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Post by kerouac2 on Jul 9, 2020 19:32:21 GMT
So, if I have understood it correctly, the Supreme Court ruled that Trump's financial documents can be made public. But nobody will find out what is in them until after the election in November. WTF?
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Post by Kimby on Jul 9, 2020 20:21:55 GMT
Yes, I heard newscasters trying to report on the decision the minute it was released, and the take was that it was a "win" for Trump. Then after some time, other reporters online indicated it as a loss for Trump. Which is it?
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Post by bixaorellana on Jul 9, 2020 22:31:52 GMT
The Supreme Court ruling was that the NY prosecutors can pursue a subpoena for Trump's business and financial records.
This would be the "loss for Trump" ruling, in that Trump and his bitch Barr assert that he enjoys absolute immunity from investigation while in office.
But the Supreme Court booted Congress's subpoenas for the same materials back to the lower courts, meaning that the information probably will not be available to the public before the election. That was the "win for Trump" decision.
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Post by questa on Jul 9, 2020 23:39:30 GMT
It can be interpreted that what the record holds is so dangerous to Trump that he can't reveal it. Once a few "leaks" occur, the records may be more useful to his opponents closed.
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Post by kerouac2 on Jul 12, 2020 17:19:09 GMT
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Post by questa on Jul 13, 2020 11:30:25 GMT
I just caught the end of an interview with Paul Hogan aka Crocodile Dundee. He said that he has always been a comedy script writer, not an actor. When asked what he thought of Trump he immediately said ,"Oh he's wonderful.(pause)..Caligula, Idi Amin, Trump... where would we (satirical writers)be without them?
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Post by whatagain on Jul 18, 2020 8:52:54 GMT
🙂🙃
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Post by bixaorellana on Jul 18, 2020 15:58:03 GMT
Meanwhile ~ Oregon officials decry arrests by federal agents in Portland
Author: Associated Press, Destiny Johnson (KGW), Maggie Vespa Published: 3:35 PM PDT July 17, 2020 Updated: 8:48 AM PDT July 18, 2020
PORTLAND, Ore. — After more than a month and a half of nightly clashes between protesters and Portland police, the last week of which has included the chaotic injection of dozens of federal officers, city, state and federal leaders are demanding President Trump pull those officers out of the city.
Federal agents in green camouflage uniforms have been taking people into custody on the streets of Portland, and not on the federal property that they were sent to protect.
Acting Secretary Chad Wolf has visited Portland and has been posting to Twitter calling protesters "extremists" and "violent anarchists," saying "We will prevail."
The ACLU of Oregon says this should concern everyone in the United States.
Gov. Kate Brown said President Donald Trump, who deployed Department of Homeland Security officers to Portland, is looking for a confrontation in the hopes of winning political points elsewhere.
Oregon Public Broadcasting reports that federal officers have charged at least 13 people with crimes related to the protests. Portland police said Friday they arrested 20 people overnight after protesters tore down fences and blocked traffic.
People across the country are responding to the occupation of Portland by federal officers, and congressional leaders are demanding independent investigations into the “violent acts” of some of those officers.
Oregon's U.S. senators Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden, as well as representatives Earl Blumenauer and Suzanne Bonamici, announced that they will be asking the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to investigate the federal troop occupancy in Portland.
In statements released Friday, the lawmakers said that the request for investigations came after federal agents shot a peaceful protester in the head, causing serious injury and hospitalization. It also follows reports and video recordings of unmarked federal agents grabbing protesters from the streets and taking them to unmarked minivans.
“DHS and DOJ are engaged in acts that are horrific and outrageous in our constitutional democratic republic,” Merkley said. “First, they are deploying paramilitary forces with no identification indicating who they are or who they work for. Second, these agents are snatching people off the street with no underlying justification. Both of these acts are profound offenses against Americans. We demand not only that these acts end, but also that they remove their forces immediately from our state. Given the egregious nature of the violations against Oregonians, we are demanding full investigations by the inspectors general of these departments.” www.kgw.com/article/news/local/oregon-officials-decry-arrests-by-federal-agents-in-portland/283-d29e4de8-c4a9-4ede-a88f-f030ed0b2344some background: www.lawfareblog.com/department-homeland-security-law-enforcement-agencies-require-expanded-oversight
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Post by kerouac2 on Jul 20, 2020 20:59:29 GMT
The outcry about this has been much less than I would havve expected, perhaps because people are more preoccupied with covid-19.
But when there are reports in other countries about anonymous "agents" grabbing people off the street and hauling them away in vans to an unknown location, there is generally some sort of reaction.
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Post by lagatta on Jul 20, 2020 23:31:22 GMT
Due to my generation and basin of friends, this reminds me of Chile and Argentina in the 1970s and early 1980s. (Also little Uruguay).
Terrifying.
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Post by bixaorellana on Jul 21, 2020 0:42:57 GMT
I agree that a sufficient degree of outcry and outrage are missing. It may be because of how it's being reported. I have a friend who has satellite tv from the US & who is a news fiend. Somehow she missed the story & was shocked when I told her about it. I had to send her news links, as she was so shocked she thought I must not have gotten the story right. It is terrifying and appalling and also yet another example of how Trump thinks he can act with impunity. This business of sending in federal police not requested by the governor of a state comes on the heels of publicity about the policing mess in DC, where Trump's "help" was not wanted.
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Post by kerouac2 on Jul 23, 2020 15:53:59 GMT
I am still quite outraged by the idea of secret police snatching people off the street in unmarked vehicles. Of course, Portland is not alone because I saw that they are doing the same thing in Belarus this week, so I guess it's okay.
But what intrigues me at the moment is the situation between the United Trump and China. We all know that China has done many things to annoy the United States (and most of Europe) with Hong Kong, Huawei, repression of the Uyghur, early seccretive covid information and so many other things. They just keep adding new things, and it seems to me that it is on purpose.
While Trump (and most Americans) rant and rave about these things, some of which are important and others which are just minor details, absolutely nobody is paying attention to the fact that China is buying the entire continent of Africa, which is almost certainly the greatest source of natural resources in the world -- precious metals, uranium, agriculture, manufacturing, gems, etc. -- they are also buying political loyalty with huge projects -- dams, sewers, railways, factories, electrification projects, all sorts of necessary infrastructure. They are the only ones who will do this because Europe is always embroiled in continental matters, and United Trump decided that "shit-hole countries" were not at all worthy of his attention.
How naïve can you get?
I admit that my university degree was in political science and international relations, which proved to be of no use whatsoever in gainful employment (since I did not want to go into government service), but even after all of these years, I find that it is impossible for me not to analyze what is happening in various places around the world and why.
United Trump is very certainly missing the boat on this one.
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Post by bjd on Jul 23, 2020 16:25:03 GMT
The Chinese "invasion" of Africa for its natural resources in return for infrastructure projects has been going on for years now. Indeed, it's not mentioned all that often except by people specialized in these matters. An occasional article in regular news media is about it.
The sight of the "federal agents" dressed for war shooting tear gas at protestors in Portland is really scary. Does Trump have the constitutional right to order this?
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Post by cheerypeabrain on Jul 23, 2020 16:51:34 GMT
He seems to be writing his own laws and nobody is stopping him. The Guardian has published a couple of articles lately claiming that even if Trump loses the election by mile he will probably just barricade in the White House and refuse to believe that he lost. He's already making noises about postal votes being untrustworthy. This has probably already been said...I just think that he will dig in. His daughter is being primed to be his successor isn't she?
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Post by bixaorellana on Jul 23, 2020 18:17:51 GMT
The sight of the "federal agents" dressed for war shooting tear gas at protestors in Portland is really scary. Does Trump have the constitutional right to order this? In a word: No. The Trump administration is hammering again and again on the idea that Democrats will bring chaos and violence to American streets. To illustrate that argument, it is instigating violent encounters. In Portland, officials said that the protests were calming down before the new federal force moved in. They asked for the officers to be removed, but Trump refused. His acting director of the Department of Homeland Security, Chad Wolf, says: “I don’t need invitations by the state, state mayors, or state governors to do our job. We're going to do that, whether they like us there or not.”
(Wolf is not Senate-confirmed, and there is question about whether or not he’s even legally in his job, since he has now been 251 days in a post that can only have an “acting” director for 210. With no experience in intelligence or security, it is unlikely the former lobbyist could make it through the Senate, but Trump likes his loyalty.)
Today, Tom Ridge, the country's first Director of Homeland Security, who served under President George W. Bush, warned that the department "was not established to be the President's personal militia." "It would be a cold day in hell before I would give consent to a unilateral, uninvited intervention into one of my cities," he said.heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/july-22-2020And the new news is: Acting homeland security secretary Chad Wolf told CBS News on Thursday that his agency is not sending more federal agents to other cities to secure federal courthouses. “We are not sending any other DHS law enforcement officers to guard federal courthouses like we are in Portland. Why? Because every other city in America knows if you work with the federal government, you can secure your city,” Wolf said, defending his agency’s use of Customs and Border Protection agents riding in unmarked vehicles to grab those suspected of engaging in violence or vandalism outside the courthouse. www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/07/23/protests-portland-updates/Undoubtedly the real reason is that somewhere, somehow, someone must have convinced this new Amerikadeutscher Volksbund that either a) this is too unconstitutional to get away with; or b) it will backfire as a re-election ploy.
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Post by mich64 on Jul 24, 2020 2:46:46 GMT
Acting homeland security secretary Chad Wolf told CBS News on Thursday that his agency is not sending more federal agents to other cities to secure federal courthouses. Tactical border team being sent to Seattle this weekend in anticipation of protests. Saying this is just precautionary, but in case of what and what will they do? www.nytimes.com/2020/07/23/us/seattle-federal-agents-police.html
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Post by bixaorellana on Jul 24, 2020 3:27:29 GMT
Thanks so much for posting that, Mich! This thing of their "standing by" to protect federal property is purest doo-doo. This is outrageous and frightening. When you read the description of BORTAC, it's obvious that by their very nature they're overkill and have no business in Seattle, where the mayor has made it clear they're not wanted. An overview of where the jackboots are coming down throughout the US: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2020_deployment_of_federal_forces_in_the_United_States
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Post by questa on Jul 24, 2020 3:28:08 GMT
The Chinese "invasion" of Africa for its natural resources in return for infrastructure projects has been going on for years now. Indeed, it's not mentioned all that often except by people specialized in these matters. An occasional article in regular news media is about it. "And all of that tiny Pacific stuff" is the way this forum has summed up the area where Chinese money has been buying up the islands group by group. Any time there is a cyclone (annually at least), earthquake or volcano eruption (they are on the ring of fire) or flooding from rising sea levels, the boys from Beijing are there to rebuild the tourist infrastructure, schools, hospitals etc. Many of the tourism assets are owned by Chinese companies. As seen in the illegal commandeering of the Spratley Islands and turning them into an air base, it wouldn't take a great leap of imagination to see a chain of bases running from Hong Kong and through the Pacific Islands with the co-operation of the local grateful citizens. At the moment there are warships from USA and Australia doing their practising in the area where the Chinese Navy is watching. Stay cool, all of you.
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Post by kerouac2 on Jul 24, 2020 5:12:24 GMT
Well, China owns Club Med and a number of European hotel chains so clearly we're just supposed to go on holiday to finance them.
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Post by fumobici on Jul 24, 2020 14:57:58 GMT
The "jackboots" (a term I wouldn't quibble with) are as much the evil creation of the Democrats as the Republicans. The post-9/11 embrace of a dangerous security state apparatus was and remains today a thoroughly bi-partisan one, and I don't recall the Democrats ever once trying to defund or stand down these secret police forces. You get rid of Trump, and you'll still have the same "jackboots" in place ready to be turned loose on Americans by the next leadership. Until we shake off our post-9/11 bout of crazy and defund the secret police and their institutional apparatuses, they will remain an incipient and permanent danger to our country and society. Putting Biden in charge of them rather than Trump doesn't accomplish a damn thing structurally.
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Post by bixaorellana on Jul 24, 2020 15:42:48 GMT
No argument from me. Some of the forces being mobilized now are apparently sort of cobbled together from forces over which the executive branch has power, meaning that they're specifically Trump's troops. But yeah -- they'll be there and able to be sent out against the populace regardless of who is president. One would like to think that Biden or any sane human would be less likely to use them them than Trump, though. Until we shake off our post-9/11 bout of crazy and defund the secret police and their institutional apparatuses, they will remain an incipient and permanent danger to our country and society. Of course you are right. The problem is how effectively fear has taken control of the senses of so much of the population. Creepy crafty Trump has seized on this in harking back to the call for "law and order". Naturally I feel that the whole idea of policing in our country is twisted and out of control, but it's part of a whole culture of admiring "strength". Reorganization of police departments and getting rid of thug personnel is necessary, as is scrutiny of how and why so much money has been poured into them. But I think the phrase "defund the police" is most unfortunate in that it is consistently and often deliberately being misinterpreted as letting crime run wild.
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Post by kerouac2 on Jul 24, 2020 15:47:22 GMT
Unfortunately, I am afraid that just about all of our countries have special force capabilities "inspired" by various terrorist events. Our governments love this little magic wand. It is unlikely to ever go away, but what is therefore important is to know under what circumstances the use of these forces can be activated. When it is just one dictatorial leader, that is really scary. If it has to go through a legislative process, it is still scary but a little less extreme (I hope).
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Post by bixaorellana on Jul 30, 2020 14:06:13 GMT
July 30, 2020 14:47 (UK time)
The Guardian’s voting rights report, Sam Levine, notes that the president can’t unilaterally change the election date.
___________________________________________________________
Donald J. Trump @realdonaldtrump · 1h With Universal Mail-In Voting (not Absentee Voting, which is good), 2020 will be the most INACCURATE & FRAUDULENT Election in history. It will be a great embarrassment to the USA. Delay the Election until people can properly, securely and safely vote???
_____________________________________________________________________[end quote]
This is why people are speculating one of the reasons Trump asked whether the election should be delayed this morning is to distract from the very bad economic news this morning.
Government figures revealed Thursday morning that the US economy shrank by an annualized rate of 32.9% between April and June, its sharpest contraction since the second world war.
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Post by bjd on Jul 30, 2020 15:20:26 GMT
Yes, I just heard a report about that on the news. Congress is the only one who can change the date, which has been set as the first Tuesday in November after the first Monday in November since 1845. Even if Congress did something, it would drag out in the courts, so it's not going to happen.
The reporter also said that in 2016, when Trump was asked whether he would accept election results if he lost, he said, "We'll see." This is what he is saying now too. "In the Trump universe, he can't lose", said this commentator.
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Post by kerouac2 on Jul 30, 2020 15:30:52 GMT
That's because he is the most perfect, the most intelligent president ever. In his own fantasy world.
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Post by questa on Jul 31, 2020 5:36:42 GMT
Just for a laugh...How many good points can we credit to Donald Trump...as a POTUS, a business man, etc. I'll go first.. 1) He hasn't pushed the red button yet ...less trigger happy than some recent Presidents. 2)...
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Post by kerouac2 on Jul 31, 2020 5:54:03 GMT
He hasn"t wasted much money on state banquets -- only two so far (France and Australia). In comparison, Ronald Reagan had 53.
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Post by bjd on Jul 31, 2020 6:03:09 GMT
He's using the money to go play golf. 10 times in the last 29 days.
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Post by kerouac2 on Jul 31, 2020 10:14:11 GMT
But when he owns the golf course, he is exempt from the greens fee.
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Post by bjd on Jul 31, 2020 11:08:19 GMT
But security agents still have to be there, thanks to taxpayers' money. I read somewhere how much it had cost for security for Trump's golfing since his election. A lot of money that could have been put to better use.
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