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

[WestPhillyPunisher]

On other news.

What do people think of Biden releasing 1 million barrels of oil a day for the next 6 months from the reserves? Does anyone think this will have a real effect on gas prices? I dont know much about the oil intrsustry.

I have heard mixed reactions to this move. Could someone with more knowledge on this tell me if this was a good thing? And if it isnt why?

I’m no expert, but, I’m not entirely sure Biden’s move will make much in the way of a dent in gas prices. I’m sure someone will correct me if I’m wrong, but I do believe that it’s around this time in the new year that refineries switch to summer blend gasoline which is said to be more expensive, and with the ongoing chaos in Ukraine, tapping the reserve might not make a difference.

[Tami]

House introduces bill to hold Putin accountable for War Crimes.

[babyblob]

House introduces bill to hold Putin accountable for War Crimes.

What can they do to enforce it if they vote to hold him accountable? And this should be an easy pass right.

[AnakinFlair]

I just want to remind people that certain attention-seeking posters aren’t worth getting banned over.

You are, of course, right. My temper tends to get the best of me at times, especially when people post such disgustingly hateful things.

[AnakinFlair]

What can they do to enforce it if they vote to hold him accountable? And this should be an easy pass right.

Nothing. It's just a symbolic vote.

[Tami]

Nothing. It's just a symbolic vote.

Hmmm....I don't think this is as symbolic as it seems. Any future interaction between the US and Putin would be shaded by this.

Everything you need to know about war crimes and how Putin could be prosecuted

As for the US, still waiting on more details to answer that question.

[Tami]

She Took the White House Photos. Trump Moved to Take the Profit.

WASHINGTON — As President Donald J. Trump’s tenure came to an end, the chief White House photographer, who had traveled the world with him and spent countless hours inside the White House snapping pictures, notified Mr. Trump’s aides that she intended to publish a book collecting some of her most memorable images.

This was hardly a radical idea: Official photographers from every White House since President Ronald Reagan’s have published their own books. Barack Obama and George W. Bush were so supportive that they wrote forewords for them.

But like so much else involving Mr. Trump, the plan by his chief photographer, Shealah Craighead, did not follow this bipartisan norm.

First, aides to Mr. Trump asked her for a cut of her book advance payment, in exchange for his writing a foreword and helping promote the book, according to former associates of Mr. Trump.

Then Mr. Trump’s team asked Ms. Craighead to hold off on her book project to allow the former president to take Ms. Craighead’s photos and those of other White House staff photographers and publish his own book, which is now selling for as much as $230 a copy.

“It’s a slap in the face,” Mr. Draper said, adding that he had spoken with Ms. Craighead last year about her plan to do her own book. “I would be disappointed if I were in her shoes.”

Taylor Budowich, a spokesman for Mr. Trump, did not dispute that an aide had discussed the possibility of Mr. Trump writing a foreword for Ms. Craighead’s book and perhaps taking a cut of her advance. Her tentative deal with a publisher involved an advance in the hundreds of thousands of dollars, one industry executive said.

Instead, Mr. Budowich said, Mr. Trump decided to first do his own book, a separate deal that came with a much bigger, multimillion advance.

The 317-page book Mr. Trump published in December, titled “Our Journey Together,” includes no photo credits. It does not mention any of the photographers who took the images until the last page, where he briefly offered a “grateful acknowledgment” to “all the phenomenal White House photographers,” listing them by name, including Ms. Craighead, whose pictures make up much of the book.

here is the kicker...

Mr. Trump’s book was published by Winning Team Publishing, a company only incorporated in October, and which was co-founded by Donald Trump Jr. and Sergio Gor, a former Capitol Hill aide and Republican campaign operative.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

She Took the White House Photos. Trump Moved to Take the Profit.









here is the kicker...

More proof that Trump NEVER stops grifting.

[CSTowle]

She Took the White House Photos. Trump Moved to Take the Profit.









here is the kicker...

Wow. Can't believe he'd do something that shady and underhanded. Usually he's looking out for the little guy/gal.

[AnakinFlair]

She Took the White House Photos. Trump Moved to Take the Profit.









here is the kicker...

What I'm curious about is- could she still publish her own book of her own photographs, just without a forward from Trump?

Not that I'm trying to excuse what the orange idiot is doing. In my mind, I'd just publish my own book at a reasonable price, and watch it outsell Trump's with a smile. But would she still need to pay him a fee?

[Dalak]

My point on accommodations is that it's no longer about treating people equally if you're asking anyone to change their behavior or to subsidize types of spending. It may be a good and important thing, but it's a categorically different situation.

One way to explain it would be that someone can say that they treat trans people equally as they are against taxpayer supported gender-reassignment surgery for trans and cis prisoners. Obviously, the cis prisoners would be less interested in the surgery. But this is something that can be considered worthwhile, but it's not about treating others as equals, because only one group wants it.

How does forcing someone to hide who they are, never show themselves in public with their significant other, and for them to accept being treated as a lower class citizen not allowed to marry or live as they see fit compare to forcing someone to treat them like an equal? I think that forcing someone not to shame LGBT for being LGBT is the same as not shaming Minorities for being Minorities, the old for being old, the disabled for being disabled, and every other group like we don't shame Jews for being Jewish or Christians for believing in Jesus. And we all know that people still hate on people for all of those things online, but only some get away with doing it on the evening news. Still, the point remains - Forcing someone not to be a dick to others isn't the same as forcing someone to live a marginalized life.

BTW I have a problem with the 'subsidizing' argument as well if you are referring to tax dollars, because the tax base is so large and varied that the tax dollars of any individual can't go to subsidize all the things they may object to. I don't complain about the large cut of whatever I pay each year getting pumped into the military machine after all, and that is far more than the infinitesimal percentage of how much of their tax dollars go to the things they object to if their tax payments were divided up like the federal budget. These people also usually don't look at how much of the money they pay for anything is divided up and paid into various things that each company donates to.

I don't think that prisoners should have many unnecessary surgeries in general, but in this case it takes a closer look at the circumstances than a flat "Always!" or Ban would give. If the prisoner in question (after having seen a counselor and proved that this is legitimate and not an attempt to switch prisons or otherwise game the system) is only in for a brief amount of time any surgery can be delayed until they can seek it when they are free to work and pay for it however they are able. If they are imprisoned for life or a particularly long time then the State is specifically preventing them from handling this on their own, and denying them the treatment for such a long time when they are genuinely Transgender would amount to cruel and unusual punishment IMO.

I didn't recall whether I voted for Meng or for someone else. Meng won reelection with 67.9%. I had to Google her Republican opponent, and he wasn't even mentioned in her Wikipedia page.

Ok, if you can remember would you tell us the last few republicans you voted for (Local & Federal if necessary)? It really shouldn't be this hard, I can tell you which way I voted in pretty much every election I've voted in, and I've only used the Straight Ticket voting option once that I know of.

Regarding adoption, it does not appear that gay couples have significant difficulty adopting. Even in the cases involving religious organizations refusing to work with prospective gay parents, they tend to send the couples to other agencies. This is part of why the Supreme Court unanimously voted against Philadelphia in Fulton V Philadelphia.

Thus leaving their orphans stuck in the system as opposed to being cared for. Assuming they relaxed these restrictions for good LGBT parents there would be far less pain and despair for these poor kids stuck without a home or people who actually care about them.

On the fad question, I think there are some teens for whom it's a fad and some teens for whom it's not. I have no idea what the percentages would be, and that's a question that obviously has policy implications. If it's a fad for two percent of minors who seek services that would be a different concern than if it's a fad for sixty percent.

And rather than accept the counseling and threat of body altering surgeries dissuade most of those who are interested in a fad long before it's time to start transitioning, would I be wrong in assuming you think the rate of it being a Fad is unknowable without study but in theory has to be higher since so many are transitioning?

It appeared that Lia Thomas was the frontrunner in a Division 1 competition, and won. That's all I meant by saying that she dominated.

At the moment, the circumstances that produce a Lia Thomas (a Top 500 athlete transitions while old enough to benefit from male puberty but young enough to compete in college sports) seem rare, so I'd expect these stories to be sporadic rather than be part of every women's sports story.

The only reason I can see this to be a problem is that you think young men are going to spend their lives preparing to become a female athlete later in life just to win when they can't in the male category, that or parents are going to raise a child specifically to transition them whether they want to or not. Coincidentally allowing younger folks to take puberty blockers would prevent more situations like this from arising as it would avoid the 'advantages' that you are worried about.

If you make a comment about capitalism, it's fair game to respond. If I make some potentially controversial aside, I can understand that there may be pushback.

If the pushback is used only to hide the underlying point, in this case the selfishness and apathy that leads nearly half the nation to think not voting is best, then it's clear said pushback isn't genuine.

Interesting point on screw-ups and what defines a party. I would think apologies matter, and that for a defense to taint a party, it has to be false. We shouldn't criticize people for saying the truth.

Only genuine ones, and this guy is just as much for a "The States come first" mindset as he was before so it's clear he's not genuine. If those defending him and others take their words at face value then they should have it pointed out that their chosen target isn't trustworthy. Simply reading whatever they are handed by their PR people isn't valid no matter who does it.

[Jack Dracula]

Hmmm....I don't think this is as symbolic as it seems. Any future interaction between the US and Putin would be shaded by this.

Everything you need to know about war crimes and how Putin could be prosecuted

As for the US, still waiting on more details to answer that question.

If Trump gets (vomit-gag) re-elected, it will make it more difficult for his administration to cozy up to Putin as they did before.

[Tami]

Syrian Mercenaries Deploy to Russia en Route to Ukrainian Battlefields

BEIRUT, Lebanon — Hundreds of Syrian fighters are en route to join Russian forces in Ukraine, effectively returning the favor to Moscow for helping President Bashar al-Assad crush rebels in an 11-year civil war, according to two people monitoring the flow of mercenaries.

A first contingent of soldiers has already arrived in Russia for military training before heading to Ukraine, according to a Western diplomat and a Damascus-based ally of the Syrian government. It includes at least 300 soldiers from a Syrian army division that has worked closely with Russian officers who went to Syria to support Mr. al-Assad during the war.

And many more could be on the way: Recruiters across Syria have been drawing up lists of thousands of interested candidates to be vetted by the Syrian security services and then passed to the Russians.

Syria has grown in recent years into an exporter of mercenaries, a grim aftereffect of years of war that gave many men combat experience but so damaged the country’s economy that people now struggle to find work. So they have deployed as guns-for-hire to wars in Libya, Azerbaijan, the Central African Republic — and now Ukraine.

“In general, money is the motivation,” said Bassam Alahmad, the head of Syrians for Truth and Justice, an advocacy group that has researched the Syrian mercenary trade. Some Syrians feel loyalty to Russia because of its support for Mr. al-Assad, he said, while others sign up to fight because they simply need the money and believe recruiters’ promises that they will have noncombat jobs, such as guarding bases or oil facilities.

[CaptainEurope]

He is accusing you of psychoanalyzing those that hate minorities, women, gays... And then does it himself when he says it is all because "They are taking their jobs". Which is obviously bullshit.

It's because in the alternate reality most Republicans live in, America no longer has a problem with racism or bigotry. Except for the bigotry of liberals against Christians.

Well! Have you ever tried to become a florist, hair dresser or steel worker as a straight? The gays are taking all those jobs!

[JackDaw]

Wow. Can't believe he'd do something that shady and underhanded. Usually he's looking out for the little guy/gal.

I know. The one time I visited America he was at airport same time I arrived, he welcomed me by pressing a hundred dollar bill into my hand.

I’ll never spend it, for sentimental reasons….

And also, never could find it when I woke up. But it will be there somewhere if I just check my travel luggage. It has to be because the Donald is a great man.