All purpose news and politics thread part VI: This Is Not The Time For Posing

[Robotman]

Rep. Madison Cawthorn calls Zelensky a ‘thug,’ says Ukrainian government is ‘incredibly evil’

Can't someone shut this guy up? What an embarrassment.

Wait a sec, the guy who said that visiting Hitler’s vacation home was on his bucket list and chastised a journalist for leaving a job in academia “to work for non-white males who aims to ruin white males running for office” is a supporter of totalitarian dictators? I’m shocked I tell you, shocked!

That guy is one of the biggest pieces of human garbage around.

[Johnathan]

Deutsche Bank defends decision not to exit Russia: It’s not ‘practical’ right now

Deutsche Bank seems determined to maintain its reputation as the worst company in the world.

Reminds me of this older story:
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2...illion-scandal

Scandals have proliferated at Deutsche Bank. Since 2008, it has paid more than nine billion dollars in fines and settlements for such improprieties as conspiring to manipulate the price of gold and silver, defrauding mortgage companies, and violating U.S. sanctions by trading in Iran, Syria, Libya, Myanmar, and Sudan. Last year, Deutsche Bank was ordered to pay regulators in the U.S. and the U.K. two and a half billion dollars, and to dismiss seven employees, for its role in manipulating the London Interbank Offered Rate, or libor, which is the interest rate banks charge one another. The Financial Conduct Authority, in Britain, chastised Deutsche Bank not only for its manipulation of libor but also for its subsequent lack of candor. “Deutsche Bank’s failings were compounded by them repeatedly misleading us,” Georgina Philippou, of the F.C.A., declared. “The bank took far too long to produce vital documents and it moved far too slowly to fix relevant systems.”

In April, 2015, the mirror-trades scheme unravelled. After a two-month internal investigation, the three Deutsche Bank employees were suspended. One was Tim Wiswell, a thirty-seven-year-old American who was then the head of Russian equities at the bank. The others were Russian sales traders on the equities desk: Dina Maksutova and Georgiy Buznik. Afterward, Bloomberg News suggested that some of the money diverted through mirror trades belonged to Igor Putin, a cousin of the Russian President, and to Arkady and Boris Rotenberg. The Rotenberg brothers own Russia’s largest construction company, S.G.M., and are old friends of Vladimir Putin. They are on the U.S. government’s list of sanctioned Russians, which was compiled in response to Putin’s aggression in Ukraine. According to the U.S. Treasury, the Rotenbergs have “made billions of dollars in contracts” that were awarded to their company by the Russian state, often without a transparent bidding process. (Last year, S.G.M. was awarded a contract worth $5.8 billion to build a twelve-mile bridge between Russia and Crimea.)

[JB]

For goodness' sake. Let's hope they don't fire up their 60+ year feud again.

Military says unarmed missile from India ends up in Pakistan
https://abcnews.go.com/International...istan-83368304

Pakistan's military on Thursday claimed that an unarmed surface-to-surface missile launched from neighboring India violated Pakistan's airspace and ended up in eastern Punjab province, damaging a wall in a residential area but causing no casualties.

Maj. Gen. Babar Iftikhar protested over the “flagrant violation” and demanded an explanation from India. There was no immediate comment from New Delhi.

[Catlady in training]

China threatens retaliation if U.S. sanctions Chinese firms for working with Russia.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/othe...sia/vi-AAUSbO1

Link has a short video clip about this.

China has been somewhat honoring the West's sanctions against Russia by limiting their supply of certain products and materials. I understand we want China to do more but getting into a sanction war with them is not a good idea. Russian sanctions against the U.S. won't be too impactful but sanctions from China is another story entirely.

China's promotion of Russian disinformation indicates where its loyalties lie

I hope everyone is watching closely how certain countries react and once the war is over (if it is) take appropriate actions. China, India, Israel, etc. I for one plan to finally stick to my decision to boycott everything from China. I know it's smallscale, but better than nothing and I have seen many people now proclaiming the same.

There's an interesting poll result from Quinnipiac. They asked if America were in the position Ukraine is right now, would people fight or would they flee?

https://www.yahoo.com/video/more-rep...011336784.html

The majority of Republicans and Independents would stay. The majority of Democrats would flee.



I wonder the extent to which this is based on age and gender.

https://poll.qu.edu/images/polling/u...022_ujca44.pdf

Men are more likely to say they'll fight (70% VS 40% for women.) The only age cohort more likely to say they'll flee is 18-34 year old adults (even then it's narrow), which is also the group that would be expected to fight.

I would take every poll like that with a large heap of salt. One never knows how they might react in an imaginary situation. But rest in peace, USA will probably never be attacked directly, maybe only from within. All wars, even with US involvement happen in other parts of the world.

Deutsche Bank defends decision not to exit Russia: It’s not ‘practical’ right now

Weren't they previously accused of laudering money for Russians, or was that a different German bank?

[Tami]

I hope everyone is watching closely how certain countries react and once the war is over (if it is) take appropriate actions. China, India, Israel, etc. I for one plan to finally stick to my decision to boycott everything from China. I know it's smallscale, but better than nothing and I have seen many people now proclaiming the same.



I would take every poll like that with a large heap of salt. One never knows how they might react in an imaginary situation. But rest in peace, USA will probably never be attacked directly, maybe only from within. All wars, even with US involvement happen in other parts of the world.




Weren't they previously accused of laudering money for Russians, or was that a different German bank?

Yeah, Douche Bank is into all sorts of trouble.

[worstblogever]

GOP candidate Brandon Beckham for Utah State Senate filed to run days AFTER he was accused of sexually assaulting a woman.

They're advancing from advising women to just lie back and be raped to just raping them.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

Yeah, Douche Bank is into all sorts of trouble.

Correct me if I’m mistaken, but didn’t Douchebank loan money to a certain orange skinned millionaire carnival barker years ago when every other financial institution wouldn’t give him the time of day?

[JB]

Jussie Smollett sentenced to 150 days in jail, 30 months probation
https://abc7chicago.com/jussie-smoll...date/11638499/

Jussie Smollett was sentenced to 30 months probation for lying to police about staging a hate crime attack against himself in Chicago, but will spend the first 150 days of the sentence in Cook County Jail.

Cook County Judge James Linn also ordered Smollett to pay $120,106 restitution to the city of Chicago and a $25,000 fine.

In a highly unusual turn of events, Smollett yelled repeatedly in court "I am not suicidal!" and "I am innocent!" after hearing his sentence.

Linn excoriated Smollett prior to handing down his sentence for what he referred to as "misconduct and shenanigans."

"I'm going to tell you Mr. Smollett, I know that there is nothing that I will do here today that will come close to the damage you've already done to your own life," Linn said.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

Jussie Smollett sentenced to 150 days in jail, 30 months probation
https://abc7chicago.com/jussie-smoll...date/11638499/

Pfft! Should’ve been the other way around.

[Gray Lensman]

I hope everyone is watching closely how certain countries react and once the war is over (if it is) take appropriate actions. China, India, Israel, etc. I for one plan to finally stick to my decision to boycott everything from China. I know it's smallscale, but better than nothing and I have seen many people now proclaiming the same.



I would take every poll like that with a large heap of salt. One never knows how they might react in an imaginary situation. But rest in peace, USA will probably never be attacked directly, maybe only from within. All wars, even with US involvement happen in other parts of the world.




Weren't they previously accused of laudering money for Russians, or was that a different German bank?

Just be sure to do your research before you boycott. People boycotting Russia in the US haven't gotten that memo. The Russian restaurant in NYC that lost over half it's business is actually Ukrainian, but branded itself as Russian because not enough people had any clue as to what Ukrainian food meant. Smirnoff Vodka is owned by a British company (which also owns Johnnie Walker and Tanqueray) whose North American product is made in Illinois, and Stoli isn't Russian, but Latvian.

[JB]

UN council to meet on Russian claim of US labs in Ukraine
https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-...bs-in-ukraine/

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The U.N. Security Council scheduled a meeting Friday at Russia’s request to discuss what Moscow claims are “the military biological activities of the U.S. on the territory of Ukraine,” allegations vehemently denied by the Biden administration.

“This is exactly the kind of false flag effort we have warned Russia might initiate to justify a biological or chemical weapons attack,” Olivia Dalton, spokesperson for the U.S. Mission to the United Nations said late Thursday. “We’re not going to let Russia gaslight the world or use the U.N. Security Council as a venue for promoting their disinformation.“

The Russian request, announced in a tweet Thursday afternoon from its first deputy U.N. ambassador, Dmitry Polyansky, follows the U.S. rejection of Russian accusations that Ukraine is running chemical and biological labs with U.S. support.

[Zauriel]

Jussie Smollett sentenced to 150 days in jail, 30 months probation
https://abc7chicago.com/jussie-smoll...date/11638499/

He would do anything to get his 15 minutes of fame. I hope he's enjoyed it.

I also hope he also enjoys 150 days in jail.

I am slightly disappointed in him. He is still pleading innocence, huh? Even now, he still refuses to accept responsibility for this hate crime hoax. The judge called him "narcissistic, arrogant and selfish". It fits the description of a foolish clown who wasted a few thousand taxpayer dollars on a mess he's created himself.

[numberthirty]

Jussie Smollett sentenced to 150 days in jail, 30 months probation
https://abc7chicago.com/jussie-smoll...date/11638499/

Jussie Smollett was sentenced to 30 months probation for lying to police about staging a hate crime attack against himself in Chicago, but will spend the first 150 days of the sentence in Cook County Jail.

Cook County Judge James Linn also ordered Smollett to pay $120,106 restitution to the city of Chicago and a $25,000 fine.

In a highly unusual turn of events, Smollett yelled repeatedly in court "I am not suicidal!" and "I am innocent!" after hearing his sentence.

Linn excoriated Smollett prior to handing down his sentence for what he referred to as "misconduct and shenanigans."

"I'm going to tell you Mr. Smollett, I know that there is nothing that I will do here today that will come close to the damage you've already done to your own life," Linn said.

Pfft! Should’ve been the other way around.

I just don't know about that...

Ultimately?

The guy committed a non-violent crime. Some of the police who were involved in the initial investigation said they would have been fine with probation/restitution.

I just don't know if jail time because you are trying to make an example out of someone really makes much sense.

[The Cool Thatguy]

I just don't know about that...

Ultimately?

The guy committed a non-violent crime. Some of the police who were involved in the initial investigation said they would have been fine with probation/restitution.

I just don't know if jail time because you are trying to make an example out of someone really makes much sense.

In a vacuum, sure.

But his actions undermine the pain of real victims of real hate crimes, and makes things that much harder for them.

[Tendrin]

Women who suffer dangerous complications from an ectopic pregnancy would be unable to get an abortion in Missouri if a restrictive law makes it to the governor's desk.

A Missouri legislative panel on Wednesday considered a bill its Republican sponsor said is intended to clamp down on the trafficking of devices and drugs used to induce abortion. The bill is among a range of efforts by red-state legislators across the country to restrict abortion rights in response a shift in the U.S. Supreme Court. But the committee raised concerns the bill could have unintended consequences and criminalize necessary medical procedures.

"This is what it looks like when uneducated politicians try and legislate our bodies," Dr. Colleen McNicholas, Chief Medical Officer for Planned Parenthood of the St. Louis Region and Southwest Missouri, told Newsweek in a statement. "Ectopic pregnancies, if not treated promptly, become life-threatening. Banning any provision of care related to ectopic pregnancies will put people's lives at risk."

This. Again.

https://www.newsweek.com/missouri-bi...gnancy-1687024