Politics' Official Eighteenth Thread

[Hurlshort]

I didn't call it anything. I asked a question. I thought a teacher would know the difference. I think it's been a while but I have to say again that I feel sorry for your students.

My apologies if I misunderstood you.

[Bartimaeus]

 

What're you talking about?

 

Top Agent Said F.B.I. Would Stop Trump From Becoming President.

 

Yeah, that guy's a clown. Mueller kicked him off of his Russian investigation for exactly that reason. Also, while it's true that Strzok was a dummy with issues of impartiality, the actual FBI Director (Comey) nevertheless came out on the opposite end by making the Clinton investigation as public as possible while making the Trump investigation as secret as possible, so that doesn't really match up with the idea that the FBI was in it for Clinton.

 

as to the weird reading o' the ig report by both democrats and republicans, am admitted not surprised, but nevertheless disappointed. really nothing monumental comes from the report, though am admitted only 1/3 through. were already known/admitted comey went 'gainst chain o' command to release info regarding the investigation. comey's reasoning for insubordination is debatable, but after the tarmac meeting 'tween Clinton and Lynch, comey concerns were understandable even if you thinks he acted inappropriate. also, is hardly surprising there were folks in the fbi who disliked candidate trump and hoped he would not be elected President. *insert feigned surprise here* dumb o' such folks to include their obvious distaste for trump in an email while investigating Clinton, but hardly monumental news. more important, the report vindicated the fbi investigation o' Clinton, revealing the there were no politicization which affected the findings o' the investigation, and the report made clear charges would not have been level'd 'gainst Clinton by any ordinary prosecutor. nevertheless, we talk to hardcore democrats and they see report as proof comey ruined the election for Clinton. hear republicans and they see vindication o' deep state. weird.

 

HA! Good Fun!

I think he did the best he could in impossible circumstances. He had a duty to report his findings to the Congress intelligence committees, the Republican members of which (especially in the House) kept immediately running to the press and leaking favorable lines and tainting the investigation and causing an appearance of impropriety on the part of the FBI. So he tried to get ahead of it by going straight to the public (especially as a result of a compromised and non-recusing AG)...which may have had the effect of throwing the election in favor of Trump when he was forced to announce the investigation's re-opening days before the election, when all he was trying to do was maintain the integrity of the FBI. There wasn't a good solution, so he just took the one that was (I think) the most consistent and honest. Fair enough, I says.

Edited June 15, 2018 by Bartimaeus

[Gromnir]

 

I think he did the best he could in impossible circumstances. He had a duty to report his findings to the Congress intelligence committees, the Republican members of which (especially in the House) kept immediately running to the press and leaking favorable lines and tainting the investigation and causing an appearance of impropriety on the part of the FBI. So he tried to get ahead of it by going straight to the public (especially as a result of a compromised and non-recusing AG)...which may have had the effect of throwing the election in favor of Trump when he was forced to announce the investigation's re-opening days before the election, when all he was trying to do was maintain the integrity of the FBI. There wasn't a good solution, so he just took the one that was (I think) the most consistent and honest. Fair enough, I says.

 

 

comey overstepped his authority.  as such, am understanding the ig findings as am reading.  shouldn't have been comey making the decisions he were making.  didn't actual have authority to make such decisions. even so, on multiple levels, lynch appeared to be compromised.  woulda' been far easier for comey to do nothing and let the ag handle any public disclosures regarding the clinton investigation.  am doubting Gromnir woulda' done as did comey, but our reasoning woulda' been based on practical career concerns. comey made the choice more likely to put himself in crosshairs o' eventual political machinations.  is unlikely we would willingly make our self a target as did comey.  that said, when the weiner emails were discovered...

 

investigators had been looking for the proverbial smoking gun in the clinton investigation, and the obvious candidate for such evidence were the thousands o' deleted emails.  when the weiner computer emails were dumped into the fbi's lap short before the election, it looked as if investigators had their smoking gun.  unfortunate, were many thousands o' emails. certainty before election seemed impossible.  

 

disclose and possible swing election.

 

don't disclose and make seem as if the fbi were hiding smoking gun evidence to protect clinton.

 

am sympathizing with comey, but he did violate chain o' command.

 

*shrug*

 

regardless, the significant findings o' the ig report is being large ignored by folks at both extreme ends o' the political spectrum.  ig says comey conclusions as to the possibility o' charges being level'd 'gaisnt clinton were correct.  ig says regardless o' the assjackery o' a few fbi folks, the investigation o' clinton were not tainted or politicized.  the rest is providing for interesting reading for those wanting to expound their personal conspiracy theories, but the significant findings o' the report leave us exact where we were before the findings were released.

 

as an aside, can you imagine if the work emails o' every fed employee were searched for anti-trump and anti-clinton comments during the election year?  sure, most folks who opined how a clinton or trump Presidency need be stopped were not working on an investigation o' a Presidential candidate, so am not suggesting strzok comments were innocuous.  most folks speaking o' preventing clinton or trump from being elected were no doubt talking 'bout getting out and voting and encouraging fence-sitters to choose the "right" candidate.  investigating a candidate for President is different.  but again, while strzok comments is getting headlines, the ig findings show no actual politicization o' the investigation... and the strzok comments is actual an incredible small portion o' overall findings. 

 

 

HA! Good Fun!

[Zoraptor]

 

I've always wondered how Saul got to be so prominent in the Bible, it's almost always him who gets quoted when Jesus has said something inconvenient like 'do unto others', 'render unto Caesar', 'judge not lest ye be judged' etc.

 

And when it's not him it's almost always Revelations instead. Shame they didn't cut that book at Nicaea, since it was pretty close to going iirc. Would have cut out a lot of the current stupidity in the Middle East if it had.

 

I don't see how it would have cut out a lot of the stupidity, it wouldn't have affected the schism early Islam had, for one.

 

 

Much of the unrestrained US support for Israel comes from Evangelicals and Born Agains reading Revelations and deciding that Israel has to exist and be as douchey as possible so the Temple can be rebuilt, you can get a massive war where everyone else can die horribly and go to hell (including, of course, all the Jews/ Israelis they supposedly support) while they get swept up to heaven.

 

It wouldn't heal the rift in Islam, but if you start from the belief that you want to trigger Armageddon then you can also justify all sorts of things like supporting ludicrous takfiri Wahhabis trying to trigger genocidal religious wars against shia because, well, if the war you trigger is large enough you get to go to heaven at the end of it.

 

Which is about as un Christian in the Jesus sense as you can get, but then most of them seem to regard Jesus as a commie (rich men and eye of needle? sounds like Marx to me) to be ignored.

[BruceVC]

 

 

 

 

are you tired of winning yet??

Is this the same type of fake news as with fish feeding in Japan?

It all depends on how you define " fake news "

 

If you consider this photo fake news that would mean you reject 100% real and proven events and developments .....in this case even the WH accepts this saluting as real. But you can believe what you want, thats the beauty of freedom of thought

 

https://edition.cnn.com/videos/world/2018/06/14/north-korea-state-media-airs-unseen-video-trump-salute-general.cnn

Well, since I specifically asked about the fish feeding in Japan do you think I asked because of concerns about the photo being real or because of false narrative about the photo. Think hard

 

Oh for the record for me its  not a big deal with Trump saluting, this is just part of his strategy to get NK to denuclearize

 

As usual these types of global events are nuanced and have to analyzed from a strategic perspective and a simple question needs to be asked  " is this going to be better for a more stable, prosperous and progressive world " ?

 

For me absolutely, if Trump can get NK to become part of the global community this is a good thing. Whatever he needs to do to convince NK to drop the development of nukes I support 

 

There has been decades  of failed foreign policy in NK, I dont blame previous US  presidents because NK has always been intransigent and unreasonable when it comes to negations

 

So lets see if this works, I hope it does    

[injurai]

Here comes the trade wars...

[smjjames]

 

 

 

 

are you tired of winning yet??

Is this the same type of fake news as with fish feeding in Japan?

It all depends on how you define " fake news "

 

If you consider this photo fake news that would mean you reject 100% real and proven events and developments .....in this case even the WH accepts this saluting as real. But you can believe what you want, thats the beauty of freedom of thought

 

https://edition.cnn.com/videos/world/2018/06/14/north-korea-state-media-airs-unseen-video-trump-salute-general.cnn

Well, since I specifically asked about the fish feeding in Japan do you think I asked because of concerns about the photo being real or because of false narrative about the photo? Think hard

 

 

Well, it depends on who you ask, either Trump knew what he was doing or he didn't know what he was doing. NK is going to make propoganda meat out of it regardless.

 

 

Here comes the trade wars...

 

I thought he already started one with Canada, Mexico, and the EU?

[injurai]

China now imposing $50 Billion in tariffs against the US. Problem is the US has more tariffs imposed against it than the recipient nations. It's a 1-to-many relation on our end. We are fighting a trade war on multiple fronts.

 

Unless the State does some massive trillion dollar injection to re-kickstart manufacturing industry in the US, then it's all for naught. The US is a service industry nation. I don't see the republican's launching any such endeavor, if anything it would be the democrat hawks pushing for DOD spending, but more realistically the dems would just reopen trade.

[HoonDing]

At one point he described migration as a big problem for Europe then said to Abe: "Shinzo, you don't have this problem, but I can send you 25 million Mexicans and you'll be out of office very soon," creating a sense of irritation in the room, according to an EU official.

 

The source added that when the topic turned to Iran and terrorism, Trump took aim at French President Emmanuel Macron, saying: "You must know about this, Emmanuel, because all the terrorists are in Paris."

 

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker also came under fire and was repeatedly described by Trump as a "brutal killer" in reference to the bloc's antitrust and tax fines against U.S. tech companies that have run into billions of dollars.

with friends like these

[Bartimaeus]

that 25 million mexicans comment is just gold

Edited June 16, 2018 by Bartimaeus

[Guard Dog]

Thought for the day. In adjusted dollars a college degree in the USA costs 297% more today than in 1978. Lunch at McDonalds costs 40% less than in 1978. Guess which of these two is getting subsidized by YOUR taxes?

 

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

Both, because McDonalds workers were on $7B worth of welfare in 2013 and it has likely increased since then.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.bloomberg.com/amp/view/articles/2013-11-13/how-mcdonald-s-and-wal-mart-became-welfare-queens

And college will, theoretically, give you better job prospects while McDonald's will just make you fat.

Edited June 16, 2018 by KaineParker

[Gromnir]

Thought for the day. In adjusted dollars a college degree in the USA costs 297% more today than in 1978. Lunch at McDonalds costs 40% less than in 1978. Guess which of these two is getting subsidized by YOUR taxes?

 

(edit out image to reduce clutter)

 

federal tertiary education spending for 2018 is gonna be 'bout $28 billion.

 

federal agriculture subsidies for 2017 were $23.9 billion.

 

*shrug*

 

individual states are shouldering less and less o' higher education, so fed and students get stuck with more o' the load compared to past years.  support services at Universities has also increased dramatic over the years.  not just paying for education but for country club amenities. 

 

regardless, from a practical pov, both higher education and your mcdonalds lunch is being subsidized by the fed.

 

HA! Good Fun!

Edited June 16, 2018 by Gromnir

[Elerond]

McDonalds also gets subsidies in most countries in world which it does bussiness, as most countries in world give both agriculture and low pay worker subsidies, etc. assistances, which both indirectly and directly benefit McDonalds. I have seen some calculations that McDonald's effectivelly gets more subsidies than its world wide revenue is.

[injurai]

McDonalds also gets subsidies in most countries in world which it does bussiness, as most countries in world give both agriculture and low pay worker subsidies, etc. assistances, which both indirectly and directly benefit McDonalds. I have seen some calculations that McDonald's effectivelly gets more subsidies than its world wide revenue is.

 

If only produce shacks at every 10th intersection would be subsidized instead. The inability to find healthy fast food given the sophistication of the global supply chain is depressing.

[Bartimaeus]

I think that's only a small part of the problem. Most people don't want to eat a bunch of raw fruits and vegetables every day...and furthermore, it's difficult to survive on only them (especially vegetables, which are by and large incredibly calorie-light). So you have to figure out how to integrate them into actual meals...and there's the problem. The time it takes to cook and prepare meals, the time it takes to figure out what you want to cook (most people don't want to eat the same 2-3 meals every day for forever), the initial time sink required to actually learn how to cook (preferably with skill!). You know what's not difficult to survive on? Hamburgers.

 

If there has been any great loss as a result of the disintegration of the "traditional family structure", it's probably been decent home-cooking and nutrition. People just don't have the requisite time for doing it (properly) anymore when there isn't at least one person dedicated to the job - and I don't think it much matters whether it's a man or a woman, just that there has to be somebody. I have celiac disease, so I can't eat anything BUT home-cooking pretty much, and I absolutely loathe it. Not that I ever much ate out or had fast-food to begin with, but the loss of so many other prepared foods on top of it has made it even more acute.

Edited June 16, 2018 by Bartimaeus

[Elerond]

I think that's only a small part of the problem. Most people don't want to eat a bunch of raw fruits and vegetables every day...and furthermore, it's difficult to survive on only them (especially vegetables, which are by and large incredibly calorie-light). So you have to figure out how to integrate them into actual meals...and there's the problem. The time it takes to cook and prepare meals, the time it takes to figure out what you want to cook (most people don't want to eat the same 2-3 meals every day for forever), the initial time sink required to actually learn how to cook (preferably with skill!). You know what's not difficult to survive on? Hamburgers.

 

If there has been any great loss as a result of the disintegration of the "traditional family structure", it's probably been decent home-cooking and nutrition. People just don't have the requisite time for doing it (properly) anymore when there isn't at least one person dedicated to the job - and I don't think it much matters whether it's a man or a woman, just that there has to be somebody. I have celiac disease, so I can't eat anything BUT home-cooking pretty much, and I absolutely loathe it. Not that I ever much ate out or had fast-food to begin with, but the loss of so many other prepared foods on top of it has made it even more acute.

 

You don't have Gluten free burgers in McDonalds in USA?

 

In Finland's McDonalds has Gluten free version of Big Mac and Quarter Pounder with Cheese. Most restaurants, including fast food places, here have gluten free options in their menus these days. Also you usually can order lacotse free and milkless versions menu items in most restaurants.

[Bartimaeus]

I haven't had a McD burger in probably around 15 years, but from everything I've read, pretty much no fast-food place has anything gluten-free here in the U.S., and things that should be are usually contaminated. So even though you should be able to get like a burger without the bun and stuff, or fries, it will really just be up to how strictly individual employees adhere to keeping stuff from getting contaminated. And I don't know what wages are like in Finland (I presume better), but a lot (not all, but an understandably large amount given the generally terrible pay and working environment) of minimum wage employees here in the U.S. just don't really care that much. From a quick Google search, I certainly see nothing of the sort offered here.

Edited June 16, 2018 by Bartimaeus

[Elerond]

I haven't had a McD burger in probably around 15 years, but from everything I've read, pretty much no fast-food place has anything gluten-free here in the U.S., and things that should be are usually contaminated. So even though you should be able to get like a burger without the bun and stuff, or fries, it will really just be up to how strictly individual employees adhere to keeping stuff from getting contaminated. And I don't know what wages are like in Finland (I presume better), but a lot (not all, but an understandably large amount given the generally terrible pay and working environment) of minimum wage employees here in the U.S. just don't really care that much. From a quick Google search, I certainly see nothing of the sort offered here.

 

Average salary per hour for new McDonalds workers is 13€ (15 USD)  (there is variety as you get paid more in evening and night shifts than in morning and day shifts and also sundays and holidays salary is higher)

 

Restaurants are very strict about contamination as they are fully responsible if they sell product that is advertaised glutenfree (same with other allergenics) and it isn't

[injurai]

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/russia-retirement-age-life-expectancy-putin-world-cup-distraction-laws-a8402576.html?utm_source=reddit.com

 

Russia raises retirement above male life-expectancy.

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

It's still 2 years earlier than I can retire.

[Volourn]

So.. women live longer ... yet can retire earlier with pension...  Sexism at its finest. :D

[Lexx]

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/russia-retirement-age-life-expectancy-putin-world-cup-distraction-laws-a8402576.html?utm_source=reddit.com

 

Russia raises retirement above male life-expectancy.

 

To 65? In germany it is 67 since a long time already.

[Gfted1]

We actually have tiers here; 62 - 70. The longer you wait to collect, the more you get.

[Guard Dog]

You really have to go through multiple leaps to claim restaurants are subsidized in any comparable way to a public university. But hey, whatever. I was looking for a way to get than Animal House meme in and that was a good one. 

 

Just one thought on higher education. One of the biggest lies we all tell ourselves is that a degree from one University might be better than another. Unless you are studying medicine of nuclear physics this is not so. The curriculum of one accredited school in any state is much the same as any other. I graduated from FAU back before it started expanding. It was the smallest of Florida's public universities. But if you compare the courses I took to Florida State they are exactly the same but I paid $68 per credit hour vs $100 (or whatever FSU was in the '90s.) Something to think about when you are paying your own way. Especially if you are going in serious student loan debt to do it.