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Ultimatum Disasturbator from the Amiga Forest (Old as dirt) Relationship Status: Who needs love when you have waffles?
Disasturbator
#288726: Aug 26th 2019 at 1:57:44 PM

Bernie or Joe is my guess,they're the most visible candidates to voters

have a listen and have a link to my discord server
ironballs16 Since: Jul, 2009 Relationship Status: Owner of a lonely heart
#288727: Aug 26th 2019 at 2:04:56 PM

In positive news, a judge just ruled against Johnson & Johnson in an opioid case, finding the company at fault for pushing the product in Oklahoma and reaching judgment of $572 million. Whether that's a slap on the wrist is another matter, unfortunately.

Edit: Nix that - it was a slap on the wrist, as the company's stock went up by 5% because the fine was massively below the $17 billion requested by Oklahoma's government, as the millions will pay for roughly 1 year of the State's attempts to combat it, with 20 years being the estimated time it will take.

Edited by ironballs16 on Aug 26th 2019 at 5:07:07 AM

"Why would I inflict myself on somebody else?"
Parable Since: Aug, 2009
#288728: Aug 26th 2019 at 2:09:13 PM

If there's still a clear front runner in the coming months, I suspect most of the people dropping out will endorse him or her for the sake of rallying the party to unite as quickly as possible. If there's no clear winner as time goes on though, all bets are off.

Ultimatum Disasturbator from the Amiga Forest (Old as dirt) Relationship Status: Who needs love when you have waffles?
Disasturbator
#288729: Aug 26th 2019 at 2:09:52 PM

> $582 million

My inner maths nerd says it should rounded up $600 million

Anyway,I think people will treat this as a slap on the wrist if it's just a fine and no other action is taken,like jail time for the people who supported the move in the company

Edited by Ultimatum on Aug 26th 2019 at 9:11:14 AM

have a listen and have a link to my discord server
Bur from Flyover Country (Living Relic) Relationship Status: Having tea with Cthulhu
#288730: Aug 26th 2019 at 2:29:30 PM

Maybe the other 40 states will also get ~600 mill?

singularityshot Since: Dec, 2012
#288731: Aug 26th 2019 at 2:49:59 PM

Is it too soon to have a super delegate debate? Those are always fun!

(Insert evil grin emoji here)

bitemytail Since: Dec, 2011
#288732: Aug 26th 2019 at 3:11:29 PM

[up] I have not finished fueling up my ejector seat, so yes, it's too soon.

Edited by bitemytail on Aug 26th 2019 at 3:11:47 AM

sgamer82 Since: Jan, 2001
#288733: Aug 26th 2019 at 5:48:56 PM

https://whatthefuckjusthappenedtoday.com/2019/08/26/day-949/

    Day 949: Magnificent 
1/ Trump was the only world leader to skip a session devoted to climate change at the G7 summit, citing scheduled meetings with Germany and India. German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, however, both attended the climate change meeting. When asked whether he had attended the climate session, Trump replied: "We're having it in a little while." (The Guardian / USA Today / CNN / New York Times / Wall Street Journal / Washington Post)

https://www.cnn.com/2019/08/26/politics/donald-trump-g7-climate-summit/index.html

2/ Trump floated the idea of holding the next G7 summit at his "magnificent" Doral golf resort in Miami. Trump said that while he hasn't made a final decision, "it's right next to the airport and it's a great place," and that his staff had determined that — of all the resorts in America — Trump's club was the best suited to host the international meeting. Trump also defended the possibility of hosting the summit at his golf club, claiming "I'm not going to make any money. I don't want to make money. I don't care about making money." The U.S. is next to host the G7 in 2020. Trump also refused to say whether he would invite Russia to the meeting, but said he thought it would be "advantageous" if they attended. Russia was kicked out over its illegal annexation of Crimea in 2014. (New York Times / Washington Post / NBC News / CNBC / CNN)

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/trump-says-next-g-7-be-hosted-miami-possibly-his-n1046246

Trump told the G7 that Obama was "outsmarted" and embarrassed by Putin when Russia illegally seized Crimea from Ukraine. (Politico)

https://www.politico.com/story/2019/08/26/trump-putin-obama-g7-1475439

📌 Revenue at the Trump National Doral has declined since 2015. The resort's net operating income fell by 69% from 2015 to 2017. (Washington Post)

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trumps-prized-doral-resort-is-in-steep-decline-according-to-company-documents-showing-his-business-problems-are-mounting/2019/05/14/03cc701a-6b54-11e9-be3a-33217240a539_story.html

3/ The Trump's hotels and resorts could save millions of dollars on outstanding loans if the Federal Reserve lowered interest rates as Trump has demanded. For every quarter-point reduction, Trump could save as much as $850,000 in annual interest rate payments. If the Fed dropped rates a full percentage point, which Trump has repeatedly urged Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell to do, the Trump Organization could save more than $3 million annually. (Washington Post / Bloomberg)

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-08-02/trump-saves-about-1-million-with-powell-s-interest-rate-cut

4/ Trump claimed that "China called last night" to resume trade talks because "They have been hurt very badly" by the trade war. Chinese officials, however, said they were "not aware" of any phone calls with Trump and that China was willing to resolve the trade dispute through "calm" negotiations and opposed further escalation of the conflict. Trump replied: "Sorry, it's the way I negotiate." (Politico / Reuters / Bloomberg / Associated Press / CNBC / Washington Post)

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trade-china/china-says-wants-calm-resolution-to-u-s-trade-war-idUSKCN1VG03C

5/ Trump has repeatedly suggested dropping nuclear bombs on hurricanes to stop them from hitting the U.S. during meetings with senior Homeland Security and national security officials. "Why don't we nuke them?" Trump reportedly asked at one hurricane briefing at the White House. Government scientists have repeatedly said the idea will not work. A source in the room said "You could hear a gnat fart in that meeting. People were astonished. After the meeting ended, we thought, 'What the f—? What do we do with this?'" Trump later denied the report, tweeting in third person that "President Trump […] never said this" and called the story "ridiculous." (Axios / CNN)

https://www.cnn.com/2019/08/26/politics/donald-trump-nuclear-bombs-hurricanes/index.html

    Notables 
The Trump administration won't say when the first mile of Trump's new border wall will be built. More than 60 miles of existing barriers and fences have been replaced with a new wall, but to date not a single mile of wall has been built where no barrier previously existed. (Axios)

https://www.axios.com/trump-border-wall-new-construction-3b7ad3a4-e50c-4330-86bc-193df9e27405.html

A network of conservative operatives and White House allies are attempting to discredit news organizations that Trump doesn't like by publishing damaging information about journalists who work for them. The group compiles dossiers of embarrassing social media posts and other public statements made by journalists who work at large news organizations, including CNN, Washington Post, and New York Times. The research also reportedly extends to the family members of journalists, liberal activists, and other political opponents of Trump. (New York Times)

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/25/us/politics/trump-allies-news-media.html

The House Judiciary Committee subpoenaed former White House staff secretary Rob Porter for public testimony. Porter was a key witness in Mueller's investigation into possible obstruction of justice by Trump and will now testify publicly about Trump's efforts to impede the Russia investigation. Porter is the third former Trump adviser to receive a subpoena in the last month. The committee is currently weighing whether to recommend articles of impeachment against Trump. Porter resigned last year amid allegations that he abused his ex-wives. (Politico / New York Times / NBC News / Reuters)

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-porter-idUSKCN1VG1A5

Trump claimed that Melania Trump has "gotten to know" North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and that she agrees that Kim "is a man with a country that has tremendous potential." Melania Trump has never met Kim, which the White House later confirmed. (Politico / Washington Post)

https://www.politico.com/story/2019/08/26/white-house-melania-trump-kim-jong-un-1475726

Rationalinsanity from Halifax, Canada Since: Aug, 2010 Relationship Status: It's complicated
#288734: Aug 26th 2019 at 5:53:17 PM

Wait, I don't believe that the host member is allowed to admit members into the G7 unilaterally, you need a consensus. If Trump tries anyway, he'd likely trigger multiple boycotts.

EDIT: Macron himself mentioned that states can be invited as guests, but that's the limit of an individual member's powers.

Edited by Rationalinsanity on Aug 26th 2019 at 9:54:30 AM

Politics is the skilled use of blunt objects.
Forenperser Foreign Troper from Germany Since: Mar, 2012
Foreign Troper
#288735: Aug 27th 2019 at 12:36:51 AM

What's your opinion on the whole Dan Crenshaw / Hasan Piker controversy?

While I think that Hasan's choice of words was quite poor and a little too hostile, I still think he was right in calling out Crenshaw's bullshit and everyone on the right trying to paint him as a "un-american terrorist supporter" is so typically dumb for them.

Certified: 48.0% West Asian, 6.5% South Asian, 15.8% North/West European, 15.7% English, 7.4% Balkan, 6.6% Scandinavian
sgamer82 Since: Jan, 2001
#288736: Aug 27th 2019 at 12:43:26 AM

I think I need a reminder on what the whole Dan Crenshaw / Hasan Piker controversy is, first.

Edited by sgamer82 on Aug 27th 2019 at 1:44:03 PM

Forenperser Foreign Troper from Germany Since: Mar, 2012
Foreign Troper
#288737: Aug 27th 2019 at 12:58:13 AM

Well, Hasan Piker was commenting on Dan Crenshaw's appearance on Joe Rogan's podcast. Dan basically, the entire fucking time, defended the US military and everything they do, classic militaristic Neocon style, acting as if they are a force of good that never does anything wrong. It should be noted that he also voted several times for the US to continue to ship weapons to Saudi Arabia.

Hasan, after a while commenting, got a little angry over all this and used some, admittedly, rather offensive language. For example, he said “Didn’t he go to war and like literally lose his eye because some Mujahideen—a brave fucking soldier—fucked his eye hole with their dick?”. That "brave soldier" part was in reference to Rambo 3, where the Mujahideen were called that in the end credits, as the US was allied with them during that time. He also flipped and said that America deserved 9/11. However, he immidiately went back on that comment (even deleted that part of the stream) and clarified that he didn't mean that all those civilians deserved to die, but that the US basically allowed for that to happen by arming all these islamic extremists.

Now obviously, right-wingers all over the internet are having a field day with this, calling Piker "Anti-american", "disrespectful of veterans", "terrorist supporter" and what not. Suddenly, all their Anti-PC rhetoric goes out of the window. Quite funny, actually.

As for me, like I said, I thought his language was a little too inflammatory, but I do agree with everything he says, factually, and Dan Crenshaw is a pretty big piece of shit.

Edited by Forenperser on Aug 27th 2019 at 10:00:31 AM

Certified: 48.0% West Asian, 6.5% South Asian, 15.8% North/West European, 15.7% English, 7.4% Balkan, 6.6% Scandinavian
warrior93 warrior93 from North Carolina Since: Feb, 2011
warrior93
#288738: Aug 27th 2019 at 2:30:41 AM

I hope Yang ends up endorsing Bernie and Bernie ends up adopting some form of an Universal Basic Income because I don't think there is anyway he can win the nomination but the UBI is a great idea that shouldn't be ignored.

Also, isn't Dan Crenshaw racist?

Edited by warrior93 on Aug 27th 2019 at 5:31:07 AM

Place your past in a book burn the pages let them cook.
Hylarn (Don’t ask)
#288739: Aug 27th 2019 at 3:05:29 AM

UBI has some pretty serious problems, and it'll probably be impossible to pass even with Democrats in charge of all branches of government. It might be worth bringing to the attention of a broader audience just to push the Overton window left, but I wouldn't expect anything from it (And I wouldn't pin my hopes on Sanders getting the nomination, for that matter)

singularityshot Since: Dec, 2012
#288740: Aug 27th 2019 at 4:06:34 AM

UBI sits unfortunately in what I would call the "break in case of emergency policies"

I just don't think it is possible to achieve without some sort of crisis that can override "politics as normal."

That's not to say we should just forget about it, quite the opposite. A drift towards UBI can come through progressive taxation, tax credits or even attempted locally in the face of an industrial collapse. (i.e. when those factories that Trump promised to open do the exact opposite and shut)

UBI is however a potent weapon against right wing disaster capitalism. The architects of disaster capitalism literally talk about having free enterprise zones, school vouchers and public housing reform as a package of privatisation and gentrification policies that require the public sphere to be discombobulated by a crisis, be it man-made or natural. As people grasp for solutions and just try to survive they won't notice that the public wealth is being sold off on the cheap.

That's the best role for UBI - as left wing disaster recovery policies that can fight against the disaster capitalists that see profit in human misery.

Ultimatum Disasturbator from the Amiga Forest (Old as dirt) Relationship Status: Who needs love when you have waffles?
Disasturbator
#288741: Aug 27th 2019 at 5:37:06 AM

UBI ( universal basic income) in case anyone was confused as I was

have a listen and have a link to my discord server
singularityshot Since: Dec, 2012
#288742: Aug 27th 2019 at 6:37:36 AM

Yeah, don't confuse it with UTI for example. Very different things.

speedyboris Since: Feb, 2010
#288743: Aug 27th 2019 at 6:43:36 AM

"I promise a UTI for all!"

"Yaaaayyy!!… Wait, what'd he say??"

Edited by speedyboris on Aug 27th 2019 at 6:45:53 AM

TheWanderer Student of Story from Somewhere in New England (Time Abyss) Relationship Status: Wishfully thinking
Student of Story
#288744: Aug 27th 2019 at 7:01:35 AM

From 538: Joe Biden doesn't have an enthusiasm gap in national polls... but he does have one in Iowa

Long story short, despite what a lot of us think about Biden, nationally people are plenty excited for him, including those who pay the most attention to politics. (My private guess about that is because the people who pay the most attention to politics tend to be older, and more well off, and Biden is their guy.) However, in Iowa specifically, polls rating how favorably people see candidates don't have Joe doing so well; he has about 31% strongly favorable, and 36% somewhat favorable, while 16% see him somewhat unfavorably and 8% strongly unfavorably. This puts Biden in fifth place as far as those ratings go.

Meanwhile, Warren is sitting at the top of the Iowa polls with 46% strongly favorable, 34% somewhat favorable, 6% somewhat unfavorable, 4% strongly unfavorable.

This is important because Iowa is the first state to actually vote as a primary, and while that's still a long way off (February 3rd, 2020, so a little more than 5 months away) plenty of front runner campaigns have been metaphorically dashed on the rocks in Iowa, and winning there or performing much stronger than expected would be a huge boost to a campaign looking to get an upset victory.

Edited by TheWanderer on Aug 27th 2019 at 10:02:31 AM

| Wandering, but not lost. | If people bring so much courage to this world...◊ |
TobiasDrake (•̀⤙•́) (Edited uphill both ways) Relationship Status: Arm chopping is not a love language!
(•̀⤙•́)
#288745: Aug 27th 2019 at 7:15:39 AM

"I promise a UTI for all!"

"Yaaaayyy!!… Wait, what'd he say??"

I'm reminded of that Simpsons gag from decades ago, where an alien was running for President.

  • Alien: ABORTIONS FOR EVERYONE!!!
  • Crowd: BOOOOOO!!!
  • Alien: ...huh. Okay. ABORTIONS FOR NO ONE!!!
  • Crowd: BOOOOOO!!!
  • Alien: ...hmm. Abortions for some, tiny plastic American flags for the rest?
  • Crowd: YAAAAAY!!!!

Still so relevant to this day.

My Tumblr. Currently side-by-side liveblogging Digimon Adventure, sub vs dub.
Parable Since: Aug, 2009
#288746: Aug 27th 2019 at 7:45:14 AM

Biden hasn't actually put much effort to campaign in Iowa. 538 had a discussion that he might be willing to write it off to keep building his support in other areas key to his chance at winning.

MarqFJA The Cosmopolitan Fictioneer from Deserts of the Middle East (Before Recorded History) Relationship Status: Anime is my true love
The Cosmopolitan Fictioneer
#288747: Aug 27th 2019 at 7:47:20 AM

Funny thing about Trump wanting to nuke hurricanes that I just found out: He's far from the first to actually suggest this, as according to this RealLifeLore video, the idea was floated as early as 1959.

Edited by MarqFJA on Aug 27th 2019 at 5:56:40 PM

Fiat iustitia, et pereat mundus.
Fighteer Lost in Space from The Time Vortex (Time Abyss) Relationship Status: TV Tropes ruined my love life
Lost in Space
#288748: Aug 27th 2019 at 7:55:20 AM

A lot of people seem to enjoy the idea, despite it being really dumb.

"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"
MarqFJA The Cosmopolitan Fictioneer from Deserts of the Middle East (Before Recorded History) Relationship Status: Anime is my true love
The Cosmopolitan Fictioneer
#288749: Aug 27th 2019 at 7:56:18 AM

Oh, it is dumb once you delve beyond the surface level of the physics involved. The video quickly concludes that not only would nuking a hurricane do little to nothing to in the way of sapping its power (it requires over 200 Tsar Bombas worth of explosive power to match the average hurricane's per-day release of energy — which, if done with actual nukes, is apparently enough to doom human civilization), it may actually empower it further (i.e. easiest way fo convincing Trump to abandon the idea).

Now, I wonder what would happen if we tried using non-nuclear super-bombs like the MOAB. That seems like the next thing Trump would suggest... assuming that he even heard of the MOAB.

Edited by MarqFJA on Aug 27th 2019 at 5:58:29 PM

Fiat iustitia, et pereat mundus.
Forenperser Foreign Troper from Germany Since: Mar, 2012
Foreign Troper
#288750: Aug 27th 2019 at 8:06:39 AM

They really have that much force? Damn nature, you scary.

Certified: 48.0% West Asian, 6.5% South Asian, 15.8% North/West European, 15.7% English, 7.4% Balkan, 6.6% Scandinavian

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