All purpose news and politics thread part v: The quickening

[PwrdOn]

Plus they are pretty much the guys keeping North Korea afloat. Anything that regime does can have the lion's share pinned on China more than the U.S.

As bad as North Korea might be, nobody would benefit if the regime were to suddenly collapse. South Korea has enough problems of its own and has no interest in integrating 25 million impoverished peasants into their economy or trying to guide their transition into the modern world, and refugees would inevitably show up in every corner of the world and be welcomed about as warmly as refugees from anywhere else. It's not so much China that is propping up North Korea, but rather the collective unwillingness of the rest of the world to step up and try to do right by the North Korean people, we'd rather just sit back and throw shade at the Kims instead.

[Mister Mets]

North Korea is more brutal to its own citizens, but it has still committed far less evil in the world than the US.

The US also shares some blame for the state of North Korea.

That's a flawed way of looking at it in terms of determining the quality of a country.

The US is going to have more negative consequences for other nations because it is so powerful. North Korea would do more if they could.

But we should assess countries by the good as well as the bad, considering the tradeoffs.

There has been tremendous good, like the decline in the percentage of people under extreme poverty, largely as a result of increased trade, improved technology and the establishment of "rule of law."

https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2...rtality-charts

https://www.firstthings.com/web-excl...global-poverty

[Gray Lensman]

As bad as North Korea might be, nobody would benefit if the regime were to suddenly collapse. South Korea has enough problems of its own and has no interest in integrating 25 million impoverished peasants into their economy or trying to guide their transition into the modern world, and refugees would inevitably show up in every corner of the world and be welcomed about as warmly as refugees from anywhere else. It's not so much China that is propping up North Korea, but rather the collective unwillingness of the rest of the world to step up and try to do right by the North Korean people, we'd rather just sit back and throw shade at the Kims instead.

I think South Korea has interest in it, just not the ability to do so without triggering something worse than the Great Depression in their own country.

[PwrdOn]

That's a flawed way of looking at it in terms of determining the quality of a country.

The US is going to have more negative consequences for other nations because it is so powerful. North Korea would do more if they could.

But we should assess countries by the good as well as the bad, considering the tradeoffs.

There has been tremendous good, like the decline in the percentage of people under extreme poverty, largely as a result of increased trade, improved technology and the establishment of "rule of law."

https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2...rtality-charts

https://www.firstthings.com/web-excl...global-poverty

It's a bit odd to credit the United States for global poverty reduction when the vast majority of that is happening in China which, last I checked, is our primary geopolitical enemy and achieved those gains largely at our expense.

[Mister Mets]

The Spectator suggests that some whistleblowers have reported that Kushner gave Mohammed bin Salman the green light to arrest Jamal Khashoggi, and that Turkey has been blackmailing the Trump administration with recordings of the phone call.

That’s three whistleblowers. What about the other four? Cockburn’s source says that at least one is nothing to do with Ukraine but instead was reporting a call between Trump and the Saudi ruler, Mohammed bin Salman. Specifically, the whistleblower is said to have ‘concerns’ about what was said on the call about the president’s son-in-law and adviser, Jared Kushner. Kushner himself is known to have a very close relationship with MBS. Cockburn has previously written that Kushner may have been what Cosmo would call an ‘oversharer’ when it came to MBS. Unfortunately, it’s claimed that what he was sharing was American secrets: information Kushner had requested from the CIA would (allegedly) be echoed back in US intercepts of calls between members of the Saudi royal family. One source said this was why Kushner lost his intelligence clearances for a while.

According to Cockburn’s source about the seven whistleblowers, there’s more. It is that Kushner (allegedly) gave the green light to MBS to arrest the dissident journalist, Jamal Khashoggi, who was later murdered and dismembered in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. A second source tells Cockburn that this is true and adds a crucial twist to the story. This source claims that Turkish intelligence obtained an intercept of the call between Kushner and MBS. And President Erdogan used it to get Trump to roll over and pull American troops out of northern Syria before the Turks invaded. Cockburn hears that investigators for the House Intelligence Committee know this whole tale and the identities of some of the people telling it. Whether any of is true is another matter but Adam Schiff certainly seems to be smiling a lot these days.

Whether the story is true or not, it does seem to be speculated on, which has implications.

[Mister Mets]

It's a bit odd to credit the United States for global poverty reduction when the vast majority of that is happening in China which, last I checked, is our primary geopolitical enemy and achieved those gains largely at our expense.

Global poverty reduction has been substantial outside of China, from almost one third (29%) of the non-Chinese world population living in extreme poverty in 1981 to twelve percent by 2013.

https://ourworldindata.org/the-globa...-it-only-china

China's economic success did come with an increase in trade, and foreign investment. All the Americans buying cheap "Made in China" goods helped China achieve gains.

[Rosa Luxemburg]

That's a flawed way of looking at it in terms of determining the quality of a country.

The US is going to have more negative consequences for other nations because it is so powerful. North Korea would do more if they could.

But we should assess countries by the good as well as the bad, considering the tradeoffs.

There has been tremendous good, like the decline in the percentage of people under extreme poverty, largely as a result of increased trade, improved technology and the establishment of "rule of law."

https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2...rtality-charts

https://www.firstthings.com/web-excl...global-poverty

Thank you for posting something so callous and wrong. It provides me another opportunity to post a Chomsky video, and a politics thread can never have too much Chomsky.

[worstblogever]

On this date in 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, as well as 2018, “Crazy/Stupid Republican of the Day posted profiles of the U.S. House Representative from Illinois’ 12th Congressional District, Mike Bost, a man whose screaming, flailing, paper-punching meltdowns back when he was in the Illinois State Legislature made him a Youtube legend before he ever made it to Congress. The Chicago press, fascinated with his temper, did some digging, and as far back as an incident in 1986 where he got annoyed at a neighbor’s beagle for biting his daughter, and rather than wait for the proper authorities to handle it and decide if the animal should be euthanized, Bost instead supposedly opted to shoot and kill the dog with his handgun like he was Charles Bronson in a revenge movie. And during his 2014 campaign for Congress, he joked about putting a bullet in Ol’ Snoopy. Between that and the time he started yelling out lines from the Book of Exodus like “LET MY PEOPLE GO!” over worker pensions, or other incoherent rants… “Meltdown Mike” seemed to be a volatile commodity, even for a modern Republican.

With Mike Bost’s history of irrational outbursts, how has he held up against the pressure many Republicans have seen about hosting town halls? NOT WELL. Honestly, it might have been bad enough that he compared the opposition who might show up to Chinese Maoists… but to refer to them with the racist derogatory term “Orientals” while doing it?

"The amount of time that I have at home is minimal, I need to make sure that it's productive. You know the cleansing that the Orientals used to do where you'd put one person out in front and 900 people yell at them? That's not what we need. We need to have meetings with people that are productive."

How quaint. Even without a town hall, Rep. Bost has been chased down by constituents when he’s been in public, like having to face down one resident from his district whose wife has a pre-existing condition, and Bost’s votes to repeal the Affordable Care Act without a replacement including pre-existing condition coverage would have amounted to a death sentence for her. Bost’s response? “That’s just rhetoric.” (It isn’t.)

Bost regrettably won a third term in Congress with 52% of the vote in 2018, and has continued to vote almost completely along party lines in spite of being in a swing district:

• January 23rd, 2019: Rep. Bost voted against HR 648, because he was gleeully enjoying the longest government shutdown in history.
• March 14th, 2019: Rep. Bost votes against HJR 46, which sane members of Congress voted for to reject Donald Trump’s “national emergency” regarding the U.S. border and his attempts to reallocate funds for a border wall without Congressional approval.
• May 17th, 2019: Bost votes against The Equality Act, which would have prevented discrimination towards Americans based on their gender identity or sexual orientation.
• June 4th, 2019: Rep. Bost votes against the Dreamers Act, because he’s too xenophobic and partisan to care about immigration reform.
• July 16th, 2019: Mike Bost votes against a resolution to condemn Donald Trump for his racist statements that four people of color in Congress should “go back where they came from”.

“Meltdown Mike” is someone you would THINK would be a vocal part of the Republican caucus, but he’s self-aware enough to know his career now is dependent on flying under the radar. If he tries to storm classified impeachment hearings yelling his head off, he’s toast.

Hell, he might be in 2020, even if he just chooses to vote against impeachment. And Congress would be better for it.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

Trump: ‘Nothing Wrong’ If There Was A Quid Pro Quo, But I Didn’t Ask For One

The president said even if he had demanded a political favor, asking for a quid pro quo is “not an impeachable event.” Only in Trump's fevered mind would he believe such a thing.

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Trump Pushes Media To Unmask Whistleblower: ‘You Know Who It Is’

The president provided no evidence that reporters know the identity of the whistleblower. Of course he didn't. Trump was just spouting bullshit as usual. Meanwhile....

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Whistleblower Willing To Answer GOP Questions In Writing, Under Oath

Republicans have been demanding to speak to the whistleblower for weeks. A lawyer for the intelligence official has offered a way to make that happen. Your move, Republicans.

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Trump Rips California Governor For ‘Terrible’ Forest Management As Wildfires Rage

The president again appeared to threaten to withhold federal funding from the state, warning Gavin Newsom, “Get your act together.” Nothing more than malicious spite because he lost California to Hillary Clinton three years ago and STILL has his panties in a bunch over that.

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Group Bearing White Nationalist Flag Spotted Filming At New Emmett Till Memorial

Members of Till’s family unveiled a new, bulletproof memorial for him last month.

[babyblob]

A big Governor race in Kentucky on Tuesday. Matt Bevin is leading Beshear in the polls and its going to be tough for Beshear to win I think. His Anti Trump message and siding with Clinton on several issues was not the right message to go with in a state that Trump won by 30 points in 2016. I think that may be a flaw with the Dems. So many of them go anti Trump and think that is the message that will win them elections. That will work in blue states where they hold an advantage but not in Red states that they hope to turn. They need to alter their message a bit if they want to win and turn red states IMO.

The Republicans dont really need to alter their message as much as I wish they would. Just say you are a Trump backer and that is good enough to get votes in the red states.

[Tendrin]

A big Governor race in Kentucky on Tuesday. Matt Bevin is leading Beshear in the polls and its going to be tough for Beshear to win I think. His Anti Trump message and siding with Clinton on several issues was not the right message to go with in a state that Trump won by 30 points in 2016. I think that may be a flaw with the Dems. So many of them go anti Trump and think that is the message that will win them elections. That will work in blue states where they hold an advantage but not in Red states that they hope to turn. They need to alter their message a bit if they want to win and turn red states IMO.

The Republicans dont really need to alter their message as much as I wish they would. Just say you are a Trump backer and that is good enough to get votes in the red states.

Bevin is extremely unpopular. Most polls have them pretty close. I wouldn't be surprised to see it either way though I hope Bevin loses. Given other state wide wins in Kentucky, I think I'm leaning towards Beshear winning.

Here are some of the latest polls:

https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com...rnor/kentucky/

Beshear's run a pretty solid campaign on health care. Bevin's messing with KINECT hasn't exactly made him beloved.

[babyblob]

I hope Bevin loses as well. The polls are close but Kentucky has a bad habit of low Dem voter turnout and being out numbered by Republicans in a lot of rural areas. It is close. I didnt mean to make it sound like Bevin was going to have a landslide victory and I am sorry if it came across like that. I admit to not being super knowledgeable on politics. I am doing more research and trying very hard to change that. Trump is to thank for that. As Republican I wanted to find out why so many people hated my parties president and the more I learn the more I detest Trump and want him voted out of office.

[jetengine]

I hope Bevin loses as well. The polls are close but Kentucky has a bad habit of low Dem voter turnout and being out numbered by Republicans in a lot of rural areas. It is close. I didnt mean to make it sound like Bevin was going to have a landslide victory and I am sorry if it came across like that. I admit to not being super knowledgeable on politics. I am doing more research and trying very hard to change that. Trump is to thank for that. As Republican I wanted to find out why so many people hated my parties president and the more I learn the more I detest Trump and want him voted out of office.

I mean to put it in its easiest terms Trump is the most stereotypical example of an incompetent corrupt corporate buisnessmen that people literally don't believe some of the shit that he does because it sounds too cartoonish. Soviet Propaganda versions of American Buisnessmen are more believable.

[PwrdOn]

Global poverty reduction has been substantial outside of China, from almost one third (29%) of the non-Chinese world population living in extreme poverty in 1981 to twelve percent by 2013.

https://ourworldindata.org/the-globa...-it-only-china

China's economic success did come with an increase in trade, and foreign investment. All the Americans buying cheap "Made in China" goods helped China achieve gains.

American investment in China, just like anywhere else, was only ever meant to enrich a small circle of local elites while keeping the rest of the population poor enough to continue supplying cheap labor in perpetuity. The Chinese taking advantage of this to build up a relatively advanced economy that now competes with the US on many levels was never supposed to happen, and is regarded by Americans of every political stripe as the greatest strategic miscalculation of recent times.

Behind all the rosy talk about cooperation and connectivity, globalization in practice largely came down to Western powers extracting raw materials and cheap labor from poor countries, while turning around and selling them finished goods at massively inflated prices. Somehow, all of these geniuses in charge of economic and foreign policy never thought that third worlders could be anything more than docile worker bees, or that they would find ways to exploit this game to their own advantage eventually.

On top of this, our cynical invocation of "liberal democratic values" to topple regimes and sow chaos throughout the third world has led many people to basically throw out the baby with the bathwater and categorically reject any Western influences entirely. For example, there were no doubt plenty of people living in Russia who genuinely believed that implementing American capitalism and democracy would really improve their lives, but after seeing the disastrous decade that followed the collapse of the USSR, they couldn't run fast enough back into the arms of an authoritarian despot.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

I mean to put it in its easiest terms Trump is the most stereotypical example of an incompetent corrupt corporate buisnessmen that people literally don't believe some of the shit that he does because it sounds too cartoonish. Soviet Propaganda versions of American Buisnessmen are more believable.

Hell, comic book versions of businessmen are more believable.