Mega-Thread: Trump Focused Discussion

[Beefhammer]

But that's just it, they do believe, even if they have quantifiable evidence to the contrary right in front of them.

Same way when I said to people that I know, before the election we just had, "they're blatantly lies and here is the evidence." I was met with "but we don't think we are being lied to." I just stopped bothering. People will believe even the most readily disproved nonsense, sadly.

Yup. Exactly why Trump said he would run as a Republican.

[Edge-]

This is now official.

Trump said he would do it on Day One. He did it for about five months. Par for the course for America's Golfer in Chief.

Which, in Trumpworld, I guess means August 2019.

[Paranoid Android]

The blessing of what's being called "the official Bible for the new U.S. Space Force" at the Washington National Cathedral on Sunday is being criticized as a violation of laws separating church and state.
https://t.co/0fhHt6V0EE

https://twitter.com/NPR/status/1216889692530061312?s=19

Uggh! Keep religion out of my government. Imagine if we had that other religious text as official for a military branch.

For all you secularists out there, this will only get worse.

[Edge-]

https://twitter.com/NPR/status/1216889692530061312?s=19

Uggh! Keep religion out of my government. Imagine if we had that other religious text as official for a military branch.

For all you secularists out there, this will only get worse.

Alright, so where's the official Torah? The official Quran? The official Vedas? Maybe the official Kojiki? How about the official Gospel of the Flying Spaghetti monster?

This nation isn't a theocracy.

[Orbitus]

https://twitter.com/NPR/status/1216889692530061312?s=19

Uggh! Keep religion out of my government. Imagine if we had that other religious text as official for a military branch.

For all you secularists out there, this will only get worse.

Yep, considering Barr has been pushing "Religious Freedom" stuff ahead in the DoJ, which means, he is pushing Christianity Freedom stuff ahead, and anything else for religions is getting ignored.

[DarkTZeratul]

Yup. Exactly why Trump said he would run as a Republican.

He actually didn't; that story was - and I hate to use the term, but it fits so well here - fake news.

https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/19...-people-quote/

[Wyrt]

https://twitter.com/NPR/status/1216889692530061312?s=19

Uggh! Keep religion out of my government. Imagine if we had that other religious text as official for a military branch.

For all you secularists out there, this will only get worse.

Good luck taking a stand on it without a large portion of the US being super outraged at being "persecuted."

[Blur4stuff]

These past few years are a great example of why even christians should support the separation of church and state. Some think of it as being Christians vs Everyone Else, but the real threat (for them) is a particular type of christian taking over and forcing their interpretation on everyone. And, of course, using their specific views to commit atrocities like caging children or bombing people.

Just picture Jesus doing any of the things Trump has done while "christians" cheer him on.

[Beefhammer]

He actually didn't; that story was - and I hate to use the term, but it fits so well here - fake news.

https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/19...-people-quote/

That's good to know, but that fake quote fits them so well though.

- - - Updated - - -

These past few years are a great example of why even christians should support the separation of church and state. Some think of it as being Christians vs Everyone Else, but the real threat (for them) is a particular type of christian taking over and forcing their interpretation on everyone. And, of course, using their specific views to commit atrocities like caging children or bombing people.

Just picture Jesus doing any of the things Trump has done while "christians" cheer him on.

The war on religion and the term freedom of religion is all about Christian's being able to be bigots, racists, sexists, violate laws, and persecute minority religions.

[Poopymonster]

These past few years are a great example of why even christians should support the separation of church and state. Some think of it as being Christians vs Everyone Else, but the real threat (for them) is a particular type of christian taking over and forcing their interpretation on everyone. And, of course, using their specific views to commit atrocities like caging children or bombing people.

Just picture Jesus doing any of the things Trump has done while "christians" cheer him on.

Well, to be fair, screaming at people and flipping tables in rage IS an the menu.

[Edge-]

Remember how Trump bragged about turning the US military into a mercenary service? About how Saudi Arabia was paying $1B to the US for us to send troops there? And all the questions about whose bank account they deposited the money into?

https://www.vox.com/2020/1/14/210654...-arabia-troops

Yeah...not quite.

Consistent with the president’s guidance to increase partner burden-sharing, the Department of Defense has engaged Saudi Arabia on contributing to US activities that support regional security and dissuade hostility and aggression. The Saudi government has agreed to contribute to the costs of these activities, and discussions are ongoing to formalize these contributions. Contributions of this nature do not lead to the deployment of additional US forces, and they do not drive DoD to take on new missions or responsibilities.

There are negotiations of cost sharing...but that's it. Nothing signed. No checks deposited.

Trump, again, brazenly lied and made shit up. This continues to be indefensible, but I guess since he nominated some judges that any Republican president would have nominated, this is all "fine".

[Rasulis]

Trump promised to designate China a currency manipulator - https://www.cnn.com/2019/08/05/busin...ump/index.html

He did! Back in August of 2019.

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/01/13/us-w...nipulator.html

But I guess as part of the deal, despite them not changing their behavior, they're no longer a currency manipulator.

So what are we getting out of this, again?

California agriculture is expected to be the biggest beneficiary of the “Phase One” US/China trade deal.

In the last 5 years, California nuts export to China has grown from 370 million to 2.5 billion. China is #3 destination for California nut export and it is #2 US agriculture export to China after soybean. That’s despite the Chinese 60% tariff.

How? From the Almond Board.

To drive long-term growth in China, the Almond Board has been tapping into the country’s $22 billion skincare market, positioning almonds as a “beauty food.” Its newest campaign targets Chinese women from ages 20-45, particularly those who live in cities such as Shanghai, Beijing and Guangzhou, said Connie Cheung, a consultant for the board. The ads encourage women to snack on almonds as part of their daily skincare routine.

“And being beautiful is very important to them,” Cheung said. “They believe healthy skin should come from the inside, not only topical. And she constantly searches for the next best thing, the natural thing to make them look beautiful. She has really high concerns about food safety and believes imported products are much better.”

A similar marketing approach is being used in South Korea and Japan, two countries whose women are very beauty-conscious and whose beauty trends influence not just China and other Asian countries but the rest of the world, said Laura Morin of the Sterling-Rice Group.

Like its “beauty food” campaign in China, the Almond Board is promoting the concept of almonds as a beauty snack in Korea and Japan by emphasizing the nut’s health and weight-management benefits, said Melissa Mautz, a marketing director for the board.

In India, which became the No. 1 export destination for California almonds in 2018-19, there has been a long tradition of mothers giving their children almonds as brain food to boost mental acuity, said Sudarshan Mazumdar, the board’s regional director in India. The nut has also been an important part of Indian culture and is often given as gifts during holidays. The board has been trying to reinforce these existing traditions while trying to increase almond consumption as a snack, he said.

In Europe, which traditionally has been an ingredients market for almonds and where veganism and plant-based foods have been a growing trend, the board has been promoting almonds as a nutritious, natural and sustainable snack that’s also good for the planet, said Kath Martino, the board’s marketing consultant in Europe. Specifically, the board is targeting its marketing programs in the United Kingdom, Germany, France and Italy.

The only bad thing is that all you see while driving through Central Valley these days are almond farms. Almond is replacing table grapes and sweet grapes in Central Valley. Sun Maid which is the biggest employer in Central Valley complained about losing a lot of their sweet grapes co-op farmers to Almond.

[mvaliz]

Well, I just saw something frightening on the way home today that - in my view - is a portent of things to come.

I saw this sticker on the back of a truck:



Just doing an image search for "Trump Punisher" yielded a very VERY frightening array of these icons for sale in all forms. >_<

Feking hell... What the shit is wrong with people! >_<

[Belize]

Well, I just saw something frightening on the way home today that - in my view - is a portent of things to come.

I saw this sticker on the back of a truck:

-snip-

Just doing an image search for "Trump Punisher" yielded a very VERY frightening array of these icons for sale in all forms. >_<

Feking hell...

The most frightening thing here is that attempt to attach an image yo.

[mvaliz]

The most frightening thing here is that attempt to attach an image yo.

Was trying to fix it - obviously. :P

It's fixed now...

[cubby]

Well, I just saw something frightening on the way home today that - in my view - is a portent of things to come.

I saw this sticker on the back of a truck:



Just doing an image search for "Trump Punisher" yielded a very VERY frightening array of these icons for sale in all forms. >_<

Feking hell... What the shit is wrong with people! >_<

I'm not sure I'm following exactly what this would mean.

[Edge-]

https://thehill.com/homenews/media/4...et-data-report

The Trump administration plans to restrict media access during “lockups” where reporters get advance time to prepare stories based on major reports with market data, including monthly jobs reports, Bloomberg reported Tuesday.

The Labor Department has allowed media reporters to work on stories ahead of a report’s scheduled release in a secure room on computers disconnected from the internet until the information becomes public.

The department is now discussing removing computers from the “lockups” room and could announce the change as early as this week, people familiar with the matter told Bloomberg.

This could impact reporters’ ability to notify the public as soon as these reports are released.

This move doesn't make any sense, unless they're just specifically looking to stifle media or expect an economic downturn that they hope they can minimize criticism/coverage on. Media working on stories in advance of the news breaking, under embargo, is pretty commonplace in my sphere but I'm not sure how common it is in this instance.

Given that they're in a secure room (assuming no phones allowed) working on machines with no internet access, I'm not sure why this is such a bad thing - it just gives media more time to digest the information and write up stories to go live as soon as it goes public, rather than scrambling to be the "first" to post their coverage/analysis and potentially rushing through and doing a poor job.

[JohnBrown1917]

After how recently yet another Trump campaign manager was caught with child porn/diddling kids, it is started to make me wonder if they only allow pedophiles into the campaign.

[Shadowferal]

George Nader, Jeffrey Epstein, Trump...

[mvaliz]

I'm not sure I'm following exactly what this would mean.

...do you not know what the Punnisher is/does? o_O

*sigh*

Skull = Punisher logo. The Punisher is a Marvel Character who mercilessly kills criminals Military-style. Think Batman, but kills with a lot of guns and an "I Don't Give a fuck" attitude. His idea is to not just imprison criminals, he kills them to "solve the problem once and for all."

Trump Hair = Dumbass Dump

Trump Punisher (or apparently called "Trumpunisher", so I've read) is about "Punishing Liberals".

And by "Punish" I obviously don't mean via a merciless verbal scolding...