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CrimsonZephyr Would that it were so simple. from Massachusetts Since: Aug, 2010 Relationship Status: It's complicated
Would that it were so simple.
#241076: May 4th 2018 at 12:16:49 PM

Awarding a Nobel Peace Prize for brinksmanship is literally the worst thing the Nobel committee could do. The precedent set by that is unimaginably terrible.

"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."
M84 Oh, bother. from Our little blue planet Since: Jun, 2010 Relationship Status: Chocolate!
Oh, bother.
#241077: May 4th 2018 at 12:17:09 PM

Yeah, I really don't want people to start thinking that we should start deliberately electing belligerent dumbasses to get stuff done. Strongman politics don't work out too well.

Disgusted, but not surprised
Parable Since: Aug, 2009
#241078: May 4th 2018 at 12:25:43 PM

So it seems several of the scandals involving Priutt, Zinke, and their respective departments were the result of them deliberately sabatoging each other With leaks in an attempt to distract from their other scandals and make the head honchos look better by comparison.

M84 Oh, bother. from Our little blue planet Since: Jun, 2010 Relationship Status: Chocolate!
Oh, bother.
#241079: May 4th 2018 at 12:28:56 PM

[up] Suddenly reminded of the way Hitler pitted his own subordinates against each other to stay on top.

Disgusted, but not surprised
SeptimusHeap from Switzerland (Edited uphill both ways) Relationship Status: Mu
#241080: May 4th 2018 at 12:30:58 PM

Ya, that analogy also came to my mind...

"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled." - Richard Feynman
CharlesPhipps Since: Jan, 2001
#241081: May 4th 2018 at 12:40:13 PM

It's kind of funny but do you know how many characters in popular fiction are based on Donald Trump?

All of them villains?

  • Biff in Back to the Future Part 2
  • Donald Love in Grand Theft Auto III (A cannibal terrorist real estate developer)
  • King Coopa in the Mario Brothers Movie
  • Max Schrek in Batman Returns
  • The Kingpin
  • Lex Luthor's reinvention in the 80s

It's amazing

edited 4th May '18 12:40:38 PM by CharlesPhipps

Author of The Rules of Supervillainy, Cthulhu Armageddon, and United States of Monsters.
M84 Oh, bother. from Our little blue planet Since: Jun, 2010 Relationship Status: Chocolate!
Oh, bother.
#241082: May 4th 2018 at 12:41:20 PM

Me and other posters have brought that up in the past, yes.

Disgusted, but not surprised
CharlesPhipps Since: Jan, 2001
#241083: May 4th 2018 at 12:43:15 PM

Still shocking to me.

Author of The Rules of Supervillainy, Cthulhu Armageddon, and United States of Monsters.
Parable Since: Aug, 2009
#241084: May 4th 2018 at 12:43:20 PM

You know, up until 2016, this very wiki used to regularly hold up Captain Planet as a show deserving nothing but mockery for being preachy and trite. Now that the villains of the show control the government, I suddenly feel like we were being unfair to the blue man and the Planeteers.

M84 Oh, bother. from Our little blue planet Since: Jun, 2010 Relationship Status: Chocolate!
Oh, bother.
#241085: May 4th 2018 at 12:44:24 PM

Eh, writers get inspiration from real life all the time. Trump was just such an easy target, given his long list of personality flaws.

Disgusted, but not surprised
Steven (Edited uphill both ways) Relationship Status: YOU'RE TEARING ME APART LISA
#241086: May 4th 2018 at 12:51:08 PM

Also it's King Koopa :P

Remember, these idiots drive, fuck, and vote. Not always in that order.
Imca (Veteran)
#241087: May 4th 2018 at 12:51:38 PM

North Korea still has its nukes

No they don't, which is exactly why they are negotiating a disarment, they loose nothing, there nukes are already gone.

Which just makes the whole situation worse, Trump is getting credit for a situation he just had the dumb enough luck to be president when it happened, because it was a when.... NOT an if, there program has been unsustainable for years, and was estimated to only have the capacity to make 9 more devices as far back as 2011....

sgamer82 Since: Jan, 2001
#241088: May 4th 2018 at 12:55:19 PM

https://whatthefuckjusthappenedtoday.com/2018/05/04/day-470/

Day 470: Oh my goodness.

1/ A federal judge criticized Robert Mueller's criminal case in Virginia against Paul Manafort, and questioned whether Mueller exceeded his prosecutorial powers. U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis said he believes that Mueller's motivation is to oust Trump from office, adding that "we don't want anyone in this country with unfettered power." Ellis also charged that lawyers from the special counsel's office "don't really care about Mr. Manafort's bank fraud," but rather "getting information Mr. Manafort can give you that would reflect on Mr. Trump and lead to his prosecution or impeachment." (Reuters / Washington Post / CNN / ABC News)

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-russia-manafort/u-s-judge-questions-special-counsels-powers-in-manafort-case-idUSKBN1I51WE

2/ Rudy Giuliani insisted Thursday night that Trump only recently found out that he reimbursed Michael Cohen for a $130,000 nondisclosure agreement with Stormy Daniels days before the 2016 election. Giuliani said he shared details of the payment with Trump about a week ago, and that Trump didn't realize he had paid Cohen back, responding: "Oh my goodness, I guess that's what it was for." (NBC News)

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/giuliani-insists-trump-wasn-t-aware-stormy-daniels-reimbursement-until-n871291

3/ Giuliani released a statement to "clarify views" about his remarks regarding Trump Friday afternoon, walking back his previous comments about the $130,000 hush money payment to Stormy Daniels as well as Trump's reason for firing James Comey. Giuliani maintained that the payment to Daniels doesn't constitute a violation of campaign finance laws, because "it would have been done in any event, whether he was a candidate or not." Giuliani added that his "references to timing were not describing my understanding of the President's knowledge, but instead, my understanding of these matters." (CNBC / ABC News)

https://www.cnbc.com/2018/05/04/rudy-giuliani-walks-back-statements-about-porn-star-hush-money-comey-firing.html

4/ Trump on Giuliani: He's still "learning the subject matter," "he knows it's a witch hunt," and "he'll get his facts straight." Trump added that "virtually everything said has been said incorrectly, and it's been said wrong, or it's been covered wrong by the press." Giuliani gave a series of interviews this week, claiming Trump had paid back Michael Cohen for the hush money payment to Stormy Daniels. Trump previously said he wasn't aware of the payment. "Rudy is a great guy," Trump said, "but he just started a day ago." Giuliani started last month. (Washington Post / New York Times / CNN)

https://www.cnn.com/2018/05/04/politics/trump-giuliani-facts/index.html

5/ Trump would "love to speak" with Robert Mueller, but only if he's "treated fairly." Trump said his lawyers have advised him against any talks, but he "would override my lawyer" if he "thought it was fair." He added: "We've done nothing wrong." (Reuters / CNN)

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-russia/trump-says-lawyers-have-advised-him-against-mueller-talks-idUSKBN1I51S6

6/ Rudy Giuliani "think[s] it's 50/50" that Mueller subpoenas Trump to testify before a grand jury, "but I got to prepare for that 50 percent." Earlier this week, Mueller told Trump's legal team that he could "compel" Trump to testify before a grand jury. (ABC News)

https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/giuliani-believes-5050-chance-mueller-subpoenas-president-trump/story?id=54923079

7/ Scott Pruitt paid himself nearly $65,000 in reimbursements from two of his campaigns for Oklahoma attorney general. At least one election watchdog says the 2010 and 2014 payments are so vague that there is no way to tell if the payments were legal or not. The payments could be a violation of two key pillars of campaign finance regulation: campaign spending transparency and a prohibition on using campaign funds for personal purchases. (CNN)

https://www.cnn.com/2018/05/03/politics/epa-scott-pruitt-campaign-reimbursements/index.html

Pruitt's scheduled trip to Israel was arranged by Sheldon Adelson, a major supporter of Israel, casino magnate, and Republican megadonor. The Israel trip was canceled days before his planned departure, after Pruitt's penchant for first-class travel on the taxpayers' dime was revealed. (Washington Post)

https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/influential-outsiders-have-played-a-key-role-in-scott-pruitts-foreign-travel/2018/05/03/db28fc6a-4ede-11e8-af46-b1d6dc0d9bfe_story.html

Notables.

Trump ordered the Pentagon to prepare for a draw down of American troops in South Korea. The move comes weeks before a planned meeting between Trump and Kim Jong Un to discuss the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. Trump told reporters that a time and date has been set for his summit with Kim and "we'll be announcing soon." (New York Times / ABC News)

https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/trump-date-location-set-meeting-kim-jong/story?id=54935670

The State Department froze all funding for a Syrian humanitarian group, known as the White Helmets. State Department support for the group is now "under active review" as part of a larger $200 million reduction in funding for recovery efforts in Syria. (CBS News)

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/u-s-freezes-funding-for-syrias-white-helmets/

House Republicans plan to support Trump's military parade in the nation's capital, saying it will honor "a century of military service" and focus on those "who sacrificed to secure America's freedoms." The proposal is scheduled to be taken up by the House Armed Services Committee on May 9th. (Bloomberg)

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-05-04/trump-s-military-parade-would-be-endorsed-under-republican-bill

Qatar purchased a $6.5m apartment in one of Trump's New York towers after a federal judge tossed out a lawsuit alleging that Trump was breaching the emoluments clause by collecting $3,151 a month from Qatar for the three apartments it already owned in the building. (The Guardian)

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/may/04/trump-qatar-buys-apartment-new-york-tower

Mike Pence's physician resigned following the collapse of Ronny Jackson's nomination for secretary of Veterans Affairs. Dr. Jennifer Peña was among those who detailed Jackson's professional misconduct to senators considering his nomination. (Politico)

https://www.politico.com/story/2018/05/04/pence-doctor-resigns-after-jackson-debacle-569004

The unemployment rate dropped to 3.9%, falling below 4% for the first time since 2000. (CNN Money)

http://money.cnn.com/2018/05/04/news/economy/april-jobs-report/index.html

Trump plans to appoint Dr. Mehmet Oz to the Sport, Fitness, and Nutrition council. Doctors and lawmakers have criticized Oz for promoting unscientific medical approaches on his show. (Washington Examiner)

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/policy/healthcare/trump-appoints-dr-oz-to-fitness-and-nutrition-council

archonspeaks Since: Jun, 2013
#241089: May 4th 2018 at 12:55:28 PM

[up][up] They’re estimated to have between 50 and 60 working warheads right now. It’s not clear how many more they can produce, but losing their testing site doesn’t actually stop them from making nukes, it just stops them from testing them. The same is true for missiles.

edited 4th May '18 12:55:46 PM by archonspeaks

They should have sent a poet.
sgamer82 Since: Jan, 2001
#241090: May 4th 2018 at 12:56:30 PM

They've made headway into de-regulation. Can't quality test of there's no place to test!

Imca (Veteran)
#241091: May 4th 2018 at 12:57:13 PM

[up][up]No what stopped them from making more devices, and is causing the loss of the current ones is funding.

They ran out of money for there nuclear program around the start of the year, causing production to cease completely.... and devices to start being lost (nukes need maintenance)

Remember that although they have seemingly avoided it up until this year, nuclear programs are expensive, exepnsive enough to break goverments..... They broke the USSR and NK is no USSR.

edited 4th May '18 12:58:52 PM by Imca

M84 Oh, bother. from Our little blue planet Since: Jun, 2010 Relationship Status: Chocolate!
Oh, bother.
#241092: May 4th 2018 at 12:58:15 PM

Welp, I hope the soldiers roped into the military parade aren't too uncomfortable during the whole thing. Hopefully it won't be on a warm day.

Disgusted, but not surprised
BlueNinja0 The Mod with the Migraine from Taking a left at Albuquerque Since: Dec, 2010 Relationship Status: Showing feelings of an almost human nature
The Mod with the Migraine
#241093: May 4th 2018 at 1:02:44 PM

Trump plans to appoint Dr. Mehmet Oz to the Sport, Fitness, and Nutrition council.
Huh, I guess we don't have to wait for President Oprah to get the medical quacks in place.

Speaking of the economy Trump inherited, apparently Obama's legacy either isn't looking all that rosy, or has already been sabotaged by Trump when it comes to a particular sector of the employable. Full article text 

A quarter-century ago, there were 56 teenagers in the labor force for every “limited service” restaurant, the kind where you order at the counter.

Today, there are fewer than half as many, which is a reflection of teenagers’ decreasing work force participation and of the explosive growth in restaurants.

But in an industry where cheap labor is an essential component, a shortage of workers is changing the equation upon which fast-food places have long relied.

This is why Jeffrey Kaplow spends a lot of time working behind the counter in his Subway restaurant in Lower Manhattan. He simply doesn’t have enough employees.

Kaplow has tried placing Craigslist ads, asking other franchisees for referrals seeking to hire people from closed Subways.

Yet during a recent lunchtime rush, he was ringing up veggie footlongs and fountain drinks. “Every time there’s a huge line, the next day the store is nowhere near as busy,” he said.

Across the country, Keith Miller, another franchisee, is dealing with the same problem. “What employees? We don’t have them anymore,” joked Miller, who can’t find enough workers for his three Subways in Northern California.

Since 2010, fast-food jobs have grown nearly twice as fast as employment over all, contributing to the economic recovery. But rapid growth has created new problems. Some say restaurants have grown faster than demand, causing a glut of competition that is another source of pressure on business owners.

Restaurant owners are also worrying about increased immigration enforcement: Nearly 20 percent of workers are foreign-born.

With unemployment at a 17-year low, businesses everywhere are struggling to find workers. Fast food is feeling the pinch acutely, especially as one important source of workers has dried up. In 2000, about 45 percent of those between 16 and 19 had a job — today it’s 30 percent.

A recent analysis by economists at the Bureau of Labor Statistics found that an increased emphasis on education — and getting scholarships — had contributed to the decline in working teenagers, reflecting both the rising costs of education and the low wages most people that age can earn.

Now, after years of benefiting from low-cost labor, many employers are starting to pay more. Fast-food wages began rising in 2014, and have increased faster than overall wages since. But at $10.93 an hour, the pay is still less than half the average for an hourly employee, pushing companies to offer more incentives — like dental insurance, sign-up bonuses and even travel reimbursement — to entice workers.

Or, maybe, teenagers aren't signing up to work the counter at Subway or Mc Donald's because they've grown up watching assholes shit all over fast food workers, and teens are asked constantly "do you want to flip burgers all you life?"

That’s the epitome of privilege right there, not considering armed nazis a threat to your life. - Silasw
M84 Oh, bother. from Our little blue planet Since: Jun, 2010 Relationship Status: Chocolate!
Oh, bother.
#241094: May 4th 2018 at 1:06:57 PM

Given Trump's love of fast food, this should concern him.

Disgusted, but not surprised
megaeliz Since: Mar, 2017
#241095: May 4th 2018 at 1:08:03 PM

1/ A federal judge criticized Robert Mueller's criminal case in Virginia against Paul Manafort, and questioned whether Mueller exceeded his prosecutorial powers. U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis said he believes that Mueller's motivation is to oust Trump from office, adding that "we don't want anyone in this country with unfettered power." Ellis also charged that lawyers from the special counsel's office "don't really care about Mr. Manafort's bank fraud," but rather "getting information Mr. Manafort can give you that would reflect on Mr. Trump and lead to his prosecution or impeachment." (Reuters / Washington Post / CNN / ABC News)

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-russia-manafort/u-s-judge-questions-special-counsels-powers-in-manafort-case-idUSKBN1I51WE

Just so it's clear what this actually means

This is potentially very good news for Manafort, although I wouldn’t overreact to it. For now, the judge wants the unredacted order appointing Mueller to ensure that Manafort’s case is within his scope of authority. If he disagrees, he can dismiss the indictment

If he dismissed the indictment, he could do so without prejudice, which would give another entity of the Justice Department (like the local U.S. Attorney’s Office) the ability to file a new indictment with the same charges.

Nobody's arguing that there's not a case, (except Manafort, but he doesn't count) because there's obviously evidence that a crime has been committed, and they are obligated to prosecute it, just whether it's scope of this investigation.

The comment is weird though. This is pretty standard procedure in cases like this, and just gives the impression he has s political agenda.

edited 4th May '18 1:22:08 PM by megaeliz

archonspeaks Since: Jun, 2013
#241096: May 4th 2018 at 1:09:53 PM

[up] 50 to 60 working warheads was the estimate for this month. The reports earlier this year of them running out of money were about a government slush fund, their nuclear program operates at very little cost since they’ve largely stopped bothering with research which is the expensive part. The main problem they have is getting their hands on nuclear material and precision machinery. Best estimates I’ve seen say they can only produce one nuke every few months, and that their arsenal will plateau at around 90 warheads. Certainly not world ending, and those warheads would have to be spread out over multiple delivery systems.

A nuclear program was only one (very) small part of what drove the Soviets into the ground. Their economy wasn’t prepared for reform, and the civil spending programs they tried to institute were what really screwed them since they tried to keep military spending up at the same time.

edited 4th May '18 1:11:33 PM by archonspeaks

They should have sent a poet.
CharlesPhipps Since: Jan, 2001
#241097: May 4th 2018 at 1:12:57 PM

I'd say North Korea is more willing to negotiate because they have no economy, are literally starving with only foreign aid keeping them alive, have no oil, and are not getting better. There's a time when even the most stubborn fascists have to pack it in.

I'm also more inclined to believe China had Kim's uncle and brother killed than him now.

edited 4th May '18 1:13:24 PM by CharlesPhipps

Author of The Rules of Supervillainy, Cthulhu Armageddon, and United States of Monsters.
M84 Oh, bother. from Our little blue planet Since: Jun, 2010 Relationship Status: Chocolate!
Oh, bother.
#241098: May 4th 2018 at 1:13:00 PM

Or, maybe, teenagers aren't signing up to work the counter at Subway or Mc Donald's because they've grown up watching assholes shit all over fast food workers, and teens are asked constantly "do you want to flip burgers all you life?"

I've always been bothered whenever someone mocks jobs like this and the people who do them. I'm always thinking "well, someone has to do it." Do we really want a world where nobody is doing these jobs? Because apparently we're on our way there with fast food places at least.

Disgusted, but not surprised
DeMarquis (4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
#241099: May 4th 2018 at 1:15:53 PM

Nuclear bombs per se are not very expensive. Long range, accurate missiles are.

I'm done trying to sound smart. "Clear" is the new smart.
danime91 Since: Jan, 2012 Relationship Status: Above such petty unnecessities
#241100: May 4th 2018 at 1:22:21 PM

And of course if someone were to, say, come up with some automation solution to streamline fast food restaurants and reduce the number of employees needed while at the same time opening up a whole bunch of new jobs in manufacturing, installation, and maintenance, the right would then cry out "Robots are taking our jobs!"


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