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

[zinderel]

But I'm sure we're overreacting.



https://buckscountybeacon.com/2024/0...alism-project/

Sister Betty Bowers’ Guide to Christian Nationalism for Dummies:



“Fortunately, the Constitution is like the Bible! You only have to remember the parts you like!”

[Deathstroke]

But we're all just overreacting.



https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/i...tional-divorce



Yep. Definitely overreacting. Nothing to be concerned about here!





UNDER HIS EYE.

What a load of horseshit these guys are.

[Catlady in training]

It's one thing to say that America (or whatever country) shouldn't be involved in the affairs of other countries. But if someone believes that it's better for Russia to be strong, (either to keep them from being a vassal state of China, because they think Moscow's cleanliness is a model for the rest of the world, or whatever) doesn't it suggest that the forces currently told not to get involved might be called on to help Russia deal with Ukrainian revolutionaries in the future? The Ukrainian government agreeing to a peace treaty doesn't mean the Ukrainian people will agree.

The main factor in the difference between getting involved in the affairs of other countries and helping other countries is simple: they asked for that help.
Putler can also try to twist his invasion as freeing Ukraine from western influences or whatever is his justification of the week, but that will not pass since nobody asked for such "help".
Ukraine asked us (as in, all countries in the free world) to help them, so providing what they asked for is not interfering. When in doubt, looking at any situation from the perspective of consent usually helps to make it more clear.

[CaptainEurope]

I love this sentence:

(It takes impressive talent for a real actress to be convincing as someone really bad at pretending not to be acting.

With Scarlet Johansson as Katie Britt, SNL Gave Viewers What They Asked For—And Then Some

[tv horror]

The main factor in the difference between getting involved in the affairs of other countries and helping other countries is simple: they asked for that help.
Putler can also try to twist his invasion as freeing Ukraine from western influences or whatever is his justification of the week, but that will not pass since nobody asked for such "help".
Ukraine asked us (as in, all countries in the free world) to help them, so providing what they asked for is not interfering. When in doubt, looking at any situation from the perspective of consent usually helps to make it more clear.

It certainly does not help that Trump HATES them for not helping him by investigating the Biden's, even though there was nothing there in the first place only in a dark space in his head.

[The Cool Thatguy]

It certainly does not help that Trump HATES them for not helping him by investigating the Biden's, even though there was nothing there in the first place only in a dark space in his head.

He no doubt holds the entire country responsible for his first impeachment, too. God forbid the main admit any responsibility.

[comictimes]

The main factor in the difference between getting involved in the affairs of other countries and helping other countries is simple: they asked for that help.
Putler can also try to twist his invasion as freeing Ukraine from western influences or whatever is his justification of the week, but that will not pass since nobody asked for such "help".
Ukraine asked us (as in, all countries in the free world) to help them, so providing what they asked for is not interfering. When in doubt, looking at any situation from the perspective of consent usually helps to make it more clear.

So did the Syrian government, and who has the U.S. led coalition been helping all this time?

By "nobody", I guess you mean the DPR and LPR?

[kidfresh512]

Elon Musk Has a Giant Charity. Its Money Stays Close to Home.

Before March 2021, Elon Musk’s charitable foundation had never announced any donations to Cameron County, an impoverished region at the southern tip of Texas that is home to his SpaceX launch site and local officials who help regulate it.

Then, at 8:05 one morning that month, a SpaceX rocket blew up, showering the area with a rain of twisted metal.

The Musk Foundation began giving at 9:27 a.m. local time.

Mr. Musk, the world’s second-richest person according to Forbes, presides over SpaceX, Tesla and other companies that are pushing the boundaries of technology, while also controlling a social media platform, now known as X, through which he promotes his often-polarizing political and social views.

At the same time, he runs a charity with billions of dollars, the kind of resources that could make a global impact. But unlike Bill Gates, who has deployed his fortune in an effort to improve health care across Africa, or Walmart’s Walton family, which has spurred change in the American education system, Mr. Musk’s philanthropy has been haphazard and largely self-serving — making him eligible for enormous tax breaks and helping his businesses.

Since 2020, he has seeded his charity with tax-deductible donations of stock worth more than $7 billion at the time, making it one of the largest in the country.

The foundation that houses the money has failed in recent years to give away the bare minimum required by law to justify the tax break, exposing it to the risk of having to pay the government a substantial financial penalty.

Mr. Musk is under no obligation to have a charity, and he has made clear that he believes his for-profit enterprises will change the world for the better far more than any philanthropic venture could. But once he set up a nonprofit and filled it with tax-deductible gifts, he was required by law to ensure that his foundation served the public, and that it did not operate for the “private benefit” of its leader.

A New York Times analysis found that, of the Musk Foundation’s giving in 2021 and 2022 — the latest years for which full data is available — about half of the donations had some link to Mr. Musk, one of his employees or one of his businesses.

Among the donations the Musk Foundation has made, there was $55 million to help a major SpaceX customer meet a charitable pledge. There were the millions that went to Cameron County, Texas, after the rocket blew up. And there were donations to two schools closely tied to his businesses: one walled off inside a SpaceX compound, the other located next to a new subdivision for Musk’s employees.

Mr. Musk, instead, used his small foundation to help groups tied to him personally, including a food charity run by his brother and a “Temple of Whollyness” that was set on fire at the 2013 Burning Man festival, an annual event that he often attends.

He also founded his own nonprofit school called Ad Astra — Latin for “to the stars” — to explore new ways to teach math and science.

But that school, too, would serve a personal purpose for Mr. Musk. In its first year of operation out of his home in the Bel-Air neighborhood of Los Angeles, five of Ad Astra’s 14 students were his own children.

In depth look at his charity and what seems like borderline legal self dealing. To be fair as the article points out rich people don't HAVE to be charitable. But, there are rules and laws if you are to get tax breaks.

And as Elon frequently lambasts Democrats wanting the rich to be taxed more by claiming how much he pays in taxes. While neglecting to point out how much he also benefits from his own charities. By direct ways like his childrens school, or counties where his companies happen to be etc.

[Kirby101]

So did the Syrian government, and who has the U.S. led coalition been helping all this time?

By "nobody", I guess you mean the DPR and LPR?

Assad asked for our help?????

[Tami]

Katie Britt defends sex trafficking story she falsely links to Biden presidency

“I very specifically said … I very clearly said I spoke to a woman who told me about when she was trafficked when she was 12. So I didn’t say a teenager – I didn’t say a young woman,” Britt replied after being asked whether she intended to give the impression that the abuse occurred under the Biden administration’s watch. “[It was] a grown woman … trafficked when she was 12.”

And listeners were going to make that inference how???

Britt went out of her way Sunday to explain “exactly why [she] was sitting at a kitchen table” when she rebutted Biden.

“Republicans care about kitchen table issues,” Britt said. “We care about faith, family. We care about freedom.”

That doesn't mean she had to give her speech from an actual kitchen Table. Again, and listeners were going to make that inference how???

Expect her political career to be very very short.

[comictimes]

Assad asked for our help?????

He asked for help, didn't he?

[Kirby101]

He asked for help, didn't he?

I don't remember that. I remember him gassing his own people.

[Mister Mets]

The main factor in the difference between getting involved in the affairs of other countries and helping other countries is simple: they asked for that help.
Putler can also try to twist his invasion as freeing Ukraine from western influences or whatever is his justification of the week, but that will not pass since nobody asked for such "help".
Ukraine asked us (as in, all countries in the free world) to help them, so providing what they asked for is not interfering. When in doubt, looking at any situation from the perspective of consent usually helps to make it more clear.

That's an important point, although one trap is that people without morals will lie and say things in bad faith, like Putin apologists claiming he's just trying to help ethnic Russians.

Obviously, there are ways for people to determine if citizens within a country is calling for help, or if it's some kind of pretext. The solution seems to be open dialogue so that if someone makes a seemingly ridiculous claim, we can get to the truth of it quickly.

[zinderel]

Katie Britt defends sex trafficking story she falsely links to Biden presidency



And listeners were going to make that inference how???



That doesn't mean she had to give her speech from an actual kitchen Table. Again, and listeners were going to make that inference how???

Expect her political career to be very very short.

Whenever I hear a far right authoritarian theocrat proclaim their devotion to ‘faith and family’, all I can think of are the posters I learned about, growing up.

Posters like:

IMG_2689.jpg

https://www.facinghistory.org/resour...act-propaganda

[Tendrin]

Whenever I hear a far right authoritarian theocrat proclaim their devotion to ‘faith and family’, all I can think of are the posters I learned about, growing up.

Posters like:

IMG_2689.jpg

https://www.facinghistory.org/resour...act-propaganda

A 'folkish state' indeed.