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Edited by Mrph1 on Nov 30th 2023 at 11:03:59 AM
Dictionary.com is once again throwing down the shade.
E.g. Paul Manafort's bail has been revoked.
dictionary.com/browse/revoke
edited 15th Jun '18 9:19:13 AM by megaeliz
Is dictionary.com crowdsourced? That seems a bit on the nose for a top-down organization.
"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"European religious institutions were much quicker to denounce slavery and segregation than American ones... some haven't even gotten there to this day. So it's not hard to see how the split might have occurred.
Remember the motto of U.S. Evangelism: "Love thy neighbor, as long as he isn't a different color than you. Or gay, or not Christian, or a Democrat."
edited 15th Jun '18 9:30:45 AM by Fighteer
"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"
x4 They do that a lot actually.
E.g. President Trump says he has an absolute right to pardon himself.
dictionary.com/browse/absolute
[1]
Used in a sentence: President Trump's documents are reassembled from shreds for preservation.
dictionary.com/browse/shred
[2]
E.g. President Trump says fake news is promulgated by fools.
[4]
edited 15th Jun '18 9:35:28 AM by megaeliz
Almost wish Manafort was allowed to post bail because I'm genuinely curious how the Trumpeteers would spin his likely flight to a country without extradition rules.
... hell, he might actually flee to Russia.
edited 15th Jun '18 9:38:47 AM by Larkmarn
Found a Youtube Channel with political stances you want to share? Hop on over to this page and add them.
If he fled to Russia, then he might get a polonium cocktail thanks to one Oleg Deripaska, whom he apparently owes a ton of money, or at least did before he started profit-taking from the Trump campaign.
edited 15th Jun '18 9:46:42 AM by Fighteer
"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"Honestly, I'm torn about that one. On the one hand, it humanizes them and reminds us that we're dealing with people who have opinions, not just faceless, emotionless corporations. On the other hand, dictionary.com is a reference work and shouldn't be taking sides, at least not with cheap potshots. They have a dedication to facts, which should place them firmly against Trump anyway.
Seriously, though, everyone should be opposing this administration with all of their might. The time for restraint and decorum is long past if we want to save our democracy. We just need to make sure not to become as bad in the process.
edited 15th Jun '18 9:43:54 AM by Fighteer
"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"![]()
You have to remember that twitter is a marketing platform. Everything a company puts there is in essence an advertisement for their services. If they were donating money to the ACLU that would be one thing, but those jokes are just ads piggybacking off actual issues, which I personally find a little distasteful. That cuts both ways, mind you, companies appealing to Republican demographics to the same thing and it's just as cynical and empty.
Companies may be made up of people, but they aren't people.
They should have sent a poet.AP: Trump 2020 working with ex-Cambridge Analytica staffers
The AP confirmed that at least four former Cambridge Analytica employees are affiliated with Data Propria, a new company specializing in voter and consumer targeting work similar to Cambridge Analytica’s efforts before its collapse. The company’s former head of product, Matt Oczkowski, leads the new firm, which also includes Cambridge Analytica’s former chief data scientist.
Oczkowski denied a link to the Trump campaign, but acknowledged that his new firm has agreed to do 2018 campaign work for the Republican National Committee. Oczkowski led the Cambridge Analytica data team which worked on Trump’s successful 2016 campaign.
US expected to withdraw from UN Human Rights Council: report
A source told Reuters that the move could be “imminent.” The council will begin a three-week session in Geneva on Monday.
Other diplomatic sources told Reuters that the withdrawal was “not a question of if but of when.”
U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley has clashed with the council over its treatment of Israel and has repeatedly voted against U.N. measures that were critical of that country. Most recently, the U.S. and Australia were the only two members to vote against a proposal to investigate Israel’s alleged use of excessive force in Gaza. Haley has criticized the council over what she called a “chronic anti-Israel bias” and threatened last year to leave.
“When the council passes more than 70 resolutions against Israel, a country with a strong human rights record, and just seven resolutions against Iran, a country with an abysmal human rights record, you know something is seriously wrong,” she wrote in an op-ed for The Washington Post last June.
The U.S. rejoined the council under former President Obama after boycotting for three years under former President George W. Bush.
Haley has also called for other reforms to the body, including making it easier to expel member states with poor human rights records, specifically Venezuela, China and Saudi Arabia.
Swiss Ambassador Valentin Zellweger told Reuters that he agrees with Haley that “not all members fulfill the criteria” for membership to the council, but expressed concern over the potential withdrawal.
“The decision by the Americans will have a profound impact on the Council,” Zellweger said. “If they withdraw, we can expect significant consequences.”
edited 15th Jun '18 10:05:29 AM by TerminusEst
Si Vis Pacem, Para Perkelehttps://whatthefuckjusthappenedtoday.com/2018/06/15/day-512/
Day 512: Fickle.
1/ A federal judge revoked Paul Manafort's bail and sent him to jail while he awaits trial after Robert Mueller accused Trump's former campaign chief of witness tampering. "I cannot turn a blind eye to this," Judge Amy Berman Jackson said. Manafort had posted a $10 million bond to remain at home while awaiting his September trial on charges that include money laundering and false statements. He will now remain in pretrial detention until his trial. (New York Times / NBC News / Washington Post)
2/ Michael Cohen filed a restraining order against Michael Avenatti to stop him from speaking to the media about the Stormy Daniels case. Cohen argued that Avenatti's "publicity tour" of more that 100 television interviews since March is unethical, and harms Cohen's ability to have a fair trial by turning the case into a "media circus." (Politico / CNN / The Independent)
https://www.politico.com/story/2018/06/15/cohen-lawyer-gag-order-avenatti-648958
Michael Cohen has told family and friends that he is willing to cooperate with federal investigators. The treatment from Trump and Rudy Giuliani has left Cohen feeling isolated, angry, and more open to cooperating. Cohen has not met with prosecutors to discuss any potential deal and is currently looking for a new legal team. (CNN)
https://www.cnn.com/2018/06/15/politics/michael-cohen-cooperation-federal-investigators/index.html
Federal prosecutors are investigating whether Cohen violated federal disclosure laws as part of his consulting deals, including whether he lobbied for domestic or foreign clients without properly registering. (Wall Street Journal)
3/ Giuliani called on Jeff Sessions and Rod Rosenstein to "redeem themselves" by suspending the Robert Mueller investigation today. Giuliani also called for Peter Strzok to be put in jail over a series of text messages sent exchanged with fellow FBI agent Lisa Page during the 2016 election. "Mueller should be suspended and honest people should be brought in, impartial people to investigate these people like Strzok," Giuliani said. "Strzok should be in jail by the end of next week." (Politico)
https://www.politico.com/story/2018/06/14/giuliani-mueller-russia-probe-suspended-647022
4/ Trump "certainly wouldn't sign" the Republican immigration proposal that would protect young undocumented migrants and end the policy of separating families at the southern border. Paul Ryan plans to bring up two immigration measures for a vote next week: a hard-line conservative bill, which likely fail, and "a very good compromise" bill. Trump said he "wouldn't sign the more moderate one." (Reuters / New York Times / The Guardian / Washington Post)
5/ The Trump administration announced a 25% tariff on $50 billion worth of Chinese imports as Trump vowed to respond to what he called China's unfair trade practices. China retaliated with $50 billion worth of tariffs with "equal scale, equal intensity" on U.S. imports, calling Trump "fickle" and "provoking a trade war." The Dow fell 250 points in response to rising trade tensions. (Associated Press / Bloomberg / CNBC)
https://apnews.com/580916378b5144119c0e9bd02f42296c
German Chancellor Angela Merkel hinted of an escalation in the trade dispute between the U.S. and European Union. Merkel warned that Europe's strategic interests are tied to the future of the car industry shortly after Trump cited national security concerns as a reason to place tariffs on German cars. "We should think about the strategic significance of the auto industry for the European Union," Merkel said, "so we can prepare an exchange with the U.S." (Reuters)
6/ Trump held an interview with "Fox and Friends" on the White House lawn after musing on Twitter that "maybe I'll have to make an unannounced trip down to see them" and live-tweeting segments from the show. Trump called James Comey a criminal, said the FBI is a "den of thieves," blamed Democrats for the separation of families at the US border, said it's "great to give" Kim Jong-un credibility, and again blamed Obama for Russia's annexation of Crimea. (New York Times / CNN / Vox / The Hill)
http://thehill.com/homenews/media/392436-trump-holds-impromptu-fox-interview-on-white-house-lawn
Trump called a CBS News reporter "so obnoxious" and told her to be "quiet at least five times." CBS correspondent Weijia Jiang tried to ask Trump "why he declared the nuclear threat from North Korea was already 'over.'" (The Hill)
Trump said he wants "my people" to "sit up at attention" like how the North Koreans do when Kim Jong Un speaks. When asked to clarify by reporters what he meant by his "people," he replied: "You don't understand sarcasm." (The Hill / CNN)
Notables.
EPA senior staffers said they frequently felt pressured by Scott Pruitt to help in personal matters and obtain special favors for his family. The officials said Pruitt "had a clear sense of entitlement." (New York Times)
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/15/us/politics/scott-pruitt-epa-aides.html
Trump took credit for winning the bid to host the 2026 World Cup with Canada and Mexico. "Thank you for all of the compliments on getting the World Cup to come to the U.S.A., Mexico and Canada," Trump tweeted. "I worked hard on this, along with a Great Team of talented people." (Politico)
https://www.politico.com/story/2018/06/15/trump-credit-world-cup-bid-648964
The Trump administration is expected to withdraw from the UN Human Rights Council due to "chronic anti-Israel bias." (Reuters)
A retrospective on Paul Manafort, in light his bail being revolked
As Trump’s Campaign Manager reports to Federal Jail, let’s do a retrospective on @Paul Manafort’s career serving as consigliere to despots, from his early days in Africa, such as Mobutu Sese Seko to Russian puppet dictator Viktor Yanukovych.
In 1985, a young doe-eyed lobbyist named @Paul Manafort took on his first foreign client, Jonas Savimbi, leader of Angolan rebel group UNITA. After rejecting the results of a 1992 election, Savimbi was shot dead in 2002 after once again plunging Angola into war.
@Paul Manafort then took on Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos. A kleptocrat, Marcos ruled as dictator under martial law. Arbitrary arrests under Marcos were common, and Amensty International listed 88 known government torturers. 70,000 were consigned to camps.
Marcos, like @Paul Manafort’s later clients, was deemed a “populist.” Marcos nationalized enterprises, redistributed them to his friends, and used them to launder money from his thefts of the possessions of his 70,000 political prisoners.
With the Cold War completed, @Paul Manafort turned his talents to the Muslim World, where he helped the Pakistani ISI, best known for sheltering Osama bin Laden next to their elite military academy, to acquire advanced submarines, destabilizing the nuclear detente with India.
@Paul Manafort represented Mobutu Sese Seko of Zaire, kleptocrat removed for preparations for genocide, embezzling $15B for expenses such as Concorde flights to Paris. Seko routinely claimed “the right to virgins” in villages.
Deposed for ordering the genocide of Tutsis in 1996.
.@Paul Manafort represented Mobutu Sese Seko of Zaire, kleptocrat removed for preparations for genocide, embezzling $15B for expenses such as Concorde flights to Paris. Seko routinely claimed “the right to virgins” in villages.
Deposed for ordering the genocide of Tutsis in 1996.
.@Paul Manafort also served as right-hand man to Mohamed Siad Barre, dictator of Somalia until total total governmental collapse in 1991.
Said Barre is best known for the Isaaq Genocide, in which 200,000 were industrially murdered by his government.
Finally,@Paul Manafort brought his talents to the Ukraine, where he obliged every whim of Vladimir Putin in service to Viktor Yanukovych, installed by Moscow in a fraudulent election in 2010, deposed in 2014, and currently wanted in the Ukraine for High Treason.
It was at this point that @Paul Manafort brought his talents home. After cementing connections in Moscow, Manfort took on the role of Campaign Manager for Donald Trump for America, Inc.
Much like his previous clients, Trump is known for his cult of personality, kleptocracy, and attempts to declare himself above the law, expulsion of ethnic groups, and Russian installation as President.
Parting is such sweet sorrow, Mr. Manafort. Goodbye and good luck, Paul.
I am certain the occupants of Federal correctional facilities will be impressed by your long and illustrious career of crimes against humanity itself.
edited 15th Jun '18 12:53:40 PM by megaeliz
Only the best people.
Oh, and China just retaliated against Trump's tariffs, dollar for dollar. Primary targets include agriculture, seafood, and automobiles.
http://money.cnn.com/2018/06/15/news/economy/china-us-trade-war/index.html
edited 15th Jun '18 12:09:50 PM by Rationalinsanity
Politics is the skilled use of blunt objects.
I'm finding it hard to believe that I am currently entirely sympathetic to these particular actions of authoritarian hypercapitalist commies who are currently slowly poisoning a billion people for influence and profit because the US president is a jingoistic orange nut who is less competent than the guy from Idiocracy. Since when did we live in a bad South Park episode?
One billion extremely directly, the whole seven billion slightly more slowly and with the supportive assistance of the rest of us.
edited 15th Jun '18 12:23:32 PM by DeathorCake

Catholics have always taken a much sterner stance on human rights than U.S. evangelicals. That doesn't surprise me at all.
edited 15th Jun '18 9:11:24 AM by Fighteer
"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"