1. #69601
    Quote Originally Posted by beanman12345 View Post
    So when Barr was asked by Harris at his confirmation committee hearing if the white house asked or suggested that the DoJ open an investigation into anyone, and Barr after fumbling with the word about not understanding what suggest meant, his answer was "I don't know." But he in fact did know with certainty that the white house open an investigation into Schiff and Comey, and therefore he lied under oath, sounds like perjury to my laymen's brain. /shrug.
    The problem is that you can't prove "I don't know" is a lie, even if Barr knew at some point prior to the hearing that there was an investigation you can't prove he remembered it at that time.

    That is why the answer is so often "I don't know". Because unless your 100% sure, "I don't know" is a safe answer. While being 90% sure and being wrong can land you a perjury charge.
    It ignores such insignificant forces as time, entropy, and death

  2. #69602
    The Undying Breccia's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by beanman12345 View Post
    "I don't know."
    Shame. "I don't remember" is borderline admission. People do sometimes say "I don't know" when it's true.

  3. #69603
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    Quote Originally Posted by D Luniz View Post
    Someone summon @Breccia and probably @cubby
    We got some freshly dug up Trump shenanigans

    Hunting Leaks, Trump Officials Focused on Democrats in Congress
    As the Justice Department investigated who was behind leaks of classified information early in the Trump administration, it took a highly unusual step: Prosecutors subpoenaed Apple for data from the accounts of at least two Democrats on the House Intelligence Committee, aides and family members. One was a minor.

    All told, the records of at least a dozen people tied to the committee were seized in 2017 and early 2018, including those of Representative Adam B. Schiff of California, then the panel’s top Democrat and now its chairman, according to committee officials and two other people briefed on the inquiry.

    Prosecutors, under the beleaguered attorney general, Jeff Sessions, were hunting for the sources behind news media reports about contacts between Trump associates and Russia. Ultimately, the data and other evidence did not tie the committee to the leaks, and investigators debated whether they had hit a dead end and some even discussed closing the inquiry.

    But William P. Barr revived languishing leak investigations after he became attorney general a year later. He moved a trusted prosecutor from New Jersey with little relevant experience to the main Justice Department to work on the Schiff-related case and about a half-dozen others, according to three people with knowledge of his work who did not want to be identified discussing federal investigations.
    and before you say "paywall" they added some gift share thing, so anyone can see that article for the next 14 days, and it wont count against your feebies
    Just another nail in the coffin as we see how deep Trump's private law firm the DoJ went to further Donnie's political vendettas. Ultimately, a lot of this won't in any way be punishable. Unfortunately, the way the DoJ is set up, it can be highly politicalized, and certainly taken advantage of by, say, con men elected to Residency who in previous jobs ran scam-based "universities" and stole millions from people through a "foundation".

    The only solution is to revamp how the DoJ is appointed, from the top down. We've discussed this before on this forum, and few good solutions exist. My favorite, and I'll be the first to admit it wouldn't work that well, would be to have the SCOTUS appoint the AG to a 10-year term (by vote or something), and the AG fills the political slots at the top, with the career staff running pretty much the way they do now.
    Last edited by cubby; 2021-06-11 at 04:03 PM.

  4. #69604
    Quote Originally Posted by beanman12345 View Post
    So when Barr was asked by Harris at his confirmation committee hearing if the white house asked or suggested that the DoJ open an investigation into anyone, and Barr after fumbling with the word about not understanding what suggest meant, his answer was "I don't know." But he in fact did know with certainty that the white house open an investigation into Schiff and Comey, and therefore he lied under oath, sounds like perjury to my laymen's brain. /shrug.
    Here we go again. Will Barr ever face consequences. He will likely, stop every chance to go into Congress. The Republicans and powers that be will keep him out of jail.

    So tired. Yet, this is some explosive shit. As stated the Executive Branch spying on member of Congress is some serious crime.

    Can we impeach Trump a Third time?

    - - - Updated - - -

    Quote Originally Posted by cubby View Post
    Just another nail in the coffin as we see how deep Trump's private law firm the DoJ went to further Donnie's political vendettas. Ultimately, a lot of this won't in any way be punishable. Unfortunately, the way the DoJ is set up, it can be highly politicalized, and certainly taken advantage of by, say, con men elected to Residency who in previous jobs ran scam-based "universities" and stole millions from people through a "foundation".

    The only solution is to revamp how the DoJ is appointed, from the top down. We've discussed this before on this forum, and few good solutions exist. My favorite, and I'll be the first to admit it wouldn't work that well, would be to have the SCOTUS appoint the AG to a 10-year term (by vote or something), and the AG fills the political slots at the top, with the career staff running pretty much the way they do now.
    Seriously shows how and why the DOJ should be separate from Executive Branch.

    I admit not too in depth of past AG's but Barr by many miles has to be the worse.

    Also funny but we all understood that the part of SMALL GOVERNMENT who always spoke out against the Executive Branch with too much power championed that shit. Under GWB, Cheney along with Barr had these idea of unlimited reach by the President.
    Democrats are the best! I will never ever question a Democrat again. I LOVE the Democrats!

  5. #69605
    https://apnews.com/article/fl-state-...5d56938276d1f1

    Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill into law Friday that is meant to give relief to a large sector of the state’s insurance industry.

    Faced with losses from rising claims, the industry welcomed changes that would restrict some practices by contractors. The law would forbid contractors from soliciting homeowners to file roofing claims. The law also would narrow the time frame in which homeowners can file claims, from three years to two years, and enacts new rules on litigation.

    While some insurers say the new measures will help keep costs down, critics say it could raise premiums on homeowners who get coverage from the state’s provider of last resort. The same legislation raised the cap on annual rate increases that the government-backed insurer, Citizens Property Insurance, can charge its customers. That cap will rise from 10% to 15% over the next five years.
    Ron DeSantis, potential 2024 running mate for Trump or potential 2024 Republican presidential candidate, looking out for the regular people as governor of Florida.

    You know, the home insurance industry which just really doesn't like it when people make claims so they can receive the benefits of the insurance they pay monthly premiums for.

    Just another reminder that Republicans don't care about regular Americans, just whatever businesses can line their pockets.

  6. #69606
    Thursday's report:

    14,880 new cases; about 10k fewer than two weeks ago.

    Top 5:

    Fuck Florida.
    Texas: 1,797 new cases; 33 deaths
    California: 1,086 new cases; 47 deaths
    New York: 821 new cases; 19 deaths
    Washington: 713 new cases; 10 deaths

    No real surprises here, and it remains encouraging that, even factoring in Florida's ~2k total missing from the report, we're still shedding several thousand cases from previous daily totals. The biggest threat right now remains the variants, and the Delta variant in particular. I believe all of the current vaccines have been tested and found effective against them, so now we just need more people to step forward to present arms. No, not those arms Texas, settle the fuck down. Anyway, some other good news is that as of yesterday all states have a positivity rate under 5%, though a few like Montana and Alabama are just barely scraping under. As a reminder, Alabama's vaccination rate is only around 36%, so they'd better fucking be prepared if the Delta variant shows up.

    424 deaths is about 250 fewer than two weeks ago and brings the total to 614,007. As a reminder, those huge differences need to be taken with some skepticism given that Florida is no longer reporting how many of their residents they get killed even though they were consistently topping the charts for over a month. If I had to guess I'd tally them up for at least 50, possibly closer to 75, based on what was happening there before they stopped sharing information.

    Related news:

    More COVID deaths already reported in 2021 than in all of 2020--This is worldwide, but just in case anyone needed some form of wake up call for how serious this shit still is.

    Stay safe, folks.

  7. #69607
    Quote Originally Posted by Benggaul View Post
    Related news:

    More COVID deaths already reported in 2021 than in all of 2020--This is worldwide, but just in case anyone needed some form of wake up call for how serious this shit still is.

    Stay safe, folks.
    How much of that is India?
    It ignores such insignificant forces as time, entropy, and death

  8. #69608
    Quote Originally Posted by Gorsameth View Post
    How much of that is India?
    I don't have that number, but I'm sure they make up a lot of it--though the US was also losing 2-3k+ daily for the first few months of the year. It's fairly irrelevant in any case because, as per the article:

    The White House also raised concerns Tuesday over recent data suggesting vaccines were significantly less effective after one dose against the B.1.617.2 variant first identified in India. President Biden's chief medical adviser, Dr. Anthony Fauci, urged Americans to "make sure you get that second dose."

    Dubbed the "Delta" variant by the World Health Organization, that mutation now appears to be driving outbreaks of cases in several countries around the world, even in the United Kingdom where 6 in 10 residents have at least one shot of a COVID-19 vaccine. Health officials say there's evidence that being fully vaccinated still offers protection against all known variants.

    In the U.S., B.1.617.2 has already been spotted by labs in 49 states. "Nowcast" projections published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimate it could make up 6.1% of circulating virus in the country.
    In other words, if people don't get fully vaccinated in the States there could still be a giant deadly outbreak there.

  9. #69609
    Quote Originally Posted by Benggaul View Post
    In other words, if people don't get fully vaccinated in the States there could still be a giant deadly outbreak there.
    At this point, part of me wishes it would just to let Darwin sort this stuff out, would lead to a more educated electorate in the coming elections too. But the fact is most children aren't vaccinated yet either and don't want to hurt those who are innocent because of those who are ignorant.
    Since we can't call out Trolls and Bad Faith posters and the Ignore function doesn't actually ignore it. Add
    "mmo-champion.com##li.postbitignored"
    to your ublock or adblock filter to actually ignore ignored posters. Now just need a way to ignore responses to them as well.

  10. #69610
    Quote Originally Posted by Fugus View Post
    At this point, part of me wishes it would just to let Darwin sort this stuff out, would lead to a more educated electorate in the coming elections too. But the fact is most children aren't vaccinated yet either and don't want to hurt those who are innocent because of those who are ignorant.
    I'm kind of in the same boat. If it only affected those who choose to expose themselves through their own willful ignorance then I probably wouldn't care as much at this point. Unfortunately it means they're putting a LOT of people at risk who are just unable to get the vaccine currently (not just children, but others who can't get it for other valid reasons). There are SO many people here just completely ignoring the rules. My wife took an Uber to her second jab yesterday and the driver ranted at her about how it's "all bullshit" and he's "not going to get it because I'm young and healthy"...so you can guess the dark thoughts she and I both had about his immediate future.

  11. #69611
    Quote Originally Posted by Benggaul View Post
    I'm kind of in the same boat. If it only affected those who choose to expose themselves through their own willful ignorance then I probably wouldn't care as much at this point. Unfortunately it means they're putting a LOT of people at risk who are just unable to get the vaccine currently (not just children, but others who can't get it for other valid reasons). There are SO many people here just completely ignoring the rules. My wife took an Uber to her second jab yesterday and the driver ranted at her about how it's "all bullshit" and he's "not going to get it because I'm young and healthy"...so you can guess the dark thoughts she and I both had about his immediate future.
    Reminds me of the guy who came to fix some of my dad's stuff in the new place he just got. Said he wasn't and had no intention of doing it because that was how you could catch it.....
    Since we can't call out Trolls and Bad Faith posters and the Ignore function doesn't actually ignore it. Add
    "mmo-champion.com##li.postbitignored"
    to your ublock or adblock filter to actually ignore ignored posters. Now just need a way to ignore responses to them as well.

  12. #69612
    Quote Originally Posted by Gorsameth View Post
    The problem is that you can't prove "I don't know" is a lie, even if Barr knew at some point prior to the hearing that there was an investigation you can't prove he remembered it at that time.

    That is why the answer is so often "I don't know". Because unless your 100% sure, "I don't know" is a safe answer. While being 90% sure and being wrong can land you a perjury charge.
    Considering what is being reported in last 24 hours, we can definitely prove "I don't know" is a lie. Doesn't mean crap though, nobody is gonna go after him for this, it'll get lost in everything else.

    - - - Updated - - -

    Quote Originally Posted by Benggaul View Post
    I don't have that number, but I'm sure they make up a lot of it--though the US was also losing 2-3k+ daily for the first few months of the year. It's fairly irrelevant in any case because, as per the article:



    In other words, if people don't get fully vaccinated in the States there could still be a giant deadly outbreak there.
    I'm surprised there is only 1 variant from India, or did they go greek alphabet cause there are more than just the 1, and Delta being the worse of the bunch?

    - - - Updated - - -

    Quote Originally Posted by beanman12345 View Post
    Considering what is being reported in last 24 hours, we can definitely prove "I don't know" is a lie. Doesn't mean crap though, nobody is gonna go after him for this, it'll get lost in everything else.
    Maybe not, was right now just on CNN...

  13. #69613
    Quote Originally Posted by beanman12345 View Post
    I'm surprised there is only 1 variant from India, or did they go greek alphabet cause there are more than just the 1, and Delta being the worse of the bunch?
    The name "Delta" was basically assigned by the WHO. They came up with the naming convention to make variants more easy to remember. "B.1.617" doesn't exactly roll off the tongue. The greek alphabet is assigned to "variants of concern" or "variants of interest"--not all of them, so while there are probably more variants in India (and the US, and the UK, etc..), "Delta" is one that's particularly dangerous and worth raising the alarm about. It's up to 50% more contagious than the "alpha" variant from the UK, for example.

  14. #69614
    Quote Originally Posted by Benggaul View Post
    The name "Delta" was basically assigned by the WHO. They came up with the naming convention to make variants more easy to remember. "B.1.617" doesn't exactly roll off the tongue. The greek alphabet is assigned to "variants of concern" or "variants of interest"--not all of them, so while there are probably more variants in India (and the US, and the UK, etc..), "Delta" is one that's particularly dangerous and worth raising the alarm about. It's up to 50% more contagious than the "alpha" variant from the UK, for example.
    they also came up with names that are not based on countries because the last thing we need is the nut cases of this country to start attacking Indian folks on top of the attacks on Asians. they already can't tell the difference between Chinese and other Asian's i could imagine the nuts would start attacking American Indians, cause....well they are Indians right!!!

    I can't wait for the push from a particular person and group to want to sue India for 10 trillion dollars because of Delta!
    Buh Byeeeeeeeeeeee !!

  15. #69615
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    Quote Originally Posted by Zan15 View Post
    they also came up with names that are not based on countries because the last thing we need is the nut cases of this country to start attacking Indian folks on top of the attacks on Asians. they already can't tell the difference between Chinese and other Asian's i could imagine the nuts would start attacking American Indians, cause....well they are Indians right!!!

    I can't wait for the push from a particular person and group to want to sue India for 10 trillion dollars because of Delta!
    Unless he shouts it from a streetcorner I don’t think he’ll find many places to conduct that message to his festering masses. He has no social media presence, his blog collapsed (I’m assuming when he found out one has to pay to maintain a domain) and News stations seem leery to give him a microphone for fear of him saying something slanderous that they’d either have to refute (and thus piss off his loyal fans) or let ride and then face a potential defamation suit over.

    So I think we’re fairly safe from him at least. He doesn’t have the ability to climb up on a soapbox, figuratively and probably not literally to boot.
    “Do not lose time on daily trivialities. Do not dwell on petty detail. For all of these things melt away and drift apart within the obscure traffic of time. Live well and live broadly. You are alive and living now. Now is the envy of all of the dead.” ~ Emily3, World of Tomorrow
    Quote Originally Posted by Wells View Post
    Kaleredar is right...
    Words to live by.

  16. #69616
    The Undying Breccia's Avatar
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    I don't know which part of this video is funnier:

    1) Trump, by hiding out at his golf course, is not only living where people pay to be in his presence, but also they must sign a contract that says Trump can stop by whatever they're doing at any time and say whatever he wants without contradiction.

    or

    2) Trump is now crashing funerals.


  17. #69617
    Quote Originally Posted by Ivanstone View Post
    https://www.beckershospitalreview.co...-april-22.html
    https://www.beckershospitalreview.co...-march-15.html

    I’ll give Florida this. In terms of vaccination rates they’re not completely embarrassing. I was almost expecting DeSantis to make vaccines illegal.
    As a Floridian. I can say it depends.

    I live in between Gainesville & Orlando, and I got my vaccines done in April even though I wasn't in the "allowed" group at the time. I didn't take anyone's spot, because literally every 15 minute window at every CVS & Walgreens was open. There was no line. I told my employees about it, at around noon one day and they were able to make appointments that day. I knew people in other FL cities that had to wait weeks before they could qualify and even then had to wait on long lines.
    Last edited by Bodakane; 2021-06-12 at 01:07 PM.
    "When Facism comes to America, it will be wrapped in a flag and carrying a cross." - Unknown

  18. #69618
    Friday's report:

    16,145 new cases; about 7k fewer than two weeks ago.

    Top 5:

    Fuck Florida (it's legit, see below).
    California: 1,007 new cases; 39 deaths
    Colorado: 930 new cases; 14 deaths
    New York: 703 new cases; 12 deaths
    Texas: 695 new cases; 45 deaths

    So, turns out Florida is going to do weekly reports after all, and their report for this past week shows I've been right to keep them right up there at the top. Even though they're omitting some information and pruning the numbers they're still worse off than DeathSantis is trying to paint things. More in Related. California's total keeps dipping and may end up going sub-1k next week (weekends don't count). Texas' total I don't believe for a moment considering they were hitting 1.5-1.7k often this week, so I expect them to be over 1k again next week.

    421 deaths is about 200 fewer than two weeks ago and brings the total to 614,738. Florida, Texas and California round off the top 3 as expected.

    Related news:

    Florida’s first weekly-only COVID-19 report shows increase--Pretty self explanatory. Fuck Florida.

    Republican U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson suspended for a week from YouTube for COVID misinformation--Yes, again.

    States Sending Millions of COVID Vaccine Doses Back to Federal Government As Demand Drops--Not a good thing. And yes, it's mostly those states you would expect would have an abundance of ignorance in the population.

    Stay safe, folks.

    EDIT: Forgot to mention, I'm going to be skipping the reports for Saturdays and Sundays. There's no point to them when half the country isn't reporting anything on those days.

  19. #69619
    Quote Originally Posted by Benggaul View Post
    Friday's report:

    16,145 new cases; about 7k fewer than two weeks ago.

    Top 5:

    Fuck Florida (it's legit, see below).
    California: 1,007 new cases; 39 deaths
    Colorado: 930 new cases; 14 deaths
    New York: 703 new cases; 12 deaths
    Texas: 695 new cases; 45 deaths

    So, turns out Florida is going to do weekly reports after all, and their report for this past week shows I've been right to keep them right up there at the top. Even though they're omitting some information and pruning the numbers they're still worse off than DeathSantis is trying to paint things. More in Related. California's total keeps dipping and may end up going sub-1k next week (weekends don't count). Texas' total I don't believe for a moment considering they were hitting 1.5-1.7k often this week, so I expect them to be over 1k again next week.

    421 deaths is about 200 fewer than two weeks ago and brings the total to 614,738. Florida, Texas and California round off the top 3 as expected.

    Related news:

    Florida’s first weekly-only COVID-19 report shows increase--Pretty self explanatory. Fuck Florida.

    Republican U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson suspended for a week from YouTube for COVID misinformation--Yes, again.

    States Sending Millions of COVID Vaccine Doses Back to Federal Government As Demand Drops--Not a good thing. And yes, it's mostly those states you would expect would have an abundance of ignorance in the population.

    Stay safe, folks.

    EDIT: Forgot to mention, I'm going to be skipping the reports for Saturdays and Sundays. There's no point to them when half the country isn't reporting anything on those days.
    Summer is in full swing down here in the gutter state. My restaurant is doing about 70% more a night than we’ve done in the past. Every place is packed. I’m one of the few people wearing a mask when I’m out anywhere.

    Let’s say that I’m not shocked.

    Oh, I forgot to mention that my bartender said she wasn’t getting the vaccine because people had shown they were magnetized afterward. This was only met by laughter from me and 2 other guys. The rest of the staff agreed.

  20. #69620
    Immortal Poopymonster's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by unfilteredJW View Post
    Summer is in full swing down here in the gutter state. My restaurant is doing about 70% more a night than we’ve done in the past. Every place is packed. I’m one of the few people wearing a mask when I’m out anywhere.

    Let’s say that I’m not shocked.

    Oh, I forgot to mention that my bartender said she wasn’t getting the vaccine because people had shown they were magnetized afterward. This was only met by laughter from me and 2 other guys. The rest of the staff agreed.
    Here's an opinion piece by someone who would be interested in that...
    Quote Originally Posted by Crissi View Post
    Quit using other posters as levels of crazy. That is not ok


    If you look, you can see the straw man walking a red herring up a slippery slope coming to join this conversation.

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