Author Topic: US Politics Thread |OT| SAD TRUMP  (Read 5545729 times)

0 Members and 5 Guests are viewing this topic.

etiolate

  • Senior Member
Re: U.S. Politics Discussion Thread |OT| The Benji Memo
« Reply #15060 on: February 26, 2018, 10:05:11 PM »
the russia collusion* believing in this thread


 :snoop :picard

the absolute shame

*or is it meddling now? I think the weasel words are mutating.

Aren’t you a Seth rich truther that still believes that Russia didn’t hack the DNC emails even though they were literally caught on camera doing it, because of download speeds?

That is not exactly a position of impeccable judgment from which to criticize.

You're my favorite because you openly admit to believing things which aren't true.

Tasty

  • Senior Member
Re: U.S. Politics Discussion Thread |OT| The Benji Memo
« Reply #15061 on: February 26, 2018, 10:11:15 PM »
the russia collusion* believing in this thread


 :snoop :picard

the absolute shame

*or is it meddling now? I think the weasel words are mutating.

Aren’t you a Seth rich truther that still believes that Russia didn’t hack the DNC emails even though they were literally caught on camera doing it, because of download speeds?

That is not exactly a position of impeccable judgment from which to criticize.

You're my favorite because you openly admit to believing things which aren't true.

A B S O L U T E C O W A R D 😂

etiolate

  • Senior Member
Re: U.S. Politics Discussion Thread |OT| The Benji Memo
« Reply #15062 on: February 26, 2018, 10:21:24 PM »
I've restated the Seth Rich thing a gajillion times. No need to restate. Maybe get your memory checked?

Coward is when you never answer. Not when you choose not repeat yourself to distinguished mentally-challenged fellow a third time.

Tasty

  • Senior Member
Re: U.S. Politics Discussion Thread |OT| The Benji Memo
« Reply #15063 on: February 26, 2018, 10:22:34 PM »
Not when you choose not repeat yourself to distinguished mentally-challenged fellow a third time.

Why do you talk to yourself? 🤔

kingv

  • Senior Member
Re: U.S. Politics Discussion Thread |OT| The Benji Memo
« Reply #15064 on: February 26, 2018, 10:24:23 PM »
the russia collusion* believing in this thread


 :snoop :picard

the absolute shame

*or is it meddling now? I think the weasel words are mutating.

Aren’t you a Seth rich truther that still believes that Russia didn’t hack the DNC emails even though they were literally caught on camera doing it, because of download speeds?

That is not exactly a position of impeccable judgment from which to criticize.

You're my favorite because you openly admit to believing things which aren't true.

We are doppelgängers

Boogie

  • The Smooth Canadian
  • Icon
Re: U.S. Politics Discussion Thread |OT| The Benji Memo
« Reply #15065 on: February 26, 2018, 10:46:19 PM »

I feel bad for the guy. While it's a possibility you might have to stop a shooter, and there are protocols for it, it's not like it's something you really expect to happen and it isn't the job. The resource officer site doesn't list it as something they do, but does have a portion devoted to how they're definitely very against arming school facultiy and only law enforcement officials should be armed in schools. I've had a lot of jobs where you train in the super rare event of X happening, but that isn't THE JOB like people on GAF are arguing. I think they really think the resource officer's actual job is just to prevent school shootings. I'm sure he's going to be tortured by his inaction the rest of his life, which might be short what with the president going on TV calling him names. Someone is probably going to take a shot at him.

I feel bad for the guy too.

But after that, I disagree with the second part of that statement.

One of the defining aspects of the policing career is being prepared for that which you don't "expect" to happen, but know can, at any point.  The vast majority of cops never fire their weapons on the job, but we strap up everyday, regardless.

And a school resources officer?  I'm sorry, but surely, he absolutely had to be "prepared" for an active shooter situation, and it is "the job".  Not the defining part of the job, not what he did day-to-day, but in the small, quiet, back part of his mind, he knew it was in the realm of the possible.

Shit, I've had active shooter training, and I'm a 100% desk cop right now.   Because the RCMP has decided that every single officer needs that training.  And as extremely unlikely as I am to ever have to respond to such a situation, I have put my mind to it.  Thinking about how I'd handle it, the fear, and yes the doubt.  I absolutely believe that a school resources officer, in America had to have that on his mind at some point.

That deputy is not the only officer in North America who would freeze in that situation.  There are more who would be like him than I would care to admit.  I don't even know 100% that I wouldn't freeze up either if I were to find myself in that situation.  I want to say that I know 99% that I would not, that I have put my mind to that possibility at various times, whether it being hypothetically when a recruit in training, or when I have kicked in doors for drug warrants, or followed targets on surveillance who thought they had a hit out on them for losing a load, and that they might think I'm not a cop, but someone out to hit them.

The bottom line is, when push comes to shove, being a cop means that you signed up for running towards gunfire when others are running away from it.  As you say, he will most likely be tortured by his inaction for the rest of his life, and that may be punishment enough.

But it absolutely was the job for him, that day.  I don't know what is in his mind, but he resigned because he surely knows that once you do what he did, you just can't come back to work, strap on a gun and a badge, and claim to be there to protect and serve.


The job as highlighted by the agency that runs the resource officer program is to essentially be a good role model and mentor to kids. I worked at a youth center (essentially baby jail) where I had to get trained with fucking riot shields just in case. I was also trained on what to do if a kid climbed the 30 feet fences, or how to reset the third failsafe generator in the event of a tornado, but I wouldn't say those were "part of the job" in a traditional sense, nor did I ever think about having to actually do them.

The bolded is what they highlight as to its particular value to the community and its emphasis.  It is still a sworn and armed law enforcement officer carrying out those duties. 

I'm not even sure exactly what points you're arguing with me at this point.  You seem to be comparing the situation with your job, by using training that is peripheral, not central, to your duties.  I'm trying not to be dismissive about it, but what I am saying is that comparing with your job does not matter to the analysis.  The Deputy was a cop, not "just" a school resources officer.  They had a primary, fundamental duty to respond to the situation, and it was a duty that they should have, and I would say would have thought "about having to actually do."
MMA

Mandark

  • Icon
Re: U.S. Politics Discussion Thread |OT| The Benji Memo
« Reply #15066 on: February 27, 2018, 12:44:03 AM »
Here's the thing about trying to use that audio of Hersh to rehabilitate Malia Zimmerman's story on Seth Rich (which Fox News retracted but never addressed). Even if you put aside Hersh's subsequent denials (and the fact he's a bit of a bullshitter), the story just seems really unlikely.

The story is that the FBI examined Rich's computer shortly after he was killed, found definitive evidence that he was the source of the leaks, and wrote an official report to that effect. The Zimmerman story differs in some details from what Hersh said but they agree on those details. Rich was killed two years ago, and the Zimmerman story was in May of last year.

So to believe this, you have to believe that the FBI had smoking-gun evidence that Rich was the leaker at the start of this whole mess, produced a document saying so, and then suppressed that finding to deliberately frame Russia. Also that document, a year and a half after it was written, 9 months after the Zimmerman story, and half a year after the Hersh audio leaked, has not leaked or been corroborated by any credible subsequent reporting, despite there being at least one person with access to it who was talking to Hersh.

If that document exists, the Zimmerman story and Hersh audio should have turned it into the holy grail for right wing media, but there seems to be no urgency in following up on it. At this point it has all the signs of being the new Whitey Tape.

shosta

  • Y = λ𝑓. (λ𝑥. 𝑓 (𝑥 𝑥)) (λ𝑥. 𝑓 (𝑥 𝑥))
  • Senior Member
Re: U.S. Politics Discussion Thread |OT| The Benji Memo
« Reply #15067 on: February 27, 2018, 12:44:59 AM »
is this all you ever post about
每天生气

Mandark

  • Icon
Re: U.S. Politics Discussion Thread |OT| The Benji Memo
« Reply #15068 on: February 27, 2018, 12:50:18 AM »
We could have an earnest discussion about how lipstick is basically sexual entrapment. :yeshrug

Tasty

  • Senior Member
Re: U.S. Politics Discussion Thread |OT| The Benji Memo
« Reply #15069 on: February 27, 2018, 12:52:25 AM »
S E T H R I C H

shosta

  • Y = λ𝑓. (λ𝑥. 𝑓 (𝑥 𝑥)) (λ𝑥. 𝑓 (𝑥 𝑥))
  • Senior Member
Re: U.S. Politics Discussion Thread |OT| The Benji Memo
« Reply #15070 on: February 27, 2018, 01:10:08 AM »
Open question, are we (human society) ever going to do something about the destruction of ocean ecosystems or are we just going to keep doing nothing about it forever and barely even mention it as a major issue until there are no large fish left in the ocean
每天生气

seagrams hotsauce

  • Senior Member
Re: U.S. Politics Discussion Thread |OT| The Benji Memo
« Reply #15071 on: February 27, 2018, 01:11:24 AM »
Uh, very clearly the latter?

El Babua

  • Senior Member
Re: U.S. Politics Discussion Thread |OT| The Benji Memo
« Reply #15072 on: February 27, 2018, 01:13:28 AM »
The oceans are gonna get more and more fucked up until they get their revenge by flooding our coastal cities.  :doge

Mandark

  • Icon
Re: U.S. Politics Discussion Thread |OT| The Benji Memo
« Reply #15073 on: February 27, 2018, 01:14:41 AM »
People respond to environmental issues when it's direct quality-of-life shit. The coral reef is done for.

team filler

  • filler
  • filler
Re: U.S. Politics Discussion Thread |OT| The Benji Memo
« Reply #15074 on: February 27, 2018, 01:30:53 AM »
The ocean had a good run  :snob
*****

Oblivion

  • Senior Member
Re: U.S. Politics Discussion Thread |OT| The Benji Memo
« Reply #15075 on: February 27, 2018, 01:43:22 AM »
the russia collusion* believing in this thread


 :snoop :picard

the absolute shame

*or is it meddling now? I think the weasel words are mutating.

Aren’t you a Seth rich truther that still believes that Russia didn’t hack the DNC emails even though they were literally caught on camera doing it, because of download speeds?

Also, unironically uses Kim Dotcom as a serious source of information.

Also blogs by guys who name themselves shit like Tyler Durden

Don’t forget the late night catastrophizing over a random 4chan rumor.

etoilet reads only the most prestigious and reputable of chain e-mails.
« Last Edit: February 27, 2018, 02:54:50 AM by Oblivion »

hungrynoob

  • boo
  • Member
Re: U.S. Politics Discussion Thread |OT| The Benji Memo
« Reply #15076 on: February 27, 2018, 09:30:47 AM »
Apparently yous are being distracted with net neutrality survival tactics so that they can enact a law where a website can be banished if a user posts some shit on your website.

Yous are fucked, and not even by a little bit.

zomgee

  • We've *all*
  • Senior Member
Re: U.S. Politics Discussion Thread |OT| The Benji Memo
« Reply #15077 on: February 27, 2018, 10:00:19 AM »
Etoilet redeemed
rub

ToxicAdam

  • captain of my capsized ship
  • Senior Member
Re: U.S. Politics Discussion Thread |OT| The Benji Memo
« Reply #15078 on: February 27, 2018, 10:19:45 AM »
Open question, are we (human society) ever going to do something about the destruction of ocean ecosystems


When you compare what the US has done for the oceans in the past 40 years, compared to the 40 years before that, it has been a remarkable change.

I'm not familiar with all the Western laws, but I know in America they've passed 4 landmark bills that went a long way in protecting our oceans. Not to mention all the area that has been turned into "national parks" under Bush and Obama.

More info on those bills: https://www.epa.gov/beach-tech/laws-protect-our-oceans

Our fisheries have dramatically recovered (from the 1970's) and are some of the best managed in the world. https://www.greateratlantic.fisheries.noaa.gov/stories/2017/05/09_feus_sos_reports.html

Other countries are also doing well and it helps prove that "overfishing" is a fixable problem and not an inevitability.




 

hungrynoob

  • boo
  • Member
Re: U.S. Politics Discussion Thread |OT| The Benji Memo
« Reply #15079 on: February 27, 2018, 10:20:53 AM »
i prefer him than the soggy biscuit parade.

Nintex

  • Finish the Fight
  • Senior Member
Re: U.S. Politics Discussion Thread |OT| The Benji Memo
« Reply #15080 on: February 27, 2018, 12:37:57 PM »
https://twitter.com/jbendery/status/968538128884617216

Dems told not to push gun reform, because that's bad for politics or something.
🤴

kingv

  • Senior Member
Re: U.S. Politics Discussion Thread |OT| The Benji Memo
« Reply #15081 on: February 27, 2018, 12:39:25 PM »
2008 Clinton must run the DCCC

etiolate

  • Senior Member
Re: U.S. Politics Discussion Thread |OT| The Benji Memo
« Reply #15082 on: February 27, 2018, 01:21:21 PM »
One of the things that happened on the west coast was the invasion of an invasive species. There's been free reign on tilapia fishing for awhile because they overpopulate and drive out other fish.

Nintex

  • Finish the Fight
  • Senior Member
Re: U.S. Politics Discussion Thread |OT| The Benji Memo
« Reply #15083 on: February 27, 2018, 01:24:08 PM »
One of the things that happened on the west coast was the invasion of an invasive species. There's been free reign on tilapia fishing for awhile because they overpopulate and drive out other fish.
Sounds like you need to build a wall or arm the fishermen
🤴

FStop7

  • Senior Member
Re: U.S. Politics Discussion Thread |OT| The Benji Memo
« Reply #15084 on: February 27, 2018, 02:39:52 PM »
I want all of the old guard Democratic "leaders" (Pelosi, Schumer, Feinstein, anyone with the last name Kennedy or Clinton) run the fuck out of town on a rail.

Nintex

  • Finish the Fight
  • Senior Member
Re: U.S. Politics Discussion Thread |OT| The Benji Memo
« Reply #15085 on: February 27, 2018, 04:04:07 PM »
I want all of the old guard Democratic "leaders" (Pelosi, Schumer, Feinstein, anyone with the last name Kennedy or Clinton) run the fuck out of town on a rail.
They should be publicly shamed for having their little squabbles turn Trump into president.

2 winning tickets for 2016:
Clinton - Sanders (after primaries, to unify the party. Gib kids free college = instant win, don't care about the details or walk it back later, no one cares anyway and your opponent is selling walls paid for by Mexico)
Biden - Clinton (replace Hill with Joe post her 9/11 collapse and have him laugh at Trump at the last debate for 2 hours straight, it made so much sense and Joe would've swept the Rustbelt)

But nooo, must keep the party pure and elect the queen. Must not reward Sanders for almost stealing the queen's throne. Must believe the pollsters who use the same MacBook and have drum circles at Starbucks.
Must not have a man president, when it's woman's turn. 

Idiots
🤴

Brehvolution

  • Until at last, I threw down my enemy and smote his ruin upon the mountainside.
  • Senior Member
©ZH

seagrams hotsauce

  • Senior Member
Re: U.S. Politics Discussion Thread |OT| The Benji Memo
« Reply #15087 on: February 27, 2018, 04:12:41 PM »
FWIW it's worth noting that even though we're dumping chemicals by the boatload and there's a literal continent of trash in it, the ocean will be just fine. It takes up two-thirds of the Earth and we've barely explored any of it. Life exists in every inch of it. Unless we start detonating nukes in the Mariana Trench or some shit ocean life will be here for millions of years longer than humanity

Phoenix Dark

  • I got no game it's just some bitches understand my story
  • Senior Member
Re: U.S. Politics Discussion Thread |OT| The Benji Memo
« Reply #15088 on: February 27, 2018, 04:50:17 PM »
One of the things that happened on the west coast was the invasion of an invasive species. There's been free reign on tilapia fishing for awhile because they overpopulate and drive out other fish.

white people?

010

Kurt Russell

  • Senior Member
Re: U.S. Politics Discussion Thread |OT| The Benji Memo
« Reply #15089 on: February 27, 2018, 04:51:53 PM »
woke

Nola

  • Senior Member
Re: U.S. Politics Discussion Thread |OT| The Benji Memo
« Reply #15090 on: February 27, 2018, 04:57:19 PM »
FWIW it's worth noting that even though we're dumping chemicals by the boatload and there's a literal continent of trash in it, the ocean will be just fine. It takes up two-thirds of the Earth and we've barely explored any of it. Life exists in every inch of it. Unless we start detonating nukes in the Mariana Trench or some shit ocean life will be here for millions of years longer than humanity

I'm by no means an expert, but Climate Change fascinates me so I find myself reading random books on it and the like, from what I have gathered one of the biggest concerns is how human activity and the warming planet is going to affect phytoplankton and the like. The bottom of the food chain that so many species ultimately rely upon and produces half of the planets oxygen. As temperatures and acidification rises it either kills off phytoplankton, grows certain species, and/or forces them to migrate to cooler waters, upending the food chains in that area. And that chaos is hard to predict but you could imagine how devastating that could be to a poorer fishing community that suddenly finds their primary source of food close to collapse. Or how that could affect the carbon cycle if you are suddenly losing a ton of oxygen producing species in a short amount of time due to accelerating climate change forces. How that could affect marine life when these once stable food chains are completely upended in short order.

Joe Molotov

  • I'm much more humble than you would understand.
  • Administrator
Re: U.S. Politics Discussion Thread |OT| The Benji Memo
« Reply #15091 on: February 27, 2018, 04:58:06 PM »
Oh, I've already seen a "Abortion kills more kids than guns, guess you libetards want that banned too, checkmate" on my Facebook.
©@©™

shosta

  • Y = λ𝑓. (λ𝑥. 𝑓 (𝑥 𝑥)) (λ𝑥. 𝑓 (𝑥 𝑥))
  • Senior Member
Re: U.S. Politics Discussion Thread |OT| The Benji Memo
« Reply #15092 on: February 27, 2018, 04:59:51 PM »
FWIW it's worth noting that even though we're dumping chemicals by the boatload and there's a literal continent of trash in it, the ocean will be just fine. It takes up two-thirds of the Earth and we've barely explored any of it. Life exists in every inch of it. Unless we start detonating nukes in the Mariana Trench or some shit ocean life will be here for millions of years longer than humanity
half of all ocean ecosystems are in the process of ecological collapse or well on their way.
每天生气

Kurt Russell

  • Senior Member
Re: U.S. Politics Discussion Thread |OT| The Benji Memo
« Reply #15093 on: February 27, 2018, 05:04:47 PM »
half of all ocean ecosystems are in the process of ecological collapse or well on their way.

You are so fucking depressing. Can't you say something heartwarming and uplifting pls?
woke

shosta

  • Y = λ𝑓. (λ𝑥. 𝑓 (𝑥 𝑥)) (λ𝑥. 𝑓 (𝑥 𝑥))
  • Senior Member
Re: U.S. Politics Discussion Thread |OT| The Benji Memo
« Reply #15094 on: February 27, 2018, 05:07:19 PM »
You are so fucking depressing. Can't you say something heartwarming and uplifting pls?
extreme poverty is on the rise in the US
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/made-by-history/wp/2017/12/21/extreme-poverty-returns-to-america/?utm_term=.ea3f74e6e5ba
每天生气

Joe Molotov

  • I'm much more humble than you would understand.
  • Administrator
©@©™

etiolate

  • Senior Member
Re: U.S. Politics Discussion Thread |OT| The Benji Memo
« Reply #15096 on: February 27, 2018, 05:23:37 PM »
That's kind of being loose with "extreme poverty".

Quote
To be sure, poverty in the United States is not equivalent to poverty in less developed countries.

Kind of an important factor there. So how is it defined here?

Quote
Then there are the extremely poor who live on less than $2 per day per person and don’t have access to basic human services such as sanitation, shelter, education and health care. These are people who cannot find work, who have used up their five-year lifetime limit on assistance, who do not qualify for any other programs or who may live in remote areas.

Having homeless family members, the "not found work" is one of the main things. They don't even get onto any assistance program in the first place. (This piece also doesn't touch on how certain programs may be harming people int he long run.) A new concern may be the job market changing so much that a meaningful percentage of the population just won't be able to handle the majority of work to be found. We may end up with 10% of the population trying to filter into every physical labor job.

My issue is using extreme poverty in an American sense rather than the world view and then ignoring much of the picture to make an appeal to assistance. You should also mention that outsourcing has alleviated world poverty but probably at a cost to the middle and lower class in developed countries. Following that, get into tech's impact and that even simple retail or food jobs are getting higher tech. I'm for public assistance, but be smart about it and realize that having jobs for the people is far better than dependency. One way to kill economic mobility is to create generational dependency.

Nintex

  • Finish the Fight
  • Senior Member
Re: U.S. Politics Discussion Thread |OT| The Benji Memo
« Reply #15097 on: February 27, 2018, 05:29:28 PM »
https://twitter.com/CarolLeonnig/status/968609368005664768

"Yes my friends, we have manipulated the President's son in law now we can get anything done"

Jared: "Donald"

Donald: "Yes Jared"

Jared: "Donald, I spoke to Pakistan I think you should give them money"

Melania: "Hello"

Donald: "THAT'S A SHITHOLE, pass me my MAGA hat I gotta go Golf"




🤴

shosta

  • Y = λ𝑓. (λ𝑥. 𝑓 (𝑥 𝑥)) (λ𝑥. 𝑓 (𝑥 𝑥))
  • Senior Member
Re: U.S. Politics Discussion Thread |OT| The Benji Memo
« Reply #15098 on: February 27, 2018, 05:34:46 PM »
JARED KUSHNER'S SECURITY CLEARANCE JUST GOT DOWNGRADED LOLLLLLLLLLLLL
每天生气

Phoenix Dark

  • I got no game it's just some bitches understand my story
  • Senior Member
Re: U.S. Politics Discussion Thread |OT| The Benji Memo
« Reply #15099 on: February 27, 2018, 05:41:13 PM »
I really can't imagine Kushner NOT selling state secrets or doing favors in exchange for finances. He was basically selling visas to Chinese nationals last year.  :lol

But again...gotta think Mueller won't indict Kushner and Don Jr until he's near or at the finish line.
010

Nola

  • Senior Member
Re: U.S. Politics Discussion Thread |OT| The Benji Memo
« Reply #15100 on: February 27, 2018, 05:45:48 PM »
1.2 billion dollar loans due next February don’t pay for themselves.

At least not when you invest in property well above market value at the height of the real estate bubble.

kingv

  • Senior Member
Re: U.S. Politics Discussion Thread |OT| The Benji Memo
« Reply #15101 on: February 27, 2018, 05:51:32 PM »
Ivanka would be a great spy. She has so much filler in her face you can’t tell when she is lying.

Nintex

  • Finish the Fight
  • Senior Member
Re: U.S. Politics Discussion Thread |OT| The Benji Memo
« Reply #15102 on: February 27, 2018, 05:56:54 PM »
Ivanka is even better at telling bullshit than her father is.
It's basically a hot cop / bad cop routine between the two of them.
🤴

agrajag

  • Senior Member
Re: U.S. Politics Discussion Thread |OT| The Benji Memo
« Reply #15103 on: February 27, 2018, 06:26:17 PM »
I hate that bitch's raspy ass voice

Nintex

  • Finish the Fight
  • Senior Member
Re: U.S. Politics Discussion Thread |OT| The Benji Memo
« Reply #15104 on: February 27, 2018, 06:33:42 PM »
https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/968620661349470209
Trump: "Drain the swamp, away with the politicians"

Also Trump: "... and treasurer of Bumville Ohio, Mr. McCormand Mcormy, great job, also under janitor Mason Steele cleaning floors at the RNC Fantastic job"

https://twitter.com/georgepbush/status/968626207049822208
Trump insulted your grandma and called your dad a loser  :doge


No Ben why  :'(
https://mobile.nytimes.com/2018/02/27/us/ben-carson-hud-furniture.html
Quote
Department of Housing and Urban Development officials spent $31,000 on a new dining room set for Secretary Ben Carson’s office in late 2017
« Last Edit: February 27, 2018, 06:42:18 PM by Nintex »
🤴

Nola

  • Senior Member
Re: U.S. Politics Discussion Thread |OT| The Benji Memo
« Reply #15105 on: February 27, 2018, 07:14:47 PM »
Quote

Trump Tower officially lists the tenant as the Industrial & Commercial Bank of China, but make no mistake who's paying the rent: the Chinese government, which owns a majority of the company. And while the landlord is technically the Trump Organization, make no mistake who's cashing those millions: the president of the United States, who has placed day-to-day management with his sons but retains 100% ownership. This lease expires in October 2019, according to a debt prospectus obtained by Forbes. So if you assume that the Trumps want to keep this lucrative tenant, then Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr. could well be negotiating right now over how many millions the Chinese government will pay the sitting president.


Quote
Forbes estimates these tenants pay a collective $175 million a year or so to the president. And they do so anonymously. Federal laws, drafted without envisioning a real estate billionaire as president, require Trump to publicly disclose the shell companies he owns--but not the hundreds of businesses pouring money into them or even the extent of the money involved.

Quote
Boiled down, the Trump Organization is more a collection of deals than an operating business. While Wal-Mart and General Motors rely on millions of customers around the world, the Trump Organization relies on a handful of large entities. That insulates the president's business from consumer whims--and lagging favorability ratings--while leaving him vulnerable to corporate (or government) interests.

How, then, to consider the backroom discussions between federal officials and Walgreens Boots Alliance, one of the largest pharmacies in the world? Through its brand Duane Reade, it is the highest-paying tenant in Trump's skyscraper at 40 Wall Street in New York, with $3.2 million in annual rent, according to a 2015 prospectus. In October 2015, Walgreens Boots Alliance announced a $9.4 billion merger with rival Rite Aid, requiring a sign-off from antimonopoly regulators. After the deal failed to secure approval under President Obama, it then fell to the Trump administration, which arrived in Washington during the first quarter of 2017. According to federal disclosures, that was the same quarter Walgreens Boots Alliance began directly lobbying the White House on "competition policy issues." In September, despite objections by one of the two commissioners at the Federal Trade Commission, Trump's tenant got the green light for a slimmed-down, $4.4 billion version of the deal. In January, Trump announced he would nominate the commissioner who supported the deal, Maureen Ohlhausen, to be a federal judge.

How much, if at all, did the business relationship affect the government's decision? It's inherently impossible to measure. Walgreens Boots Alliance says there was no connection whatsoever and that their lobbying was not specific to the deal. But even if Trump tried to rule without any personal favor, or if this was decided without his direct input, the appearance of a conflict of interest is unavoidable. The companies know their landlord is the president. And it's hard to get into the heads of regulators, however well-intended or removed from the White House, who serve a president famously obsessed with personal loyalty.

Quote
Consider banks. Capital One rents space for an estimated $1 million at the bottom of Trump's Park Avenue condo building--while the Justice and Treasury departments investigate the bank's anti-money-laundering program. Four years ago, the Department of Justice reached a nearly $17 billion settlement--the largest ever of its kind--with Bank of America, the biggest tenant (an estimated $18 million a year) at the 555 California Street complex in San Francisco, where Trump owns a 30% stake. Like all big banks, BofA remains under scrutiny by federal officials. In December, Trump tenants UBS, Barclays and JPMorgan, plus Trump lender Deutsche Bank, got waiver extensions from the Department of Labor that allow them to avoid part of their punishment for illegally manipulating interest rates and foreign exchange rates.



https://www.forbes.com/sites/danalexander/2018/02/13/trump-conflicts-of-interest-tenants-donald-business-organization-real-estate-assets-pay/#644d77ef48f9
The conflicts go on and on.

The best cronyism, folks, the best.

FStop7

  • Senior Member
Re: U.S. Politics Discussion Thread |OT| The Benji Memo
« Reply #15106 on: February 27, 2018, 07:33:37 PM »
Imagine being the lickspittle for someone who publicly insulted your entire family in some really shitty ways.  Someone who would do that isn't even a man, in my eyes.  Maybe some kind of talking dog.  But not a man.

Mandark

  • Icon
Re: U.S. Politics Discussion Thread |OT| The Benji Memo
« Reply #15107 on: February 27, 2018, 08:28:15 PM »
That's kind of being loose with "extreme poverty".

No, it's literally the threshold set by the World Bank regardless of the country.

Tasty

  • Senior Member
Re: U.S. Politics Discussion Thread |OT| The Benji Memo
« Reply #15108 on: February 27, 2018, 08:30:13 PM »
A L T E R N A T I V E F A C T B O Y S

Mandark

  • Icon
Re: U.S. Politics Discussion Thread |OT| The Benji Memo
« Reply #15109 on: February 27, 2018, 08:51:21 PM »
JARED KUSHNER'S SECURITY CLEARANCE JUST GOT DOWNGRADED LOLLLLLLLLLLLL

That story might not even have come out if Kelly hadn't decided that Rob Porter was so irreplaceable that they needed to overlook his wifebeating in the middle of the #metoo explosion.

Nola

  • Senior Member
Re: U.S. Politics Discussion Thread |OT| The Benji Memo
« Reply #15110 on: February 27, 2018, 09:07:22 PM »
Quote
(CNN)Investigators for special counsel Robert Mueller have recently been asking witnesses about Donald Trump's business activities in Russia prior to the 2016 presidential campaign as he considered a run for president, according to three people familiar with the matter.

Questions to some witnesses during wide-ranging interviews included the timing of Trump's decision to seek the presidency, potentially compromising information the Russians may have had about him, and why efforts to brand a Trump Tower in Moscow fell through, two sources said.
The lines of inquiry indicate Mueller's team is reaching beyond the campaign to explore how the Russians might have sought to influence Trump at a time when he was discussing deals in Moscow and contemplating a presidential run.

Quote
Several lines of questioning to witnesses have centered on the 2013 Miss Universe pageant, which was held in Moscow, and unsuccessful discussions to brand a Trump Tower Moscow, two sources said.
For the pageant, Trump partnered with Aras Agalarov, and his son, Emin Agalarov, billionaire real estate developers in Russia. In congressional testimony last year, Donald Trump Jr. said that "preliminary discussions" to build a tower in Moscow began between the Trump Organization and the Agalarovs after the Miss Universe pageant. Trump tweeted with excitement about the potential project, saying "Trump Tower-Moscow is next."

Quote
One of the sources said, based on the questions, that Mueller's team was focused on the financing of the Miss Universe Pageant, such as who paid for what and what money was paid to whom.

The Trump Organization has never disclosed exactly how much it was paid to hold the beauty pageant in Russia. But Trump's lawyers said in a letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee that the Trump Organization made $12.2 million from foreign sources that year, and a "substantial portion" came from the Moscow event.

A second area of focus was what happened during the event. The source said questions also focused on meetings Trump had with Russian business people or government officials, leading the source to believe the investigators were probing the possibility of "kompromat," or compromising material, on Trump.
https://www.cnn.com/2018/02/27/politics/trump-russia-investigation/index.html

Re: U.S. Politics Discussion Thread |OT| The Benji Memo
« Reply #15111 on: February 27, 2018, 09:44:09 PM »
Open question, are we (human society) ever going to do something about the destruction of ocean ecosystems or are we just going to keep doing nothing about it forever and barely even mention it as a major issue until there are no large fish left in the ocean
We're currently polluting our only home so people that are 80 years old get a little richer.

What do you think?

kingv

  • Senior Member
Re: U.S. Politics Discussion Thread |OT| The Benji Memo
« Reply #15112 on: February 27, 2018, 10:17:29 PM »
The mueller info is interesting. So far he hasn’t seemed to have actually done anything until he was pretty sure what the answers would be.

Great Rumbler

  • Dab on the sinners
  • Global Moderator
Re: U.S. Politics Discussion Thread |OT| The Benji Memo
« Reply #15113 on: February 27, 2018, 10:28:48 PM »
Quote
(CNN)Investigators for special counsel Robert Mueller have recently been asking witnesses about Donald Trump's business activities in Russia prior to the 2016 presidential campaign as he considered a run for president, according to three people familiar with the matter.

Questions to some witnesses during wide-ranging interviews included the timing of Trump's decision to seek the presidency, potentially compromising information the Russians may have had about him, and why efforts to brand a Trump Tower in Moscow fell through, two sources said.
The lines of inquiry indicate Mueller's team is reaching beyond the campaign to explore how the Russians might have sought to influence Trump at a time when he was discussing deals in Moscow and contemplating a presidential run.

Quote
Several lines of questioning to witnesses have centered on the 2013 Miss Universe pageant, which was held in Moscow, and unsuccessful discussions to brand a Trump Tower Moscow, two sources said.
For the pageant, Trump partnered with Aras Agalarov, and his son, Emin Agalarov, billionaire real estate developers in Russia. In congressional testimony last year, Donald Trump Jr. said that "preliminary discussions" to build a tower in Moscow began between the Trump Organization and the Agalarovs after the Miss Universe pageant. Trump tweeted with excitement about the potential project, saying "Trump Tower-Moscow is next."

Quote
One of the sources said, based on the questions, that Mueller's team was focused on the financing of the Miss Universe Pageant, such as who paid for what and what money was paid to whom.

The Trump Organization has never disclosed exactly how much it was paid to hold the beauty pageant in Russia. But Trump's lawyers said in a letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee that the Trump Organization made $12.2 million from foreign sources that year, and a "substantial portion" came from the Moscow event.

A second area of focus was what happened during the event. The source said questions also focused on meetings Trump had with Russian business people or government officials, leading the source to believe the investigators were probing the possibility of "kompromat," or compromising material, on Trump.
https://www.cnn.com/2018/02/27/politics/trump-russia-investigation/index.html

Cloaked figure: Mueller indictments soon, fellow Russian colluder!

Trump: Oh really? When?

Cloaked figure: *places hand on Trump's shoulder, revealing himself to be Mueller" NOW
dog

Re: U.S. Politics Discussion Thread |OT| The Benji Memo
« Reply #15114 on: February 27, 2018, 10:45:43 PM »
The mueller info is interesting. So far he hasn’t seemed to have actually done anything until he was pretty sure what the answers would be.

Biggest hint to where the investigation is headed in the end.

He doesn't ask these "questions" unless he know's and can prove(so far) criminal acts have occurred.

shosta

  • Y = λ𝑓. (λ𝑥. 𝑓 (𝑥 𝑥)) (λ𝑥. 𝑓 (𝑥 𝑥))
  • Senior Member
Re: U.S. Politics Discussion Thread |OT| The Benji Memo
« Reply #15115 on: February 28, 2018, 02:06:34 AM »
omg. this is for you, benji
每天生气

kingv

  • Senior Member
Re: U.S. Politics Discussion Thread |OT| The Benji Memo
« Reply #15116 on: February 28, 2018, 05:17:18 AM »
https://www.buzzfeed.com/albertonardelli/the-mysterious-professor-at-the-center-of-the-russia-trump?utm_term=.wqA22vlx#.xja55DAg

Looks like that Joseph Mifsud dude disappeared... also that he is a massive shit head.

Interesting article that is more interesting by the fact it’s basically his baby momma dragging him by exposing all of their text messages because he disappeared on her when she was pregnant.

benjipwns

  • your bright ideas always burn me
  • Senior Member
Re: U.S. Politics Discussion Thread |OT| The Benji Memo
« Reply #15117 on: February 28, 2018, 09:26:59 AM »
 :drudge
Quote
[Barack Hussein Obama at the Sloan Conference] opined that the NBA would be well-served by junior league "so that the NCAA is not serving as a farm system for the NBA with a bunch of kids who are unpaid but are under enormous financial pressure."

"It's just not a sustainable way of doing business," said Obama. "Then when everybody acts shock that some kid from extraordinarily poor circumstances who's got 5, 10, 15 million dollars waiting for him is going to be circled by everybody in a context in which people are making billions of dollars, it's not good." Creating an alternative league for people eventually headed to the NBA "won't solve all the problems but what it will do is reduce the hypocrisy" of pretending that all student-athletes are both students and athletes.
IMPEACHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH NOWWWWWW

Joe Molotov

  • I'm much more humble than you would understand.
  • Administrator
Re: U.S. Politics Discussion Thread |OT| The Benji Memo
« Reply #15118 on: February 28, 2018, 11:02:32 AM »
©@©™

benjipwns

  • your bright ideas always burn me
  • Senior Member
Re: U.S. Politics Discussion Thread |OT| The Benji Memo
« Reply #15119 on: February 28, 2018, 11:19:03 AM »
you just don't realize all the places the deep state has infiltrated until you look for it everywhere