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HailMuffins Since: May, 2016 Relationship Status: Shipping fictional characters
#270976: Feb 11th 2019 at 3:56:45 PM

Speaking as someone that comes from a heavily mixed race society, I find this particularly insulting.

Sure, my skin is lily white, but it feels like these people are discrediting my entire culture.

PhysicalStamina i'm tired, my friend (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: Coming soon to theaters
i'm tired, my friend
#270977: Feb 11th 2019 at 4:12:48 PM

I dunno if this was said already, but this is a recurring problem in black culture at large; this constant thing of "being black enough". To some people, if you don't speak with a heavy Black English dialect, listen to hip-hop, dress a certain way, etc. you don't make the cut. The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and likely other black sitcoms had episodes with this as a theme. There's even a stand-up clip from a black British comedian where he talks about a time he was told he wasn't "black black".

i'm tired, my friend
CharlesPhipps Since: Jan, 2001
#270978: Feb 11th 2019 at 4:15:23 PM

Black-ish did the episode called "Code Switching" and it was addressed in "Dear White People"

Here's a decent video on it.

Author of The Rules of Supervillainy, Cthulhu Armageddon, and United States of Monsters.
Ultimatum Disasturbator from the Amiga Forest (Old as dirt) Relationship Status: Who needs love when you have waffles?
Disasturbator
#270979: Feb 11th 2019 at 4:16:17 PM

> The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and likely other black sitcoms had episodes with this as a theme. '

This is first thing that comes to mind

have a listen and have a link to my discord server
megaeliz Since: Mar, 2017
#270980: Feb 11th 2019 at 4:22:20 PM

Getting back to American Politics, the Wall Street Journal just put out this story.

The dust-up between Amazon.com Inc. founder Jeff Bezos and National Enquirer parent American Media LLC has raised questions about the media company’s connections to Saudi Arabia.

American Media has had plenty of contacts with Saudi Arabia in recent years, including seeking financial backing from Saudi investors to fund acquisitions and producing a magazine celebrating the country’s new crown prince.

It also sought advice last year from the U.S. Justice Department over whether the publisher should register as a foreign agent, a person familiar with the matter told The Wall Street Journal.

The issue of the ties came up last week when Mr. Bezos took to the internet to push back against what he said was an extortion attempt by the National Enquirer against him over an extramarital affair that the tabloid reported on last month featuring photos and texts. He said he launched his own probe into how the publication obtained his texts as well as its motives and wrote that the “Saudi angle seems to hit a particularly sensitive nerve.”

...In recent years, American Media sought Saudi financial backing to finance a failed effort to acquire Time magazine, Sports Illustrated, Fortune and Money, the Journal reported last year.

American Media confirmed the contacts but said the only deal that has ever been discussed with Saudi investors was the expansion of the Mr. Olympia bodybuilding competition, which American Media owns, into the Middle East and North Africa.

The lawyer for Mr. Pecker, Elkan Abramowitz, on Sunday on ABC said American Media sought financing “from the Saudis, but never obtained any.”

American Media also produced a promotional magazine about Saudi Arabia. To commemorate Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s visit to the U.S. in March 2018, American Media published 200,000 copies of a 97-page, advertisement-free glossy magazine titled “The New Kingdom,” promoting the country and its young prince, then 32 years old.

In a sign American Media was concerned its connection to Saudi Arabia could become an issue, the company sought advice from the Justice Department last year about whether it should register as a foreign agent—a status under which any organization engaged in public relations under the direction or control of a foreign government may fall—according to a Justice Department letter to the company responding to its inquiry. The publisher wrote to the Justice Department after several news outlets wrote about the publication of the pro-Saudi magazine.

The Justice Department posted its response in redacted form. Although American Media isn’t named in the letter, the details clearly reference the media company.

A person familiar with the matter confirmed American Media wrote to the Justice Department after publishing the magazine celebrating Prince Mohammed. “Frankly, it was done to kiss his ass when he came to visit in the hopes he’d invest in the company and it didn’t work,” the person said of the magazine. “There was nothing more to it than that.”

The company told Justice Department officials in the letter that although it followed the editorial and photography suggestions of the adviser, it wasn’t under any contractual obligation to do so. The publisher also told the Justice Department that it didn’t receive any foreign money to produce the magazine.

Based on those assertions, the Justice Department said the media company didn’t need to register as a foreign agent, noting that conclusion could change if the facts in the matter “are different in any way from those depicted in your submission.”

The magazine, which hit U.S. newsstands just ahead of Prince Mohammed’s March visit and sold for $13.99, drew attention at the time because of the close relationship that Mr. Pecker and President Trump had. The special issue, which remained on sale for three months, included a glowing editorial about Saudi Arabia by Kacy Grine, a French financial adviser who people familiar with the matter said visited Mr. Trump at the White House in July 2017 with Mr. Pecker and American Media Chief Content Officer Dylan Howard. Mr. Grine didn’t respond to a request for comment.

Edited by megaeliz on Feb 11th 2019 at 7:25:14 AM

CharlesPhipps Since: Jan, 2001
#270981: Feb 11th 2019 at 4:56:14 PM

Uncle Phil was always an interesting case on it as when it addressed his backstory, he was from the poor rural South and was a teenager during the Civil Rights movement (participating enough to hear Malcolm X and be arrested a few times). It always infuriated him whenever people said he (or Carlton) was less black because he'd made a success of himself.

And rightly so.

Author of The Rules of Supervillainy, Cthulhu Armageddon, and United States of Monsters.
sgamer82 Since: Jan, 2001
#270982: Feb 11th 2019 at 8:31:11 PM

https://whatthefuckjusthappenedtoday.com/2019/02/11/day-753/

    Day 753: Generally working 
1/ Negotiations to avoid another partial government shutdown fell apart on Sunday. Democrats are demanding a limit on the number of arrests of undocumented immigrants already in the U.S. by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers, as well as a cap the number of beds in ICE detention centers to force the Trump administration to focus on detaining undocumented immigrants with criminal records instead of using indiscriminate deportation raids in local communities without valid reason. To avoid another partial shutdown – set to begin Saturday – the House and Senate must pass identical spending bills that Trump would then need to sign into law by Friday night. The 17 House and Senate negotiators had hoped to reach a deal by Monday to give lawmakers enough time to approve the deal in both chambers before the deadline. The only things being discussed at the moment are a temporary Homeland Security spending bill or a possible national emergency declaration by Trump. (Politico / New York Times / Washington Post / Bloomberg / Reuters / The Guardian)

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-shutdown/talks-collapse-on-border-deal-as-u-s-government-shutdown-looms-idUSKCN1PZ0H1

California's governor is pulling the National Guard troops back from the southern border. Gov. Gavin Newsom will order the removal of roughly 360 California National Guard members from the state's border with Mexico, and instead directing them to focus on drug trafficking and wildfire prevention. (Los Angeles Times / New York Times / CBS News)

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/california-gov-gavin-newsom-to-pull-back-national-guard-from-border/

2/ Mick Mulvaney "absolutely cannot" rule out the possibility of another partial government shutdown if Congress doesn't include funding for a border wall. The acting White House chief of staff blamed the uncertainty on Democrats and that "You cannot take a shutdown off the table, and you cannot take $5.7 billion off the table." (NBC News)

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/meet-the-press/white-house-chief-staff-mulvaney-won-t-rule-out-possibility-n969801

3/ Trump spent about 50% of his time last week in unstructured "Executive Time," as more of his personal schedules leaked. Hours earlier, Mick Mulvaney said he expected to catch whoever leaked Trump's personal schedule to the media and "have a resolution on that this week." Trump responded to his leaked schedules by tweeted that "When the term Executive Time is used. I am generally working, not relaxing." Trump is believed to use his executive time watching TV, tweeting, calling friends, and reading newspapers. Trump added: "I probably work more hours than almost any past President." (Axios / USA Today)

https://www.axios.com/trump-schedule-leaks-4840f751-e663-49c0-b288-2dd39bde9c79.html

4/ The average tax refund is down about 8% under the first full year of the Republican-led overhaul of the tax code. The White House promised a $4,000 "raise" under the Trump tax plan, but refunds have averaged $1,865 compared to $2,035 for tax year 2017. (NBC News / CNN)

https://www.cnn.com/2019/02/09/politics/tax-code-early-returns-data/index.html

5/ Robert Mueller's lead prosecutors disclosed that the special counsel is continuing to pursue collusion between Trump's campaign and Russia based on the conversations between Paul Manafort and Konstantin Kilimnik, who allegedly is linked to Russian intelligence. Prosecutors have been focused on discussions the two had about a "peace plan" to end the conflict following Russia's invasion of Ukraine and annexation of Crimea in 2014. The two repeatedly communicated about the plan for Ukraine starting in early August 2016, while Manafort was still running Trump's campaign, and continuing into 2018 – months after Manafort had been charged by Mueller's office related to his work in the country. (New York Times)

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/10/us/politics/manafort-mueller-russia-inquiry.html

poll/ 34% of Americans believe it's always or sometimes acceptable for a white person to wear blackface as a Halloween costume, compared to 53% who believe it's rarely or never acceptable. 50% of Republicans, however, say it's always or sometimes acceptable to wear blackface as part of a costume. (Pew Research Center)

http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2019/02/11/about-a-third-of-americans-say-blackface-in-a-halloween-costume-is-acceptable-at-least-sometimes/

    Presidential News and Notes 
Amy Klobuchar announced that she will run for president in 2020. The three-term Minnesota Democrat announced her campaign with a call to rebuild American with a "sense of community." (Politico / CNN / New York Times / Washington Post)

https://www.cnn.com/2019/02/10/politics/klobuchar-announcement-2020-president/index.html

Elizabeth Warren announced she will run for president in 2020, calling for "fundamental change" because wealthy power brokers "have been waging class warfare against hardworking people for decades" and that Trump is "just the latest and most extreme symptom of what's gone wrong in America." (New York Times / CNN / Wall Street Journal)

https://www.cnn.com/2019/02/09/politics/elizabeth-warren-campaign-kickoff-massachusetts/index.html

Trump mocked Warren – again – calling her by the slur "Pocahontas" and saying he'd "see you on the campaign TRAIL," which is interpreted as a reference to the Trail of Tears where Native Americans were forcibly relocated to reservations in the southeastern U.S. in the 1800s. Trump Jr. called the "TRAIL" tweet "savage." (New York Times / USA Today / ABC News)

https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/donald-trump-jr-calls-fathers-tweet-sen-elizabeth/story?id=60970497

Warren suggested that Trump "may not even be a free person" by the 2020 election, noting the number of investigations into the president. (CNN / New York Times)

https://www.cnn.com/2019/02/10/politics/elizabeth-warren-donald-trump/index.html

Kamala Harris called for the legalization of marijuana at a federal level, saying "I think it gives a lot of people joy. And we need more joy." Harris also said she smoked weed in college "and I inhaled." (Politico)

https://www.politico.com/story/2019/02/11/kamala-harris-2020-marijuana-legalization-1163795

A Democratic party strategist called Joe Biden a "weaker candidate than Hillary." (Mc Clatchy DC)

https://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/politics-government/election/campaigns/article226007090.html

Trump will hold a rally in El Paso tonight at the same time as Beto O'Rourke. Trump will speak at a Make America Great Again rally at the El Paso County Coliseum at 7 p.m. Mountain time, while O'Rourke and his supporters will meet at Bowie High School at 5 p.m., and then march to Chalio Acosta Sports Center. He will also begin speaking at 7 p.m. (New York Times)

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/11/us/politics/trump-el-paso-beto.html

    Notables 
The brother of Jeff Bezos' mistress leaked the text messages to the National Enquirer. AMI has previously refused to identify the source of the texts, but a lawyer for the company hinted that Michael Sanchez was behind the leak. Elkan Abramowitz also said the exposé of Bezos' extramarital affair was not "inspired by the White House, inspired by Saudi Arabia or inspired by The Washington Post," and insisted that neither the kingdom nor Trump leaked the messages. Abramowitz denied Bezos' allegations that the parent company of the National Enquirer attempted to extort and blackmail CEO, saying it "absolutely is not extortion and not blackmail." (Daily Beast / Politico / ABC News)

https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/ami-ceo-david-peckers-attorney-responds-amazon-ceo/story?id=60964546

The publisher of the National Enquirer asked the Justice Department last year if it should register as a foreign agent after it sought financial backing from Saudi investors and produced a magazine celebrating the country's new crown prince. American Media previously went to the Saudis to finance a failed effort to acquire Time magazine, Sports Illustrated, Fortune and Money. (Wall Street Journal)

https://www.wsj.com/articles/national-enquirer-publisher-asked-justice-department-for-advice-on-saudi-connection-11549908996

Trump is expected to sign an executive order launching the American Artificial Intelligence initiative to bolster American leadership in the field. (CNN)

https://www.cnn.com/2019/02/11/politics/trump-executive-order-artificial-intelligence/index.html

Trump's personal physician declared that the president is in "very good health" and should remain so "for the remainder of his presidency and beyond." Last year, Trump's then-physician noted the president's "excellent health" and "incredible genes," joking that Trump "might live to be 200 years old" if he improved his diet. (New York Times / CNN)

https://www.cnn.com/2019/02/08/politics/trump-physical-healthy/index.html

Parable Since: Aug, 2009
#270983: Feb 11th 2019 at 8:40:22 PM

That first story might be out of date as of a few hours ago. Congressional negotiators said they've reached some sort of agreement to avoid a shutdown.

And Trump is lying about his rally crowd size. I am shocked.

Also seeing news that Beto's rally held at the same time was much bigger than Trump's.

Edited by Parable on Feb 11th 2019 at 8:44:02 AM

sgamer82 Since: Jan, 2001
#270984: Feb 11th 2019 at 8:45:37 PM

[up] I wouldn't be surprised at things being a bit out of date. WTFJHT usually gets their stuff out in the early evening so from there it's me being late.

Kaiseror Since: Jul, 2016
#270985: Feb 11th 2019 at 9:15:59 PM

I'm not sure if we should be worried about the artificial intelligence thing.

LeGarcon Blowout soon fellow Stalker from Skadovsk Since: Aug, 2013 Relationship Status: Gay for Big Boss
Blowout soon fellow Stalker
#270986: Feb 11th 2019 at 9:18:11 PM

Why would we be?

Oh really when?
wisewillow She/her Since: May, 2011
She/her
#270987: Feb 11th 2019 at 9:19:11 PM

Knowing Trump, whoever programs this supposed AI would probably be racist, sexist, and homophobic. There’s a problem for starters.

sgamer82 Since: Jan, 2001
#270988: Feb 11th 2019 at 9:20:18 PM

And that's before factoring in Trump's lack of natural intelligence.

BearyScary Since: Sep, 2010 Relationship Status: You spin me right round, baby
#270989: Feb 11th 2019 at 9:27:27 PM

Yup. Or at least curiosity.

Do not obey in advance.
CharlesPhipps Since: Jan, 2001
#270990: Feb 11th 2019 at 9:28:10 PM

Skynet!

Author of The Rules of Supervillainy, Cthulhu Armageddon, and United States of Monsters.
MrHellboy The Shadow from A world of my own Since: Dec, 2017 Relationship Status: Yes, I'm alone, but I'm alone and free
The Shadow
#270991: Feb 11th 2019 at 10:15:59 PM

[up][up][up][up][up][up][up][up] Trump has already said he won't sign that bill. So unfortunately, we are in for another shutdown.

Edited by MrHellboy on Feb 11th 2019 at 12:17:25 PM

The hardest thing in this world is to live in it.
MrHellboy The Shadow from A world of my own Since: Dec, 2017 Relationship Status: Yes, I'm alone, but I'm alone and free
The Shadow
#270993: Feb 11th 2019 at 10:17:51 PM

He said it at his rally in El Paso yesterday

The hardest thing in this world is to live in it.
kkhohoho (4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
#270994: Feb 11th 2019 at 10:29:02 PM

[up]Not what I was asking for. This is, and I can't find anything about that there in regards to the deal.

    Trump Rails Against Green New Deal and 'Socalism' in 2020 Rally 
Washington (CNN)President Donald Trump kicked off the 2020 campaign season Monday in the border city of El Paso, Texas, just as negotiators on Capitol Hill appeared to have reached a deal to keep the government fully open past Friday's deadline. Trump largely demurred on weighing in on the deal's emerging details, telling the raucous crowd he had skipped being briefed on it in favor of delivering his remarks to them. He spoke for about an hour and 15 minutes, previewing some of his campaign messaging against "socialism" and zeroing in on a specific potential 2020 contender: Beto O'Rourke, a former congressman from El Paso.

Trump said congressional Democrats' proposed Green New Deal "sounds like a high school term paper that got a low mark."

Trump brushed off policy proposals from Democrats, saying the push from progressive lawmakers "all has to do with 2020 and the election"

"But I really don't like their policies of taking away your car, taking away your airplane flights, of 'let's hop a train to California,' or 'you're not allowed to own cows anymore!' " he added, referring to the resolution championed by New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and other Democrats.

"Democrats have got to stop being so angry and they've got to start being partners," Trump also said, despite much of his rally criticism being aimed at his opposition party.

Trump called O'Rourke, who was headlining a counter-rally in El Paso at the same time as the presidential speech, "a young man who has got very little going for himself except he's got a great first name."

The President spent much of his rally reciting some of his favorite talking points, pointing to polls, listing his global and domestic accomplishments and castigating investigations into his campaign's role in Russia's 2016 election interference as misguided.

And after pointing the finger at 2016 rival Hillary Clinton — without evidence — as a source of Russia collusion, the crowd reprised the "lock her up" chant. "That's starting to make a lot more sense, but that's where the collusion is," Trump responded.

Trump also pressed his case for the border wall by using El Paso as an example of how it has lowered crime rates, though the facts do not support his claim.

During last week's State of the Union, he similarly claimed "the border city of El Paso, Texas, used to have extremely high rates of violent crime — one of the highest in the country, and considered one of our nation's most dangerous cities. Now, with a powerful barrier in place, El Paso is one of our safest cities."

But according to an analysis of FBI crimes data and city law enforcement data analyzed by the El Paso Times, violent crime in the city peaked in 1993. Border fence construction began in 2008 and was completed in 2009. But violent crime dropped long before the wall was built in El Paso, falling 34% between 1993 and 2006 in the city.

And according to the El Paso Times, from 2006 to 2011, violent crime in the city actually increased by 17%.

El Paso did, however, see a decline in violent crimes around the start of Operation Hold the Line, which stationed hundreds of Border Patrol agents alongside the border surrounding El Paso.

During the rally, the President also appeared to address comments on CNN by the Republican mayor of El Paso, Dee Margo, disputing Trump's claim about El Paso's safety record.

"And I don't care whether a mayor's a Republican or a Democrat. They're full of crap, when they say it hasn't made a big difference," Trump said.

The President even made time to muse about owning a dog in the White House during his remarks, going on a tangent while talking about German shepherds working on the border to find drugs.

"I wouldn't mind having one," the notoriously pet-averse Trump said.

"How would I look walking a dog on the White House lawn sort of not — I don't know, I don't feel good, feels a little phony to me," Trump said.

He added that people have asked and told him it's "good politically" to have a dog, but he rebuked the suggestion, saying, "That's not the relationship I have with my people."

CNN's Betsy Klein, Phil Mattingly, Dana Bash, Manu Raju and Kaitlan Collins contributed to this report.

For the record, the New Green Deal is not the same as the border deal that's currently being discussed, and I still haven't seen anything where Trump mentions that.

MrHellboy The Shadow from A world of my own Since: Dec, 2017 Relationship Status: Yes, I'm alone, but I'm alone and free
SeptimusHeap from Switzerland (Edited uphill both ways) Relationship Status: Mu
#270996: Feb 11th 2019 at 11:39:49 PM

Might be referring to this? Not an emergency declaration, although The emerging consensus among acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney and top budget officials is to shift money from two Army Corps of Engineers’ flood control projects in Northern California, as well as from disaster relief funds intended for California and Puerto Rico. is eyebrow raising. Trump has been muttering such things for a while, but I can't shake the impression that Mulvaney (a Tea Partier elected to Congress in 2010) would have come up with this even without Trump.

"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled." - Richard Feynman
SeptimusHeap from Switzerland (Edited uphill both ways) Relationship Status: Mu
#270998: Feb 12th 2019 at 3:21:30 AM

Trump signed an order to encourage research in artificial intelligence. IMO it's not really a big deal.

"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled." - Richard Feynman
Ultimatum Disasturbator from the Amiga Forest (Old as dirt) Relationship Status: Who needs love when you have waffles?
Disasturbator
#270999: Feb 12th 2019 at 3:25:40 AM

Comedian here

He probably thinks artificial intelligence is going to make him smarter,if only!

have a listen and have a link to my discord server
Ingonyama Since: Jan, 2001
#271000: Feb 12th 2019 at 4:58:08 AM

[up]x4: Would one of those Northern California flood control projects be the Oroville Dam, by any chance? The one that had its spillway break two years ago this month and caused a mass evacuation? If he takes money from there, and the new rains this year cause an actual dam collapse...


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