1. #70301
    Merely a Setback Kaleredar's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Edge- View Post
    https://www.insider.com/us-border-pa...ckpoint-2021-7

    The drug smugglers are inside the house! We've all heard about the trials CBP has had with recruiting competent people, especially given that they market themselves like ultra-hard special forces where agents will be going on daring raids, tearing through the desert in armored vehicles, and waging a constant war against coyotes and druglords to keep our borders safe...when in reality most of the job is hanging around empty borders, driving around empty landscape, being a first-responder to asylum seekers who are in need of medical assistance, and doing a lot of paperwork.

    One of them decided to spice things up a bit and make some scratch on the side by working with the cartels, helping two shipments of cocaine get passed the border safely. And all this for a measly $1K per run, which seems like a pretty stupid amount of money to be risking *checks article* a $10M maximum fine and up to 10 years in prison.

    Sure, this isn't Trump specific, but given his love of CBP and his championing of them I feel it fits.
    I'm almost more insulted by the low price they sold themselves out for over that of their dereliction of duty.
    “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.

  2. #70302
    The Undying Breccia's Avatar
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    So yet another book documents yet more incompetence, williful ignorance and outright fraud in Trump's White House.

    This latest book was written by WaPo journalists, and therefore isn't another thinly-veiled "I was the only sane person left trying to control Trump" blame aversion. One section that stands out is the election, in which Giuliani was roaming the WH telling people "just say we won" on election night. When, you know, the votes hadn't been counted yet.

    Apparently even major Trump cultists like Miller, Stepein and especially Meadows took offense to this strategy. However, we all know Trump didn't and declared victory immediately -- and hasn't backed down since.

    Also:

    What the fuck is FOX doing?
    -- Trump, with regard to Arizona

  3. #70303
    Quote Originally Posted by Benggaul View Post
    Yeah, no, it's not entirely nonsense. The per capita litigation rate in the US is higher than most other Western nations (or at least had been at the time of my studying the matter--which admittedly was nearly 20 years ago). Now, we can argue about whether or not threats to sue are included in that and we can argue about whether or not the reputation is deserved, but you can bet you'll hear "I'll sue!" more often in the US than out. None of that, however, really detracts from my initial point: "lawyers" as a profession in the US didn't have a sterling reputation to begin with.
    Then your information is off, because we really weren't significantly higher in any meaningful way than western counterparts and in the last 10 we saw downward trends on those numbers. We also get into some wonkyness about how each country tracks the numbers, is it by filing or actually going to court etc, and the American judicial system is actually more prominent/more important player in our system of government. Most data I've been able to find only puts us at number 5 although I'm having some difficulty finding who made the numbers. Been a while since I looked myself.

    My gf also works in premises liability, aka if you slip in fall in a store and sue she deals with it, and used to do workers comp. So I'm fairly familiar with the litigiousness of the average American . But by in large you're pushing what was effectively a media narrative made up by McDonalds and other corps to push Tort reform to limit how much they had to pay when they did fuck up. It's basis in reality was about as much as the Super Predator black people in the 90's coming to get us in our homes.

    And it detracts plenty because the "lawyers" not having a sterling rep isn't based in fact and you used another non-fact to support that also not particularly fact based perception. It's the same "common sense" that people used to show that because the Virus is X microns big and a mask can only block particles that are Y microns masks don't work not realizing the droplets that carry the virus are blocked by a mask.

    Quote Originally Posted by Trifle View Post
    "Too litigious" is subjective, but Americans are more litigious that many other countries mainly because of the way the systems are set up rather than any real desire on the part of individuals (presumably). Like the case of the aunt suing the niece because it was the only way to get the insurance company to pay out. In my country her medical needs would be covered by a state run accident compensation system, so suing at all would be completely unnecessary in that situation.
    Right, and that goes into what I said above. Are Americans really more sue happy or is it the more likely answer that our courts simply play a more front and center role in government and personal disputes? And even considering that we're still not the worst.
    Last edited by shimerra; 2021-07-13 at 02:35 PM.
    “Logic: The art of thinking and reasoning in strict accordance with the limitations and incapacities of the human misunderstanding.”
    "Conservative, n: A statesman who is enamored of existing evils, as distinguished from the Liberal who wishes to replace them with others."
    Ambrose Bierce
    The Bird of Hermes Is My Name, Eating My Wings To Make Me Tame.

  4. #70304
    https://www.cnn.com/2021/07/13/polit...ion/index.html

    A former Chicago bank executive was found guilty Tuesday of charges alleging he conspired with onetime Donald Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort to exchange risky bank loans for a high-ranking position in the presidential administration.

    Stephen Calk, the former chairman and CEO of The Federal Savings Bank, was found guilty of one count of financial institution bribery and one count of conspiracy to commit financial institution bribery. The charges carry 30 and 5-year maximum prison sentences, respectively.

    Calk was ultimately never offered nor accepted any positions within the administration and the bank incurred a multimillion-dollar loss when Manafort defaulted on the loans.
    The most criminal administration? Probably, yeah.

    Sounds like an idiot though, did he really think he could buy a position by paying off Manafort with a loan that Manafort would of course default on? I guess he fits with the merry band of idiots.

    - - - Updated - - -

    https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-...steal-election

    “Where would he be without me? I saved his life,” Trump said in an interview with Woolf. “He wouldn't even be in a law firm. Who would have had him? Nobody. Totally disgraced. Only I saved him.” The ex-president raged on: “I can’t even believe what’s happening. I’m very disappointed in Kavanaugh... In retrospect, he just hasn’t had the courage you need to be a great justice. I’m basing this on more than just the election.”
    Trump, a loser, complaining that Kavanaugh, a guy on the Heritage Foundation/Federalist Society lists, that he nominated to the SCOTUS, isn't doing what he wants him to do.

    Not the "Only I could do X" and the belief that Kavanaugh, who was still quite successful prior to his SCOTUS nomination, would be "nowhere" without Trump. Because all roads begin and end at Trump in his view.

    Still deeply amusing to see Trump, a loser, spend the past 10 months complaining and crying and whinging and moaning. Hillary didn't even complain for this long, she sucked it up and moved on.

    - - - Updated - - -

    https://www.politico.com/news/2021/0...e-qanon-499242

    This past weekend, two promoters of QAnon conspiracy theories were given press credentials to Donald Trump’s MAGA rally in Sarasota, Fla.

    The men took selfies with their badges, taunted journalists covering the event as “fake news,” showed off their wristbands printed with the movement’s slogan — “#WWG1WGA” — and generally reveled in the access they’d scored.

    Not everyone was happy to see them there.

    Trump’s press team said the two men, Jeffrey Pedersen and his podcast co-host Shannon Shadygroove:, were not welcome, and had registered for the rally with “Red State Talk Radio,” a network that has sent people who, a Trump aide said, “appear to be legitimate” to events before.

    Pederson and Grooove were later identified as QAnon followers by Alex Kaplan of progressive watchdog group Media Matters, after which Trump’s team said they are considering a new policy to verify reporters ahead of events to prevent people like the two men from gaining access. On top of that, they said they will continue efforts to tamp down on the proliferation of swag that promotes the conspiracy at Trump events and rallies.

    Rally organizers make a valiant effort to dispel Q merchandise such as t-shirts, flags, and signs at the rallies,” said a Trump spokesperson.

    Scott Adams from Red State Talk Radio said their network allows “show hosts to use our name, image, and likeness to acquire press credentials upon request.”

    “Content of our individual shows and hosts is not necessarily an endorsement of our station. We support and endorse content in line with America First policies,” said Adams.

    Trump and his aides have made efforts to keep QAnon from becoming a prominent feature of Trump events for years. There had been a longstanding (though not always successfully executed) policy at Trump rallies to remove any signs or slogans relating to non-Trump causes, and QAnon merchandising fell into that blanket policy. But as the web of QAnon falsehoods and supporters continues to grow, Trump allies have increasingly viewed the movement, which holds that a satanic sect of pedophiles is secretly controlling the government, as toxic.

    If we let in one Q shirt out of hundreds of shirts,” the negative press would be astounding, said one person close to Trump.A picture that's on the cover of New York Times, with a hundred [QAnon] t-shirts behind him, would be worse” than him talking about QAnon.
    While Trump is still smiling and winking at Q nutters, it sure sounds like his people are a bit less enthused with the group. Yes, I'm enjoying this.

  5. #70305
    Quote Originally Posted by shimerra View Post
    *snip*
    Mmhmm. Again, not entirely true, but I'm not willing to continue the derailment further. So agree to disagree it is.

    - - - Updated - - -

    Monday's report:

    14,715 new cases; about 3k more than 2 weeks ago (and with 6 states not reporting).

    Top 5:

    Fuck Florida.
    California: 2,853 new cases; 21 deaths
    Texas: 1,229 new cases; 11 deaths
    Mississippi: 796 new cases; 2 deaths
    New York: 723 new cases; 4 deaths

    Unsurprising to see California creeping back up there given the population density of LA (and the general density of the people in Orange County). Their positivity has gone up, but it's still only about 2.1%. Compare that to Nevada (13.6%), Missouri (12.1%) and Arkansas (10.2%) and that's not terrible at all...yet. With Delta it can balloon exponentially very quickly even though California's vaccination rate is also decent (63% with at least one shot). Florida is at around 7.6%--that we know of--and Texas is around 6.1%, so I wouldn't trust their reported totals all that much. It's not surprising to see Mississippi in the top 5 today given their vaccination rate a little south of 40%.

    129 deaths is a bit under 50 fewer than two weeks ago and brings the total to 623,029. Deaths have on the whole continued to drop off in the past few weeks but if cases continue to rise we'll probably see deaths begin to go back up as well--but probably not from those who have been vaccinated as studies show that even if you get COVID (including Delta) after getting vaccinated your symptoms will be much less severe and less likely to require hospitalization.

    Related news:

    In Arkansas, Covid-19 cases surge as state combats vaccine skepticism--No comment.

    Tennessee fires top vaccine official as COVID-19 shows signs of new spread--"And the South shall dieeeee again!"

    Fiscus said she was a scapegoat who was terminated to appease state lawmakers angry about the department's efforts to vaccinate teenagers against coronavirus. The agency has been dialing back efforts to vaccinate teenagers since June.

    "It was my job to provide evidence-based education and vaccine access so that Tennesseans could protect themselves against COVID-19," Fiscus said in a written statement. "I have now been terminated for doing exactly that."
    Stay safe, folks.

  6. #70306
    https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/...ke/7948904002/

    Not that she matters terribly, but Kraken lawyer Jenna Ellis has left the Republican party.

    Why? Because they didn't sufficiently back Trump's election fraud claims strongly enough, and the top party lawyer thinks they're a bunch of idiot clowns (they are).

    Man, I'm looking forward to the possible circular shooting squad on this one.

  7. #70307
    Void Lord Elegiac's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Edge- View Post
    https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/...ke/7948904002/

    Not that she matters terribly, but Kraken lawyer Jenna Ellis has left the Republican party.

    Why? Because they didn't sufficiently back Trump's election fraud claims strongly enough, and the top party lawyer thinks they're a bunch of idiot clowns (they are).

    Man, I'm looking forward to the possible circular shooting squad on this one.
    Fingers crossed for a party split.

    Which may actually materialise depending on how 2022 goes.
    Quote Originally Posted by Marjane Satrapi
    The world is not divided between East and West. You are American, I am Iranian, we don't know each other, but we talk and understand each other perfectly. The difference between you and your government is much bigger than the difference between you and me. And the difference between me and my government is much bigger than the difference between me and you. And our governments are very much the same.

  8. #70308
    Quote Originally Posted by Elegiac View Post
    Fingers crossed for a party split.

    Which may actually materialise depending on how 2022 goes.
    Ellis is already blocked on Twitter by RNC head Romney-McDaniels, but I don't think she's the type to strike out and form her own party. Nor do I think Trump is, given that it's more his style to continue pushing the Republican party further to the conspiracy theorist, dictator-loving extreme right. Why build something from the ground up when you can just use your existing install base?

    See: The fact that Trump hasn't even joined "his" social media network, likely out of fear that it'll be yet another failure that further solidifies him as a complete and total loser.

  9. #70309
    Scarab Lord Zaydin's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Elegiac View Post
    Fingers crossed for a party split.

    Which may actually materialise depending on how 2022 goes.
    I'd be thrilled if it happened before then since it would gut the GQP before the midterms.
    "If you are ever asking yourself 'Is Trump lying or is he stupid?', the answer is most likely C: All of the Above" - Seth Meyers

  10. #70310
    Void Lord Elegiac's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Edge- View Post
    Ellis is already blocked on Twitter by RNC head Romney-McDaniels, but I don't think she's the type to strike out and form her own party. Nor do I think Trump is, given that it's more his style to continue pushing the Republican party further to the conspiracy theorist, dictator-loving extreme right. Why build something from the ground up when you can just use your existing install base?

    See: The fact that Trump hasn't even joined "his" social media network, likely out of fear that it'll be yet another failure that further solidifies him as a complete and total loser.
    I've kind of taken it for granted that Trumpism will outlive Trump at this point.
    Quote Originally Posted by Marjane Satrapi
    The world is not divided between East and West. You are American, I am Iranian, we don't know each other, but we talk and understand each other perfectly. The difference between you and your government is much bigger than the difference between you and me. And the difference between me and my government is much bigger than the difference between me and you. And our governments are very much the same.

  11. #70311
    Quote Originally Posted by Elegiac View Post
    I've kind of taken it for granted that Trumpism will outlive Trump at this point.
    Of course it will, primarily because it was around before he was. He just gave it a lodestone/brand to flock to.

  12. #70312
    Quote Originally Posted by Elegiac View Post
    I've kind of taken it for granted that Trumpism will outlive Trump at this point.
    It absolutely will. Q will not end with Trump's death (it'll probably get worse), there's a whole cottage industry around him (seems to have replaced the anti-Hillary cottage industry), and he's successfully grabbing the reigns of the Republican party (see the polling with him and DeSantis, where DeSantis performs extremely well...unless you put him up against Trump, and the polling of literally any other non-Trump fanboi being in the gutter) and will steer it well beyond his death.

    Weird how Republicans love idolizing former presidents (Reagan being a good example) over all else while there doesn't really seem to be that same kind of fanboi devotion within the Democratic party. I mean, Obama is popular as fuck and all, but it doesn't protect him from pretty extensive criticism of his administration nor do we have the hilariously cringey memes of his face on Rambo and shit. Republicans love them a good cult with a bigly strong leader, apparently. Even if that leader is, as 2020 showed, a fuckin loser.

  13. #70313
    Void Lord Elegiac's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Benggaul View Post
    Of course it will, primarily because it was around before he was. He just gave it a lodestone/brand to flock to.
    I'm not sure whether to be happy or disappointed that it ended up being Trumpism rather than Palinism.
    Quote Originally Posted by Marjane Satrapi
    The world is not divided between East and West. You are American, I am Iranian, we don't know each other, but we talk and understand each other perfectly. The difference between you and your government is much bigger than the difference between you and me. And the difference between me and my government is much bigger than the difference between me and you. And our governments are very much the same.

  14. #70314
    Quote Originally Posted by Elegiac View Post
    I'm not sure whether to be happy or disappointed that it ended up being Trumpism rather than Palinism.
    Please, Palin was never going to be the figurehead of the party. She's viewed more as eye-candy than anything else, which is why she's done nothing of note politically since her failed VP run. She doesn't have the anger and hate required to lead the party, even if she has the stupidity needed in spades.

  15. #70315
    Void Lord Elegiac's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Edge- View Post
    Please, Palin was never going to be the figurehead of the party. She's viewed more as eye-candy than anything else, which is why she's done nothing of note politically since her failed VP run. She doesn't have the anger and hate required to lead the party, even if she has the stupidity needed in spades.
    I doubt she would have ended up as a figurehead, but I really do think McCain's decision back in 2008 ultimately opened the door for Trump being as successful as he ultimately became.

    It legitimized the brand of crazy that the GOP used to keep firmly under the thumb of its more Romney-esque members. I'm not saying they weren't bigots then, but they weren't like "let's overthrow the US government on Jan 6" levels.
    Quote Originally Posted by Marjane Satrapi
    The world is not divided between East and West. You are American, I am Iranian, we don't know each other, but we talk and understand each other perfectly. The difference between you and your government is much bigger than the difference between you and me. And the difference between me and my government is much bigger than the difference between me and you. And our governments are very much the same.

  16. #70316
    Quote Originally Posted by Edge- View Post
    Please, Palin was never going to be the figurehead of the party. She's viewed more as eye-candy than anything else, which is why she's done nothing of note politically since her failed VP run. She doesn't have the anger and hate required to lead the party, even if she has the stupidity needed in spades.
    Plus, she's a she. I'm not going to claim the Democrats are perfect, but women have a better shot at being meaningful leaders there than with the GOP/Q.

  17. #70317
    Quote Originally Posted by Elegiac View Post
    Fingers crossed for a party split.

    Which may actually materialise depending on how 2022 goes.
    I predicted a split would happen between 2012-2016. I was wrong, obviously, but we do seem to be heading further in that direction now than we were then.

  18. #70318
    Void Lord Elegiac's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by DarkTZeratul View Post
    I predicted a split would happen between 2012-2016. I was wrong, obviously, but we do seem to be heading further in that direction now than we were then.
    You might have been correct if Trump had lost the 2016 primary, tbh.
    Quote Originally Posted by Marjane Satrapi
    The world is not divided between East and West. You are American, I am Iranian, we don't know each other, but we talk and understand each other perfectly. The difference between you and your government is much bigger than the difference between you and me. And the difference between me and my government is much bigger than the difference between me and you. And our governments are very much the same.

  19. #70319
    Quote Originally Posted by Elegiac View Post
    You might have been correct if Trump had lost the 2016 primary, tbh.
    The one flaw in my prediction was expecting the more moderate Republicans not to go all-in on the far right crazy train. I clearly failed to take into account their collective lack of even a single solid backbone between them.

  20. #70320
    Void Lord Elegiac's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by DarkTZeratul View Post
    The one flaw in my prediction was expecting the more moderate Republicans not to go all-in on the far right crazy train. I clearly failed to take into account their collective lack of even a single solid backbone between them.
    Iirc, the going all in happened after the primary. The failure was on the GOP for managing to consolidate behind a viable alternative and instead splitting the field between shitsquillion boobs.

    Contrast this to 2020 and how the moderate Dems lined up behind Biden when it became clear folks like Buttigieg and Klobuchar weren't viable despite having a split field at the start.
    Quote Originally Posted by Marjane Satrapi
    The world is not divided between East and West. You are American, I am Iranian, we don't know each other, but we talk and understand each other perfectly. The difference between you and your government is much bigger than the difference between you and me. And the difference between me and my government is much bigger than the difference between me and you. And our governments are very much the same.

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