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

[ouroboros]

Here's an example of the sort of thing news agencies ought to cover more re:Trump, as against paying attention to his dopey tweets.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/...=.afede09a59fb

Anyone looking to demonstrate that some Republicans have principles (Mets, maybe?) may find this interesting.

[kidfresh512]

President Trump Called El Salvador, Haiti 'Shithole Countries': Report

http://time.com/5100058/donald-trump.../?xid=homepage

And people have the nerve to still say he isn't racist

[numberthirty]

On the heels of the GOP tax plan/scam getting Wal-Mart's ownership $7.8 billion in tax breaks, they have announced they are closing 63 Sam's Club stores and laying off thousands of workers so "they can compete with Amazon".

While the way the parent company did it is certainly shady, the tax break is a different issue than if Sam's Club is viable in the here and now.

Everyone who shops at Sam's and has made a trip so far this year? Please post that you did so.

[kidfresh512]

While the way the parent company did it is certainly shady, the tax break is a different issue than if Sam's Club is viable in the here and now.

Everyone who shops at Sam's and has made a trip so far this year? Please post that you did so.

I have. But that isn't the point. Yes they face competition from Costco. But ATT did this same thing when they announced their "trump tax" bonuses for employees. Cover up layoffs on the same day and say see thanks for the tax break. Even though its a pittance of what they are getting. They didn't even tell the workers they just abruptly closed the 63 stores. 3 here in Houston

And they still are laying off people and still paying below livable wage in Wal Mart's case.

[Adam Allen]

While the way the parent company did it is certainly shady, the tax break is a different issue than if Sam's Club is viable in the here and now.

Everyone who shops at Sam's and has made a trip so far this year? Please post that you did so.

From the linked article:

Sixty-three stores in total will be closing, but customer traffic and sales comparisons — the typical reasons why companies scale back store count — can't entirely explain why Walmart has done this. In fact, both year-over-year sales and store traffic are trending upward for Sam's Club as of late last year.

[Tazirai]

Every Democrat that uses #resist and voted for the NSA Spying bill today needs to be voted out of office.
I'm sick of Democrats asking for my votes, then act as authoritarian as the GOP from Fear of Conservatives.

We stand with you when you act like a Progressive or true Liberal.
Why am I supposed to vote and keep voting for people more afraid of Conservatives than me the voter?

Worst offender? Mr. #RESIST Adam Schiff. spoke out against it, and voted for it anyway, fuckin moron. Pelosi too. **** em,vote em all out.

Congress advances bill to renew NSA surveillance program after Trump briefly upstages key vote

[TheInvisibleMan]

Wal-Mart seems to be closing stores on land they don't outright own, or leases that won't negotiate a sale price

happened here in CT, a wal-mart in a shopping center owned by another company closed because they had a store and land they owned less than 10 miles away

[Tazirai]

Here's the list of EVERY single Democrat that voted for Re-authorization of House bill "1984"

Vote em all out.

Attachment 60631

[numberthirty]

From the linked article:

Sixty-three stores in total will be closing, but customer traffic and sales comparisons — the typical reasons why companies scale back store count — can't entirely explain why Walmart has done this. In fact, both year-over-year sales and store traffic are trending upward for Sam's Club as of late last year.

Also from that article...

Instead, e-commerce is the major factor at play. 10 of the closed stores will be transformed into e-commerce distribution centers from their current warehouse store footprint.

That's being done "to better serve the growing number of members shopping with us online and continue scaling the SamsClub.com business," Sam's Club CEO John Furner said in a note to Sam's Club employees.

The implication here couldn't be any clearer: as Walmart is embracing digital through Walmart.com, so will its smaller, buy-in-bulk sibling through SamsClub.com.

While I'm not thrilled about it, how long should they wait to start making changes? What would "Acceptable" changes look like? It's not like Amazon is going anywhere. This is reality now.

[numberthirty]

Wal-Mart seems to be closing stores on land they don't outright own, or leases that won't negotiate a sale price

happened here in CT, a wal-mart in a shopping center owned by another company closed because they had a store and land they owned less than 10 miles away

In the one store near me that is closing, they just seem to be accepting reality.

It's near a Wal-Mart(actually, they are in neighboring lots). While the Portillo's in the lot in front on them does ok, the "Pancake House" sort of space in front of them has been open/closed/changed hands/closed/changed hands.

It's just not a space that is doing crazy business.

[GindyPosts]

The same day Carrier finished with their layoffs, Walmart is closing two Sam's Clubs (both of which I'm very familiar with, as I shop at the Walmart on East Washington Street and used to work near the West 86th Street site), which means close to 900 people lost their jobs today in Indianapolis.

I'm not in a happy mood right now because of this.

[numberthirty]

I have. But that isn't the point. Yes they face competition from Costco. But ATT did this same thing when they announced their "trump tax" bonuses for employees. Cover up layoffs on the same day and say see thanks for the tax break. Even though its a pittance of what they are getting. They didn't even tell the workers they just abruptly closed the 63 stores. 3 here in Houston

And they still are laying off people and still paying below livable wage in Wal Mart's case.

So, one?

As for that last part, how long will they stay in a position to pay even the lousy wage that they do if they just stay the course?

[TheInvisibleMan]

Wal-Mart is a trash company, always has been

haven't stepped foot in one in almost 6 years now, ever since that doc and all that info came out about their setup, how they treat their employees, and so on

[Mister Mets]

There's a controversy in Hollywood because Michelle Williams and Ridley Scott took the minimum salary to reshoot All The Money In The World with Christopher Plummer replacing Kevin Spacey. Mark Wahlberg insisted on more money.

Mark Wahlberg refused to approve Christopher Plummer as a replacement for Kevin Spacey in All the Money in the World unless he was paid over a million dollars for the reshoot, USA TODAY has learned.

Wahlberg had co-star approval in his contract, two people familiar with the situation but not authorized to speak publicly about it tell USA TODAY.

"What he said was, 'I will not approve Christopher Plummer unless you pay me.' And that's how he (expletive) them," says one person.

Another Hollywood insider says Wahlberg's lawyer formally vetoed the Oscar winner in a letter to financiers until his demand for additional payment was met.

A lawyer and a rep for Wahlberg did not immediately respond to a request for comment. His talent agency, William Morris Endeavor, which took part in negotiating the contract, had no comment. USA TODAY also reached out to reps for Plummer and co-star Michelle Williams.

The news comes as the pay gap between Wahlberg and Williams spirals into a war of words over what was or was not in their contracts.

The Wrap reported Thursday that Wahlberg, who was paid $1.5 million for his "more extensive" All the Money in the World reshoots over the Thanksgiving holiday, did not have reshoots included in his contract and was therefore able to negotiate more pay for his extra time.

The Wrap said Williams' contract included reshoots, contributing to why she was paid just an $80 per diem for her time. That works out to Williams being paid less than one-tenth of 1% of her male co-star.

But a person familiar with the situation but not authorized to speak publicly about it tells USA TODAY that is incorrect. Both actors had reshoots in their contracts and both actors were in Europe filming for approximately the same number of days.

Ridley Scott’s Getty kidnapping drama was hastily reshot the week of Thanksgiving after a cascade of sexual misconduct allegations were made public against Spacey, who had starred in the drama as billionaire J. Paul Getty.

Wahlberg and Williams are both represented by WME. Actors pay a team of agents, managers and lawyers an average of 10% of their salaries to advocate for them. Talent agencies commonly argue its their fiduciary duty to get the best monetary outcomes for their clients.

In August, Forbes named Wahlberg the highest-paid actor of the year, calculating his pretax and prefee earnings at $68 million.

Williams previously told USA TODAY that when Scott's team called to request her time for the reshoot, "I said I'd be wherever they needed me, whenever they needed me. And they could have my salary, they could have my holiday, whatever they wanted. Because I appreciated so much that they were making this massive effort."

This gets into some questions about gender dynamics and wage disparities, though I don't think Wahlberg's in the wrong for being a tough negotiator.

[numberthirty]

Every Democrat that uses #resist and voted for the NSA Spying bill today needs to be voted out of office.
I'm sick of Democrats asking for my votes, then act as authoritarian as the GOP from Fear of Conservatives.

We stand with you when you act like a Progressive or true Liberal.
Why am I supposed to vote and keep voting for people more afraid of Conservatives than me the voter?

Worst offender? Mr. #RESIST Adam Schiff. spoke out against it, and voted for it anyway, fuckin moron. Pelosi too. **** em,vote em all out.

Congress advances bill to renew NSA surveillance program after Trump briefly upstages key vote

As for this...

Yeah, get those folks a medal.