All purpose news and politics thread part VII: News & Politics Total Landscaping

[Dalak]

Isn't Trump barred from doing business in NY? Which Stock Exchange is he going to sell Truth Social on when it's still partially owned by him?

[Reverse Happy]

From Germany: Renewed controversy as Pope proclaims "We have no chance anyway and should surrender to the Devil"

Vatican (dpo) - Just this weekend, the Pope caused a stir by calling on Ukraine to raise a "white flag" and negotiate an end to the war with Russia. Now Francis followed up with a sermon and called on all believers to surrender to the devil.

"If you look around this sinful world, you realize that it is pointless to defend yourself against the temptations of Satan," said the Catholic leader. "And when you see that you are defeated, that things are not going well, you have to have the courage to negotiate."

It is therefore time to admit that the fight against the devil will be lost in the long term. "That's true strength."

The Vatican therefore wants to raise the white flag on St. Peter's Basilica in order to enter into peace negotiations with Christianity's greatest adversary. “We must be prepared to make a pact with the devil, even if we have to make painful concessions such as regular ritual murders, demons on our streets or women in the priesthood,” Francis said.

So far it is unclear whether the incarnate will respond to the Pope's willingness to negotiate or interpret it as weakness and spur his legions on to even wilder attacks.

[Catlady in training]

Desperate TikTok lobbying effort backfires on Capitol Hill

US congressional offices have told the BBC they are being deluged with calls from TikTok users about legislation that could see the popular app banned.

Callers range from teenagers to the elderly, and most are "really confused and are calling because 'TikTok told me to'", one Republican staffer revealed.

A Democratic staffer said the most aggressive and threatening calls their office received came from adult women.

So far, TikTok's big mobilization appears to be backfiring.

Lawmakers and their staff say that the lobbying campaign has actually worsened the concerns they have about the app and its parent company ByteDance, and strengthened their resolve to pass the legislation.

The bill, introduced by a bipartisan group of 20 lawmakers, would mandate that ByteDance sell TikTok within six months, or TikTok would be removed from mobile app stores in the US.

The legislation is sailing through Congress, winning rare unanimous approval from a key committee, and the full House is expected to vote on it on Wednesday. President Joe Biden has said that he will sign it into law if it reaches his desk.

Its swift advance has drawn a frantic last-minute push by TikTok to mobilise users directly against those responsible for the legislation.

TikTok confirmed to the BBC it had sent a notification urging TikTokers to "call your representative now" to urge them to vote against the measure. Users said that the app gave them a direct link for calling the representatives for their districts.

Florida Congressman Neal Dunn's office told the BBC it has received more than 900 calls from TikTokers, "many of which were vulnerable school-aged children" and some of whose extreme rhetoric had to be flagged for security reasons.

Mr Dunn, a Republican, is an original co-sponsor of the bill.

"This effort by ByteDance validated the Congressman's concerns," his office said in a statement.

"American phones were geolocated and TikTok users were locked out of the platform until they called their members of Congress. ByteDance weaponized the app against America, and that is exactly why the Congressman supports this measure."

When contacted about those allegations by the BBC, TikTok provided the statement: "With regards to users being locked out of the app until they called, that is false. All users had two methods for dismissing the notifications."

Lawmakers have long accused ByteDance of having links to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and have cast the video-sharing app as a potential threat to Americans' privacy and mental health. TikTok, which says it is now used by more than 170 million people in the US, and ByteDance deny those claims.

Carlos Gimenez, who sits alongside Mr Dunn on the House committee behind the bill, said he would not be deterred from voting for it "regardless of TikTok's targeted campaign against members of Congress".

A spokesperson for New York Democrat Ritchie Torres - a joint leader of the legislation - confirmed that his office too has received "seemingly endless calls" though none were of a threatening nature.

"I am deeply troubled by reports of young people calling Congress, threatening to commit suicide or otherwise harm themselves," Mr Torres said in a statement to the BBC.

"The iron grip that TikTok has on the minds of young people is a profound public health hazard."

Staffers to other lawmakers on both sides of the aisle also reported hundreds of calls to their offices, from app users young and old, who did not have a clear idea of either who or why they are calling.

A spokesperson for Dusty Johnson told the BBC his office had received calls from people who are very upset, as well as "some people who are asking kindly if TikTok is going to be banned, and some have said TikTok wouldn't let them on the app without calling their [representative]".

The callers have been of all ages, the spokesperson added.

Mr Johnson, a South Dakota Republican, has been outspoken about the national security threat posed by TikTok and is supportive of the proposed bill.

This sounds concerning. I know some people have been celebrating TikTok as some savior of democracy because it helped rally young people to vote or whatever, but obviously some of those people are very easily swayed and it could all backfire.

[Mister Mets]

Desperate TikTok lobbying effort backfires on Capitol Hill



This sounds concerning. I know some people have been celebrating TikTok as some savior of democracy because it helped rally young people to vote or whatever, but obviously some of those people are very easily swayed and it could all backfire.

This is a weird story.

Nate Silver has a decent piece on the politics of Tiktok, and why they're in trouble.

The committee vote came after TikTok sent a push notification to many of its users claiming that “Congress is planning a total ban of TikTok” and urging them to call Congress. This was probably a misstep by ByteDance. One problem is that many of the people who did call Congress were below legal voting age. It’s one thing to have your phone lines jammed by constituents, but another if its teenagers with a rabid TikTok habit.

A second problem is that TikTok’s claim was misleading — one of the bill’s Republican cosponsors even called it “communist China's dangerous propaganda” — since ByteDance would have 180 days to sell TikTok rather than face an immediate ban. If you’re a company that’s facing scrutiny for promoting misinformation, you probably want to be more precise in your high-profile public communications.

Third, there is the psychological factor. Giving rival factions a common enemy can often encourage them to set aside their differences.

If the legislation had a clear political winner, that might nevertheless preclude this sort of bipartisan consensus. But the politics of H.R. 7521 are unclear. On the one hand, Republicans are generally more hawkish toward China. And Republican voters are more likely to support a TikTok ban in polls:



On the other hand, Democrats are generally more concerned about misinformation. And there are credible claims that ByteDance is putting its thumb on the scale in ways that favor Chinese interests and also generally make Joe Biden’s life harder — particularly over the conflict in Gaza, where pro-Palestine hashtags are disproportionately more likely to appear on the platform than pro-Israel ones:

About a year ago, AOC pushed back against efforts to ban Tiktok. Her argument is that it's so popular with younger voters.

https://www.axios.com/2023/03/25/aoc...an-viral-video

Recently Donald Trump opposed efforts against Tiktok. He says it's about competition for Meta, and not what a hedge fund billionaire wants.

https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/trum...y?id=108013785

It's worth noting that Congress isn't calling for a ban on Tiktok. They want American ownership.

Tiktok has the usual problems of social media platforms (intentionally addictive, lots of misinformation, negative effects on children) but then there's the possibility that the Chinese government is manipulating it and using it to access data.

[shooshoomanjoe]

From Germany: Renewed controversy as Pope proclaims "We have no chance anyway and should surrender to the Devil"

It's a satire website. Still, what the Pope originally said was bat **** crazy.

[SUPERECWFAN1]

From Germany: Renewed controversy as Pope proclaims "We have no chance anyway and should surrender to the Devil"

This Pope needs to be excommunicated RIGHT THE F-CK NOW. The moment he proclaims how you have to make deals with the devil. Yeah the church leaders need to push him to seek Christ and ask him to leave.

[CaptainEurope]

Don't strain yourselves, you'll get a hernia.

Attachment 138227

Ah, the rich, privileged daughter of a TV doctor with her 1600 $ backpack destroying a painting by a Jewish painter. Bonus points because she once falsely accused her celebrity father of assaulting her.

[CaptainEurope]

From Germany: Renewed controversy as Pope proclaims "We have no chance anyway and should surrender to the Devil"

Postillon has been funnier than The Onion for a while now.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

From Germany: Renewed controversy as Pope proclaims "We have no chance anyway and should surrender to the Devil"

Jean-Luc sums up my feelings about this latest nonsense from the Pope:

[zinderel]

A man who was a whistleblower against Boeing has ‘committed suicide’ while in the middle of providing evidence against Boeing. He died of a ‘self-inflicted wound’, sitting in his truck in the hotel car park. He was found after he didn’t show up to give planned testimony. Reps from the aerospace giant claim that ‘Boeing is saddened’ that the man who was a key witness against them is dead.

Yeah…I just BET they’re ‘saddened’…

[CaptainEurope]

Internet personality Tate brought to Romanian court on UK arrest warrant

Internet personality Andrew Tate was arrested for 24 hours in Romania on a British warrant, his PR representative said on Tuesday, and the Bucharest Court of Appeals was set to decide on whether to extradite him.
Tate and his brother Tristan were detained late last night on allegations of sexual aggression dating back to 2012-15, which they "categorically" deny, his PR team said. The warrant was issued by Westminster Magistrates Court.

[Mister Mets]

Isn't Trump barred from doing business in NY? Which Stock Exchange is he going to sell Truth Social on when it's still partially owned by him?

Trump is banned from serving as an officer or director of any corporation or legal entity in New York for three years (and his sons Donald Jr and Eric are banned for two years.)

There are plenty of workarounds, which would allow him to sell shares.

Trump Media & Technology Group (which launched Truth Social) announced a deal with Digital World Acquisition Corp., a shell company, in 2021.

https://www.cnn.com/2021/10/21/busin...pac/index.html

When the merger goes through, he'll own 79,000,000 shares of a publicly traded company. His lawyers would figure out how he can do that without being a director or officer of a legal entity in New York.

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/09/b...ld-merger.html

One restriction for him is that he can't sell shares for six months. But he can transfer shares to family members, or to a trust.

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/26/b...tion-cash.html

Shares of Digital World Corp. doubled after Trump won Iowa.
https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2024...f-he-wins.html

I would not recommend buying the stock, but I suspect lawyers who aren't hired because they'll look good on TV will find suckers for it, and workarounds for any restrictions.

From Germany: Renewed controversy as Pope proclaims "We have no chance anyway and should surrender to the Devil"

Heh.

[CaptainEurope]

Who is the Marchioness of Cholmondeley?

Gee I don't know, can I buy a vowel?

[Gray Lensman]

Who is the Marchioness of Cholmondeley?

Gee I don't know, can I buy a vowel?

That's not a title I see often among British nobility. The title is basically a Count or an Earl with a border territory, a rarity for an island nation. Most border counties that actually existed there were in the hands of Dukes from what I have read.

[CaptainEurope]

That's not a title I see often among British nobility. The title is basically a Count or an Earl with a border territory, a rarity for an island nation. Most border counties that actually existed there were in the hands of Dukes from what I have read.

Well, many people claim she enjoys pushing boundaries, so the title fits I guess?