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
’’’FDA Intensifies Crackdown On E-Cigarette Sales To Teenagers’’’
Saying vaping among teenagers has reached "an epidemic proportion," the agency said it was taking a "series of critical and historic" measures to curb the alarming trends.
"We must do more to stem what I see as an epidemic of use of e-cigs among teens, and deeply disturbing trends that show no sign of abating," FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb said. "The FDA won't tolerate a whole generation of young people becoming addicted to nicotine."
The agency issued more than 1,300 warning letters and fines to convenience stores, gas stations and other stores over the summer for selling e-cigarettes to minors, Gottlieb says. The FDA says it's the agency's largest such action in history.
The agency is also giving companies that make the most popular e-cigarettes among teenagers — JUUL, Vuse, Blu, Mark Ten XL and Logic — 60 days to prove they can keep the devices away from minors. If the don't, the FDA said it may pull the devices containing flavors that appeal to children from the market.
"Industry must step up to this challenge," Gottlieb says. "They say they've changed from the days of Joe Camel. But look at what's happening right now, on our watch and on their watch. They must demonstrate that they're truly committed to keeping these new products out of the hands of kids and they must find a way to reverse this trend."
Edited by megaeliz on Sep 13th 2018 at 3:48:56 PM
The Marines are memetically know in the US Military for being remarkably stupid
, both because it is famed to attract the dumbest high school graduates with more brawn than brains, due to having much lower requirements to enter compared to all the branches, the memetic elite status not contributing and mostly because the Marines are infamous for being caught insanely stupid shit all the time
.
I Tuefel Hunden IV can explain this better than I do.
Inter arma enim silent legesPotentially quite a lot. All you need is a politically motivated group to file a lawsuit against progressive laws over either bs reasons, (this law providing aid to the poor violates my religious belief that it’s good to be an asshole) or on thin technical grounds. (This misplaced comma makes the intent of the law unclear, therefore the whole thing has to be undermined or overturned.)
There’s no shortage of such groups, (they’re still trying to undermine the ACA all these years later) and with courts that ideologically favor them, who knows what ridiculous challenge or suit will get in the way of making needed changes?
| Wandering, but not lost. | If people bring so much courage to this world...◊ |Senate Democrats Have Referred A Secret Letter About Brett Kavanaugh To The FBI
(Buzzfeed)
Dianne Feinstein Withholding Brett Kavanaugh Document From Fellow Judiciary Committee Democrats
(The Intercept)
From what I can see after digging around multiple news sites, it looks like the following happened:
A couple of months ago, someone working for Feinstein received a letter. They passed the letter to Feinstein. The letter stated something about Kavanaugh. However, the letter's author was adamant about confidentiality; they did not want to be identified and they did not want the matter taken further — they did not what the content of their letter revealed in any manner. As a result, Feinstein sat on the letter. She didn't even share it with other Democrats.
Over the past week, rumours have been circulating the Hill that this letter exists and what the content might be (the current belief is that it might be sexual misconduct allegations from when he was in high school). The Intercept broke the story yesterday, and other media have picked it up. Buzzfeed believe they know the identity of the letter's author, but she's refusing to confirm or comment.
Feinstein has now referred the letter to the FBI and released the following statement:
Edited by Wyldchyld on Sep 13th 2018 at 9:19:48 AM
If my post doesn't mention a giant flying sperm whale with oversized teeth and lionfish fins for flippers, it just isn't worth reading.![]()
![]()
![]()
There is no way I'm not going to be dissatisfied by Feinstein's decision here, is there? Either the letter is a nothingburger and she's hyping it up by being vague about it leading to the GOP going "SEE?!? NOTHING!" or she really should have done something a lot sooner.
Edited by Larkmarn on Sep 13th 2018 at 4:25:28 AM
Found a Youtube Channel with political stances you want to share? Hop on over to this page and add them.Giving the FBI a document and not telling the public about it sounds like she found evidence of legit criminal activity, passed it on to the authorities, and isn't saying anything more because she doesn't want to fuck up any potential investigation.
You know, like a responsible citizen.
Politics is the skilled use of blunt objects.The important thing to bear in mind here is that Feinstein did not break this story. She was forced to make a statement twenty-four hours after the media published the story and has made it clear in her statement that she has no intention of discussing the content of the letter.
Edited by Wyldchyld on Sep 13th 2018 at 9:31:20 AM
If my post doesn't mention a giant flying sperm whale with oversized teeth and lionfish fins for flippers, it just isn't worth reading.![]()
![]()
, ![]()
It's this that bugs me: Feinstein has now referred the letter to the FBI. As in "didn't, but recently did."
Granted, those are the words of The Intercept, not Feinstein's statement. But her statement doesn't address that.
That's the real question. The Intercept's article makes it sound like she's only turned it over in response to this breaking, and her statement doesn't address that one way or the other, which is still a failing on her part, albeit a considerably more acceptable one. My concern is that Feinstein is usually competent enough to not make an unforced error like that which is worrisome.
Edited by Larkmarn on Sep 13th 2018 at 4:39:49 AM
Found a Youtube Channel with political stances you want to share? Hop on over to this page and add them.https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Administrivia/TextFormattingRules
But quote buttons break the flow of conversation or whatever. Never mind that quoteblocking a post from like three pages back essentially does the same thing with a little more effort.
i'm tired, my friendWell, as has been commented, the “lodestar” remark suggests Pence, but that’s not exactly proof (if he uses it enough that his colleagues are familiar with it, one of them could have slipped it in to pin it on him).
Oh God! Natural light!

https://whatthefuckjusthappenedtoday.com/2018/09/13/day-602/
Day 602: 12,800 children.
1/ The DHS inspector general is investigating whether FEMA administrator Brock Long misused government vehicles during his commutes from Washington to North Carolina. The inspector general is looking into whether Long misused government resources and personnel during his six-hour trips back to his home in Hickory, NC on the weekends. The IG became interested in the case after one of Brock's government vehicles was involved in an accident. (Politico)
https://www.politico.com/story/2018/09/13/trump-fema-administrator-under-investigation-821231
2/ The Trump administration quietly redirected $200 million from various DHS programs to ICE accounts despite repeated congressional warnings about ICE's "lack of fiscal discipline" and "unsustainable" spending habits. The news comes a day after a financial document was released showing that $10 million was diverted from FEMA to ICE in June to help pay for ICE detention operations. Of the $200 million, $93 million will go toward immigrant detention and $107 million will go toward paying for deportations. (CNN / NBC News)
https://www.cnn.com/2018/09/12/politics/ice-more-money-fema-dhs/index.html
3/ Meanwhile, the number of unaccompanied minors detained at the border has risen to the highest number ever recorded. Population levels at federal shelters for migrant children have increased more than five-fold since last summer. This month, there were more than 12,800 children in custody, compared to 2,400 in May 2017. (New York Times)
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/12/us/migrant-children-detention.html
4/ Trump accused Democrats of inflating the death toll in Puerto Rico from Hurricane Maria. "3000 people did not die in the two hurricanes that hit Puerto Rico," Trump tweeted. "When I left the Island, AFTER the storm had hit, they had anywhere from 6 to 18 deaths." Trump claimed that Democrats added anyone who died for any reason to the list of hurricane-related deaths. "This was done by the Democrats in order to make me look as bad as possible when I was successfully raising Billions of Dollars to help rebuild Puerto Rico. If a person died for any reason, like old age, just add them onto the list." He added: "I love Puerto Rico!" (New York Times / CNN / CNBC)
https://www.cnn.com/2018/09/13/politics/trump-puerto-rico-death-toll/index.html
Notables.
Trump has made 5,000 false or misleading claims during his time in office. His 5,000th claim came yesterday in the form of a tweet about Robert Mueller: "Russian ‘collusion’ was just an excuse by the Democrats for having lost the Election!" Trump passed the 2,000 mark on Jan. 10 of this year. (Washington Post)
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2018/09/13/president-trump-has-made-more-than-false-or-misleading-claims/?utm_term=.8466acbd68c3
Sen. Corey Booker released another batch of confidential documents related to Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. The 28 new documents are from Kavanaugh's time in the George W. Bush White House and show his involvement in judicial nominations, including the more controversial judges from that time. Kavanaugh told a Senate committee in 2006 that he wasn't involved in the controversial nomination of circuit court nominee Charles Pickering, but the documents released Wednesday show the opposite. Kavanaugh held meetings with Republican senators and was closely involved in Pickering's nomination. (NBC News / Politico)
https://www.politico.com/story/2018/09/12/kavanaugh-emails-controversial-nomination-817798