All-purpose news and politics thread: Two Steps Beyond!(Part II)

[PaulBullion]

What specifically did the federal government do wrong that led to the death of this poor child?
[/URL]

It's Children, Metronome. Plural.

And I guess we'll find out if we ever have a Democratic administration and Congress again.

[PaulBullion]

Well, what do you know: Cadet Bone Spurs hates it so much in Washington right now that he actually went and visited the Troops in Iraq.

[Iron Maiden]

Well, what do you know: Cadet Bone Spurs hates it so much in Washington right now that he actually went and visited the Troops in Iraq.

Was he pushed into because of him wasting troop deployments down on the border?

[PaulBullion]

Was he pushed into because of him wasting troop deployments down on the border?

CNN only had some stills of troops smiling and taking pics with him.

[aja_christopher]

"Vague" suggests "open borders" because there are actually some people on the left calling for open borders, and Democrats seem uncomfortable saying what the limits on legal immigration should be. Does anyone think the vagueness about what limits Democratic politicians want for legal immigration is an oversight?

What I think is that you're going to find a way to make the lie work no matter what so there's not much else to say on the matter -- I provided you with both a prominent "leftist" who is against open borders and three separate links that made it clear that the "open borders" argument is a right-wing attempt to paint "the left" as wanting little to no border control and/or security and unlimited immigration when there is absolutely no proof whatsoever that is the case.

Conversely, you conveniently ignore the fact that one of the most prominent white supremacist/nationalist ideologies is their anti-immigration stance: Steve Bannon knew this and he helped Trump to perfect it as he lied about and demonized both Muslims and Mexicans -- and African-Americans for good measure -- prior to his nomination to the head of the Republican party.

With that in mind, you seem "uncomfortable" discussing the rampant racism and homophobia that resides within your party which often leads to such fearful and xenophobic behavior, and so long as that's the case, it's obvious that both you and your party will never change.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

I lived there for near a decade and its practice of murdering Dolphins and Whales is beyond dumb. This society has advanced beyond so much of its Conservatism that keeping this "tradition "pisses me off. I still plan to move back one day. But it's shit like this that we can't be honest and move forward.

This has nothing to do with tradition and everything to do with commerce because Japanese people love eating whale meat and are willing to pay for it.

Was he pushed into because of him wasting troop deployments down on the border?

Probably pushed. Or maybe Trump got tired of hearing all the negative news about HIS shutdown of the government and wanted to get away from it all, even if but for a little while.

[PaulBullion]

The DJI actually managed a very impressive rebound today, up 1000 points!

[Tami]

The DJI actually managed a very impressive rebound today, up 1000 points!

Maybe because Trump left the Country and they are hoping he won't come back.

[Tazirai]

Are Hillary Clinton's views on super predators really that different than what Sanders justifying his vote for the 1994 crime law (the same one Clinton was advocating for when she made the comment)?

I actually posted this same article before with the accurate context.
Posting article links without the context doesn't really help anyone now, does it?
So let's add the context:

I have a number of serious problems with the crime bill, but one part of it that I vigorously support is the Violence Against Women Act. We urgently need the $1.8 billion in this bill to combat the epidemic of violence against women on the streets and in the homes of America.

-Bernie sanders.


Also...

It is my firm belief that clearly there are people in our society who are horribly violent, who are deeply sick and sociopathic, and clearly these people must be put behind bars in order to protect society from them.

But it is also my view that through the neglect of our government and through a grossly irrational set of priorities, we are dooming today tens of millions of young people to a future of bitterness, misery, hopelessness, drugs, crime, and violence. And, Mr. Speaker, all the jails in the world — and we already imprison more people per capita than any other country — and all of the executions … in the world will not make that situation right.

We can either educate or electrocute. We can create meaningful jobs, rebuilding our society, or we can build more jails. Mr. Speaker, let us create a society of hope and compassion, not one of hate and vengeance.

-Bernie Sanders.

So how is this like Clinton AT ALL?
One wanted to be TOUGH on Crime, the other wanted Justice. There's a difference.

[Tazirai]

This has nothing to do with tradition and everything to do with commerce because Japanese people love eating whale meat and are willing to pay for it.

100%. That's why I put it in Quotation marks. There are terrible "Traditions" we still do to this day.
One Example is Male Circumcision. It's done so often and so frequently it's not seen as Genital mutilation, because it's a tradition and affects men.

Female Genital Mutilation is bad, so why is Male Circumcision for non-medical reasons OK?

From a Pro-Israel can do no wrong journalist, just to provide another viewpoint.

Male Circumcision is Not Mutilation, Period.
A regional court in Cologne, Germany has effectively banned the circumcision of young boys, subject only to medical exception. Such a position has been proposed by various individuals and groups throughout the Western world, and can be refuted along several lines. Male circumcision does not belong in genital mutilation category so long as both parents consent to the procedure and, most importantly, it is performed competently.

An Example of a tradition with no real benefits. But because Othoodoxy MUST be adhered to, they still mutilate little boys.

Another example of terrible "traditions"

[Tazirai]

Today, David Sirota got into it with Josh Marshall, David Simon and David Neiwert.

It's kind of fucking hilarious, especially when his stans started telling guiys like Neiwert and Simon that they were 'corporate Dems' and 'fascist apologists' and 'neoliberal shills'. You could tell who was actually familiar with the works of all three and who was not verrry quickly.

Looks kinda like Sirota won this, just saying. They love Sirota when it helps them. But hate the guy when it doesn't. Kinda like Neera Tanden's fake ass. So dunno what you're on about.

[Darkspellmaster]

It's so gross. It's just a vicious and stupid act of pointless violence. I can't believe a nation of brains like Japan goes for that shit.

Worse is that they have a shit ton of it rotting in lockers because they can't get rid of it. Ask any random person in Japan that is under the age of 70 or 80 about whale meat and the vast majority say they dont eat it, dont like it, and that they got forced to eat it as part of school lunches and tit brings back gross memories. Stores hardly stock it, as it doesn't sell well enough. Several chains were actually in favor of the ban as it meant that they didnt have to stock supplies that don't sell.

Honestly it's horrible and there are groups in Japan that are against Whaling, it's justthey are drowned out by other dumb things and the older gen makes it hard for anyone young to even fight against it because of the whole culture of guilt complexes.

[Tami]

Donald Trump Twitter Account Video Reveals Covert U.S. Navy SEAL Deployment During Iraq Visit

President Donald Trump and the White House communications team revealed that a U.S. Navy SEAL team was deployed to Iraq after the president secretly traveled to the region to meet with American forces serving in a combat zone for the first time since being elected to office.

While the commander-in-chief can declassify information, usually the presence of a special operations unit, to include, showing their faces would not be revealed to the American public, especially while the U.S. service members were still deployed. Current and former Defense Department officials told Newsweek that the information is almost always classified and is a violation of operational security.

Trump flew to Iraq late Christmas Day after facing a barrage of negative headlines over the holiday season amid a partial government shutdown. The president and first lady Melania Trump posed for pictures with U.S. service members at al-Asad air base in Iraq.

The pool report went on to say that Trump paused to take a selfie with U.S. Navy Lieutenant Commander Kyu Lee, who said he was the chaplain for SEAL Team Five, based out of Coronado, California. The chaplain said Trump told him: “Hey, in that case, let’s take a picture.”

After Trump left Iraqi airspace, the president posted a video to his Twitter account of his time spent with American forces during his visit to Iraq. Lee Greenwood’s “God Bless the USA,” plays over the video and shows the president and the first lady posing for pictures with service members that appear to be from SEAL Team Five. The special warfare operators are dressed in full battle gear and wearing night vision goggles.

Malcolm Nance, a former U.S. Navy intelligence specialist with experience in Iraq told Newsweek on Wednesday that posting the video was a break from traditional procedures that are usually strictly enforced and designed to safeguard the identities of U.S. special operation forces, especially when deployed to a combat zone.

“Operational security is the most important aspect of personnel deployments. The real names, faces, and identities, of personnel involved in special operations or activities, are usually a closely held secret in a combat zone,” Nance said. “Revealing them casually, through an unusual media exposure even if it’s the commander in chief, would prove a propaganda boom if any of this personnel are detained by a hostile government or captured by a terrorist group. There would be no denying who you are and what you do.”

[Malvolio]

It's Children, Metronome. Plural.

And I guess we'll find out if we ever have a Democratic administration and Congress again.

That's the problem. We don't know what the federal government did that was wrong. But once we have a Democrat-controlled House, maybe we'll have some investigations and hearings about this.

[Tazirai]

Oh, Biden Biden, why'd ya do this. Man, this is gonna come back and bite you if you run. It won't be propaganda. It'll be your own voice.