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Edited by Mrph1 on Nov 30th 2023 at 11:03:59 AM

Fighteer Lost in Space from The Time Vortex (Time Abyss) Relationship Status: TV Tropes ruined my love life
Draghinazzo (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: I get a feeling so complicated...
#165952: Jan 10th 2017 at 8:34:39 AM

Like I said, since you can find any type of person imaginable, principled conservative voters and even politicians do exist. Evan Mc Mullin and Mitt Romney while not perfect are closer to being that than most of the GOP since they respect scientists and their findings, respect the court's decision about Obergefell, etc.

I get the impression a lot of people don't seem to be aware that a lot of the GOP can't really be called "conservative" anymore, they're just plain reactionary and THAT'S why people are getting fed up with them. If most of the GOP was actual conservatives we would still disagree with them but the political climate of the US would be a lot healthier since people could have discussions based on ideology with a lot less racism, misogyny, etc going around.

I would go so far as to say that the Democrats are more "conservative" than the GOP is at this point.

edited 10th Jan '17 8:41:36 AM by Draghinazzo

M84 Oh, bother. from Our little blue planet Since: Jun, 2010 Relationship Status: Chocolate!
Oh, bother.
#165953: Jan 10th 2017 at 8:36:58 AM

[up] Hence why I'm increasingly reluctant to call the GOP a conservative party. (see: post 165877)

It's a struggle attempting meaningful political discourse when one political party consistently demonstrates more bigotry, more authoritarianism, more xenophobia, more unrealistic nostalgia, and more ignorance (willful or otherwise).

Edit: Yeah, I'd call the Democratic Party "conservative" as well at this point. They aren't wholly progressive, but most of the time they do acknowledge that ignoring a problem in the system doesn't work out that well for anyone.

It's one of the reasons I'm not entirely sure I should be considered a liberal.

edited 10th Jan '17 8:42:25 AM by M84

Disgusted, but not surprised
Krieger22 Causing freakouts over sourcing since 2018 from Malaysia Since: Mar, 2014 Relationship Status: I'm in love with my car
Causing freakouts over sourcing since 2018
#165954: Jan 10th 2017 at 8:44:41 AM

[up][up]There's still the 47% comment from Romney, though. McMullin hasn't said anything on that tier, and in any case is someone I reckon to be smart enough to not say anything bigoted for the sake of pandering to his base.

Hacking: Well, I knew reading that book explaining how (as in, what I hope are exploits that have been patched by now) and why black hat hackers do what they do (which, yes, includes data theft) would do something positive for me eventually.

edited 10th Jan '17 8:46:24 AM by Krieger22

I have disagreed with her a lot, but comparing her to republicans and propagandists of dictatorships is really low. - An idiot
TacticalFox88 from USA Since: Nov, 2010 Relationship Status: Dating the Doctor
#165955: Jan 10th 2017 at 8:45:05 AM

I seriously can't be the only one who hopes Obama takes that job, just so he can troll Trump through music.

New Survey coming this weekend!
M84 Oh, bother. from Our little blue planet Since: Jun, 2010 Relationship Status: Chocolate!
Oh, bother.
#165956: Jan 10th 2017 at 8:47:27 AM

If Trump or his supporters try to claim that Obama was using his position to get a job at Spotify in order to accuse him of cronyism...

Disgusted, but not surprised
TacticalFox88 from USA Since: Nov, 2010 Relationship Status: Dating the Doctor
#165957: Jan 10th 2017 at 9:38:08 AM

Maybe Bams should ask Congress to pass the Affordable Music Act

tongue

New Survey coming this weekend!
M84 Oh, bother. from Our little blue planet Since: Jun, 2010 Relationship Status: Chocolate!
Oh, bother.
#165958: Jan 10th 2017 at 9:39:47 AM

[up] The GOP would then derisively refer to it as "Obamatunes" and rail against it non-stop for years. Then their voter base would vote against "Obamatunes" even though they love the Affordable Music Act, somehow not realizing they are the same thing.

Disgusted, but not surprised
Krieger22 Causing freakouts over sourcing since 2018 from Malaysia Since: Mar, 2014 Relationship Status: I'm in love with my car
Causing freakouts over sourcing since 2018
#165959: Jan 10th 2017 at 10:42:10 AM

HarperCollins has pulled a book by Trump's senior director of strategic communications for the National Security Council, Monica Crowley, after it was revealed that there were over 50 instances of plagiarism in the book.

    Harper Collins pulls Trump pick Monica Crowley's book amid plagiarism revelations 
Publisher Harper Collins said Tuesday that it will stop selling a book by Monica Crowley that a CNN K File investigation found to have more than 50 instances of plagiarism.

Crowley was picked by President-elect Donald Trump to serve as senior director of strategic communications for the National Security Council. CNN's K File reported Saturday that Crowley's 2012 book, "What The (Bleep) Just Happened," lifted work from columnists, news reports, articles, and think tanks.

"The book, which has reached the end of its natural sales cycle, will no longer be offered for purchase until such time as the author has the opportunity to source and revise the material," Harper Collins said in a statement to CNN's K File.

A request for comment from the Trump transition team was not immediately returned. A spokesperson for the Trump transition team told CNN's K File Saturday when the initial report was published that they were standing by Crowley.

"Harper Collins—one of the largest and most respected publishers in the world—published her book which has become a national best-seller. Any attempt to discredit Monica is nothing more than a politically motivated attack that seeks to distract from the real issues facing this country," the spokesperson said.

Crowley's work has come under scrutiny since CNN's initial investigation into her book on Saturday. Politico Magazine reported Monday that Crowley plagiarized parts of her Ph.D. dissertation for Columbia University.

Crowley has not returned CNN K File's requests for comment.


Documents show that Fox News settled sexual harassment allegations against Bill O’Reilly

    Fox News Settled Sexual Harassment Allegations Against Bill O’Reilly, Documents Show 
In the weeks after Roger Ailes was ousted as the chairman of Fox News in July, amid a sexual harassment scandal, company executives secretly struck an agreement with a longtime on-air personality who had come forward with similar accusations about the network’s top host, Bill O’Reilly.

The employee, Juliet Huddy, had said that Mr. O’Reilly pursued a sexual relationship with her in 2011, at a time he exerted significant influence over her career. When she rebuffed his advances, he tried to derail her career, according to a draft of a letter from her lawyers to Fox News that was obtained by The New York Times.

The letter includes allegations that Mr. O’Reilly had called Ms. Huddy repeatedly and that it sometimes sounded like he was masturbating. He invited her to his house on Long Island, tried to kiss her, took her to dinner and the theater, and after asking her to return a key to his hotel room, appeared at the door in his boxer shorts, according to the letter.

In exchange for her silence and agreement not to sue, she was paid a sum in the high six figures, according to people briefed on the agreement. The agreement was between Ms. Huddy and 21st Century Fox, the parent company of Fox News. The company and Mr. O’Reilly’s lawyer said her allegations were false.

In the aftermath of Mr. Ailes’s departure, executives declared that such behavior would never again be tolerated. Mr. O’Reilly has continued to host his show on weekday nights at 8 p.m., and he published two more books.

Details about the allegations and the agreement between Ms. Huddy and 21st Century Fox are based on interviews with current and former Fox News employees, the letter written by her lawyers to the company, and three pages of a draft of the settlement agreement.

The letter was mailed anonymously in December to reporters for The Times; its authenticity was verified by several people who have been briefed on it. A person close to Ms. Huddy told The Times that she relayed accounts of Mr. O’Reilly’s unwanted advances at the time they occurred.

The website Lawnewz.com first reported the existence of the agreement Monday afternoon.

In the letter, lawyers for Ms. Huddy also said that a longtime Fox executive, Jack Abernethy, had retaliated against her professionally after she made clear that she was not interested in a personal relationship.

Representatives for Fox News and Mr. O’Reilly dismissed the allegations Monday night. “The letter contains substantial falsehoods, which both men have vehemently denied,” Irena Briganti, a spokeswoman for Fox News, said in a statement.

Speaking for Mr. O’Reilly, Fredric S. Newman, the TV host’s lawyer, said, “There is absolutely no basis for any claim of sexual harassment against Bill O’Reilly by Juliet Huddy.”

Mr. Ailes also denied the charges of sexual harassment that engulfed him and the network last summer.

Jeanne M. Christensen, a lawyer for Ms. Huddy at Wigdor L.L.P., declined to comment.

Ms. Huddy made her allegations known to Fox News in the letter her lawyers sent to the network in August. The settlement was reached on Sept. 5, at a time when the company was finalizing other agreements, including one with Gretchen Carlson, the former anchor whose sexual harassment suit forced the departure of Mr. Ailes.

The company declined to make a similar agreement with Andrea Tantaros, another on- air personality, after she raised similar complaints about network executives. As a result, Ms. Tantaros filed suit against the company in August.

Mr. O’Reilly has a towering presence at Fox News. He was close to Mr. Ailes, who ran the network with unchallenged authority, and his show generated about $180 million in advertising dollars in 2015, according to Kantar Media, the ad-tracking firm.

He was also viewed by lower-level employees and program hosts as an influential figure in the newsroom; he was the gatekeeper to airtime on his show, and his support could be crucial to advancement.

But Mr. O’Reilly had run into problems before. In 2004, a producer on his show, Andrea Mackris, sued him, asserting that he had made unwanted sexual advances and lewd comments in a series of phone calls and dinner conversations. According to the suit, Mr. O’Reilly told her on multiple occasions to buy a vibrator, called her when it sounded like he was masturbating and described various sexual fantasies.

After two weeks of sensational headlines in New York’s tabloid newspapers, Mr. O’Reilly settled for millions of dollars, according to people briefed on the agreement. Both sides said that no wrongdoing had occurred.

According to the letter related to Ms. Huddy’s case, her lawyers said that Mr. O’Reilly began sexually harassing her in 2011. She started her career at Fox News in 1998 as a reporter based in Miami and went on to co-host a syndicated morning show in New York that was canceled in 2009. In the months afterward, Ms. Huddy tried to find a landing place at the network and appeared as a guest on Mr. O’Reilly’s show.

In January 2011, Mr. O’Reilly invited Ms. Huddy to lunch near his multimillion-dollar home in Manhasset, Long Island, according to the letter. After lunch, he drove her back to his home, where he showed her every room, including his bedroom, and his collection of presidential memorabilia.

“To shock and disgust, as Ms. Huddy was saying goodbye to Mr. O’Reilly, he quickly moved in and kissed her on the lips,” the letter said. “Ms. Huddy was so taken aback and repulsed that she instinctively recoiled and actually fell to the ground. Mr. O’Reilly, looking amused, did not even help Ms. Huddy up.”

The next week, Mr. O’Reilly asked her to join him for dinner at the Harvard Club, followed by a Broadway show, according to the letter and to current and former Fox News employees.

Ms. Huddy was not interested in having a romantic relationship with Mr. O’Reilly but, the letter said, “she felt compelled to comply with Mr. O’Reilly’s request, given that he had total control over her work assignment.”

During the Broadway show, according to the letter, Mr. O’Reilly moved close to Ms. Huddy in a way that made her feel uncomfortable. He tried to hold her hand but she pulled it away. Then he dropped a key to the room at a Midtown Manhattan hotel he was staying at into her lap, and told her to meet him there after the show. He stood up and left, the letter said.

Ms. Huddy went to the hotel to return Mr. O’Reilly’s key, according to the letter. She asked him to meet her in the lobby, but he refused and asked her to join him in his room.

“Ms. Huddy declined and explained that she was not interested in Mr. O’Reilly on a personal or sexual level,” the letter said.

Mr. O’Reilly persisted and again asked that Ms. Huddy come up to his room, and she ultimately went up give him the key, according to the letter. It is not clear why she did not leave it at the front desk or simply leave.

When Mr. O’Reilly opened the door to his room, he was wearing nothing but boxer shorts, according to the letter. Ms. Huddy was “very embarrassed, handed Mr. O’Reilly his key and quickly left,” the letter said.

In the months after Mr. O’Reilly and Ms. Huddy went to the show in Manhattan, his “obsession with her only escalated,” the letter said.

Mr. O’Reilly started calling Ms. Huddy at all hours, even while he was on vacation. At times, the calls were about work, but they were sometimes “highly inappropriate and sexual,” the letter said. On some occasions, it sounded like Mr. O’Reilly was masturbating, the letter said.

“Disgusted, Ms. Huddy came up with an excuse and hung up the phone,” the letter said.

Mr. O’Reilly’s pursuit continued and Ms. Huddy tried to distance herself from him, it said. She answered and returned fewer of his calls.

“Ms. Huddy’s rejection of Mr. O’Reilly apparently did not sit well with him, as he began to retaliate against her both on and off air,” the letter said.

Mr. O’Reilly “nitpicked her work” and would “berate Ms. Huddy for minor mistakes,” according to the letter. Mr. O’Reilly stopped preparing her for segments and would surprise her with story angles that they had not discussed.

In 2013, Ms. Huddy was replaced on a segment she had on his show. Another segment that she was featured in, called “Mad as Hell,” was quickly canceled. She did not complain, fearing retaliation, she told current and former Fox News employees at the time.

The letter also included a series of accusations by Ms. Huddy against Mr. Abernethy, including that he started “trashing her” after she rejected his attempts to pursue a personal relationship. Mr. Abernethy signed a new multiyear contract with Fox News in September, after having been named co-president of the network in August. At the time, the company was aware of the allegations against Mr. Abernethy, which it has said are false.

As part of Ms. Huddy’s confidential agreement with 21st Century Fox, she agreed not to “disparage, malign or defame” the parties and the company, on its behalf and on the behalf of Mr. O’Reilly and Mr. Abernethy, agreed not to “disparage, malign or defame” Ms. Huddy.

The consequences for breaking the confidentiality of the agreement are severe, costing either side $500,000 per infringement, according to the document. Ms. Huddy is also liable if her lawyers or a person close to her discloses the terms of the agreement.

On Sept. 7, Ms. Huddy, who had hosted “Good Day Early Call” on WNYW, a Fox affiliate, went on the station and gave a tearful goodbye. “Thank you to everyone who has made the last 20 years the most challenging but best of my life,” she said. “Perhaps someday, even someday soon, you’ll see me on television again.”

I have disagreed with her a lot, but comparing her to republicans and propagandists of dictatorships is really low. - An idiot
TheHandle United Earth from Stockholm Since: Jan, 2012 Relationship Status: YOU'RE TEARING ME APART LISA
United Earth
#165960: Jan 10th 2017 at 10:44:10 AM

Off-topic: trying to envision Hamilton's career in the modern day. Would he have reached his ceiling as just another blogger? Would Reddit have consumed him completely? Or would he have been focused enough to only pick fights that would allow him to social-climb? How does a bastard orphan immigrant (let's say they come from Haiti after the last earthquake) grow up to be a Presidential Staffer or equivalent in modern day USA, without even money to pay for a college tuition? We assume that they are a brilliant and prolific writer, and, in particular, a great essayist, and that they have two years of experience as an accountant and three more as onshore manager for a trading charter.

Somehow, my first guess is Hip-hop and/or drug traffic? Or is Journalism a viable road? Unions?

Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.
DocJamore Since: Jul, 2014
#165961: Jan 10th 2017 at 10:59:17 AM

Hamilton was an immigrant from the Caribbean. Keep that in mind.

M84 Oh, bother. from Our little blue planet Since: Jun, 2010 Relationship Status: Chocolate!
Oh, bother.
#165962: Jan 10th 2017 at 11:04:16 AM

[up][up] "Took up a collection, send him to the mainland..."

I'm assuming he'll have some seed money to pay for his tuition at first.

And these days, an affair wouldn't be a deal breaker either.

edited 10th Jan '17 11:05:10 AM by M84

Disgusted, but not surprised
unknowing from somewhere.. Since: Mar, 2014
#165963: Jan 10th 2017 at 11:05:21 AM

"Is based on the same damn cognitive short cuts you're using to selectively paint a whole mass of people in simplistic colours. Emergent behaviour within groups is many things, but simple it ain't. <_"

sure, but you see, this brand of republican have gone into the truly derenge mind, as other said a this point the dems become conservative and the conservative become reactionary.

"My Name is Bolt, Bolt Crank and I dont care if you believe or not"
sgamer82 Since: Jan, 2001
#165964: Jan 10th 2017 at 11:06:57 AM

I saw on CNN at my works cafeteria that they're doing hearings for Trump's attorney general pick Jeff Sessions right now.

edited 10th Jan '17 11:07:28 AM by sgamer82

IFwanderer use political terms to describe, not insult from Earth Since: Aug, 2013 Relationship Status: Wishfully thinking
use political terms to describe, not insult
#165965: Jan 10th 2017 at 11:09:39 AM

Trump approval rating is at 37%, and we're on the "honeymoon period". Can he reach Hollande's 4%?

1 2 We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be. -KV
TacticalFox88 from USA Since: Nov, 2010 Relationship Status: Dating the Doctor
#165966: Jan 10th 2017 at 11:12:52 AM

I keep reading shit like the above and wonder...how the FUCK did people choose this fucker over Hillary Clinton?

Even IF 100% of all the allegations about her were true....she's not going to end the fucking world over a goddamn tweet, potentially.

New Survey coming this weekend!
TrashJack Confirmed Doomer from beyond the Despair Event Horizon (4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
Confirmed Doomer
#165967: Jan 10th 2017 at 11:21:38 AM

[up] Well, a quarter of all legal voters were prevented from doing so thanks to the GOP's voter suppression tactics (including gutting the Voting Rights Act like a fish). Another quarter were apathetic little bastards who bought into the GOP's "same thing both sides" narrative.

Mark my words: if everyone who could vote did vote, the GOP would be mostly wiped off the electoral map.

"Cynic, n. — A blackguard whose faulty vision sees things as they are, not as they ought to be." - The Devil's Dictionary
Krieger22 Causing freakouts over sourcing since 2018 from Malaysia Since: Mar, 2014 Relationship Status: I'm in love with my car
Causing freakouts over sourcing since 2018
#165968: Jan 10th 2017 at 11:24:20 AM

[up][up],[up] asides, whatever happened to that word cloud depicting what people thought of the candidates after watching cable news? The one with the really, really big "Emails" in them?

Charlotte Church has refused an invitation to perform at the Trump inaugration, calling him a "tyrant".

I have disagreed with her a lot, but comparing her to republicans and propagandists of dictatorships is really low. - An idiot
TacticalFox88 from USA Since: Nov, 2010 Relationship Status: Dating the Doctor
IFwanderer use political terms to describe, not insult from Earth Since: Aug, 2013 Relationship Status: Wishfully thinking
use political terms to describe, not insult
#165970: Jan 10th 2017 at 11:26:40 AM

[up][up]Here, scroll to the end.

edited 10th Jan '17 11:26:56 AM by IFwanderer

1 2 We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be. -KV
unknowing from somewhere.. Since: Mar, 2014
#165971: Jan 10th 2017 at 12:07:21 PM

so my comparation with Maduro are coming true as I expected, maybe is popularity will desend to 25% by the end of the year? let waittongue

"My Name is Bolt, Bolt Crank and I dont care if you believe or not"
higherbrainpattern Since: Apr, 2012
#165972: Jan 10th 2017 at 12:30:34 PM

Hey, what's up guys. Still depressed over the death of American democracy, lol.

ViperMagnum357 Since: Mar, 2012
#165973: Jan 10th 2017 at 12:35:34 PM

And in your daily dose of horror, [1] Trump just got a Libel suit thrown out by calling Twitter "Hyperbolic Opinion", essentially claiming he can say whatever he wants on social media and get away with it.

In other news, [2] Trump is looking to put together a Vaccine Safety Commission, headed by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. You might remember him as the guy who literally wrote the book for Anti-Vaxxers and spent the intervening decades promoting the same.

IFwanderer use political terms to describe, not insult from Earth Since: Aug, 2013 Relationship Status: Wishfully thinking
use political terms to describe, not insult
#165974: Jan 10th 2017 at 12:47:19 PM

[up][up] A lot of stuff, most of it outrage over the situation. If you feel like you'd like to do something about it, maybe check out the Indivisible or the Indivertible guides, which have some strategies that allegedly should help resisting Trump. And make sure you're registered to vote next year. If you live in Virginia's Senate districts 9 or 22, or house district 85, you have a special election for those positions, with polls closing in more or less the next hour, so try and see if you can go vote.

[up]Loathe as I am to say it, he kind of has a point. Social Networks (and most websites with user discussion, in fact) seem to have a strange situation where they're technically public spaces, but also seem to be treated as private with what people say in them.

edited 10th Jan '17 12:47:30 PM by IFwanderer

1 2 We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be. -KV
Eschaton Since: Jul, 2010
#165975: Jan 10th 2017 at 12:51:14 PM

The judge then writes that nevertheless, and "with the spirit of the First Amendment," she finds a reasonable reader would recognize Trump's schoolyard type squabble as rendering statements of "opinion, even if some of the statements, viewed in isolation, could be found to convey facts."
Well this country is fucked.

edited 10th Jan '17 12:51:30 PM by Eschaton


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