All-purpose news and politics thread: Two Steps Beyond!

[WestPhillyPunisher]

Rex Tillerson Warns Grads Of Living In ‘Alternative Realities’

Gee, wonder who he’s talking about. Who indeed! Cheeto Jesus perhaps?

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In Senate Hot Seat, Scott Pruitt Dodges Questions Over Mounting Scandals

The EPA chief’s ego and lavish spending have made him and the agency “a laughingstock,” said Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.). Can't argue that. Not at all.

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Pennsylvania’s Congressional Delegation Will No Longer Be All Men

It looks like at least one woman will be heading to Washington from the state. it's about damn time!

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Jared Kushner Was ‘Agitated, Infuriated’ At Meeting With Russians Focused On Adoptions

Jared Kushner was apparently not pleased when he attended a 2016 Trump Tower meeting that he expected would provide dirt on then-presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, according to recently released interviews with the man who arranged the meeting.

Members of Donald Trump Sr.’s presidential campaign at the June 2016 meeting in New York City ― including Donald Trump Jr. and Kushner, Ivanka Trump’s husband and now a senior White House official ― expected damning evidence from Russian lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya against Clinton, according to thousands of pages of interview transcripts released by the Senate judiciary committee on Wednesday.

Rob Goldstone, a British music publicist who arranged the meeting, told the committee he was expecting a “smoking gun” from Veselnitskaya on Clinton. When he emailed Trump Jr. about the possibility, he replied, “if it’s what you say I love it.”

But when that did not materialize, it left the members of the Trump team upset, particularly Kushner. Veselnitskaya ― who has said she is a Kremlin “informant” ― started instead talking about U.S. sanctions against her country and a retaliatory ban on U.S. adoptions of Russian children.

“Jared Kushner, who is sitting next to me, appeared somewhat agitated by this and said, ‘I really have no idea what you’re talking about, could you please focus a bit more and maybe just start again?’” Goldstone told the committee members.

Meanwhile....

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Trump Jr. Left Open Possibility That Dad Knew Of Trump Tower Meeting At The Time

Senate transcripts reveal the president’s son only half-backed White House claims that the president didn’t know. Looks like that half-baked half-wit may have fumbled the ball.

[KurtW95]

You don't even know what you're talking about. He was sentenced for a reason, even if he got off incredibly lightly

And yes, it's an execution when the militant is laying on the ground and you kill him.



But we know, the Most Moral Army would never, ever have something like this happen. This is the same sort of attitude that let things like the incident on hill 192, upon which Casualties of War was based, to go on with the American military as well. It's an inevitable consequence but one that's often excused or justified by people.

I was responding to your initial post before you edited it to go specifically into that case. The guy was disciplined. Quite the contrary of what Palestinian leadership does when one of theirs kills a Jew. And let’s not forget that the guy who was killed stabbed an Israeli soldier with his friend. He was no innocent.

[Tendrin]

You obviously knew the event I was speaking about, judging by your response, as you mentioned 'stabbing' and still defended it. My post was already an obvious reference to a specific incident.

And he was disciplined with nine months in prison. You /know/ the casual way in which it was done and the light sentence is simple further enablement of casual brutality and an obvious example of it This shit happens in war. It /always/ happens in war. It always is.

And don't deflect to what extremists do. Israel is an occupying force and rightly held to a different standard. The question we have to ask ourselves is how much we don't see and how much some people don't want to see.

But this will just be another in a long list of points you'll ignore.

[KurtW95]

I did not know when I was reading it because stabbing are so common with Palestinian terrorists. You edited it to add more. And “occupation?” Give me a break. Israel has claim to the land. Not a nationality coined by terrorist Yasser Arafat. As I said before, where do you think the word “Judaism” comes from?

[Username taken]

Man we suck as a species when another language is enough to trigger you this bad...




Angry White Dude’s Rant About People Speaking Spanish In NYC Goes Viral
The man tells an employee “Your staff is speaking Spanish to customers when they should be speaking English.”

Some people are so stupid.

The guy is talking to workers and saying he's paying for their welfare.

That's the thing about bigotry, it's inherently stupid.

[Tendrin]

I did not know when I was reading it because stabbing are so common with Palestinian terrorists. You edited it to add more. And “occupation?” Give me a break. Israel has claim to the land. Not a nationality coined by terrorist Yasser Arafat. As I said before, where do you think the word “Judaism” comes from?

So, in your view, what should be done to the people in the Not So Occupied territories?

[KurtW95]

So, in your view, what should be done to the people in the Not So Occupied territories?

I don’t know. There are plenty of Muslim countries, but none of them want them because they’re one of the most radical populations in the Middle East.

[Tendrin]

I don’t know. There are plenty of Muslim countries, but none of them want them because they’re one of the most radical populations in the Middle East.

But your basic assumption is that they should leave for one of the other Muslim countries?

[KurtW95]

But your basic assumption is that they should leave for one of the other Muslim countries?

There’s no reason to argue one way or another when it’s a non-starter. Palestinian parents and schools should stop teaching their kids to hate Jews as their leaders should stop paying families of terrorists and rewarding people who antagonize IDF officers. Then we may get somewhere.

[ZombieHavoc]

They were doing their job and their mission. They've defended Christians rights to not be in science class during evolution talk. They're job is to defend civil liberties, and even if they disagree with the message that the f****** in Charlottesville were spewing, they were in the right to side with them because of the fact that it is their right to protest as they were doing. Now does that mean that there shouldn't be consequences for it. No, absolutely not, but Civil liberties include the liberties of those that are just play ignorant people. If they didn't side with them and side with the fact that they did all their paperwork and were following the law in regard to their right to march, then I would say they are being hypocritical.

And yes I am defending the ACLU here because there could come a point when you'll need them to back you up too.

Oh, I know, I was defending the ACLU too. JBat said the world will await the ACLU and media to go berserk...alluding to a double standard on the part of the ACLU, since the person in question was a Trump supporter. I was just pointing out that the ACLU doesn't pick and choose sides based on political opinion.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

Now you can be stopped for Walking Your Child While Black:

https://www.rawstory.com/2018/05/bla...man-baby-park/

[KOSLOX]

Some people are so stupid.

The guy is talking to workers and saying he's paying for their welfare.

That's the thing about bigotry, it's inherently stupid.

Check out his website. The first thing I noticed was them advertising they speak Spanish.

IT'S A TRAP!

[SUPERECWFAN1]

So the racist lawyer basically is now getting paid back as he was identified by the NY Daily News. His law firm is being pummeled online by Yelp with the service finally stepping in to clean up the page as folks have left comments like "vile racist". Also to the shock of no one he donated $500 to Donald Trump's campaign.

https://www.cnbc.com/2018/05/16/raci...lp-bombed.html

[Tami]

Now you can be stopped for Walking Your Child While Black:

https://www.rawstory.com/2018/05/bla...man-baby-park/

I read it and from the account the interaction between the father and the security officer was nice enough. This highlights a problem for police and those in related fields. If they receive a complaint, they have no way to determine if it is legit or not until they check it out. Which coudl lead to problems.

Reminds me of the stories of families being SWATted, having the police called on them for a false reason.

Bottom line, unless these people 'almost all White and almost all Trump supporters' receive punishment for making false calls to the police, this isn't going to stop anytime soon.

It has to be made illegal to call the police on someone just because of race or other related reasons, and the law has to be enforced.

[kidfresh512]

I read it and from the account the interaction between the father and the security officer was nice enough. This highlights a problem for police and those in related fields. If they receive a complaint, they have no way to determine if it is legit or not until they check it out. Which coudl lead to problems.

Reminds me of the stories of families being SWATted, having the police called on them for a false reason.

Bottom line, unless these people 'almost all White and almost all Trump supporters' receive punishment for making false calls to the police, this isn't going to stop anytime soon.

It has to be made illegal to call the police on someone just because of race or other related reasons, and the law has to be enforced.

Agreed until they start feeling real consequences of these false, racist based calls they will keep happening. I have said before i realize that it might be hard for the police to "prove or determine racist intent or whatever. And there may not currently be laws supporting charging people for reporting things that turn out to be nothing.

That's why for now I am all for these racists being publicly shamed and ridiculed on social media. Even to the extent of them being personally identified and their business etc receiving complaints. As long as its all safe and legal, no death threats etc. At least that is some form of punishment and consequence. If other potential racists with a quick 911 trigger finger think twice about doing it because they have seen these others get dragged on social media and complaints to their employers I am all for it.

The public pressure on cops to be cautious and respond in an appropriate way, when they get one of these complaints is also a good thing.