)

As for ID, I think only once have I been asked for ID. It was a state election, but just think it was a keen worker and early enough that there wasnt a queue slowing it all down!

[FaultyMario]

Holy shit, now this is serious news:


JUST IN: Democrats on the House Oversight Committee have released an interim report based on multiple whistleblowers who say the Trump administration is rushing to transfer sensitive U.S. nuclear technology to Saudi Arabia in violation of federal law.

The alleged transfer of technology would have occurted at the direction of Kushner.

[George]

I keep thinking of Senator Geary in The Godfather Part II.

[FaultyMario]

Why would the highest office in your land remind you of a gangster novel?

A federal judge on Tuesday ordered Roger Stone to appear in court to consider whether to revoke his bail after the longtime Donald Trump confidant posted a photo on Instagram of the judge with what appeared to be crosshairs of a gun. (https://apnews.com/7e5c6106f8314f5ba56aba8bfbd819d2)

[George]

Here's a fan wiki page about Senator Geary, if anyone is interested. Of course this is a fictional character, but it's not hard for me to imagine Trump having done something, perhaps long ago, for which he could be blackmailed by foreign powers now.

I'm not even suggesting something similar to this character, but just something. It could as easily be business-related as a matter of personal conduct.

https://godfather.fandom.com/wiki/Patrick_Geary

A simplified summary of the link above:

[Senator] Geary later spent the night with a prostitute in a brothel in Carson City run by [the mob family]. Having suffered from an alcoholic blackout, he [woke up] in a bed covered in blood next to the woman, who was dead...

...Geary had no memory of what happened, and was frantic with horror and worry. [The mob family's lawyer/spokesman] arrived on the scene and promised that the woman had no family [and] the matter could be safely covered up.

Geary was unaware that [the mob family] had engineered the situation. The girl, who was a drug addict, was seen as a necessary sacrifice. The [mob family's] "help" with the incident swayed Geary to the family's side.

[MR2 Fan]

Something similar happened in Sin City...not to a politician though

[Tom Servo]

I suppose this falls under politics, since he apparently wanted to kill lots of democrats...

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/public-safety/self-proclaimed-white-nationalist-planned-mass-terror-attack-government-says-i-am-dreaming-of-a-way-to-kill-almost-every-last-person-on-earth/2019/02/20/61daf6b8-3544-11e9-af5b-b51b7ff322e9_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.39394530e2d3

[Crazed_Insanity]

Nah, this ain’t politics, it’s just crazy.

[tigeraid]

One step forward, eight or nine steps back...

https://earther.gizmodo.com/report-trump-wants-guy-who-compared-climate-science-to-1832775121


Donald Trump’s administration is assembling a panel to determine whether climate change—which scientific experts broadly agree poses an existential threat to the safety and well-being of the world’s population and is caused by human emissions of greenhouse gases—is really a threat to national security. According to reports in the Washington Post and New York Times, said panel is predictably planned to be headed by a man who insists that carbon dioxide is good, actually, and once compared the gas’s “demonization” by scientists to Jews murdered during the Holocaust.

[Crazed_Insanity]

Carbon dioxide definitely can be 'good', for plants. ;)

I think the biggest problem with climate change is do we really have consensus on how we can battle it? With regard to CO2 issue, it could be as simple as growing more trees, plants or phytoplankton... or perhaps situation is really as dire as some liberal scientists predicted... then we might resort to drastic measures... such as no more gas powered cars, no more flying, no more meats in our diets and perhaps we'll have to be forced to kill off some of the excessive human population who don't believe in climate change anyways? Do non-politically biased scientists really know what will get us back on track with regard to climate change? Earth's climate can be an incredibly complicated system. I think it's clear that our climate is warming, but I'm unconvinced if we know how to fix it.

Ain't nothing wrong with developing renewable energy, but to forcibly wean everyone off of fossil fuel, natural gas and become vegans in a short period of time with complete disregard of economic impact doesn't sound right to me either.

[Dicknose]

I think a more interesting question is...
Is it easier/cheaper to mitigate the effects than to fix the source of the problem.

Unfortunately that depends very much on what others do. If you are a small nation then the answer is clear - no point going alone in cutting CO2, better off putting your effort into getting your country to cope with the effects.

It’s a global problem and will need a global solution.
Unless we get the majority to cut emissions then it’s a waste of effort.

However that should stop some of the important, but not so large, countries taking a lead and cutting emissions. The net effect of their cuts might be small, but showing they are willing is important.
But we need USA and China to be onboard or it’s going to be a futile effort.

[Crazed_Insanity]

Unless the shit is just poisonous or radioactive or proven really harmful like ddt or older generation refrigerants, I think govt shouldn’t take the banning approach, but instead just encourage renewable developments. CO2 is a naturally occurring compound in our atmosphere after all. Plus, why would Trump or dictators Xi listen to you?

Slowly wean us off of non-renewable stuffs by making car mpg standards incrementally higher and hope eventually renewable tech can catch up and become price competitive so people would switch over willingly.

Really no need to make our climate such a political topic.

Also, surely there are other more dire environmental concerns than CO2? Plastic crap are not naturally occurring and they are now everywhere! I would not be oppose to stop making single use plastic stuffs within 10 years... or maybe even right now!

[Tom Servo]

That's pretty much what cap and trade is. Incentivizing cutting down on greenhouse gasses. And the government has regularly made car mpg standards incrementally higher, though Trump's either tried to or has rescinded the mpg increase requirements that the Obama administration put into place.

And you don't have to focus on one thing. They're also focusing on "plastic crap", we've had a plastic bag ban for a while now and they just started with the plastic straws. Baby steps, but even those are getting some people bent out of shape.

[Dicknose]

Really no need to make our climate such a political topic.

Because it does take govt to either restrict or ban it...

The reason we are in this mess is that fossil fuels turned out to be cheap and plentiful - we have been burning huge amounts for a decent while.
The alternatives are not that cheap. And "free market" doesnt work well when the cost of disposal is free but the harm from disposal is big.

So we need politics to step in. Ban, regulate, tax... do something or the planet will be a big big mess.

[FaultyMario]

no need to make our climate such a political topic.

Because that is the definition of politics, the exercise of power in public. Duh!

[21Kid]

So, the NC board of elections is having a new election after overwhelming evidence of vote tampering?

They get to try again? And aren't automatically disqualified?!? WTF? Why not try to rig every election, if the worst case is that you have to try again legally. JFC. :mad:

[Crazed_Insanity]

Because it does take govt to either restrict or ban it...

The reason we are in this mess is that fossil fuels turned out to be cheap and plentiful - we have been burning huge amounts for a decent while.
The alternatives are not that cheap. And "free market" doesnt work well when the cost of disposal is free but the harm from disposal is big.

So we need politics to step in. Ban, regulate, tax... do something or the planet will be a big big mess.
I understand all that. Who wouldn’t want to save the planet? Our one and only home? Just as who wouldn’t want to save their own babies if they can? Do we really need the government telling us what to do? Because government is morally and scientifically superior to us? Do you really trust your government to know what they’re doing? Run by a bunch of spineless corrupt politicians?

Further, if it weren’t Al Gore pushing for this, maybe it’d be easier for the conservatives to buy into climate change? By politicizing this issue, it makes it harder for the other half of the population to want to accept it. Sadly.

Still, I think we should formulate a plan for a fix with minimal economic impact 1st. Not to formulate a drastic green new 10 year plan... even if we made such commitment, there’s no guarantee that it will slow down climate change. Our actions may already be too little too late... or perhaps earth has a way to rebalance itself in ways we don’t know yet...

[Tom Servo]

Further, if it weren’t Al Gore pushing for this


What year is it?!?

[Crazed_Insanity]

As far as I remember, he's the one that brought it global attention. I'm just guessing that's probably the reason why it became politicized. If we had a more neutral famous spokes person, perhaps we could avoid making this topic so political?

Just as if you wish to convince or sell some idea to folks in this forum, it's probably not good idea to let Billi be your spokesman. ;)

Should've been some body with less political baggage that's all I'm saying. Anyway, water under the bridge...

[Crazed_Insanity]

So, the NC board of elections is having a new election after overwhelming evidence of vote tampering?

They get to try again? And aren't automatically disqualified?!? WTF? Why not try to rig every election, if the worst case is that you have to try again legally. JFC. :mad:

Well, I guess if you don't have evidence of the guy actually had knowledge of tampering, then he's off the hook?

Hope the voters will figure out who's best for them...

We probably should do these races just like olympics or something... if the winner is disqualified for whatever reasons, the 2nd place finisher should inherit the win. Shouldn't have to waste voters' time and taxpayer's money to redo the race. But then again, maybe that's not a great idea either... the 2nd place finisher could've tampered with the ballots, knowing that he wouldn't win a legit election based on polls and then do this tampering to cause the disqualification of the real winner?

So I dunno, maybe they should just have a do over...

[drew]

So, the NC board of elections is having a new election after overwhelming evidence of vote tampering?

They get to try again? And aren't automatically disqualified?!? WTF? Why not try to rig every election, if the worst case is that you have to try again legally. JFC. :mad:

Mericuh man. NC just got added (again) to my "don't live there" list..

[Dicknose]

even if we made such commitment, there’s no guarantee that it will slow down climate change. Our actions may already be too little too late... or perhaps earth has a way to rebalance itself in ways we don’t know yet...
And this is exactly the style of thinking that stops us fixing it..
maybe its not happening, if it is maybe it will fix itself or maybe we are just doomed

The idea is let experts make these decisions.
Unfortunately most of the public do what you just did - they dont strongly agree, so come up with a bunch of different excuses that usually are mutually exclusive - then make it seem like they can do nothing, because thats what they already want to do.
Just admit - you dont care and are happy to take the risk that we are still fucking the planet and that it could be much worse for future generation - and that YOU are part of the reason the planet is fucked.
And dont say "Im just 1 person", each of those 1 persons is adding up and holding us back.

Its that simple - take personal responsibility, get behind what the experts say and make a difference with your vote, your actions and your support.

As for politics..
This can only happen via large scale action, that means politics, but shouldnt mean its "party politics". The parties should be fighting over what do do and how to pay for it, not over if we should do anything.

But hey I dont have kids, so what the hell do I care about 50 years from now - I will be gone.
I do find it hard to believe people with kids are so happy to risk their future

[Tom Servo]

I'll add that "making the planet uninhabitable for humans" is entirely likely to be one of those ways the earth has a way to rebalance itself.

[Crazed_Insanity]

I'll add that "making the planet uninhabitable for humans" is entirely likely to be one of those ways the earth has a way to rebalance itself.

That's definitely possible. However, would you want to be the one pulling the trigger on the human population or would you just let Mother Nature do what needs to be done? Elon is right, we gotta get our asses to Mars!!! So in case earth is really fucked, we could escape somewhere else...

Now DN, that is, again, not an excuse for us to do nothing. I also don't have to admit that I don't care about our planet nor my daughter... because that's pure political BS you're piling on top of this issue. Just because we don't stand on the same side politically, you assume the worst in your political opposition and we end up bickering about it unnecessarily. This is exactly why I stated that I wish this issue isn't so politicized or polarizing. It's already a tough problem for us to tackle, mixing politics and unneeded emotions into it won't make us solve this problem better.

Look, a lot of folks not only have their comfortable lives, but also their primary source of income dependent on fossil fuel. Can you blame them for not willing to get their lives disrupted too much?

Yes, ban fossil fuel, ban guns, ban drugs, ban smoking, ban alcohol, ban nuclear bombs, ban abortion, ban this or that... easier said than done.

Better approach is to find ways to help/encourage people to make better choices in the 1st place. Also, like you said, rather than banning the source, maybe we should focus more on planting more plants or to ensure we have healthy population of phytoplanktons around somehow.

It is inevitable that we'll be out of fossil fuel, renewable energy is the way we must go eventually. Governments just need to help ensure these green companies won't be crushed by oil companies.

There are number of way to fight climate change. Efforts shouldn't be wasted on fighting the other half of the population. Half of the population committed to saving the planet will be better than all of us waiting on the US and Chinese governments to come to their senses... hey if those dictator heads won't commit, what's the point? Rather than bickering, we each just do our parts. I've gone solar and leasing an EV... I'm doing my part at least. Don't know about my president.

Politics sucks.

[Freude am Fahren]

So many of you have probably heard about the rub-n-tug/sex trafficking story down here, and the big news today, that one of the johns being charged is Patriots owner Robert Kraft. Well, investigators have said he's not the biggest name involved. And he just happens to be good buddies with Trump, who of course is local, and has golf course down the street. Oh and the Muller report was supposed to come out next week?

A pipe dream I know, but could you imagine?

Actually, no one would probably care.

[G'day Mate]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_nFI2Zb7qE

[MR2 Fan]

I'll add that "making the planet uninhabitable for humans" is entirely likely to be one of those ways the earth has a way to rebalance itself.

Which sort of leads to a philosophical question I came up with....if the earth is destroyed, would it be sad?

[Tom Servo]

I sorta feel like Chernobyl/Pripyat is a good example of that. And the answer is "no, not really."

[Crazed_Insanity]

We can have full blown thermal nuclear war and earth probably will survive... only we will be gone.

We can probably assume earth will be sad if the nuclear fall out that rain down could be considered as tears...

Right now earth is just getting angry at us with rising temperatures...

[Dicknose]

I'll add that "making the planet uninhabitable for humans" is entirely likely to be one of those ways the earth has a way to rebalance itself.

Actually I think its unlikely we will make the planet that bad that WE dont survive.
But many billions - maybe not.
And I can see the quality of life that most of us have, disappearing as immigration, water supply, cost of insurance/disasters causes a collapse of first world living conditions.

Will humans survive it - yes, but it probably wont be anything like what we have now.

[Dicknose]

Actually, no one would probably care.

So he paid for sex - big deal.
I think there are far bigger issues for us to worry about

[Dicknose]

Now DN, that is, again, not an excuse for us to do nothing. I also don't have to admit that I don't care about our planet nor my daughter... because that's pure political BS you're piling on top of this issue. Just because we don't stand on the same side politically, you assume the worst in your political opposition and we end up bickering about it unnecessarily. This is exactly why I stated that I wish this issue isn't so politicized or polarizing. It's already a tough problem for us to tackle, mixing politics and unneeded emotions into it won't make us solve this problem better.

You do know that in Australia Im right wing...
Technically we are on the same side of politics - its just that as a country we are a lot further left!

And yes its a big polarising issue because its potentially the biggest issue to face the planet.
We have reached a scale where we are having an effect on the whole planet and need to work together to fix it.
Just in my time alive the "first world" has doubled in population and done more than doubled in its energy consumption.



There are number of way to fight climate change. Efforts shouldn't be wasted on fighting the other half of the population. Half of the population committed to saving the planet will be better than all of us waiting on the US and Chinese governments to come to their senses... hey if those dictator heads won't commit, what's the point? Rather than bickering, we each just do our parts. I've gone solar and leasing an EV... I'm doing my part at least. Don't know about my president.

And some individual responsibility is great. I think its good you are making an effort.
But it is also something that needs to be solved at the "society" level and unfortunately that means politicians and policy.

[Dicknose]

Which sort of leads to a philosophical question I came up with....if the earth is destroyed, would it be sad?

Yes I think it would be.
Heck even if humans survive but we ruin our original home and much of the other lifeforms there - that would be very sad.

The planet/life has had massive extinctions that have lead to new life and massive changes. But Id hate to think that the next one is due to us (and could be millions of years before it truly recovers)

[FaultyMario]

Yes I think it would be.
Heck even if humans survive but we ruin our original home and much of the other lifeforms there - that would be very sad.


Some of our contraptions are already breaking havoc with insects...

[Dicknose]

I do truly hope we havent fundamentally broken it.
Bees - are still holding on, we have a few different species.

Id like to think that we have annoyed the planet but are far from "kill it".

[Yw-slayer]

Some of our contraptions are already breaking havoc with insects...

A full vegan diet probably kills more animals as a whole than one that includes meat!

[FaultyMario]

A full vegan diet probably kills more animals as a whole than one that includes meat!

Yes.

[Crazed_Insanity]

A full vegan diet probably kills more animals as a whole than one that includes meat!

I find that hard to believe.

Bottom line I guess is that we humans can make environmental impacts no matter what we do. No need for vegans to be judgemental of meat eaters. Likewise no need for EV drivers to get mad at drivers using fossil fuel. We all should just try our best to harm our planet as minimally as possible. My Honda EV is not even available outside of California! My EV and solar panels are all possible thanks to state and federal tax credits. So one can’t say US government isn’t doing anything about climate change...

Lastly, US has banned slavery a while back, but human trafficking is still a problem. This is why paying for sex can sometimes be a big deal.

So my point is that everything is still mostly up to the individual. Each of us do our best to love our planet and one another. Ban or no ban, people will still do what they will do. We can try to influence others, encourage others, help others..., but fighting or being judgemental of others IMHO is useless.

[JoshInKC]

(...)Lastly, US has banned slavery a while back, (...)
Ban or no ban, people will still do what they will do. We can try to influence others, encourage others, help others..., but fighting or being judgemental of others IMHO is useless.
Pretty sure that fighting other people was a big part of the US banning slavery.

[Crazed_Insanity]

Pretty sure not every country needed a civil war to solve the slavery problem. Sure, sometimes you need to fight others after Pearl Harbor or auschwits, but those are last resort options.

Btw, we officially won the battle to make slavery politically incorrect, but we still can have sex and slave labors today. Shows how effective government bans are?

[Crazed_Insanity]

And some individual responsibility is great. I think its good you are making an effort.
But it is also something that needs to be solved at the "society" level and unfortunately that means politicians and policy.

I don’t disagree with you. It’s just that to me, society is made up of individuals, not politicians.

If we can successfully influence enough of our neighbors regarding climate change, then Trump and Congress will have to represent the will of Americans or face consequences.

If half of the population disagree with you, then you will have a harder time making policy changes.

Must we engage in another civil war to save the planet? For sure another war won’t help reduce global warming.

Or be forceful about it like what France has done..., but result in Paris riot?

Scientists should just put their findings on some sort of official record for the world to see... without any political bias.

Each individual and each nation can then act accordingly regardless of what their neighbors or neighboring countries choose to do. One person doing something is better than nothing.

[Dicknose]

Each individual and each nation can then act accordingly regardless of what their neighbors or neighboring countries choose to do. One person doing something is better than nothing.

But some issues require a large scale effort. Especially if you are talking about changing infrastructure - you cant expect individuals to build roads, refuelling stations or power stations.
Yes you can put solar panels on your house and that helps - but in the end it needs a large co-operative plan to make the sort of changes required. Either government funded or government mandated. Leaving it to market forces wont work when the existing system has a major head start and is cheaper because they arent paying for their pollution.

One person does help, but we need collective action to make significant change. It seems that is unlikely is some places

[Crazed_Insanity]

No argument there. If you can convince dictator Xi, he can enact whatever policy he wants and quickly change China for the better... or worse.

However, in a democracy, it’ll be difficult to build a road or a wall if half of the population don’t want it.

In such situations, either you educate half of the population why they should rethink it or re-examining that perhaps your own stance is wrong!

I just don’t think such a partisan push will do anybody any good. Liberals in charge can fight climate change but as soon as conservatives gain back power, they’ll reverse what you’ve done. You’ll never get anywhere.

Might as well focus more on education. US does lag quite a bit in that area. Also educate the public regarding whatever agenda you have in a nonpolitical way. Surely nowadays people can get wary of political ads...

I don’t have the answers, but at least we are in control of our own lives and we can try to influence our family and friends the best we can. That’ll be a good start.

[FaultyMario]

How the Upper Middle Class Is Really Doing
Is it more similar to the top 1 percent or the working class? (https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/24/opinion/income-inequality-upper-middle-class.html?module=inline)

Since 1980, the incomes of the very rich have grown faster than the economy. The upper middle class has kept pace with the economy, while the middle class and poor have fallen behind.

[...]On one side are people who argue that the bourgeois professional class — essentially, households with incomes in the low-to-mid six figures but without major wealth — is not so different from the middle class and poor. All of these groups are grappling with slow-growing incomes, high medical costs, student debt and so on.

The only real winners in today’s economy are at the very top, according to this side of the debate. When Bernie Sanders talks about “the greed of billionaires” or Thomas Piketty writes about capital accumulation, they are making a version of this case.


[...] there is the upper middle class, defined here as the 90th to 99th percentiles of the income distribution (making roughly $120,000 to $425,000 a year after tax). Their income path doesn’t look like that of either the first or second group. It’s not above the line or below it. It’s almost directly on top of it. Since 1980, the incomes of the upper middle class have been growing at almost the identical rate as the economy.

[...] Politicians should recognize that there are three broad income groups, not just two. The bottom 90 percent of Americans does deserve a tax cut, to lift its stagnant incomes. The top 1 percent deserves a substantial tax increase. The upper middle class deserves neither. Its taxes should remain roughly constant, just as its share of economic output has.

[FaultyMario]

Mike Pence has suggested the EU and Mexico recognize Juan Guaido as president of Venezuela.

:twitch:

[tigeraid]

I see the current powers that be are learning a lot from the Reagan administration's work in South America. :smh:

[Crazed_Insanity]

I haven't kept up with Venezuela news, but a quick google indicated Pence isn't spreading complete fake news, right? Or am I missing something?
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-venezuela-politics-eu-idUSKCN1PP1HQ
It's just Mexico that is still sticking with Maduro for now.

Anyway, don't really care who runs the country, but we should help aid its suffering citizens somehow...



How the Upper Middle Class Is Really Doing
Is it more similar to the top 1 percent or the working class? (https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/24/opinion/income-inequality-upper-middle-class.html?module=inline)

Since 1980, the incomes of the very rich have grown faster than the economy. The upper middle class has kept pace with the economy, while the middle class and poor have fallen behind.

[...]On one side are people who argue that the bourgeois professional class — essentially, households with incomes in the low-to-mid six figures but without major wealth — is not so different from the middle class and poor. All of these groups are grappling with slow-growing incomes, high medical costs, student debt and so on.

The only real winners in today’s economy are at the very top, according to this side of the debate. When Bernie Sanders talks about “the greed of billionaires” or Thomas Piketty writes about capital accumulation, they are making a version of this case.


[...] there is the upper middle class, defined here as the 90th to 99th percentiles of the income distribution (making roughly $120,000 to $425,000 a year after tax). Their income path doesn’t look like that of either the first or second group. It’s not above the line or below it. It’s almost directly on top of it. Since 1980, the incomes of the upper middle class have been growing at almost the identical rate as the economy.

[...] Politicians should recognize that there are three broad income groups, not just two. The bottom 90 percent of Americans does deserve a tax cut, to lift its stagnant incomes. The top 1 percent deserves a substantial tax increase. The upper middle class deserves neither. Its taxes should remain roughly constant, just as its share of economic output has.


Kinda hard to swallow that folks making $120k are really in the same class as those making $425k. I'm sure we can divide that group up even finer and see how the different plotted lines compare to GDP...

Anyway, with today's capability of analyzing big data... government probably should just base taxes on individual wage growth. If someone has explosive wage growth, which tend to happen to the super rich, then tax him more and it'll probably sting him less too. If you seriously have a pretty flat wage growth, then naturally taxes should remain flat and stable as well. As for those who've fallen off the cliff income-wise, then tax cuts should automatically be in place for them... perhaps even some automatic tax credits for safety net purposes and do away with welfare programs. Anyway, that's probably for the far far distant future.

For now, to make it simple, I still think flat tax is the fairest of all. However, income below poverty level shouldn't be taxed... and then tax rates gradually increase to the flat tax rate as your income approaches the medium level. Then everyone is taxed at the same rate as your income rises above your state's average level. We can still allow some deductions if people make certain investments that create jobs or appropriate charitable donations that can benefit others... just so that the tax accountants can still have something to do for otherwise the accountant lobbyists would probably fiercely oppose such flat tax law... Charging everyone making above average wages at the same rate is probably the most fair IMHO.

[FaultyMario]

It's just Mexico that is still sticking with Maduro for now. to the principle of self-determination.

Fixxor'd.

As the Jamaican prophet once put it: "If you know our history, then you know where we're coming from."

[Crazed_Insanity]

I had no clue where Mexico is coming from... again a quick google indicated that your constitution contains a ‘prime directive’ to never interfere?

That’s a cool thing to have, US should amend it’s constitution likewise considering our superior fire power to bully other nations around to advance our own interests whether openly or covertly... we have such a bad reputation at meddling that countries are rejecting our aid fearing that aid workers might be smuggle arms into their nation...

Anyway, this is a bipartisan problem US has, it’d be unfair to blame only republican presidents.

[Tom Servo]

Man, that is harsh.

https://politics.theonion.com/trump-solemnly-lays-wreath-at-site-where-he-would-have-1832907992

[G'day Mate]

:lol:

[Phil_SS]

I don't blame anyone for not participating in the Vietnam war. Just watch Ken Burns documentary on Vietnam and you'll see why.

[FaultyMario]

I keep thinking of Senator Geary in The Godfather Part II.

Heh (https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2019/02/gaetz-cohen-tweet-law-professors-witness-tampering-testing.html).

[sandydandy]

Isn’t today supposed to be a big day in Washington? Cohen testifying. Will what he reveal (if significant) be enough to oust Trump?

[Tom Servo]

I don't blame anyone for not participating in the Vietnam war. Just watch Ken Burns documentary on Vietnam and you'll see why.

I'm not sure that's exactly the point of the Onion article, but agreed.

[Crazed_Insanity]

Isn’t today supposed to be a big day in Washington? Cohen testifying. Will what he reveal (if significant) be enough to oust Trump?

Not sure if there's any damning testimonies yet, heard a bit of it on the way to work today... I really like the part where he said something to the effect of why he has turned... to paraphrase, he just doesn't want to see people being silly and losing civility anymore, you republican congressmen are doing what I was doing. Young lawyers should see him as a warning. He lost everything and going to prison... all for what?

Even if Trump isn't ousted, hope at least young aspiring american lawyers listen to his warning. Actually, not just lawyers, just pretty much everyone.

Trump era will definitely be an interesting chapter in US history book. Hope we survive this and come out better...

[FaultyMario]

I'm not sure that's exactly the point of the Onion article, but agreed.

I'd give my POV but I feel it'd only ruin one great post and one great joke.

[FaultyMario]

http://pbs.twimg.com/media/D0a6yF8XcAAWCN2.png

[Crazed_Insanity]

For the Venezuela thing, I'm sure President Clinton, whether the husband or the wife, would've done the same thing. US doesn't care about self determination and we have no prime directive. We'll do whatever suits us. It's a bipartisan thing. We really need to learn from Mexico in that regard. Especially when we have such superior fire/financial power over other nations. We need to build a 'wall' to protect other nations... but of course nobody would ever want to build it now. Maybe Bernie Sanders would, but surely no one else in US govt would support that idea. If your nation produces oil or whatever we need, we will fuck with you or make love to you.

[FaultyMario]

You seem to think that the interests of American oligarchs are the same as those of the American people.

They are not.

[Crazed_Insanity]

Why do you say that? I'm an American person and you think my interests are the same as Trump's and Hillary's?

American people just don't know what US government is really doing because not everybody has security clearance. Or perhaps people of they associated parties just refuse to see the evils of politicians of their own party.

But to an outsider, USA is united as one. US government can overthrow a dictator based on bogus reasons and American people could go along with it. Likewise people upset at the US government could fly planes into our buildings and hurt American people as if it's the American people who've fucked with them.

[Tom Servo]

But to an outsider, USA is united as one.

I can only speak to my experiences traveling and meeting other people, both whom I'm related to and not, over the past couple of years. That is not the impression I have gotten at all.

[Crazed_Insanity]

Obviously we’re not that united and people sort of know that. But whenever we drop a bomb or fire a missile, it’s funded by our tax dollars. To somebody who hates America, I’m sure there’s no differentiation.

[Dicknose]

I'm not sure that's exactly the point of the Onion article, but agreed.

Fortunate Son - Creedance Clearwater Revival

[FaultyMario]

But to an outsider...

I'm outsider than you think.

[FaultyMario]

The look on Kim Jong-Un's face when The Donald was asked about the Cohen hearing during the Hanoi Summit is priceless.

[The359]

So, is now the appropriate time to start the "But, his emails" meme?

[FaultyMario]

With the president now getting in the thick of an (informal) impeachment, I worry that the American economy might suffer and drag us down with it. For one, Nafta 2.0 (which I'd rather refer to by the awesome T-MEC moniker) is not yet ratified, or is it?

[Tom Servo]

It is not yet ratified, which makes it all that much more entertaining that dear leader keeps touting how it's already paying for the wall that he also claims is currently being built.

[drew]

Of course, Faux News touting the "summit" as a success, with the tag line "The Art of Walking Away", because our master negotiator deemed it a bad deal.


I find it appalling how many people drink kool-aid from that fire hose, and just keep chugging.

[Tom Servo]

Honestly, I'm so used to him going into these things and just giving away the farm without getting anything in return, so I'm vaguely impressed that he managed to not completely bungle the whole thing.

[MR2 Fan]

question: has the NRA ever come to the defense, publicly of a black man exercising his 2nd amendment right to own a gun? after hearing about the black guy who was ASLEEP in his car at a Taco Bell parking lot with a gun in his lap, then got shot.....25 times.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/family-california-rapper-asleep-car-police-opened-fire-files-legal-n977106

[TheBenior]

Would mainstream media care if a white person
too young to legally own a handgun was killed after passing out drunk/high in a fast-food drive-through with a stolen gun in their lap?

If you actually care, see Guy Montage Doe v. San Francisco Housing Authority, McDonald v. City of Chicago, and at least one plaintiff in DC v. Heller.

[FaultyMario]

I am not a crook! (https://twitter.com/RealPressSecBot/status/1102233683010891777)


Nixon gave his "not a crook" speech in mid november 73 and resigned in august 74. By that metric, how far are we from the resignation of Donald Trump?

[Crazed_Insanity]

Impeachment is a really really tall order. I’m not really sure we have something conclusive enough that even republicans would want to impeach him yet...

[FaultyMario]

No, he won't be impeached, don't be silly. He's going to resign to try and save his children from prison.

[Freude am Fahren]

I am not a crook! (https://twitter.com/RealPressSecBot/status/1102233683010891777)


Nixon gave his "not a crook" speech in mid november 73 and resigned in august 74. By that metric, how far are we from the resignation of Donald Trump?

Did he just Borat?

[FaultyMario]

Not only Elliott Abrams look like a character out of a Peter Sellers sketch, he acts like one.

US Envoy Tried to Freeze Made-Up Venezuelan Accounts in Swiss Banks in Prank (https://sputniknews.com/latam/201903061072985338-elliot-abrams-russian-pranksters-usa-venezuela/)

[MR2 Fan]

good news everyone, it seems Hillary really ISN'T running this time.

[speedpimp]

I am not a crook! (https://twitter.com/RealPressSecBot/status/1102233683010891777)


Nixon gave his "not a crook" speech in mid november 73 and resigned in august 74. By that metric, how far are we from the resignation of Donald Trump?

Somewhere near the end of his second term.

[Phil_SS]

good news everyone, it seems Hillary really ISN'T running this time.

Best news I've heard in awhile if true.

[FaultyMario]

Rod J. Rosenstein Delivers Keynote Address on FCPA Enforcement Developments (https://www.justice.gov/opa/speech/deputy-attorney-general-rod-j-rosenstein-delivers-keynote-address-fcpa-enforcement)


[...]An effective compliance program is not just about a written policy or a regular training program. Companies should focus on how their compliance programs work in practice.

In Shakespeare’s play Henry the Fourth, a prince brags about his ability to call up ghosts. He proudly claims: “I can summon spirits from the vasty deep.” His skeptical friend mockingly replies, “Why, so can I, or so can any [one]; But [the question is,] will they come when you … call for them?”

Similarly, just talking about compliance is meaningless. A culture of compliance needs to be integrated into corporate policies. Employees should be trained and encouraged to think about compliance issues when making business decisions, and there should be regular audits to identify problems.

Finally, in the spirit of promoting a culture of integrity, I want to leave you with the wisdom of this ancient proverb: if you desire to know a person’s character, consider his friends. You can help protect your business by using caution when selecting associates and by ensuring appropriate oversight. Always make sure that you can stand proudly with the company you keep.



Sick burn.

[drew]

Manafort, 47 months. [yawn]

[FaultyMario]

He's running a legal marathon, though.

[MR2 Fan]

The owner of the human trafficking spa was a well liked member of Mar-a-lago and has lots of pictures with Trump and family. I KNEW there was more to this story...I mean it seems Trump never saw something illegal and unethical he didn't like

https://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics-government/article227186429.html

[Crazed_Insanity]

The kind of folks Trump hang around with whether inside or outside of the WH are truly remarkable...

Folks either leave him in fits of rage or dragged away and sent to jail...

[21Kid]

Color me surprised...




:|

[Crazed_Insanity]

Maybe we need to amend our constitution to lower the impeachment bar a little more.

Or simply raise the bar a bit more like at least make sure candidates won’t have any conflict of interest issues in order to be on ballot.

[Tom Servo]

Mother Jones is reporting that the same woman now runs a business offering access to top GOP officials, including the president, to Chinese politicians/executives.

https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2019/03/a-florida-massage-parlor-owner-has-been-selling-chinese-execs-access-to-trump-at-mar-a-lago/

[Crazed_Insanity]

My goodness, after the swamp was drained, the slimiest swamp creatures from east and west can now get together and play golf with much ease...

[FaultyMario]

Manafort, 47 months. [yawn]



Manafort: 47 months for a lifelong carnival of criminality.
Petraeus: 0 days for trading the country's highest secrets for a more favorable biography.
Manning: 35 YEARS for revealing evidence of actual war crimes to the press.

Your sentence derives from your proximity to power.




Chelsea Manning is again acting heroically in the name of press freedom, and it’s a travesty that she has been sent back to jail for refusing to testify to a grand jury. An investigation into WikiLeaks for publishing is a grave threat to all journalists’ rights, and Chelsea is doing us all a service for fighting it. She has already been tortured, spent years in jail, and has suffered more than enough. She should be released immediately.


Soul-crushing.

[Tom Servo]

The Manafort sentence was bullshit (though I think he may be facing more time from SDNY), but the Manning thing is a little misleading. She's already had her sentence commuted, but got jailed again for essentially contempt of court. She doesn't have a fifth amendment right to not testify as she's not the one on trial, and if she refuses to testify, then she'll be released when the grand jury is finished.

[Tom Servo]

lmao

https://i.imgur.com/umD8ezd.jpg

[MR2 Fan]

so we're hardly ever getting press conferences anymore. What's interesting is if Twitter decided to ban him, his head would probably explode.

[FaultyMario]

She doesn't have a fifth amendment right to not testify as she's not the one on trial, and if she refuses to testify, then she'll be released when the grand jury is finished.

Wasn't she subject to cruel treatment during imprisonment? Or so I've heard that's what a UN report had said.
It sounds like she's paid her debt to society and then some, this new contempt of court charge seems excessive, given the circumstances.


in other news: if Erik Prince is found to have lied to congress, does that save American Public education from his sister?

[FaultyMario]

Also:

Several sources tell Cockburn (https://spectator.us/mueller-barr-battle-indict-trump/)that the Special Counsel has indeed completed his report. It is said to recommend indicting three of President Trump’s children – Don junior, Ivanka and Eric – as well as his son-in-law, Jared Kushner. The Attorney General, William Barr, is said to have ‘silently assented’ to this. It’s also claimed that Mueller wants President Trump himself to be indicted. Barr is said to oppose this. The two men met on Friday but apparently could not agree and this was the reason for the delay in any announcement from the DoJ.

[George]

lmao

https://i.imgur.com/umD8ezd.jpg

How does that saying go? 'Tis better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak and remove all doubt"?

That said, I think I like Marco Rubio, from what little I know of him - mostly from the 2016 Republican presidential debates in which he didn't seem too stupid or evil.

Funny how the standards for presidential candidates has changed...

[Tom Servo]

Wasn't she subject to cruel treatment during imprisonment? Or so I've heard that's what a UN report had said.

It looks like that's what the UN said in 2012.


It sounds like she's paid her debt to society and then some, this new contempt of court charge seems excessive, given the circumstances.

She had her sentence commuted and was released in 2017, so under the law she has paid her debt for the crimes she was imprisoned for. She's now being compelled to testify before a grand jury and refusing to do so, so this is an entirely different situation, even if it's related to the same events. She is not, however, on trial or being charged with anything, which is part of the problem. The fifth amendment gives you the right to not testify in a way that might incriminate you, but if you're not being charged with a crime or you've already been convicted, you don't have that right when subpoenaed. Incidentally, that's one of the things that would potentially make things worse for Trump if he decided to pardon somebody like Manafort - you can only pardon someone if they're guilty, and once pardoned for a crime you can't be tried for it again, so there's no fifth amendment protection and he could be compelled to testify as well.

[FaultyMario]

She had her sentence commuted and was released in 2017, so under the law she has paid her debt for the crimes she was imprisoned for. She's now being compelled to testify before a grand jury and refusing to do so, so this is an entirely different situation, even if it's related to the same events. She is not, however, on trial or being charged with anything, which is part of the problem. The fifth amendment gives you the right to not testify in a way that might incriminate you, but if you're not being charged with a crime or you've already been convicted, you don't have that right when subpoenaed.

What new information could she provided that wasn't already extracted from her during interrogation? it can't be related to the 2016 election when she was in jail. I understand she is refusing to testify on principle, because she opposes the grand jury system.

And like I said, given the circumstances, who wouldn't?

[Tom Servo]

Well, that's the law of the country. You get subpoenaed by a grand jury, you either testify, come up with a valid reason why you refuse to testify (like attorney-client privilege, the fifth amendment, spousal privilege), or potentially get held in contempt. She chose option three. I tend to side with her most of the time, but the "I don't like the way our laws work so they don't apply to me" move reminds me of sovereign citizens who just think saying "I do not consent" will suddenly make it so that police officers can't arrest them. In the meantime, it's up to the court to decide if they think there's new information, it's not up to her. If she'll just be re-hashing information she's already given, then why not just testify and save yourself the contempt charge?

In the end, saying that she opposes the grand jury system and therefore won't testify won't and can't fly. You can't just have people in a law-based society saying "well, I don't like this law, so I'm not gonna abide by it." People do that all the time, of course (just ask me how many people I see playing with their phones while driving), but you always do it with the risk that if you do it in front of the wrong person, you may very well have to face the consequences for it. Just imagine if the same thing was happening only it was Don Jr. being subpoenaed to testify about Trump tower meetings during the campaign, would it be okay if he just said "Eh, I don't believe in the grand jury system, so I'll pass."?

[FaultyMario]

Airplanes are becoming far too complex to fly. Pilots are no longer needed, but rather computer scientists from MIT. I see it all the time in many products. Always seeking to go one unnecessary step further, when often old and simpler is far better. Split second decisions are needed, and the complexity creates danger. All of this for great cost yet very little gain. I don’t know about you, but I don’t want Albert Einstein to be my pilot. I want great flying professionals that are allowed to easily and quickly take control of a plane!

###

[speedpimp]

You can't make that shit up.

[Tom Servo]

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/D1dwVZGUYAArUag.jpg:large

(https://twitter.com/pixelatedboat/status/1105475754010193922)

[G'day Mate]

:lol:

[FaultyMario]

It's 4:20 in D.C.

[FaultyMario]

Picture taken during a Friends of Ireland luncheon.

http://pbs.twimg.com/media/D1o_zR0XgAIUpex.jpg

[Tom Servo]

I'll just go with the headlines because I have no other words that sound right - "Multiple fatalities after shooting at two Christchurch mosques, four arrested"

https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/new-zealand/multiple-fatalities-after-shooting-two-christchurch-mosques-four-arrested?variant=tb_v_1

[Yobbo NZ]

My good old home city.
Not like they haven't had enough shit in the last 9 years.

[Rikadyn]

Nothing like your last college paper becoming more supported and relevant.

Rise of far right fascism in the wake of the Syrian refugee crisis.

[G'day Mate]

Not like they haven't had enough shit in the last 9 years.

My thoughts exactly. It didn’t make sense, but turned out not to be a local

[FaultyMario]

Half of America thinks Donald J. "Corruptus in Extremis" Trump is the victim of a 'witch hunt'.

[drew]

"Half of America" is likely a stretch. I saw one "poll" that said "90% of [name your group] thinks [name something]" and it was a sample size of 1000 people.

If they polled 200M people, and 100M said "witch hunt", then maybe I'd despair.


Fuck it, I'll despair regardless. This country is 70% dumbfucks.

[FaultyMario]

I forgot to put a link to it. But it was reputable source, trust me.

And Drew, He's been going nonstop about it, plus, I'd say half the people in the U.S. are too young to know or just don't care about Watergate (which Trump's behavior seems modeled after).

Meh.

[FaultyMario]

Fuck it, I'll despair regardless.

Sorry for adding grievances to your alcoholism (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vyrdW9DqoK4&feature=youtu.be&t=6615), mate. Cheers!

:toast:

[Tom Servo]

I also saw something about how it was a poorly worded question. I think it was a USA Today poll and said something like "Do you think the Mueller investigation is a witchhunt, that Trump is being investigated more than other presidents, or that it is politically motivated", so saying yes could be answering any one of three questions. I would say yes seeing that I think he's being investigated more than other presidents, and nothing about my response would mean that there's anything fairness related about that.

[MR2 Fan]

For these polls, do they call people? on land lines? on cell phones? That can really skew the results as well since most younger people don't have land lines and don't answer random calls on their cell phone

[Tom Servo]

Here's a little more about it. I also think it's a little telling that USA Today's own article about their own poll doesn't mention a) the question asked or b) their polling methodology.

https://www.vox.com/2019/3/18/18271441/trump-tweet-usa-today-suffolk-poll-mueller-witch-hunt

[SportWagon]

https://www.checkmarket.com/sample-size-calculator/

Lies. Damned lies. And statistics.

[Dicknose]

1000 is not a bad sample size...
that calc you linked, put 3% as margin and see what happens...
you hit 1000 for a pop of 20k, and not much more for a pop of 200M

[Crazed_Insanity]

Regardless of methodology, I think it’s obvious people are getting dumber and fatter. Getting upset or angry about such trend is useless... unless you channel such anger to motivate you to do something to help reverse the trend? Start by getting fitter and smarter yourself... as tiggy has demonstrated, that’s the best way to help motivate and inspire the rest of the sorry ass human population.

[Tom Servo]

There's no link between fitness and intelligence. Keep that fat shaming shit to the other thread.

[Crazed_Insanity]

Point wasn’t about linking the two, but how we ought to react to such depressing realities.

[G'day Mate]

It strikes me that nobody calls Trump out on arguments similar to the following which essentially boil down to “no fair, I shoulda gotten away with it”

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/D2JcoDKU8AA2UFn?format=png&name=small

[Tom Servo]

Kinda fits along with his tendency to criticize people as "rats", which usually means that they started cooperating with the authorities. "This person is bad because he told the FBI about our crimes!"

[Leon]

Poster child for narcissistic personality disorder (untreated) still going strong I see.

[MR2 Fan]

in other news, everyone's favorite son-in-law, Jared, has been using WhatsApp for official white house business

[Tom Servo]

I guess at least it's encrypted?

[SportWagon]

No-one seems yet to have mentioned Mr. Kellyanne Conway getting into a bit of hot water, at least partly for observations which, while seemingly rather obvious, are difficult to substantiate without stepping outside one's own realm of accredited expertise.

[Leon]

I don't know exactly where this comment belongs, because it's politics, and it's guns, but it's NZ not USA.

However.

Since the mass murder in Christchurch NZ 1 week today (actually, one week, and a couple of hours).
The PM has announced there will be a ban on military style semi automatic weapons.
There has been positive "graffiti" and art popping up all over, expressing solidarity with the muslim community.
Women have worn headscarves today to express solidarity and love. There was a national two minutes of silence today, following the muslim call to prayer being played on most TV and radio stations at 1:30pm.
NZ has swung from relatively neutral (with obviously clusters of racist shitbags, because that's human beings for you), to a country very nearly united in absolute support of the practicing muslims in NZ.
The killers name is being shunned.

Here's a big shiny fuck you to that particular scumbag. Your campaign of hate has resulted in probably the most epic backfire in NZ history.

Are we perfect? No. Absolutely not. Are we trying. Bloody right. Will we fuck things up in some ways, for sure. Will we keep trying, yes.

(Translation: Whanau = Family/Community)

3221

[Tom Servo]

That's awesome, there are a lot of people out here who wish our country could act so decisively.

[SkylineObsession]

Definitely proud to be a Kiwi, with all the support fellow kiwis are giving. :hard:

From what i can see, things don't happen as quickly (or at all) in the USA because almost everyone has a finger in the pie, which severely increases the chance that a few groups will say no to whatever is proposed. Not gonna name names, because i don't like getting into political crap (it brings out the worst in people, i've even blocked feeds from close friends on Facebook because they have something to say on every government decision).

[Leon]

https://resources.stuff.co.nz/content/dam/images/1/u/d/q/v/b/image.related.StuffLandscapeSixteenByNine.1240x700 .1udnrw.png/1553228788705.jpg

Policewoman as a guard at the funeral of one of the slain.

Armed because given what happened.

Headscarf as a measure of respect

Flowers, because NZ.

Photo makes me cry, despite having seen it several times

[Rare White Ape]

Not trying to lord it over Americans in this trying time, but....

https://i.imgur.com/G9oiA1H.png?1

[FaultyMario]

Armed because given what happened.


She doesn't look police to me, more like military in police gear.

[Dicknose]

Leon - how much of this positive reaction is because your leader is positive?
Jacinda has shown you can lead by positive example, be inclusive. You don’t need fear or “us v them”.

Damn can’t find the image.. there was a meme with a poll result for preferred Australian prime minister (federal election coming soon...). The leaders of the two parties at 5%, NZs Jacinda Ardern at 90%

It’s great to see there is still hope for a better world.
Thank you NZ

[Leon]

She doesn't look police to me, more like military in police gear.

Nope, she's definitely a cop not military, they document who she is in the article I lifted the photo from. Constable Michelle Evans, of Whanganui.

Jacinda is a very different politician, leading a fairly strong lean to the left coalition government. She's not universally loved in NZ, as there's a relatively even split between people who favour one of the two political parties and despise the other (because politics). But she is doing her very best to set an inclusive tone in what she does, and the reactions to the shooting are very much in line with all she has displayed in her career as leader.

We can all hope for a better world, but as RWA has said above, there needs to be a lot of doing, and less praying. The doing can make you very unpopular as a politician. We've had some remarkable people leading NZ over the decades, but they can only "do" as much as their political mandate allows ... eventually they burn bridges and it all falls down.

If there has been a cultural shift in the dynamic in NZ following this killing, that would be great. I hope that is the case, but I'm cynical enough to suspect that it's a lull before the money starts leading the country again.

[MR2 Fan]

NEWS: THE MUELLER REPORT IS COMPLETED

https://www.cnn.com/politics/live-news/mueller-submits-russia-report/index.html

[FaultyMario]

Which one?

[Jason]

AG Barr has basically exonerated Trump.

[FaultyMario]

Ahmaigahd! Who could have seen that coming?

[sandydandy]

Guess we won’t be seeing him in handcuffs anytime soon. So now it’s up to the American people to go to the polls next fall, in record numbers, and vote this dipshit out once and for all.

[Jason]

Yup. I kinda hope we move on and focus on beating him in the election. Going after him legally and failing just gives the right more ammo. It's basically the reverse "but her emails".

[Tom Servo]

AG Barr has basically exonerated Trump.

Basically, though also specifically pointing out that he was not exonerated, despite what Trump himself loudly proclaims.

In the meantime, after Trump said he thought the report should be made public, the White House has moved to stop it and McConnell is also moving to block it being made public. So, we're basically back at square one.

[Tom Servo]

https://i.imgur.com/pHdIrIW.png

(Sorry, I just got back from a short vacation after clearly leaving at the wrong time)

[FaultyMario]

"Before [my brother] Robbie got sick, if you had asked me if community mattered, I would have said yes. But I wouldn’t have thought about it much. Nor would I have spent much time working out what it meant.

But after many nights in emergency rooms and too-long stays in hospitals, of watching my nieces slowly lose their father, I got a glimpse of what community looks like. It was the people who turned up before they were asked, to do things they didn’t have time to do. Neighbors who collected kids from school and came to hospitals to sit. Friends who stayed. Groups of people who materialized to make lunch for four kids for months because their parents couldn’t."


From "The only metric of success that really matters is the one we ignore (https://qz.com/1570179/how-to-make-friends-build-a-community-and-create-the-life-you-want/)"

[MR2 Fan]

Barbara Bush hated Donald Trump and her and George H.W. Bush didn't vote for him. She also no longer considered herself a Republican...I'm not really surprised.


https://www.thedailybeast.com/barbara-bush-said-she-didnt-consider-herself-republican-before-her-death

[sandydandy]

Donald Trump makes you long for George W. Bush. He seemed like an angel in comparison.

Then you remember how truly evil Bush was, and change your mind.

Then you long for Obama.

[MR2 Fan]

I don't think W was that evil. misguided? definitely.

He had a LOT of bad people in his staff who manipulated him for their own priorities (IMO). We all knew W wasn't very smart, and I think he did too. He was mostly inept, but he also didn't attack people daily who disagreed with him, publicly.

[sandydandy]

Cheney was the evil one.

[FaultyMario]

They're all evil!!!!

[Tom Servo]

Rumsfeld definitely gave Cheney a run for his evil money.

[Rare White Ape]

I don’t normally venture near the pages of the youth-oriented clickbait shit-fest that is pedestrian.tv but this one deserves a read.

https://www.pedestrian.tv/news/scott-morrison-shat-himself-at-engadine-maccas-in-1997/

[Dicknose]

"dacks" = aussie for pants (if you need help translating the above link)
Hmm - wonder if Google translate supports "Australian -> USA"

[Crazed_Insanity]

Bottom line is that the WBush admin was evil. No question. From charging CA up the butt for energy while blaming Californians for not building enough power plants to starting a bogus war that’s was based on bogus Intels.

Obama admin was obviously much better. However in less obvious ways very similar to the W admin.

Trump is most definitely the worst admin ever, but luckily probably one of the least effective too. (With key people either indicted or resigned...) so hopefully he caused minimal damage overall. I actually do like his straight shooting tweets, not because of their content, but because they allow you to know what he’s thinking without PR filter. I find it amazing that our government wants to crack down on Elon Musk’s tweets yet has no issue with our own presidents tweets.

[FaultyMario]

NYT: Breaking News: The still-secret Mueller report is more than 300 pages long, raising new questions about Attorney General William Barr’s 4-page summary.

Twitter: Wow that’s crazy, good thing no one ran any headlines based on it.

[Dicknose]

I do think Trump has brought a "refreshing and new" style, quite open, doesnt worry about fiddly details, keeps moving forward. Some people do seem to like the style.
Unfortunately its from a narcissistic idiot!
Actually its a great style for him - doesnt matter how many mistakes or lies he makes, he just keeps pushing on.

[Crazed_Insanity]

Couldn’t agree more. It’s refreshing to not have another ‘politician’, but unfortunately, thanks to Trump, people will be happy to have just another typical ‘politician’ in the future...

[FaultyMario]

Barack Obama was not a politician in the traditional sense*, and he also brought a "refreshing and new" style but since he was a person of color the traditional media tropes painted him with broadstrokes.


*He had 11 years of legislative experience in 2008 wich I'm going to guess is far below the average for, not only president but, most advisors and campaign managers.

[drew]

I do think Trump has brought a "refreshing and new" style, quite open, doesnt worry about fiddly details, keeps moving forward. Some people do seem to like the style.
Unfortunately its from a narcissistic idiot!
Actually its a great style for him - doesnt matter how many mistakes or lies he makes, he just keeps pushing on.

...andclaiming greatness/victory about everything he "accomplishes", even when (most of the time) it an unmitigated clusterfuck of a nightmare.

[speedpimp]

You guys are forgetting how modest he is.
3225

[Dicknose]

...andclaiming greatness/victory about everything he "accomplishes", even when (most of the time) it an unmitigated clusterfuck of a nightmare.

Oh yeah - its a train wreck to watch.
It was interesting when it was campaigning. Its painful now that it continues with his finger on the button.

[Rare White Ape]

I see the same behaviours in tv salesmen.

[Tom Servo]

This is real.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/D2_W6atXQAAEuIS.jpg:large

[FaultyMario]

It's Philomena Cunk! (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IYtDgvjwPTw)

[Tom Servo]

Jokes about the idiocy of Fox News and their chyron aside, the aid they're talking about cutting would reduce refugee numbers according to the administration's own analysis. This feels like purposely creating a refugee situation that Trump can use as a campaigning tool come 2020. "Only I can solve the problem that I myself created!"

[FaultyMario]

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/D3GFc4JU0AAXYrI.jpg

[Freude am Fahren]

Kind of a useless graph without context. More agents? Less crossings? Better evasion? Worse agent performance?

[Crazed_Insanity]

Yeah, Trump is doing as well or as poorly as Obama based on that graph.

[Tom Servo]

I think part of it is that apprehensions is basically the best metric we have for overall totals, that there's an expectation that apprehensions stay at a relatively stable percentage of the overall number of people crossing the border illegally. Otherwise, we don't really have a useable metric for this.

[FaultyMario]

Kind of a useless graph without context.

https://www.wola.org/analysis/new-migration-numbers-us-mexico-border-show-growing-humanitarian-crisis/

[Crazed_Insanity]

So I think the main take away is that there are now way more families trying to cross the border than ever before. Used to be that somebody migrate north to make money to send back to the family..., but things have gotten so bad that entire families are now forced to migrate...

I still don't quite understand the original chart you posted. Why is there such a huge drop of apprehension/agent. Used to be 2~300... and ever since Obama took over, we're now down to teens and low 20's. I'm assuming higher the ratio means more effective agent? Why the loss of effectivity in recent years?

[FaultyMario]

So I think the main take away is that there are now way more families trying to cross the border than ever before.

From the linked I shared:

For the first time ever, an incredible 61 percent of all migrants apprehended by Border Patrol at the U.S.-Mexico border are children, and parents with children. This proportion was never as high as 10 percent before 2012.
The number of single adults being apprehended at the border remains near 50-year lows, and less than most of 2016. The typical migrant is no longer an adult traveling alone.


I still don't quite understand the original chart you posted. Why is there such a huge drop of apprehension/agent.

Must be a combination of factors, in fact there's downward tendency in the number of agents employed. My guess would be that Obama's policies were generally effective in toughening up border security and disuading incoming migration through non-Ports of Entry.

In case you're interested and have 45 minutes free in your commute. (https://www.wola.org/analysis/humanitarian-crisis-not-national-emergency/)

[Tom Servo]

Speaking of liking to take credit for things he didn't do or didn't even necessarily happen, Trump's gone from threatening to close the southern border if Mexico doesn't stop people from entering the US illegally to praising all the changes they've made due to that threat.

Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard says he has NO idea WHAT caused Trump to praise Mexico's migration policy today, as nothing has changed in the past week. So, nothing happened, but now Trump's taking a victory lap claiming his hard-line "we're closing the border" threat worked.

Oh well. At least that means we won't run out of avocados in a few weeks (https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/apr/01/trump-mexico-border-avocados).

[FaultyMario]

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/D3MTqmGU4AAcMx4.jpg

[MR2 Fan]

lolwut?

[Crazed_Insanity]

Old white dudes with funky hair running against the established, sure..., but similarities should end there.

[MR2 Fan]

two things Trump has going for him right now for his supporters: The stock market is going higher and higher right now, and he's not starting any wars.

I mean I'm glad he's not starting any wars. The stock market though perpetuates this notion that everyone should be doing better financially which isn't true unless you own stocks or are one of the higher ups in these companies.

[Crazed_Insanity]

As the rich get richer, that's when anti-Trump Bernie Sanders can have a shot at taking over.

[MR2 Fan]

More B.S. against poor people:

Where in The U.S. Are You Most Likely to Be Audited by the IRS?

https://projects.propublica.org/graphics/eitc-audit


In a baffling twist of logic, the intense IRS focus on Humphreys County is actually because so many of its taxpayers are poor. More than half of the county’s taxpayers claim the earned income tax credit, a program designed to help boost low-income workers out of poverty. As we reported last year, the IRS audits EITC recipients at higher rates than all but the richest Americans, a response to pressure from congressional Republicans to root out incorrect payments of the credit.

[Crazed_Insanity]

Unless IRS auditors harass or unfairly charge them extra taxes, I don’t see what’s the big deal. IRS is only doing their job trying the fry the big fishes 1st. Meaning the rich are most likely to evade taxes... then it would be people pretending to be poor trying to qualify for that tax credit. If you truly qualify for that tax credit, then you have nothing to worry about. It’s not like IRS agents could accidentally shoot you dead.

[Tom Servo]

That's making a big assumption that there's a problem with people pretending to be poor in a county where the actual number of taxpayers who are poor and would qualify is greater than normal. There doesn't appear to be any actual evidence that the rate of tax fraud is higher for the people targeted, and the article points out that there *are* things to worry about - like if you're poor and expecting a tax refund to carry you, you don't get that refund until the audit is over, which can take more than a year.

[Crazed_Insanity]

IRS has software programs that would flag returns. It is also possible that poor folks for one reason or another ended up filing returns with more errors; therefore, caused more flags to be raised. I also think it make sense for folks on either financial extremes to end up being flagged more by IRS algorithms. If you stick out like sore thumb, either being too rich or too poor, IRS will probably want to check you out more.

Now, while it's also possible some white nationalist republican politician in charge made IRS to pick on poor black folks more, but delays getting govt tax credits sure beats being shot dead for no reason by racist cops. When there's no longer outcry from BLM, then perhaps we can start worrying about IRS abuses its auditing powers. If they stop auditing the rich and focus only on the poor, then that'll certainly raise my flag to want them to get their act together. For now as long as IRS is not ripping the poor off, I think we have much bigger fish to fry.

[Tom Servo]

It's not only possible that republican politicians made the IRS target EIC recipients more often, the article specifically mentions that that's exactly what they did. And yes, delays in getting your tax refund does beat getting shot, but it certainly does not qualify for "having nothing to worry about" if you were counting on that to pay, say, rent.

[MR2 Fan]

Fox News contributor at the border wearing what at first looks like a bulletproof vest, twitter calls him out on it to hilarious results (seems its really to carry stuff for babies?)

https://twitter.com/LawrenceBJones3/status/1113763507101741056

[Crazed_Insanity]

Do you really think the poor expect to have their annual tax refund check to be sent to them on time in order to pay rent?

That's a pretty unrealistic expectation. I'm sure most people either save their refunds or use it to pay off existing debt. We can't really expect how much and when IRS will send us our refund checks. If I really needed the money and auditor delayed that money, sure, that'll suck, but eventually I will get that money. If the evil republican IRS ended up withholding funds unlawfully, then it's probably time for us to do something about it.

I just think that article was designed purposely to be inflammatory. Exactly what kind of pressure was IRS under by the 'republican congress'? Why is it that 'democratic congress' is so useless at protecting the poor and continued to allow the republican congress to fuck around like that?

Personally, I just think a lot of people probably just mistakenly claim such credit that's why government wants to crack down on it. Which group of Americans are the ones most likely to make errors on their returns? The rich, the middle class or the poor? Computer will flag those errors and trigger audits. I think it's understandable.

The main thing they need to change if IRS is so short staffed due to cuts, IMHO, would be if no human auditor is available to do a proper audit in a timely fashion, the computer ought to just let the error go. This is probably mainly a computer algorithm and lack of budget issue... not a partisan discriminatory issue.

[Tom Servo]

I specifically know a person who regularly has a hard time making her rent and would absolutely count on that.

I should have known this would be your usual "They have nothing to worry about!", "Well, except for this thing you might not have thought about.", "Well, it's not as bad as this absolute worst possible thing that can happen, so it's not worth worrying about" thing. Back to other conversations.

[Crazed_Insanity]

Anyway, what do you guys think of model bills?

https://amp.usatoday.com/amp/3162173002

Our legislators are not only passing partisan laws, but mostly passing laws favoring big companies. I think all these partisan politics bickering is all designed to distract the folks by having them focusing just on making the country more blue or more red but we’ve failed to realize big companies have already hijacked our nation. Our government is no longer people’s..., well unless we go along the line of corporations are people too...

[drew]

Fox News contributor at the border wearing what at first looks like a bulletproof vest, twitter calls him out on it to hilarious results (seems its really to carry stuff for babies?)

https://twitter.com/LawrenceBJones3/status/1113763507101741056

There is some absolute gold in that one, lol.

""What you're wearing has backpack waist straps.
Because it's a backpack.
That you're wearing backwards.
Like a boss."

[FaultyMario]

Ilhan Omar says Douche McDoucheface is a "white nationalist", then there's media outrage.

I don't understand being outraged at obvious. What am I doing wrong?

[Tom Servo]

Isn't the media outrage localized to the media run by a bunch of white nationalists who do everything they can to avoid the label "white nationalist"? I haven't seen any outrage from the standard media, but the likes of The Daily Caller and Fox News seem to be a little bent out of shape.

[Tom Servo]

Companies like Intuit and other for-profit tax-related companies might be finally getting their wish - a bill with bipartisan support is coming up that would permanently ban the IRS from releasing a free online tax filing tool.

https://www.propublica.org/article/congress-is-about-to-ban-the-government-from-offering-free-online-tax-filing-thank-turbotax?utm_content=bufferc4c6a&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter&utm_campaign=buffer

[FaultyMario]

I know, the fucker is a Nazi. In spite of being jewish.

His border policies are have crossed the sociopath line. Jeh Johnson was harsh and effective, Miller is just cruel.

[FaultyMario]

While on the subject of living in a P.W.E.I. nightmare: Brazil replaces far-right education minister with conspiracy theorist. (https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/apr/09/brazil-replaces-far-right-education-minister-with-conspiracy-theorist?utm_term=Autofeed&CMP=twt_gu&utm_medium=&utm_source=Twitter#Echobox=1554797023)

[Crazed_Insanity]

Companies like Intuit and other for-profit tax-related companies might be finally getting their wish - a bill with bipartisan support is coming up that would permanently ban the IRS from releasing a free online tax filing tool.

https://www.propublica.org/article/congress-is-about-to-ban-the-government-from-offering-free-online-tax-filing-thank-turbotax?utm_content=bufferc4c6a&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter&utm_campaign=buffer

Bipartisan support... so glad to see two sides working together to screw the American people like this.

I’m telling you, partisan politics are only being played to distract us... to get the people fighting amongst themselves so intensely so that they wouldn’t noticed being fucked from behind.

Our government is no longer of the people, but of corporate lobbyists.

[speedpimp]

I know, the fucker is a Nazi. In spite of being jewish.

Trump? His wiki says he's "Presbyterian". Pretty sure the only thing he worships is himself.

[Tom Servo]

I think he's referring to Stephen Miller.

[speedpimp]

Disregard the above then. Heh.

[Tom Servo]

Okay, we may have a new leader in the "dumbest shit said in Congress" race:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DRBfM709Yqc

"If it's called a BACHELOR'S DEGREE, then how are you MARRIED, sir?"

[FaultyMario]

Is that guy representative of his constituents?

I mean, we can make fun of him all we want, but that was clearly a trope directed not at the person he was having the conversation with but rather it was directed towards an audience who'd only get to watch bits and pieces of his intervention.

It'd be interesting to know what the ratings of Fox, Breitbart and the Washington Examiner in his district are.

[FaultyMario]

And that kids is why Democrats lose elections.

[mk]

We have national election next Sunday.

Latest gallup has 5 parties over 10% but none over 20%.
Seems to be a european trend.

1/3 for current government, steady.
2/5 for would be government, down 7%.
1/4 for sill opposition, up 10%.

Where basic finns with ~1/6, sort of social nationalists, are surely out, for now.

We don't have blocks like swedes, only sort of ideological ones.
But still enough dislikes that only 3 of those 5 can fit in.
That's not party vs. party dislike but one vs. the rest, power style.

It feels that those who gain are we don't pay anymore and somebody else, like usual, must pay more.
Though neighter are telling who or seems to have an idea how the society as a whole works.

And if Scandinavia above Denmark is an island Finland is a remote island.
That seems to be lost for even more people.

[FaultyMario]

Woooooooow what mind fuck is this new election campaign! People who hate Donald Trump who believe Assange got him elected, now hate Assange and will now love Donald Trump for arresting the man they hate for electing in Donald Trump, a man they hate.

Small punctuation edits to the original (https://twitter.com/MIAuniverse/status/1116336158600904704).

[FaultyMario]

AFAIK, the Obama-era DOJ refused to prosecute Assange under these same charges because they thought it'd put journalism at risk.

[FaultyMario]

Scotland Yard wrote:
(http://news.met.police.uk/news/update-arrest-of-julian-assange-365565)
Julian Assange, 47, (03.07.71) has today, Thursday 11 April, been further arrested on behalf of the United States authorities, at 10:53hrs after his arrival at a central London police station. This is an extradition warrant under Section 73 of the Extradition Act. He will appear in custody at Westminster Magistrates' Court later today (Thursday, 11 April).

[Tom Servo]

Heh, even John Kerry's getting in on the dunking:



It's almost as if someone said "Congress has hit rock bottom" and Massie replies with "hold my beer."


https://twitter.com/JohnKerry/status/1116084060143669248

[FaultyMario]

Heh, even John Kerry's getting in on the dunking:



https://twitter.com/JohnKerry/status/1116084060143669248

Yeah, but he was unable to break from Mr. Massie's narrative that those who oppose Republican environmental policy are "pseudoscientific", he took the bait and argued in his terms. Trump's eternal campaigning has proven that shaming them is not the way to expose them. That video you posted clearly shows they're putting up an act, and their fourth wall needs to fall before they can be argued against. That wall shields them from rational discourse.

[FaultyMario]

She had her sentence commuted and was released in 2017, so under the law she has paid her debt for the crimes she was imprisoned for. She's now being compelled to testify before a grand jury and refusing to do so, so this is an entirely different situation, even if it's related to the same events. She is not, however, on trial or being charged with anything, which is part of the problem. The fifth amendment gives you the right to not testify in a way that might incriminate you, but if you're not being charged with a crime or you've already been convicted, you don't have that right when subpoenaed. Incidentally, that's one of the things that would potentially make things worse for Trump if he decided to pardon somebody like Manafort - you can only pardon someone if they're guilty, and once pardoned for a crime you can't be tried for it again, so there's no fifth amendment protection and he could be compelled to testify as well.

Apparently the grand jury doesn't need her testimony, they have enough arguments to charge Assange already (https://gizmodo.com/assange-charges-finally-reveal-why-chelsea-manning-is-s-1833972958).


“The indictment against Julian Assange unsealed today was obtained a year to the day before Chelsea appeared before the grand jury and refused to give testimony,” Manning’s support committee said. “The fact that this indictment has existed for over a year underscores what Chelsea’s legal team and Chelsea herself have been saying since she was first issued a subpoena to appear in front of a Federal Grand Jury in the Eastern District of Virginia—that compelling Chelsea to testify would have been duplicative of evidence already in the possession of the grand jury, and was not needed in order for US Attorneys to obtain an indictment of Mr. Assange.”

[Crazed_Insanity]

Apparently the grand jury doesn't need her testimony, they have enough arguments to charge Assange already (https://gizmodo.com/assange-charges-finally-reveal-why-chelsea-manning-is-s-1833972958).

I don’t know what’s the right thing to do to Assange or Manning, but I’m ashamed to find out that our courts are willing allow whether Bush or Obama or Trump to get away with murder...

“In 2009, the Tipton Three’s case was dismissed by a U.S. appeals court on the basis that U.S. officials were immune from being prosecuted and that their treatment at Guantanamo was not considered illegal at the time. The Supreme Court declined to take up the case.”

No justice, no peace I guess.

If our govt were just, there’s also be nothing for anyone to leak.

[Phil_SS]

If our govt were just, there’s also be nothing for anyone to leak.

That is simply untrue. Do you think that NASA should have handed over the plans to the Saturn V to the public or the Russians in 1969? We do need protected information.

[Crazed_Insanity]

Do you really believe wikileaks is about leaking proprietary information?

Manning was just confused about his/her gender so that he screwed up a just war that we're fighting?

Snowden was just a sissy Russian spy hiding in Russia?

I'm sure there'd be no argument if we were to charge somebody who leaked Coke's or KFC's secret recipes. Such leaks or thefts are clearly wrong.

However, although the folks we're talking about here clearly have done something 'illegal', but I'm not sure if they were that immoral or unethical. The world sometimes need whistleblowers. We need kids to point out that the King is fucking naked sometimes. Should everyone else in such kingdom allow the king to jail or execute these stupid kids staring and pointing at King's tiny peepee?

For now, our commander-in-chief can be a dictator around the world and fuck with other people around the world and there'd be nothing other people can do about it.

We could be on a mission to kill Bin Laden and then accidentally killed the wrong guy, but that's okay, just dump the body in the ocean and declare mission accomplished... and then classify this info as secret and that's that. We can falsely imprison and torture you without due process... even if you survived it, there'd still be nothing you can do to seek justice. Because we are justice. Our elected officials have way too much power in their hands and not enough check and balances in place around the world. If we don't change, eventually there will be a rebel alliance forming to destroy us.