All Purpose News and Politics Thread Part IV: The Center Cannot Hold

[Tendrin]

Another child has died in US custody.

https://www.cnn.com/2019/05/16/us/gu...ody/index.html

(CNN)A 2 1/2-year-old Guatemalan boy apprehended on the US-Mexico border died Tuesday night in El Paso, Texas, the Washington Post reported.
The child had been in the hospital in US custody for several weeks after crossing into the US with his mother, the Post reported, citing Guatemala Consul Tekandi Paniagua and another source.
CNN has reached out to the Department of Homeland Security and the Guatemalan Consul in Del Rio, Texas, but hasn't yet received a response.
The boy would be the fourth Guatemalan child since December to die after a border apprehension.

[JCAll]

Do you really believe that trash? Seriously I don't mean to be rude but that is some whack crap right there. Drop the conspiracy stuff....punishing women? OMG....just wow.

I completely believe it. You yourself were talking about women having to take responsibility and how unwanted pregnancy is a consequence their behavior. Surely you can see how people could believe that forcing a woman to carry an unwanted pregnancy could be treated as a kind of punishment for that "bad" behavior, forced on them by people in power feeling they have a "moral" duty.

This isn't some shadowy conspiracy crap, it's just pointing at a thing that's happening and framing it from the direction of someone that doesn't necessarily share all your beliefs. Thus the sarcastic quotation marks.

[aja_christopher]

DANG! How could I have forgotten about THIS Space Pirate?

[aja_christopher]

"ANGELA MERKEL IDENTIFIES U.S. AS GLOBAL RIVAL THAT, ALONG WITH CHINA AND RUSSIA, EUROPE MUST UNITE AGAINST"

"German Chancellor Angela Merkel lumped in the United States with Europe’s other global adversaries on Wednesday, arguing that the countries on the continent need to band together against the challenges posed by Russia, China and the U.S.

“There is no doubt that Europe needs to reposition itself in a changed world…. The old certainties of the postwar order no longer apply,” Merkel told the German media on Wednesday.

... the U.S. relationship with Europe has become increasingly uncertain under President Donald Trump, who has criticized both the European Union and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). The U.S. and EU are also still locked in negotiations over proposed tariffs on auto parts.

Reports recently suggested that Trump might delay the implementation of new tariffs as he continues to fight his trade war with China and negotiate with Europe and Japan. But the president has only until May 18 to decide whether to levy new tariffs on auto parts coming from Europe. Many analysts have argued against stymieing trade with a U.S. ally.

EU officials, meanwhile, have pledged to retaliate with their own set of tariffs if the U.S. moves forward with the plan. Cecilia Malmström, the chief trade negotiator for the EU, said the European Union is preparing a list of U.S. products that would be subject to tariffs if Trump moves forward with his protectionist measures."

https://www.newsweek.com/angela-merk...e-must-1426742

-----

"Trump Is Building Toward War While Alienating All Our Allies"

"On Monday, en route to a meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Sochi (where nothing at all productive seems to have happened), Pompeo crashed a European Union meeting in Brussels—unexpected and uninvited—to harangue Western leaders on the threat from Iran. EU officials very much favor preserving the Iranian deal and are deeply bitter at Trump for riling tensions in the region and, beyond that, for forcing them to reimpose sanctions—essentially hijacking their own foreign policies and undermining what they see as their legitimate national security interests.

Pompeo’s drop-in occurred almost simultaneously with Trump’s warm White House welcome of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán—an illiberal ultra-nationalist who has done more to damage democratic forces and subvert the EU than any other leader on the continent. For Pompeo to seek European unity on Trump’s unpopular Iran policy, while Trump was meeting with the leading internal opponent of the EU, aggravated the tensions.

Trump showed his true colors at his meeting—and made things worse still—by praising Orbán (whom Presidents Obama and Bush had refused to invite to the White House) as a “respected man” who has “done a tremendous job in so many ways.” Trump has harshly criticized Germany and other European allies for spending less than 2 percent of their GDP on defense and thus failing to meet their NATO obligations—but he praised Orbán as an upstanding member of NATO, even though Hungary has devoted an even lower percentage to defense.

Finally, in a move that is largely symbolic but politically significant, Spain—a member of NATO—has pulled a frigate from a U.S.-led naval battle group headed toward the Persian Gulf because of disagreements over Iran.

So let’s sum up. Trump is playing escalation games with Iran—games that could lead to war, whether Trump wants that or not—while doing nothing to seek diplomatic alternatives or to make a case that war is justified, in fact alienating U.S. allies whose support would be useful (if not vital) in a war and, at the same time, ginning up a trade war with China, which, in its early phases, is already wreaking havoc with markets and threatening to damage an otherwise-healthy American economy."

https://slate.com/news-and-politics/...scalation.html

[JCAll]

huh? Capital punishment and abortion are two totally different things. Your whole comment is hot garbage.

I suppose this is as good a comment as any for me to bounce off of to throw in my two cents.

I don't think life begins at conception. Everything that makes a human being a human being is in the brain. No matter how complex a developing cell cluster is, if it lacks the awareness the brain gives us it's just a cell cluster. Rather than the death penalty, I prefer to compare abortion to unplugging life support. It happens all the time, where family has to decide to end the life of someone brain dead. That isn't considered murder, because everyone basically agrees that what makes them alive isn't there even if the body is still beating. That's how I genuinely feel about zygotes, embryos, and undeveloped fetuses.

Well, that's my take on it at least. I know that for people that believe that life begins at conception and that abortion is murder my opinion in the matter isn't worth much. This is an entirely binary bit of politics with not a lot of room for compromise. That's why its turned so cancerous.

[Tendrin]

It's a good thing he supports the death penalty since lack of abortion access murders women.

[JCAll]

It's a good thing he supports the death penalty since lack of abortion access murders women.

Just to add, the difference between abortion and capital punishment is that with the death penalty a human being dies.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

I suppose this is as good a comment as any for me to bounce off of to throw in my two cents.

I don't think life begins at conception. Everything that makes a human being a human being is in the brain. No matter how complex a developing cell cluster is, if it lacks the awareness the brain gives us it's just a cell cluster. Rather than the death penalty, I prefer to compare abortion to unplugging life support. It happens all the time, where family has to decide to end the life of someone brain dead. That isn't considered murder, because everyone basically agrees that what makes them alive isn't there even if the body is still beating. That's how I genuinely feel about zygotes, embryos, and undeveloped fetuses.

Well, that's my take on it at least. I know that for people that believe that life begins at conception and that abortion is murder my opinion in the matter isn't worth much. This is an entirely binary bit of politics with not a lot of room for compromise. That's why its turned so cancerous.

That is my viewpoint as well. To me, what makes a human being a human being begins with awareness of self, NOT the heartbeat.

[Tami]

Trump administration renews Twin Metals mining leases

The U.S. Bureau of Land Management on Wednesday said it has formally renewed mineral exploration leases for Twin Metals, the Chilean-owned mining company hoping to build a large underground copper-nickel mine near Ely.

The 10-year lease renewal gives Twin Metals renewed access to national forest land on which to search for minerals and prepare to develop a mining project.

The Obama administration had put those leases on hold pending an environmental review. But the Trump administration for months now has been moving to clear the path for Twin Metals, in what could be the state's second major copper mine after Polymet, the open pit mine proposed about 30 miles away near Hoyt Lakes.

Critics, however, said the administration is rushing headlong toward a potential disaster for the region's water-rich environment and the adjacent BWCAW. There's concern over various pollution and disruption to the BWCAW, especially acidic runoff that could spoil the pristine lakes and rivers in the area.

"Today's announcement by the Bureau of Land Management is a continuation of the Trump administration's assault on the Boundary Waters Wilderness,'' said Tom Landwehr, executive director of the Campaign to Save the Boundary Waters. "The 'review' completed by the administration was wholly insufficient to determine the impact of sulfide-ore copper mining on land immediately adjacent to the Boundary Waters."

Under the Obama administration in 2016, the Forest Service concluded that copper mining posed "an inherent risk of irreparable harm to an irreplaceable Wilderness." Critics of copper mining in the area noted the Trump administration cancelled a more complete study that would have fully determined the extent of that harm.

[Tendrin]

LANSING – A state representative has been indicted by a federal grand jury, accused of trying to sell his vote on a measure to repeal Michigan's prevailing wage law.
Rep. Larry Inman, R-Traverse City, was indicted Tuesday by a federal grand jury in Grand Rapids, court records show.
House Speaker Lee Chatfield, R-Levering, called on Inman on Wednesday to resign his seat, though Inman said he has no intention of doing so.
Inman is charged with attempted extortion, soliciting a bribe, and making a false statement to the FBI and could face up to 20 years in prison if convicted on the most serious charge.

This seems like it could get interesting.

https://www.freep.com/story/news/loc...be/3678438002/

[ZombieHavoc]

And ode to Ted Cruz.

[Ohnooze]

Just to add, the difference between abortion and capital punishment is that with the death penalty a human being dies.

That depends on what you consider a human. And the difference is that the one you have decided is human likely put himself in that situation by his behavior. I'm no fan of Capital punishment and I'm not defending it but in most cases it's not too difficult to avoid.

[Mecegirl]

The abortion debate is a waste of time. It is just a really good wedge issue. Our government would do better to focus on prevention. Not just prevention of unwanted pregnancies but prevention of complications that put the mother's life at risk or cause birth defects.

Our government needs to work on ensuring adequate healthcare both to provide access to birth control and to ensure that people are healthy enough to create and carry potential life. Our government needs to fund more research into female reproductive health because too many women who want children are hindered by complications during pregnancy that we could prevent one day. Even more deal with unwieldy or painful menstrual cycles so quality of life all around could be improved. Funding for an effective male birth control outside of vasectomies or condoms would be appreciated as well.

Our government should work on evening the playing field so that mothers of all types feel like they can actually afford to have a child. Parental leave is a joke in the U.S. And the cost of living keeps going up while wages are stagnant. The cost and quality of childcare/early education is a problem too. But that's **** we agree on...**** that gets bipartisan support. Like a recent bill in Georgia which among other things would mandate recess for young children. It passed with massive bipartisan support but was vetoed by Governor Kemp. The fucker signed the heartbeat bill tho... Which means that we will continue to waste time both in the state of Ga and in the nation debating abortion instead of actually helping parents and children. Because such help doesn't creating something to fear monger/inspire blind loyalty in voters about.

[Tuck]

First, take a moment to seriously ask yourself if an innocent human being has ever been executed in the United States. Let's set aside instances where people were actually set up by the state.

It's a practical concern, not a moral/philosophical one. It doesn't confuse how someone can support the death penalty and not abortion.

It feels like you're trying not to understand it.

[kidfresh512]

The abortion debate is a waste of time. It is just a really good wedge issue. Our government would do better to focus on prevention. Not just prevention of unwanted pregnancies but prevention of complications that put the mother's life at risk or cause birth defects.

Our government needs to work on ensuring adequate healthcare both to provide access to birth control and to ensure that people are healthy enough to create and carry potential life. Our government needs to fund more research into female reproductive health because too many women who want children are hindered by complications during pregnancy that we could prevent one day. Even more deal with unwieldy or painful menstrual cycles so quality of life all around could be improved. Funding for an effective male birth control outside of vasectomies or condoms would be appreciated as well.

Our government should work on evening the playing field so that mothers of all types feel like they can actually afford to have a child. Parental leave is a joke in the U.S. And the cost of living keeps going up while wages are stagnant. The cost and quality of childcare/early education is a problem too. But that's **** we agree on...**** that gets bipartisan support. Like a recent bill in Georgia which among other things would mandate recess for young children. It passed with massive bipartisan support but was vetoed by Governor Kemp. The fucker signed the heartbeat bill tho... Which means that we will continue to waste time both in the state of Ga and in the nation debating abortion instead of actually helping parents and children. Because such help doesn't creating something to fear monger/inspire blind loyalty in voters about.

Agree.

And Alabama is terrible at all of these

Alabama says it wants to protect life. How does that claim stack up outside the womb?