Nov 2023 Mod notice:
There may be other, more specific, threads about some aspects of US politics, but this one tends to act as a hub for all sorts of related news and information, so it's usually one of the busiest OTC threads.
If you're new to OTC, it's worth reading the Introduction to On-Topic Conversations
and the On-Topic Conversations debate guidelines before posting here.
Rumor-based, fear-mongering and/or inflammatory statements that damage the quality of the thread will be thumped. Off-topic posts will also be thumped. Repeat offenders may be suspended.
If time spent moderating this thread remains a distraction from moderation of the wiki itself, the thread will need to be locked. We want to avoid that, so please follow the forum rules when posting here.
In line with the general forum rules, 'gravedancing' is prohibited here. If you're celebrating someone's death or hoping that they die, your post will get thumped. This rule applies regardless of what the person you're discussing has said or done.
Edited by Mrph1 on Nov 30th 2023 at 11:03:59 AM
The Mod with the Migraine
![[up]](https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/smiles/arrow_up.png "[up]"){kind=icon}
We had aircraft before we had the Air Force; we barely have spacecraft, and certainly not to a level that allows for regular space travel or manned transit to other bodies in our solar system, so a Space Force is premature.
Lost in Space
Amazon already charges sales tax on most transactions. This decision has nothing to do with Trump. Frankly, I'm generally in favor of the SCOTUS ruling, but I do wonder how it'll affect those small businesses, like people who make a living off of Ebay or whatever. I don't have some fantastic reverence for SWAM note businesses — I've dealt with some of them in the course of my career and many act as parasites, offering "expedited procurement" for government purchases for a cut. Goddamn "8A's"...
I'd imagine that online marketplaces that offer sales packages to those small businesses will simply upgrade their software to manage taxes, and that'll be the end of it.
edited 21st Jun '18 9:23:46 AM by Fighteer
"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"
the US is estimated to have around 300-400 military satellites, and that number is growing quickly. In the next few years we're going to see space become far more crowded than ever before, and it's one of the most critical areas our military operates in. A joint command has been fine for now, but we're going to need to switch to something more comprehensive soon.
They already do shipping costs etc. a lot based on location, I don't see a lot of potential difficulty with calculating some taxes. I read an economics book once that had a chapter about online sales taxes, the analysis was generally in favour of charging them normally/
From today's still developing WTF Just Happened Today feed, but I think it warrants early mention for reasons that will quickly become obvious
Immigrants as young as 14 years old who are being housed at a detention center in Virginia say they were beaten while in handcuffs, stripped nude, and placed in cold solitary confinement cells for extended periods of time. The abuse claims are detailed in federal court filings, which include allegations from multiple detainees that guards stripped them of their clothes, strapped them to chairs, and placed bags over their heads.
Everyone's favorite Trump propaganda giant Sinclair is at it again: Sinclair Forces Stations To Air Commentary Arguing ‘Liberal’ Reports of Child Detention Were Exaggerated
edited 21st Jun '18 10:35:34 AM by speedyboris
Humans Are Bastards maybe?
This is becoming a literal Guantanamo Bay with kids. How have we come to this.
Sounds less like Gitmo and more like Abu Ghraib; so even worse.
Racists and xenophobes aren't all talk, give em power and they will abuse the targets of of their ire.
edited 21st Jun '18 11:01:07 AM by Rationalinsanity
Politics is the skilled use of blunt objects.
Perhaps I'm putting too much hope on the RAICES fundraiser but I really hope it is as simple as paying the bail for the majority of these kids' parents and them picking them up. It won't help everyone but it could help a lot. They have 16 million dollars as a budget now.
However, this is such a shitty situation I have wonder if Trump's people will refuse to release the kids.
edited 21st Jun '18 11:05:07 AM by CharlesPhipps
Author of The Rules of Supervillainy, Cthulhu Armageddon, and United States of Monsters.
Asgore Adopts Noelle
I'm getting word that the Goodlatte Immigration Bill (the SAF Act, the more Conservative Bill) has just failed in the House, and that the 'Moderate' Bill vote is being delayed until tomorrow. I can't find a link right now, but I'll keep looking for it.
I say all those Republicans that were threatening to have a pure Dreamer-Saving Bill voted on restart their process, even if that means we have to wait until July for it to occur.
The Mod with the Migraine
The Republicans will sabotage their own bill if it looks to be close to passing, assume it would do anything meaningful in the first place.
At this point, I don't know what they're trying to accomplish.
Author of The Rules of Supervillainy, Cthulhu Armageddon, and United States of Monsters.
Call me Stick
(with apologies to The Joker and Heath Ledger)
Hopefully I'll feel confident to change my avatar off this scumbag soon. Apologies to any scumbags I insulted.
@246369 : Pretty sure their intent is to cause as much violence from the locals as possible. Keep in mind how much of their narrative is built around how oppressed white males are.
"Yup. That tasted purple."
So..guys...when’s Melania Trump visited the border she wore a jacket saying “I don’t care...so u?” On the back of it.
I’m being completely serious.
New Survey coming this weekend!
Would that it were so simple.
Her honesty is to be commended, at least.
"For all those whose cares have been our concern, the work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives, and the dream shall never die."
Asgore Adopts Noelle
x2 Yeah, I was actually thinking Melania was doing something nice... until I read she wore that Jacket. To her credit, she didn't wear it in the Camps while she visited the kids. But it is absolutely stupid and horrendous of her to wear it at all, especially during these terrible times.
Yeah, this one I'm willing to chalk up to the "Incompetence" end of Hanlon's Razor until shown otherwise, at least from Melania herself. Hell, maybe Donald was the one that picked it out, in the equivalent of plastering a Kick Me sign to her back.
"Why would I inflict myself on somebody else?"
I'm more surprised that Melania wore a 40 dollar jacket than the message. I'm willing to give her the benefit of the doubt for now; she's "only" tone deaf and vapid, rather than malicious, from what I can tell.
Practically a saint by Trump associate standards...
edited 21st Jun '18 12:27:52 PM by Rationalinsanity
Politics is the skilled use of blunt objects.
Melanie can get the unfiltered praise she wants from Trump cultists.
She has to actually be nice for regular people.
Author of The Rules of Supervillainy, Cthulhu Armageddon, and United States of Monsters.
![[down]](https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/smiles/arrow_down.png "[down]"){kind=icon}
Der, yeah, ignore me :p
edited 21st Jun '18 12:35:01 PM by Reflextion
You might be mixing up Melania with Ivanka
edited 21st Jun '18 12:33:36 PM by sgamer82
Over in Reddit, people are reacting with disbelief.
Apparently, the Trump administration CAN surprise people.
"It has to be hyperbole, she can't...wait, the jacket really says that?"
"That can't be uninentional, can it?"
And so on.
My favorite was, "Melania doesn't wear 40 dollar lipstick. She had to choose this 40 dollar jacket deliberately."
edited 21st Jun '18 12:41:19 PM by CharlesPhipps
Author of The Rules of Supervillainy, Cthulhu Armageddon, and United States of Monsters.
I'm not sure if this is a stopped clock moment or if he just stumbled on the idea searching for something that sounded cool, but having a separate branch of the military for space isn't a terrible idea.
The situation with space right now is not unlike the situation with aircraft before the Air Force was formed.
They should have sent a poet.