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

[WestPhillyPunisher]

In other news, I wish the change to electric vehicles hadn't been fought so hard that now they are trying to make the change from gas to electric without the stops at hybrids in between them. I'm taking a trip at the end of May, and my rental choices are gas guzzler, full EV, no hybrids, and I'm going to a place without the EV infrastructure AND very high gas prices. It's annoying.

The cold turkey strategy of going from ICE straight to EV is, in my opinion, a bad strategy, especially when EV's remain prohibitively expensive, and the infrastructure to support them is still in it's infancy. Ignoring hybrids as a bridge is flat out wrongheaded and shortsighted. I wish the administration, and everyone championing EV's could be made to understand that.

[Jack Dracula]

I'm sure it must gall and frustrate Trump no end that Haley is still enjoying a modicum of support, even though she dropped out of the race weeks ago.

A lesser person might hope the stress causes him a painful and debilitating health condition.
Not me, of course.

[Jack Dracula]

To the GOP's utter dismay, some voters are paying attention.

Focus groups: Wisconsin swing voters blame GOP for failed border bill

Biden and other Democrats need to force that fact down Republican voters throats right up to election night.

[Username taken]

https://variety.com/2024/biz/news/di...tz-1235958254/

It’s official: Disney shareholders shot down activist investor Nelson Peltz‘s effort to win seats on the Mouse House’s board of directors. Investors voted to reelect all 12 of the company-backed board members, including CEO Bob Iger, ending the most expensive corporate proxy fight in history.

The voting results for Disney board candidates were announced Wednesday at the company’s 2024 meeting of shareholders, held virtually. Peltz, who heads investment firm Trian Partners, failed to get enough votes in his favor to clinch a board seat (as did Trian’s other nominee, ex-Disney Jay Rasulo).

Horacio Gutierrez, Disney’s senior EVP, chief legal and compliance officer, who oversaw the proceedings at the meeting, said that the preliminary vote tabulations showed Disney’s 12 directors had won reelection by a “substantial margin.” He added that the official vote counts will be disclosed in the subsequent meeting minutes.

If Peltz wasn't a goofy, racist moron (like his friend Ike Perlmutter), he might have been more successful in his bid.

Those last minute idiotic comments about why Black Panther was an all black film (it wasn't) or why The Marvel was all women (it wasn't), kind of shifted the tide away from him.

[Tami]

Trump special counsel fires back at Cannon order that could disrupt case

Special counsel Jack Smith warned the judge overseeing Donald Trump’s classified documents case that she is pursuing a legal premise that “is wrong” and said he would probably appeal to a higher court if she rules that a federal records law can protect the former president from prosecution.

In a near-midnight legal filing, Smith’s office pushed back hard against an unusual instruction from U.S. District Judge Aileen M. Cannon — one that veteran national security lawyers and former judges have said badly misinterprets the Presidential Records Act and laws related to classified documents.

Smith’s filing represents the most stark and high-stakes confrontation yet between the judge and the prosecutor, illustrating the extent to which a ruling by Cannon that legitimizes the PRA as a defense could eviscerate the historic case. It sets up the possibility that a government appeal of such a ruling could delay the trial well beyond November’s presidential election, in which Trump is the presumptive Republican nominee.

[Mister Mets]

https://variety.com/2024/biz/news/di...tz-1235958254/



If Peltz wasn't a goofy, racist moron (like his friend Ike Perlmutter), he might have been more successful in his bid.

Those last minute idiotic comments about why Black Panther was an all black film (it wasn't) or why The Marvel was all women (it wasn't), kind of shifted the tide away from him.

It didn't help that he seemed unaware that Black Panther is widely considered a success.

In other news, I wish the change to electric vehicles hadn't been fought so hard that now they are trying to make the change from gas to electric without the stops at hybrids in between them. I'm taking a trip at the end of May, and my rental choices are gas guzzler, full EV, no hybrids, and I'm going to a place without the EV infrastructure AND very high gas prices. It's annoying.

Those fighting the change to electric vehicles don't seem to be trying to outlaw hybrid cars.

[godisawesome]

https://variety.com/2024/biz/news/di...tz-1235958254/



If Peltz wasn't a goofy, racist moron (like his friend Ike Perlmutter), he might have been more successful in his bid.

Those last minute idiotic comments about why Black Panther was an all black film (it wasn't) or why The Marvel was all women (it wasn't), kind of shifted the tide away from him.

It's good to see that him showing his ass on stuff even an idiot should know to avoid probably undermined his attempt to to implement the usual grift on Disney - dudes in the "executives club" run on far too much idiocy in the first place, and are probably among the most replaceable people in the industry, so going after Black Panther like a moron probably highlighted how even among a collection of clueless money dudes, he was a greater fool than others.

Sadly, the number of major executives who remain insulated and apathetic towards their actual product is still probably a majority; ever since Jack Welch conned economists into thinking that "spreadsheets = business," his ilk have dominated executive positions in the most boring, banal, and pathetic way possible. Hell, a lot of Musk's early reputation was probably built off the fact he was being contrasted with morons like Peltz, and people just didn't realize that was a very low bar to clear.

[Kirby101]

In other news, I wish the change to electric vehicles hadn't been fought so hard that now they are trying to make the change from gas to electric without the stops at hybrids in between them. I'm taking a trip at the end of May, and my rental choices are gas guzzler, full EV, no hybrids, and I'm going to a place without the EV infrastructure AND very high gas prices. It's annoying.

"They" are not trying to do anything. The Rental Car companies get a good tax credit for buying EVs. More than on Hybrids. EVs also have much less maintenance than hybrids. And of course, ICE cars are cheaper than hybrids. Since they don't pay for gas, they have no incentive to buy hybrids.
I wish there was a bettwr strategy in this country to move to EVs. The infrastructure is way behind what it should be.

[zinderel]

It’s a good thing Israel is merely defending itself…imagine the harm they would do if they were actively trying to wipe out the Palestinians…

[CaptainEurope]

I'm not sure if Newsmax has a new intern, but the MAGA mobsters are losing their **** over the right wing propaganda channel turning on Trump with this tweet:

The Tweet has been deleted and blamed on a "low level staffer."

[CaptainEurope]

Trump special counsel fires back at Cannon order that could disrupt case

If Trump wins in November, Ms. Cannon will go down in history as one of the people who destroyed democracy in America.

[Tami]

If Trump wins in November, Ms. Cannon will go down in history as one of the people who destroyed democracy in America.

Trump might even make her his AG, since competence isn't a qualification only loyalty.

[Tami]

NATO Weighs Taking Over U.S.-Led Group Directing Ukraine Military Aid

With continued American aid to Ukraine stalled and the looming prospect of a second Trump presidency, NATO’s top diplomat said on Wednesday that the alliance was poised to take more control over military support sent to Ukraine — a role that the United States has played for the past two years.

Details are still being worked out, but Jens Stoltenberg, the NATO secretary general, said foreign ministers meeting in Brussels agreed to pursue plans to give the military alliance more oversight in coordinating security assistance and training for Ukraine.

Should the plan comes to fruition, it would represent a shift from NATO’s previous reluctance to be pulled more directly into the conflict and risk a severe military response from President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia. And it is not certain that NATO’s most powerful member, the United States, ultimately will agree to a measure that could dilute its influence.

But Mr. Stoltenberg said it was necessary to ensure that Ukraine could rely on NATO for years to come in a war with no immediate end in sight.

[Gray Lensman]

The Tweet has been deleted and blamed on a "low level staffer."

They got the coffee once?

[Jack Dracula]

If Trump wins in November, Ms. Cannon will go down in history as one of the people who destroyed democracy in America.

The new history books will glorify her as a hero. The old books will be burned of course.