Trump - 4 more years of this at least...

[sugilite]

Let's not forget the greedy companies that see the word inflation being reported and then go weeeeee and Jack their prices.

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[TheDemonLord]

Let's not forget the greedy companies that see the word inflation being reported and then go weeeeee and Jack their prices.

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Almost like their costs go up and they have to adjust for it....

[sugilite]

Almost like you deliberately misinterpret my meaning for the sake of being argumentative.
But just in case you are either in toddler mode or naive Nancy mode - yes, some companies do need to adjust and many dishonest ones gouge biggly. The word "greedy" did cover that, so im going with you being in toddler mode :bleh:

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[TheDemonLord]

Almost like you deliberately misinterpret my meaning for the sake of being argumentative.
But just in case you are either in toddler mode or naive Nancy mode - yes, some companies do need to adjust and many dishonest ones gouge biggly. The word "greedy" did cover that, so im going with you being in toddler mode :bleh:

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Not necessarily.

When you run a small business, changing your prices might be as simple and as cheap as 5 minutes with a marker.

When you run a much larger business, changing your prices can be a multi-million dollar effort.

Not to mention public perception issues around prices continually going up (this thread serving as poignant evidence)

Therefore do you:

1: Do a small raise, in-line with current inflation, but risking having to either do a subsequent raise if things continue OR
2: Do a single Big raise, based on projections, negating the above two factors.

That all said - I find this whole argument academic - why is the ire not directed at the Government that caused the issue in the first place.

[F5 Dave]

Hey some of those greedy corporations have a wife and kid, and hungry Trust fund to feed.

[sugilite]

Tdl, mate : just in the last week, you would have us belive that a bribe taking supreme court judge could not possibly be corrupt, those nice corporations would never price gouge in an inflationary market and there is no such thing as a radical right in the usa. And that's just the highlights! I have had to get the men in black involved as I have no idea what planet that you are from, but it sure as shit ain't this one! [emoji23]

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[Dean]

Interesting choice. I'd almost rather visit Bangladesh. Similar life expectancy, both are third world shit holes. (To use a Trump turn of phrase.)

Errr ok…good to know…thanks for sharing…

Some good motorbike rides along the Mississippi pine belt.
Relatively wide roads, scenic straights with a few rural twists.
I took a mates Harley super glide, opened her up to cruise at 85mph and had no troubles.
Stopped off to get some good southern hospitality - barbecue joints there are the real deal, ribs/brisket etc are amazing.

[TheDemonLord]

Tdl, mate : just in the last week, you would have us belive that a bribe taking supreme court judge could not possibly be corrupt,

Except that isnt what I said - I asked for an example of Clarence ruling against the Constitution, in favor of his Doners. Something that is still conscpicuous by its absence.


those nice corporations would never price gouge in an inflationary market

in an inflationary market

So they didnt cause the issue, they found themselves in it...

And why did they find themselves in it - why, because of Government Policy!


there is no such thing as a radical right in the usa.

What is termed The Radical Right by the media today, is simply the Democrats of 10-20 years ago. Are there actual far-right groups in the US - Sure.

Do they have any major political representation - No.
Do they have active organizations on College Campuses - No.
Did they burn down large parts of the country in protest - No.
Were they able to take over and secceed a section of a major city - No.
Do they have Media, Politicians and commentators running interference for them - No.
Do they get preferential treatment from the Police with most of their charges dropped - No.

The so-called Far Right is a fever dream of the Left and means: Anyone who disagrees with any of the current Marxist inspired presuppositions.

The Actual Far right is about 3 guys in a cornfield.

[1/32 man]

Let's not forget the greedy companies that see the word inflation being reported and then go weeeeee and Jack their prices.

Nailed it.....



Prices of butter and cheese are now rising I see......that sneaky gumment at it again I reckon?????!!!!

Oh wait on, its because we are paying world prices for what we make here and not cheaper mates rates as you would sort of assume.

Gouge gouge gouge gouge.....tax the peasants and the meek harder and harder. Aren't they just a commodity anyway?

[1/32 man]

That all said - I find this whole argument academic - why is the ire not directed at the Government that caused the issue in the first place.

Because they are not the single biggest contributor....I'm going to take you aside and have a serious chat if you keep this nonsense up.

It's as others have said .....the big dollar boys, the ones bigger than government, the multi billion corporations that need to top up there pay cheques...aka greed and selfishness.

[sugilite]

Except that isnt what I said - I asked for an example of Clarence ruling against the Constitution, in favor of his Doners. Something that is still conscpicuous by its absence.

You refuse to acknowledge that taking bribes makes him corrupt from the get go. Willful ignorance does not win debates mate.


in an inflationary market

So they didnt cause the issue, they found themselves in it...

And why did they find themselves in it - why, because of Government Policy!
And they take advantage of that. My entire point. I'm not trying to absolve the government as you are the corporations.



What is termed The Radical Right by the media today, is simply the Democrats of 10-20 years ago.
What a load of twaddle. The proud boys backed by Mr "stand back and stand by" were neck deep in Jan 6th. Oath keepers too. Their plans to kidnap a michigan governor were thwatted to name just a couple of far right domestic terrorist activities. The rest of your blurb was your usual red under every bed illness. Take the right wing blindfold off and open your eyes bro!

[TheDemonLord]

You refuse to acknowledge that taking bribes makes him corrupt from the get go. Willful ignorance does not win debates mate.

It is not Willful ignorance, I am asking you for the proof of the claim and it is absent. A single ruling, against the Constitution, in 30 years of jurisprudence. Not a high bar.


And they take advantage of that. My entire point. I'm not trying to absolve the government as you are the corporations.

But in a way, you are absolving the Government.

You are blaming the corporations for the effects you felt due to Inflation, rather than the cause. And whilst some may or may not have been price gouging, there are a number legitimate business reasons to act in the manner they did.


What a load of twaddle. The proud boys backed by Mr "stand back and stand by" were neck deep in Jan 6th. Oath keepers too. Their plans to kidnap a michigan governor were thwatted to name just a couple of far right domestic terrorist activities. The rest of your blurb was your usual red under every bed illness. Take the right wing blindfold off and open your eyes bro!

Okay - let us compare:

Jan 6th vs the BLM riots.
Plans to kidnap a Governor (that was suggested by the FBI... but lets not worry about that) vs actually declaring a secession.
Apparently it is okay to go around Campus chanting to exterminate the Jews, but only if you are wearing a Palestinian flag instead of a Swastika.

But let me continue:

How many Kamala or Biden supporters were assassinated for wearing the Merch of their preferred candidate.
How many Assassination Attempts did Biden or Kamala recieve.
How many Left-Wing commentators were banned from Twitter (before Musk) for advocating Violence against Right-Wing commentators.

I could go on - but let me finish on this - I cite this example many times - but the Media regularly call Joe Rogan far-right... A Man who:

- Voted for Bernie Sanders
- Grew up in Hippy-era San Francisco
- Believes in Universal Basic Income
- Regularly advocates for taking Hallucinegenic substances
- Is highly skeptical of big corporations
- Same-sex Marriage
- Gay Rights
- Universal Health Care
- Pro-Choice.

Does that sound like the actual far right?

What Joe does oppose (which is hilarious because he is a Bernie Bro at heart) is Wokeness - which is a series of beliefs that all trace their lineage back to Marx and Gramscii - that, and only that, is the reason he is called Far-Right. He is a Democrat of literally 10 years ago. The actual Far right does not exist in any meaningful way.

[pritch]

Y'all will be aware that government in the US consists of three co equal branches: the legislative branch (both houses of Congress), the administrative branch, and the judiciary. While you may think that is obvious, people have been elected to the Senate who did not know that. Senator Tuberville for one.

The Senate is required to vote on all Cabinet appointments. There is a provision though that if an appointment is urgently needed while the Senate is in recess it can be passed without a vote. Trump has told the Senate he wants them to go into recess on January 20th, the day he assumes power. This would mean his entire cabinet could be passed without a vote. Almost as if he was a dictator?

The Senate is shortly to elect a new leader but some of the candidates regard Trump's proposal with suspicion. Funny that.

[sugilite]

It is not Willful ignorance, I am asking you for the proof of the claim and it is absent. A single ruling, against the Constitution, in 30 years of jurisprudence. Not a high bar.
Wow, you are in full "dick" mode on this one. The man takes bribes, he is corrupt. It starts and finishes there.


But in a way, you are absolving the Government.
Seriously? Please let me know the degree I'm supposed to castigate the government before you will allow me the luxury to comment on gouging corporations unmolested by tdl interjections?


Okay - let us compare:

Jan 6th vs the BLM riots.
Hold it, stop right there. BLM is clearly a right wing organisation.
https://mynbc15.com/news/nation-world/blm-activist-plans-to-vote-for-trump-been-blindly-loyal-to-the-democrat-party-mark-fisher-black-lives-matter-rhode-island-donald-trump-kamala-harris-democratic-republican-party
Now before replying to this, I will gently remind you of your passionate earlier postings saying the proud boys could not be a right wing organisation because one of their leaders voted for biden :laugh:

BTW, I fully will endorse judge merchan jailing trump to the maximum allowable prison term in trumps upcoming sentencing. :banana:

[TheDemonLord]

Wow, you are in full "dick" mode on this one. The man takes bribes, he is corrupt. It starts and finishes there.

As is your perspective, I do not consider them Bribes. Imagine there is someone you enjoy listening to their opinions (so not me...) and they offer to buy you a beer, to listen to you speak - is that a Bribe? That is the equivalent of what we are talking here for the amount of wealth these people have.


Seriously? Please let me know the degree I'm supposed to castigate the government before you will allow me the luxury to comment on gouging corporations unmolested by tdl interjections?

Completely ;)



Hold it, stop right there. BLM is clearly a right wing organisation.
https://mynbc15.com/news/nation-world/blm-activist-plans-to-vote-for-trump-been-blindly-loyal-to-the-democrat-party-mark-fisher-black-lives-matter-rhode-island-donald-trump-kamala-harris-democratic-republican-party


Black Lives Matter Rhode Island PAC also issued a separate statement insisting Fisher "is not and has never been affiliated with our organization."

You, uh, sure about that...


Now before replying to this, I will gently remind you of your passionate earlier postings saying the proud boys could not be a right wing organisation because one of their leaders voted for biden :laugh:

No, not quite right - The Alt Right Founder - Richard Spencer.

However, there is some nuance that is needed: Richard Spencer believes all the presuppositions of the Radical Left. He believes in Racial Consciousness. The only difference is which Racial group he supports.

He believes in all of the CRT inspired policies, because he knows that if you tell a bunch of poor working class white kids that they are evil for the crime of their skin and that they should see Race - a lot of them arent going to self-flagellate themselves, but instead come over to his cause.

It is because of these set of shared beliefs and shared outcomes that I say he is not Right Wing, he is a Collectivist at heart - which is anathema to the individualist philosophy of the Right.

To put it a different way: I am saying that Richard Spencer cannot be an Atheist if he worships Satan, because he accepts all the supernatural beliefs of Christianity, he is just picking Satan instead of God.


BTW, I fully will endorse judge merchan jailing trump to the maximum allowable prison term in trumps upcoming sentencing. :banana:

The banana emoji is not what I would have used - Opens the door to all manner of Banana republic jokes.

[sugilite]

As is your perspective, I do not consider them Bribes. Imagine there is someone you enjoy listening to their opinions (so not me...) and they offer to buy you a beer, to listen to you speak - is that a Bribe? That is the equivalent of what we are talking here for the amount of wealth these people have.
.
Your honor, this cannot be considered a multi million dollar bribe because the dude is like, really really rich. Convincing :laugh:

That BLM guy is the founder, those other bitches be lying. :shifty:


The banana emoji is not what I would have used - Opens the door to all manner of Banana republic jokes.
Oh I agree. Any country's justice system that allows a clearly quilty president to avoid criminal trials deserves to own the moniker of a banana republic.

[TheDemonLord]

Your honor, this cannot be considered a multi million dollar bribe because the dude is like, really really rich. Convincing :laugh:

That is still beside the point - show me the evidence of ruling against the Constitution.


That BLM guy is the founder, those other bitches be lying. :shifty:

Those other Bitches who were trained Marxists and then purchased houses using donations, that were former homes of notable communists, and cackling about how they enriched themselves, over Caviar and Champagne.

Those bitches?


Oh I agree. Any country's justice system that allows a clearly quilty president to avoid criminal trials deserves to own the moniker of a banana republic.

Or, a justice system that has to invent a new way of interpreting an existing law, ignoring the statute of limitations and holding the trial in the most politically one-sided state to ensure a kangaroo conviction - then yes, I agree.

[sugilite]

That is still beside the point - show me the evidence of ruling against the Constitution.
Why? He has taken multi million dollar bribes. Corruption established. If the US justice system was not a banana republic, the guy would not even be on the bench.


Those other Bitches who were trained Marxists and then purchased houses using donations, that were former homes of notable communists, and cackling about how they enriched themselves, over Caviar and Champagne.

Sounds like capitalism to me, you should look into that? Those bitches be gaslighting you with their fake Marxism. Perhaps they turned to capitalism because they are too fat to get under your bed?


Or, a justice system that has to invent a new way of interpreting an existing law, ignoring the statute of limitations and holding the trial in the most politically one-sided state to ensure a kangaroo conviction - then yes, I agree.

Woah, an upgrade from banana republic to kangaroo court, this is serious. And this trump is so special he should be able to pick the state he gets tried in? Desperate stuff dude, desperate stuff :laugh:

[pritch]

Your honor, this cannot be considered a multi million dollar bribe because the dude is like, really really rich. Convincing :laugh:



If someone was to pay cash for your mother's house but then let her remain living in it rent free, could you potentially be beholden to him? :whistle:

[sugilite]

If someone was to pay cash for your mother's house but then let her remain living in it rent free, could you potentially be beholden to him? :whistle:

Ahhh, but Harlan is that special rare kind of billionaire that invests millions of dollars and time into his pocket judge with no intention of a return on his investment. Sounds totally reasonable and legit :laugh:

[TheDemonLord]

Why? He has taken multi million dollar bribes. Corruption established. If the US justice system was not a banana republic, the guy would not even be on the bench.

Has he - here is the legal definition:


Bribery is defined generally as corrupt solicitation, acceptance, or transfer of value in exchange for official action.

Proof of bribery requires demonstrating a “quid pro quo” relationship in which the recipient directly alters behavior in exchange for the gift.


I have highlighted the key part, where despite all the back-and-forth on this, you have yet to provide proof if it.

Now - I want to put something to you on this - If, in 30 years, Clarence has not ruled against the Constitution (as it was written) - and a lot of his decisions have been to undo previous decisions and rulings:

What does that tell you about the previous Supreme Courts


Sounds like capitalism to me, you should look into that? Those fake bitches be gaslighting you with their fake Marxism. Perhaps they turned to capitalism because they are too fat to get under your bed?

No, it sounds like every inner-party of every attempt at Communism throughout history.

So - it sounds like Peak Marxism to me. Because they did what every other Marxist did, ever.

(Funny that...)


Woah, an upgrade from banana republic to kangaroo court, this is serious. And this trump is so special he should be able to pick the state he gets tried in? Desperate stuff dude, desperate stuff :laugh:

Not at all, there is a very long and well established legal tradition of trying people in different locations if an unbiased Jury could not be sought.

Discussed here (https://chicagounbound.uchicago.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=4426&context=uclrev)

The moment they had to reclassify a misdemenor with an expired statute of limitations to a Felony (via the way of in pursuit of a crime) but the jury was not unanimous on what the supposed Crime that it was in pursuit of was - Yes, it was a Kangaroo Court:

I am certain he is guilty, Your honor, I do not know of what, but I am certain he is guilty of it.

[sugilite]

Has he - here is the legal definition:



I have highlighted the key part, where despite all the back-and-forth on this, you have yet to provide proof if it.


So why do they need to even report "gifts" if accepting millions is all good? Could it be anti corruption rules?




No, it sounds like every inner-party of every attempt at Communism throughout history.
Did it work, is the usa now a marxist nation?




The moment they had to reclassify a misdemenor with an expired statute of limitations to a Felony (via the way of in pursuit of a crime) but the jury was not unanimous on what the supposed Crime that it was in pursuit of was - Yes, it was a Kangaroo Court.
It is almost like they ignored your legal advice.
BTW, trump was unanimously found quilty by a jury of his peers and trump offered Zero evidence to show his innocence in the trial.

Off to jail for you trumpy, and so richly deserved too.

[pritch]

Ahhh, but Harlan is that special rare kind of billionaire that invests millions of dollars and time into his pocket judge with no intention of a return on his investment. Sounds totally reasonable and legit :laugh:

Yeah, the investment might not pay off. A judge having a financial relationship with a billionaire would recuse himself from any case involving one of the billionaire's companies. Wouldn't he?

[sugilite]

Yeah, the investment might not pay off. A judge having a financial relationship with a billionaire would recuse himself from any case involving one of the billionaire's companies. Wouldn't he?

I'm sure he would. Also as a judge that we are told is so scholarly he never makes an incorrect ruling, surely he would know to report gifts, did he?

[TheDemonLord]

So why do they need to even report "gifts" if accepting millions is all good? Could it be anti corruption rules?

Perhaps so their actions can be scrutinized.


Did it work, is the usa now a marxist nation?

BLM is a Marxist organization, operating exactly the way every Marxist entity (Nation or otherwise) operates.


It is almost like they ignored your legal advice.
BTW, trump was unanimously found quilty by a jury of his peers and trump offered Zero evidence to show his innocence in the trial.

Yes, almost like they ignored the law... Like a Banana republic operating a Kangaroo Court.

And yes, the Jury was unanimous that it was in the commission of a Crime - Can you advise exactly which Crime it was he was supposed to have done it in aid of.

The Jury was unable to agree on it - which, I dont know about you, would seem to be a pretty key pre-requisite for doing something in aid of a Crime that you prove beyond a reasonable doubt which crime it was in aid of.

Seems to me that if they cant agree on which Crime it was, there is reasonable doubt and the whole thing should have been dismissed. Only happened in a Blue state though...

[Grumph]

I'm sure he would. Also as a judge that we are told is so scholarly he never makes an incorrect ruling, surely he would know to report gifts, did he?

Walk away from engaging with the right wing troll.

You're just giving it oxygen.

[pritch]

Trump claims he spoke with Putin and asked hm not to escalate the situation in Ukraine.

Meanwhile in Moscow Kremlin sources say the conversation never happened. Russian TV shows Malania's old "modelling" pics.

This creates a conundrum. Two of the world's biggest bullshitters. Who to believe?

[onearmedbandit]

I was lucky to go through my parents separation at an age (around 10yrs old) that I could see the lies both parties told to justify their position on why I should live with them and not the other (my siblings were 6, 8 and 10yrs older). Some of my family were in my fathers camp, some in my mothers. Each camp believed in their cause and refused to see the others as it would be a sign of weakness. I'm just glad the media weren't reporting on it, telling me what they wanted me to hear.

Both Putin and Trump have their reasons for lying. Unfortunately unlike my situation, none of us get first hand experience or knowledge, we just have to rely on the biggest manipulators version of lies, half-truths, and the occasional nugget of truth. Life was simpler as a 10yr old lol.

[TheDemonLord]

I was lucky to go through my parents separation at an age (around 10yrs old) that I could see the lies both parties told to justify their position on why I should live with them and not the other (my siblings were 6, 8 and 10yrs older). Some of my family were in my fathers camp, some in my mothers. Each camp believed in their cause and refused to see the others as it would be a sign of weakness. I'm just glad the media weren't reporting on it, telling me what they wanted me to hear.

Both Putin and Trump have their reasons for lying. Unfortunately unlike my situation, none of us get first hand experience or knowledge, we just have to rely on the biggest manipulators version of lies, half-truths, and the occasional nugget of truth. Life was simpler as a 10yr old lol.

I think there is one thing we can all agree on:

Melania is pretty damn tasty. (https://www.google.com/search?sca_esv=ca29aa4f45991e49&rlz=1C1CHZN_enNZ1067NZ1069&sxsrf=ADLYWILHryQUVQdU1wA_FZKYKFAQzwcfvg:173146436 0647&q=melania+modeling+photos&udm=2&fbs=AEQNm0Aa4sjWe7Rqy32pFwRj0UkWd8nbOJfsBGGB5IQQO6 L3J5MIFhvnvU242yFxzEEp3BfRFWcyM5BvpTgNzM3vKj4sd0Yw vsXKiE93XEiAQkwpov3q73VlvX-t4vUzh_CK-Q9-yrbrCA6jPEVhd5czRbqluzhmH8XK9o0zlN-IQ8mQEpGRrtLGIAdoJ0yGhjmjrgJq5y1FNfejqu22xT_9bOL7d rs8ig&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjJi6Gxn9iJAxU2-jgGHbJWJ7QQtKgLegQIERAB&biw=1280&bih=631&dpr=1.5)

[onearmedbandit]

I think there is one thing we can all agree on:




I certainly can!

[pritch]

Trump has announced that he intends to appoint FOX "News" anchor Pete Hegseth Secretary of Defence. It's not as bad as it sounds. Hegseth is MAGA but has degrees from Princeton and Harvard. While he served in the National guard he had postings to Guantanamo Bay, Iraq, Afghanistan, and was twice decorated. He is currently a major in the Reserves. That might need to change?



Update: Having just seen a couple of clips featuring Hegseths views on hygiene I have to temper my qualified enthusiasm for his appointment as Defence Secretary. He claims he has not washed his hands in ten years. He showers infrequently and doesn't wash his feet. This grants him immunity from diseases apparently.

It could've been worse. Trump might have made him Secretary of Health.

[Dean]

Loving seeing the amount of diverse support for trump in this recent election.

Harris won woman by only 10 points, compared to her predecessors Biden at 15 and Hillary at 13.

Specifically, with Latino woman, 24 points compared to Hillary’s 44 points in 2016.

While Trump significantly increased his young woman vote (ages 18 to 29) from 33% in 2020 to 40%.

And won over Latino men by 10 points.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/nov/06/election-trump-harris-women-voters

[1/32 man]

TDL seem to have wormed his way out of accepting any point made by anyone....reminds me of someone.


I am willing to wait and see how all this pans out....with rights comes responsibility and drumpf has never been good at that.
"I didn't start it, I hardly know her, I hardly know him etc etc"

[TheDemonLord]

TDL seem to have wormed his way out of accepting any point made by anyone....reminds me of someone.

Not at all - I set a pretty low standard of evidence required for a certain claim. In case you missed it - to call Clarence Thomas corrupt, all I need is a single opinion, in 30 plus years of jurisprudence where he has ruled against the constitution in favor of his benefactors.

And to date - such a piece of evidence has not been produced.

As for the Trump Kangaroo trial - I will ask you - in order to upgrade the misdemeanor (that had passed the statute of limitations) to a Felony (and bypass that) - the misfilling of money had to be in aid of a Crime.

It seems to me (and large swathes of the legal community who are not partisan) that in order to prove the charge in aid of a crime that the prosecution must be able to demonstrate which crime it was done in aid of beyond all reasonable doubt.

Since the Jury could not agree on this point, their verdict of guilty makes no sense. Almost like they didn't care what the Law said and were determined to find him guilty at any cost....

Now - which Political movement was famous for using the courts and the law to go after their political opponents...


I am willing to wait and see how all this pans out....with rights comes responsibility and drumpf has never been good at that.
"I didn't start it, I hardly know her, I hardly know him etc etc"

Well, since Trump can't run for another term, My Hope is that he guts the bloated American federal government with avengence.

There is a Meme going around (and petitions) to make Brandon Herrera the head of the ATF - this is the kind of energy I want to see.

[onearmedbandit]

Ha Trump has made Musk along with former GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy head of DOGE, an obvious play on Musk's favourite cryptocoin. The Department Of Government Efficiency is not a government department as the name would suggest but rather they will work outside of the government advising the White House on spending issues.

[pritch]

Trump has announced that Matt Gaetz is to be US Attorney General. Gaetz who has multiple charges of sex with underage girls hanging over him. As AG he can likely make most of those disappear. One though arises out of a civil defamation action. That could be problematical.

It becomes apparent why Trump doesn't want Senate to debate his Cabinet appointments.

[onearmedbandit]

Trump has announced that Matt Gaetz is to be US Attorney General. Gaetz who has multiple charges of sex with underage girls hanging over him. As AG he can likely make most of those disappear. One though arises out of a civil defamation action. That could be problematical.

It becomes apparent why Trump doesn't want Senate to debate his Cabinet appointments.

When I read this I was like 'wtf', so I looked into it. I could only find an investigation into sex trafficking that the DOJ dropped without charging him at all (ofc this doesn't mean he's innocent) and no mention of any charges of sex with minors (accusations but not charges). Do you have any links to these charges to confirm what you posted? If there are then this is a huge blunder.

[TheDemonLord]

Ha Trump has made Musk along with former GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy head of DOGE, an obvious play on Musk's favourite cryptocoin. The Department Of Government Efficiency is not a government department as the name would suggest but rather they will work outside of the government advising the White House on spending issues.

I love everything about this.

The Memes.
The Shitposting.
The absolute Fuck You to the managerial types.

[pritch]

When I read this I was like 'wtf', so I looked into it. I could only find an investigation into sex trafficking that the DOJ dropped without charging him at all (ofc this doesn't mean he's innocent) and no mention of any charges of sex with minors (accusations but not charges). Do you have any links to these charges to confirm what you posted? If there are then this is a huge blunder.

The trafficking charge was one of the oddities of US law to do with crossing state lines for immoral purposes or similar. The particular woman, who was under age at the time, may have refused to give evidence. His former pal gave evidence, and there was proof that he had made payments to students via Venmo, but without the lady herself...

I only heard about the defamation thing on a lawyer's podcast this morning and I can't find the link yet.

There's this from only a month ago. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YnogunOTNxY&t=116s





Update:

Gaetz has resigned from Congress today and now we know why the indecent haste. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-UJfAdv613E

[sugilite]

TDL seem to have wormed his way out of accepting any point made by anyone....reminds me of someone.
TDL looks to extend and expand arguments, and conceding a point does not provide that for him
Let us look at his "low bar" for proving corruption in the thomas case.
He expects us to believe that thomas received millions in gifts (basically cash) and home loans being paid off, childs education paid for equaling many, many times the judges annual pay with no paybacks expected in return. And these were just the things that the investigative journalists found, you can well imagine the scope of all the shit that was hidden better that was not discovered.
TDL also expects us to believe that it slipped thomas mind to declare them - all this from a justice so legally learned that he has never made a bum ruling in 30 years, but somehow does not know the rules that apply to receiving "gifts".
The low bar tdl refers to is actually from him towards thomas or any other right leaning operative.

The reason he is absolutely desperate for us to provide an example of a case we may feel goes against the constitution is just him looking to open up more ways to create multi quoted responses and expand arguments that are based on legal opinions - in other words never ending arguments, which is his default aim and keeps him in his happy place.

I do admit I do from time to time get bored enough to indulge him as i get a perverse sense of fun watching him get ever more ridiculous in his responses. Yesterday My wife was driving the truck from Timaru to Invergargill, so I had time to engage him and give myself a laugh watching his ridiculousness being ever expanded with each post.

The thing in this thomas scenario, if you swapped out thomas for a far left leaning supreme court justice, his response would be very, very different. If congress were wanting to hang the corrupt leftie judge, tdl would be emailing them plans for a more efficient gallows, rather than creating outrageously implausible mulligans - as he does for anyone on the right team. You would not be seeing any of these ridiculous stances he takes when it comes to any right wing operatives being naughty. Naturally he will dispute this and will at times give a very small handful of examples where he has criticized right leaning baddies, but in reality those are very, very, VERY few and far between. Mere grains of sand in a large quarry full of rocks.

[onearmedbandit]

The trafficking charge was one of the oddities of US law to do with crossing state lines for immoral purposes or similar. The particular woman, who was under age at the time, may have refused to give evidence. His former pal gave evidence, and there was proof that he had made payments to students via Venmo, but without the lady herself...

I only heard about the defamation thing on a lawyer's podcast this morning and I can't find the link yet.

There's this from only a month ago. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YnogunOTNxY&t=116s

But you did say he had multiple charges of sex with a minor hanging over him. This clearly isn't the case, otherwise a simple search online would show this.

[Grumph]

But you did say he had multiple charges of sex with a minor hanging over him. This clearly isn't the case, otherwise a simple search online would show this.

All the details are being rehashed on many news sites currently.

After working for several years to get the House ethics committee investigation stopped - incl being the prime mover in getting McCarthy replaced as leader - he's
now sidestepped it completely by resigning to try and speed his confirmation as Attorney General.

In an ideal world his past would count against him and he wouldn't be confirmed.

But this is Trump's America where a convicted felon can be President - and another felon who's only just managed to escape conviction can head the DOJ.

I suggest you read some of his reported public statements. The man is a certifiable MAGA nutter. And dangerous.

[TheDemonLord]

TDL looks to extend and expand arguments, and conceding a point does not provide that for him
Let us look at his "low bar" for proving corruption in the thomas case.
He expects us to believe that thomas received millions in gifts (basically cash) and home loans being paid off, childs education paid for equaling many, many times the judges annual pay with no paybacks expected in return. And these were just the things that the investigative journalists found, you can well imagine the scope of all the shit that was hidden better that was not discovered.
TDL also expects us to believe that it slipped thomas mind to declare them - all this from a justice so legally learned that he has never made a bum ruling in 30 years, but somehow does not know the rules that apply to receiving "gifts".
The low bar tdl refers to is actually from him towards thomas or any other right leaning operative.

Which is all window dressing around the main point that there is no such example.


The thing in this thomas scenario, if you swapped out thomas for a far left leaning supreme court justice, his response would be very, very different. If congress were wanting to hang the corrupt leftie judge, tdl would be emailing them plans for a more efficient gallows, rather than creating outrageously implausible mulligans - as he does for anyone on the right team. You would not be seeing any of these ridiculous stances he takes when it comes to any right wing operatives being naughty. Naturally he will dispute this and will at times give a very small handful of examples where he has criticized right leaning baddies, but in reality those are very, very, VERY few and far between. Mere grains of sand in a large quarry full of rocks.

There are two halves here:

The first is that very often the critiques raised against the right are from hyper-partisan journalists and activists who distort the truth, wildly. And yes, I do dismiss a lot of them out-of-hand - because when looked into, they are blown way out of proportion. If a fraction of the investigative furor and fervor that had been applied to Trump et al was applied to the Left - The court would likely be backlogged for years.

Case in point - see the above discussion between Pritch and OAB - I have not waded into it - but we have gone from an accusation of raping a minor to allegedly taking a 17 year old over state lines - where the DoJ stopped investigating (due to lack of evidence).

Perhaps if the Media were a bit more honest, I would give their cries of Wolf a little more due - but I don't.

Secondly - there is the question of Actions. I expect Liberal SC Justices to vote along liberal lines. Classic case - RBG was highly critical of the reasoning behind Roe, but supported it steadfastly. I am not calling Sotomayer biased or corrupt.

I would call the NYC DA who publicly vowed to go after Trump and then got a 'conviction' that should have been dismissed - Her I would call Corrupt, not for any taking of Money (although I am sure she has been well compensated) but for her ACTIONS.

Every major decision I have read by Clarence - I see a deep historical understanding of the Constitution and a reverance for the ideals upon it is based: Individual Liberty (and all the problems that come with it).

If you feel this is a free pass - okay, I can't convince you otherwise - but I find it amusing that for someone you claim is completely corrupt - you cannot provide an example of him actually being corrupt.

[onearmedbandit]

I suggest you read some of his reported public statements. The man is a certifiable MAGA nutter. And dangerous.

I think you might be a little confused. I'm not defending the man, but Pritch said he has numerous charges of sex with minors hanging over him. I can't find any evidence of these charges. Once again, I'm not defending the man.

[TheDemonLord]

I think you might be a little confused. I'm not defending the man, but Pritch said he has numerous charges of sex with minors hanging over him. I can't find any evidence of these charges. Once again, I'm not defending the man.

But dont you see - when you dare to disagree with the mainstream media narrative - that is defending him...

Otherwise we would be able to smear people with lies in peace.

[pritch]

But you did say he had multiple charges of sex with a minor hanging over him. This clearly isn't the case, otherwise a simple search online would show this.

His buddy is doing eleven years for his part in the proceedings. Garland has proved to be ineffective. The House Ethics Committee had their ongoing inquiry due to be released in a couple of days.

In case you missed it elsewhere this should shed some light.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-UJfAdv613E

[onearmedbandit]

His buddy is doing eleven years for his part in the proceedings. Garland has proved to be ineffective. The House Ethics Committee had their ongoing inquiry due to be released in a couple of days.

In case you missed it elsewhere this should shed some light.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-UJfAdv613E

I watched the video. Accusations that definitely need to addressed. But no charges mentioned of having sex with a minor. You obviously know the difference between accusations and charges right? The guy might well be the biggest scum bag walking the face of the earth, but you claimed he had multiple charges of having sex with minors hanging over him. Do you accept that your claim was incorrect. If not, show me a video or article where it states he has been charged with having sex with minors.

[onearmedbandit]

But dont you see - when you dare to disagree with the mainstream media narrative - that is defending him...

Otherwise we would be able to smear people with lies in peace.

Thing is, I can't find anything in the mainstream media or otherwise that says he has been charged with sex with minors. Definitely for trafficking (although they were dropped even though his friend is currently serving time for the same thing) yes, but as far as charges relating to sex with a minor, nudda, not a thing. Pritch is normally good with his info so this surprises me.

[husaberg]

Trump has announced that Matt Gaetz is to be US Attorney General. Gaetz who has multiple charges of sex with underage girls hanging over him. As AG he can likely make most of those disappear. One though arises out of a civil defamation action. That could be problematical.
It becomes apparent why Trump doesn't want Senate to debate his Cabinet appointments.



But you did say he had multiple charges of sex with a minor hanging over him. This clearly isn't the case, otherwise a simple search online would show this.


Although I have no idea what Pritch knows or what is in the video
but I believe the term"Hanging over" means something is imminent or threatening. Google AI tends to agree



difficult or unpleasant is worrying someone because it could lead to something bad in the future. For example, "If an inquiry was hanging over his head, it is unlikely that the Home Office would want to appoint him".
Here are some synonyms for the phrase "hanging over someone": loom, threaten, menace, and impend

for instance if bob had been found guilty of murder, but not yet sentenced you could say he had a death penalty or life imprisonment hanging over him


I am open to correction but can't see where Pritch said he had been already charged?

[onearmedbandit]

I'm sure if Pritch felt that was the case Pritch would've said so himself. I'm happy to accept that as one interpretation but it wasn't one he proffered (yet). But it's still a stretch. I could accuse someone of child abuse, that would not indicate charges are hanging over them by the mere accusation. If the police were investigating, that still wouldn't infer chargers are imminent. If the police said, "we're following strong lines of inquiry and we are looking at possible charges", then yes I'd say charges are hanging over them.

[Grumph]

I'm sure if Pritch felt that was the case Pritch would've said so himself. I'm happy to accept that as one interpretation but it wasn't one he proffered (yet). But it's still a stretch. I could accuse someone of child abuse, that would not indicate charges are hanging over them by the mere accusation. If the police were investigating, that still wouldn't infer chargers are imminent. If the police said, "we're following strong lines of inquiry and we are looking at possible charges", then yes I'd say charges are hanging over them.

His position and the influence he could command were largely protecting him.
If the Ethics committe had tossed him out of the House,I suspect charges would have been laid.

If they do release the report - and now he's resigned they have no reason to - it could get interesting.

I'm picking the report will be leaked anyway. His confirmation in the job I'd put at no better than 50/50.

He's made enemies in the House GOP. It'll be interesting.

[onearmedbandit]

His position and the influence he could command were largely protecting him.


Possibly, but it didn't stop the DOJ from charging him with sex trafficking.

[pritch]

I watched the video. Accusations that definitely need to addressed. But no charges mentioned of having sex with a minor. You obviously know the difference between accusations and charges right? The guy might well be the biggest scum bag walking the face of the earth, but you claimed he had multiple charges of having sex with minors hanging over him. Do you accept that your claim was incorrect. If not, show me a video or article where it states he has been charged with having sex with minors.

There were two videos.

I didn't say he had been charged, he had the possibility of charges hanging over him this morning. The Justice Department did not press ahead with their charges but the charges have not vanished they are still "hanging". New evidence could kick start them.

The Ethics Committee would have options including throwing him out of Congress, or more likely, forwarding their evidence to the Justice Department for prosecution. Whatever Gaetz found out, it was enough to make him leave Congress immediately. We could know more about that soon, the report is apparently due next week. If the Committee doesn't release their report now that Gaetz is gone at least the unreacted court documents should become available.

I don't understand your question about sex with minors. The girl at the centre of the trafficking charge was 17 at the time which in the US is underage. How old the students were that he paid I have no idea. His leaving Congress in precipitate fashion might have saved him from the Ethics Committee and if he is confirmed AG he can make it all go away.

Now some of these events are apparently the subject of a defamation case but that's new to me whereas this other stuff has been simmering slowly for years.

[onearmedbandit]

Gaetz who has multiple charges of sex with underage girls hanging over him.

The way this is worded, "multiple charges of sex with underage girls" implies there is more than one "charge", when there are no charges at all, not even any 'hanging' over him. Like I say, the guy could be the biggest scum bag walking the face of the planet, but the wording implies something that is not reality it would seem. The trafficking charge is different to accusations of underage sex. And accusations do not mean charges are hanging over someone. If the guy is guilty then lock him up. But so far all we have is accusations.

[sugilite]

I saw a youtube video last year some time with a senior republican (not McCarthy) saying gates on numerous occasions tried showing him photos of naked young girls gates claimed to have had sex with. This is close to the bloody line and possibly illegal in the US - is this type of guy (when taking into consideration he to my mind at least is clearly enjoying some 2 tier justice immunity in that other matter) the type of man that should be holding such a position in the US justice system?

Personally I do not have a problem with trumps other picks thus far. But the gates one is abhorrent.

I would wager that any idiot being so keen to boast of these types of exploits has a full range of skeletons in the closet just waiting to be found. In other words, the perfect guy for trump to have in that position. gates will never say no to anything trump asks him.

[TheDemonLord]

Personally I do not have a problem with trumps other picks thus far.

Woah.

I uh....

Need to sit down...

I was not expecting that.


Someone pass me some smelling salts...

[onearmedbandit]

I saw a youtube video last year some time with a senior republican (not McCarthy) saying gates on numerous occasions tried showing him photos of naked young girls gates claimed to have had sex with. This is close to the bloody line and possibly illegal in the US - is this type of guy (when taking into consideration he to my mind at least is clearly enjoying some 2 tier justice immunity in that other matter) the type of man that should be holding such a position in the US justice system?

Personally I do not have a problem with trumps other picks thus far. But the gates one is abhorrent.

I would wager that any idiot being so keen to boast of these types of exploits has a full range of skeletons in the closet just waiting to be found. In other words, the perfect guy for trump to have in that position. gates will never say no to anything trump asks him.

If what is being said about him is true then he needs to be dealt with in a way fitting of a child sex offender and definitely should not be in any position of authority, not even in the jail kitchen.

[pete376403]

I saw a youtube video last year some time with a senior republican (not McCarthy) saying gates on numerous occasions tried showing him photos of naked young girls gates claimed to have had sex with. This is close to the bloody line and possibly illegal in the US - is this type of guy (when taking into consideration he to my mind at least is clearly enjoying some 2 tier justice immunity in that other matter) the type of man that should be holding such a position in the US justice system?

Personally I do not have a problem with trumps other picks thus far. But the gates one is abhorrent.

I would wager that any idiot being so keen to boast of these types of exploits has a full range of skeletons in the closet just waiting to be found. In other words, the perfect guy for trump to have in that position. gates will never say no to anything trump asks him.

Gates as in Bill, or Gaetz as in creep?

[Stylo]

Woah.

I uh....

Need to sit down...

I was not expecting that.


Someone pass me some smelling salts...

I would have thought that a brainwashed cult member like you wouldn't need smelling salts. You must be rejoicing in Trumps nomination of Matt Gaetz. A sex traffiker, accused of dealings with an under age girl.

Your Trump is also a convicted sexual offender. Apart from being a serial fraudster. And a serial liar.

And a weakling, He said he had 'Bone spurs' . Another lie from your Champion.

You must be proud of the sexual offenders DL.

[Laava]

If what is being said about him is true then he needs to be dealt with in a way fitting of a child sex offender and definitely should not be in any position of authority, not even in the jail kitchen.
Someone has to cook trunts food.
pigs in shit.

[F5 Dave]

https://www.stuff.co.nz/world-news/360488026/donald-trump-expected-pick-vaccine-sceptic-rfk-us-health-secretary

Wot a fucking loser.

Vaccine skeptic. I mean Jesus, a lot of people are alive, unfortunately him as well as a result of medical science.

Doesn't deserve to keep breathing the same air.

[TheDemonLord]

I would have thought that a brainwashed cult member like you wouldn't need smelling salts. You must be rejoicing in Trumps nomination of Matt Gaetz. A sex traffiker, accused of dealings with an under age girl.

Your Trump is also a convicted sexual offender. Apart from being a serial fraudster. And a serial liar.

And a weakling, He said he had 'Bone spurs' . Another lie from your Champion.

You must be proud of the sexual offenders DL.

You alright there - seem to be a little bit agitated...

On Matt Gaetz - I have very little opinion - I dont follow him nor have I heard enough about his opinions.

But as for Weakling - A 70+ year old man Gets shot in the head, 1-2 cm away from a permanent lights out, gets up, blood streaming down his face and shows absolute defiance.

Not really the actions of a Weakling.

[TheDemonLord]

https://www.stuff.co.nz/world-news/360488026/donald-trump-expected-pick-vaccine-sceptic-rfk-us-health-secretary

Wot a fucking loser.

Vaccine skeptic. I mean Jesus, a lot of people are alive, unfortunately him as well as a result of medical science.

Doesn't deserve to keep breathing the same air.

There is a lot of Framing there... I dont agree with him on a number of things - however, I do believe he has a genuine interest in Americas health.

For example - he is critical of highly processed foods, does that have an impact on a Nations health, Maybe.
He is critical of Pharmaceutical companies (even someone who marvels at the wonders of modern medicine would not be remiss of having one keen eye on said industry).

Worst case scenario - I don't think the US can get any more unhealthy.
Best case scenario - The US gets healthier.

I do, however, find it hilarious that a former Democrat, from one of the most famous Democrat dynasties is now getting the Smear treatment because he is working with Trump.

[Stylo]

You alright there - seem to be a little bit agitated...

On Matt Gaetz - I have very little opinion - I dont follow him nor have I heard enough about his opinions.

But as for Weakling - A 70+ year old man Gets shot in the head, 1-2 cm away from a permanent lights out, gets up, blood streaming down his face and shows absolute defiance.

Not really the actions of a Weakling.

Not agitated. Never have been my friend. The weakling that had his ear clipped by a bullet showed defiance only because he was so stupid he did'nt realise how close he was to being killed.

He's always going to be a weakling in a factual sense virtue of his Bone spurs bullshit. That was the first of his many lies that cult followers like you seem to ignore.

Matt Gaetz you promote by association, don't deny it. You're a Maga man. Therefore you abide by anything your idiot says is the correct thing to do. Matt Gaetz is a sex traffikker, you love Trump , he loves Matt Gaetz so ... you must

love him too. That's how stupid works. Sexual offenders unite Demon Lord ? Trump knows all about that.

We haven't started on RFK Junior yet

[sugilite]

Gates as in Bill, or Gaetz as in creep?
It's open gates for trump to abuse the judicial system. But yes, is gaetz the creep.


In other news, that gabbard sounds like really bad news. The former republican peace czar john bolton does not seem to like or rate her.
https://edition.cnn.com/2024/11/14/politics/video/tulsi-gabbard-director-of-national-intelligence-trump-bolton-digvid

Neither does this former security council member .........
Looking at the video thumbnail looks like gabbards makeup is a dead match for trumps shade of orange. Did she have a cheek to cheeks session with the "don" to get the position?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nSkKGWMeymw

Incoming text wall in 5.....4......3......2.....1....... :laugh:

[Berries]

But as for Weakling - A 70+ year old man Gets shot in the head.
You're beginning to stretch the truth a bit like your dear leader.

The man who got shot in the head was 50.

[1/32 man]

But as for Weakling - A 70+ year old man Gets shot in the head, 1-2 cm away from a permanent lights out, gets up, blood streaming down his face and shows absolute defiance.

Not really the actions of a Weakling.

He is scared of birds....I saw it.

[1/32 man]

There is a lot of Framing there... I dont agree with him on a number of things - however, I do believe he has a genuine interest in Americas health.

For example - he is critical of highly processed foods, does that have an impact on a Nations health, Maybe.
He is critical of Pharmaceutical companies (even someone who marvels at the wonders of modern medicine would not be remiss of having one keen eye on said industry).

Worst case scenario - I don't think the US can get any more unhealthy.
Best case scenario - The US gets healthier.

I do, however, find it hilarious that a former Democrat, from one of the most famous Democrat dynasties is now getting the Smear treatment because he is working with Trump.

Kennedy saying he is going to boot out the elites.....bit of an oxymoron.

[pritch]

Wot a fucking loser.

Vaccine skeptic. I mean Jesus, a lot of people are alive, unfortunately him as well as a result of medical science.



About twenty people in Samoa are not alive as a direct result of his anti vax campaign there. So that he didn't have to feel too guilty he rationalised that the deaths were caused by a bad batch of vaccine. That'd be the vaccine that hadn't been administered because of him.

He said a worm was eating his brain but it had died.
He reportedly came across a dead whale so he cut the head off and took it home. As you do.
He found a dead bear cub so he took it to Central Park and staged a scene with a push bike.

He's in Trump's Cabinet? He'll fit right in.

[R650R]

It's open gates for trump to abuse the judicial system. But yes, is gaetz the creep.


In other news, that gabbard sounds like really bad news. The former republican peace czar john bolton does not seem to like or rate her.

Neither does this former security council member .........
Looking at the video thumbnail looks like gabbards makeup is a dead match for trumps shade of orange. Did she have a cheek to cheeks session with the "don" to get the position?


Incoming text wall in 5.....4......3......2.....1....... :laugh:

Maybe there’s something in the water???? She’s got some great charisma and could be the first female president of USA. Young enough to manoeuvre into right positions in timely manner and young enough to connect with next generation. Who else in politics can surf and GoPro themselves going action sports??? Home run right there

Jordan Peterson recently interviewed her and put her on sport bringing up the subject of the worst that could happen to women POW an uncomfortable question but she kept her composure.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DvM4EmFxMBw

[R650R]

This thread has been going for four years. But at current rate it will double in size to 1000 pages in 12 months time. Trump isn’t reading kiwibiker, our opinions have zero influence, it’s all just free entertainment.The world will still be here in four years time.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NbjXCP1AT-c

[TheDemonLord]

Not agitated. Never have been my friend. The weakling that had his ear clipped by a bullet showed defiance only because he was so stupid he did'nt realise how close he was to being killed.

He's always going to be a weakling in a factual sense virtue of his Bone spurs bullshit. That was the first of his many lies that cult followers like you seem to ignore.

Matt Gaetz you promote by association, don't deny it. You're a Maga man. Therefore you abide by anything your idiot says is the correct thing to do. Matt Gaetz is a sex traffikker, you love Trump , he loves Matt Gaetz so ... you must

love him too. That's how stupid works. Sexual offenders unite Demon Lord ? Trump knows all about that.

We haven't started on RFK Junior yet

When you have your ear winged by an assassin, then we can see how you react and see if Trumps reaction was that of a weakling.

As for Matt Gaetz, Just because I support Trump does not mean I agree with every single thing he does. It is just I ignore the outright lies and gross over-representations by a hostile media.

Is Matt Gaetz a Sex Trafficer - I do not know - I do know he has not been convicted of it yet, and so any such claims are, at best - an accusation.

Given how one side of the aisle curiously seems to find any number of Women to make accusations against people they do not like - you will forgive me for being a touch skeptical.

However, if there is evidence (actual evidence) that he did what he has been accused of - then into the Woodchipper he goes.

[TheDemonLord]

It's open gates for trump to abuse the judicial system. But yes, is gaetz the creep.


In other news, that gabbard sounds like really bad news. The former republican peace czar john bolton does not seem to like or rate her.
https://edition.cnn.com/2024/11/14/politics/video/tulsi-gabbard-director-of-national-intelligence-trump-bolton-digvid

Neither does this former security council member .........
Looking at the video thumbnail looks like gabbards makeup is a dead match for trumps shade of orange. Did she have a cheek to cheeks session with the "don" to get the position?

Incoming text wall in 5.....4......3......2.....1....... :laugh:

No wall of text needed - I just find it amusing that you side with someone who was pro Iraq war, against someone who actually fought in that war.

[TheDemonLord]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DvM4EmFxMBw

Lord have mercy upon me.

[pete376403]

Good article on ProPublica about a virtual unknown named Leonard Leo and how, over a period of time he has created a machine that stacks the US Judiciary, all the way to to top. Read alongside current thinking that, Alito and Thomas will retire, suitable young-ish and conservative appointees will take their place, and the US course is basically set for the next 20 years or more. Wouldn't surprise me at all if, after say six - nine months folowing trumps coronation, he has an "incapacitating medical event" causing JD to take over and the GOP can get on with instituting Project 2025.


https://www.propublica.org/article/we-dont-talk-about-leonard-leo-supreme-court-supermajority

[Stylo]

When you have your ear winged by an assassin, then we can see how you react and see if Trumps reaction was that of a weakling.

As for Matt Gaetz, Just because I support Trump does not mean I agree with every single thing he does. It is just I ignore the outright lies and gross over-representations by a hostile media.

Is Matt Gaetz a Sex Trafficer - I do not know - I do know he has not been convicted of it yet, and so any such claims are, at best - an accusation.

Given how one side of the aisle curiously seems to find any number of Women to make accusations against people they do not like - you will forgive me for being a touch skeptical.

However, if there is evidence (actual evidence) that he did what he has been accused of - then into the Woodchipper he goes.

You support your cult leader because you have to Demon Lord.

You're a signed up cult member is why. No going out now, no retracting. You're also a supporter of Matt Gaetz by association to your idiot, this is the pledge you've taken to support the weakling you've signed up to. The guy that lied about his bone spurs.

You are obviously ok with the sexual misconduct of the both of them too.

You can be sceptical indeed, I can only align your Trump ideaology to something akin with Scientology. Heaven help the USA when Trump takes the reins.

Nothing good will become of his dictatorship. It's already taking form.

[TheDemonLord]

You support your cult leader because you have to Demon Lord.

You're a signed up cult member is why. No going out now, no retracting. You're also a supporter of Matt Gaetz by association to your idiot, this is the pledge you've taken to support the weakling you've signed up to. The guy that lied about his bone spurs.

You are obviously ok with the sexual misconduct of the both of them too.

You can be sceptical indeed, I can only align your Trump ideaology to something akin with Scientology. Heaven help the USA when Trump takes the reins.

Nothing good will become of his dictatorship. It's already taking form.

Cool Story Bro, but you might want to give the projector back to the school.

[1/32 man]

When you have your ear winged by an assassin

I thought the assasin you spoke of was just some mixed up angry dumb person and here you are suggesting otherwise.
Killer maybe, assasin no way.

And can you explain how quickly the drumpf ear healed so quickly? was it the magic tampon he applied?

[pritch]

This arrangement whereby Senators, Congressmen and Judges under ethics investigation can avoid any penalty by resigning seems a bit loose. Trump's sister was a Federal Court Judge. Following the New York Times story on the Trump family's long history of tax evasion she resigned to avoid a judicial ethics enquiry.

Republicans are currently claiming that it would be unprecedented for the results of the Gaetz investigation to be made public. That's not true. The Ethics Committee has previously released reports on investigations into politicians from both parties.

[Grumph]

I'd put money on it being leaked. Gaetz has few friends left.

[TheDemonLord]

I thought the assasin you spoke of was just some mixed up angry dumb person and here you are suggesting otherwise.
Killer maybe, assasin no way.

And can you explain how quickly the drumpf ear healed so quickly? was it the magic tampon he applied?

Are we seriously going into assassination denial territory?

[Dean]

Watching UFC 309 (mixed martial art combat sport) and I see Donald Trump, Elon Musk, Kennedy and Vivek front and second row.

Red blooded males turning up to watch some gladiator style combat!

Interesting to see no dems in sight.

[pritch]

Watching UFC 309 (mixed martial art combat sport) and I see Donald Trump, Elon Musk, Kennedy and Vivek front and second row.

Red blooded males turning up to watch some gladiator style combat!



Your definition of 'red blooded males' is distinctly weird. Watching doesn't make anybody anything, except possibly a voyuer.

[Berries]

He likes sweaty men in shorts.





Allegedly.

[Laava]

He grabs them by the perineum.


Alledgedly

[1/32 man]

Are we seriously going into assassination denial territory?

No, we are going into assasin denial....can to tell the difference?



Red blooded males turning up to watch some gladiator style combat!


I thought all men were red blooded

[F5 Dave]

Even Marmosets are red blooded. And irresistibly cuter.

[TheDemonLord]

No, we are going into assasin denial....can to tell the difference?

Can you?

Assassinate: To murder (an important person) for political or religious reasons.

That would absolutely make it an attempted assassination.

And assassinations are carried out by an assassin.

In this case an attempted assassin and thankfully a terrible one.

But the point still stands.

[pritch]

Can you?

Assassinate: To murder (an important person) for political or religious reasons.



It's a long stretch to claim the shooter had a political or religious reason. He had Googled Biden and Garland among others. His reason for shooting at Trump appears to be simply that Trump came to town.

[TheDemonLord]

It's a long stretch to claim the shooter had a political or religious reason. He had Googled Biden and Garland among others. His reason for shooting at Trump appears to be simply that Trump came to town.

So...

Wanting to shoot Political figures is not a political reason...

That is what you are trying to argue, right?

[sugilite]

No wall of text needed - I just find it amusing that you side with someone who was pro Iraq war, against someone who actually fought in that war.Show me in that post where I'm supporting anyone? (and really my calling bolton a peace czar did set the tone of my post) However, as with most trump supporters you "forget" you are supporting a draft dodger. Now that is worthy of amusement in light of your posts content. For all your libertarian posturing, it is totally trumped by your tribe before truth maga rhetoric.

Sent from my CPH2499 using Tapatalk

[pritch]

So...

Wanting to shoot Political figures is not a political reason...

That is what you are trying to argue, right?

Near enough. It seems he just wanted to shoot someone famous and one came along. The family were Trump supporters which sorta negates any left wing radical motive.

[TheDemonLord]

Show me in that post where I'm supporting anyone? (and really my calling bolton a peace czar did set the tone of my post) However, as with most trump supporters you "forget" you are supporting a draft dodger. Now that is worthy of amusement in light of your posts content. For all your libertarian posturing, it is totally trumped by your tribe before truth maga rhetoric.

Sent from my CPH2499 using Tapatalk

Draft dodger or not - we had 4 years of relative peace and stability. Middle East was quiet, Ukraine wasnt on fire etc.

Less death, less war - that is the bit I support.

And despite him not being in the whitehouse yet - there are rumours that certain groups and people are looking to make a deal and stop various conflicts.

[sugilite]

Draft dodger or not - we had 4 years of relative peace and stability. Middle East was quiet, Ukraine wasnt on fire etc.

Less death, less war - that is the bit I support.

And despite him not being in the whitehouse yet - there are rumours that certain groups and people are looking to make a deal and stop various conflicts.Thank you for your picture perfect maga rhetoric response. At least you acknowledged he is a draft dodger and by that definition if course, a coward.

Sent from my CPH2499 using Tapatalk

[pritch]

Trump has reportedly bypassed FBI security checks for his Cabinet appointments. That's not surprising, he did that last time, and several (most?) of them couldn't pass a background check anyway. Despite that he will order that they be given top secret clearances thereby weakening US security. One concern is that other countries will limit the intelligence that they share with the US. And so they should.

[TheDemonLord]

Thank you for your picture perfect maga rhetoric response. At least you acknowledged he is a draft dodger and by that definition if course, a coward.

I dunno about the last part - seemed pretty calm under fire, continued with his campaign despite additional threats against him. Seemed pretty badass to me.

You say its a rhetoric response - but pointing to an objective fact and saying "This is why I like him and why I disagree with this characterization" - not sure where we can go from here.

[sugilite]

Near enough. It seems he just wanted to shoot someone famous and one came along. The family were Trump supporters which sorta negates any left wing radical motive.I have a slightly different take on this one Pritch. I read a lot about the background of this guy, from school colleagues, teachers and so on. Among other things he always took the political right side in school debates, often the only student to do so. Comically he was also such a bad shot he was not able to qualify to be in the school shooting team. Initially he was a trump fan then woke up and saw trump and the US political system for the farce that it is. From there, yes he did Google both biden and trump, and as timing had it, trump was the first to visit this guys home town.

My 5 cents worth on the actual "shooting" is yes, despite my research showing that ears are a bodily part that does indeed heal quite quickly, the fact that there was no wound to be seen after 5 short days despite that much blood in that short space of time does not add up for me. I have zero idea of what the truth actually is, but yeah, somthing is off on that whole deal.

Sent from my CPH2499 using Tapatalk

[Grumph]

The man's as vain as any old time Hollywood actor. Makeup and a bit of putty covering the damage.

The poor bastards behind him who died are the ones I'm sorry for.

[nerrrd]

Watching UFC 309 (mixed martial art combat sport) and I see Donald Trump, Elon Musk, Kennedy and Vivek front and second row.

Red blooded males turning up to watch some gladiator style combat!

Interesting to see no dems in sight.

Might have been some blue-blooded spiders there as well, maybe some snails (was it outside?) but probably not any horseshoe crabs, octopi, or lobsters.

Kiwibiker is a learning opportunity.

[sugilite]

I dunno about the last part - seemed pretty calm under fire, continued with his campaign despite additional threats against him. Seemed pretty badass to me.

Here is my take on bravery based on my own experiences and perception. I downgraded from a RZ500 to a rgv250 on (bad advice) in order to start my motorcycle racing career. Around that time I met a riding road riding partner who kept up with me. He unfortunately had a rg500 and would frustratingly for me dissappear from me every time a long straight appeared. Finally I purchased a GSXR100 which I actually did start my racing career on, and my riding partner purchased one too. On our first ride together on our new and equal bikes, we came over the rimutakas. As we were leaving Featherston on the long straight to Martinborough, I thought right, time to show my buddy what's what and opened the taps. At near red line in top, north of 270 kph, a ute pulled out and crossed a T intersection right in front of me. I braked and locked up the rear helping me skew the bike sideways enough, and thus passed by the back of his ute so close my mirror got trashed. My reaction was to re pin the throttle so my mate would not get by. Similar reaction when I smashed a sheep off the road at over 160. Both times my life was on the line. Both times I aggressively kept going. My point in all this is - if say im faced with knarly heights my legs turn to jelly and if I were a financial manager in charge of investing millions of other people's money I would be extremely nervous. In my opinion bravery is not so much of a thing, it is more just down to how individuals are wired effecting what scares them and what does not. Hence trumps reaction to the near miss does not impress me in the same way as it does you.



Sent from my CPH2499 using Tapatalk

[Berries]

Slow down Rossi.

[R650R]

We’ve all had those types of moments that are actually over so fast (even though the brain goes into micro slow motion analysis) that you don’t actually have time to be scared. Where as say your just descending a steep down hill in rain with someone tailgating you and hit realise there’s diesel all over the road, that you have time be scared of consequences perhaps.
Crash near misses don’t compare to having been shot at and knowing there’s other nutters out there with same intent.
Whatever we don’t like about Trump he still fronted the stage many more times knowing that his near miss could have just been a warning shot from the Elite to stand down from running.

[pritch]

Whatever we don’t like about Trump he still fronted the stage many more times knowing that his near miss could have just been a warning shot from the Elite to stand down from running.

There's something I hadn't considered - that it was a warning. The US is a weird place, about to get much weirder, but that still seems a bit far out.

At most of his rallies he was behind a bullet proof screen. There would still be brief periods he was unprotected though.

[1/32 man]

we had 4 years of relative peace and stability

aaahhh wait on....throw a pandemic into the relative peace and stability will you....

and take a look at the drumpf response while you are there....Mr Makebelieve at work me thinks.

[Kickaha]

his near miss could have just been a warning shot from the Elite to stand down from running.

The non existent "elite" wouldn't give a shit who was in power, they would be beyond anyone's reach regardless

[F5 Dave]

Pity Netflix 'Inside Job' didn't get another season. It exposed how the shadow government was run.
In cartoon format to protect those concerned
.

I think they were ShutDown. Pass it on.

[pritch]

Comically he was also such a bad shot he was not able to qualify to be in the school shooting team.

I'd read this previously and since you reminded me I was thinking about it. Initially I was surprised to read that the team had rejected him. The normal response to a bad shooter would be to try and improve them through coaching. If, however, they were an absolute safety hazard they would be asked to try another sport and I suspect that is more likely what happened in his case.

[HenryDorsetCase]

Watching UFC 309 (mixed martial art combat sport) and I see Donald Trump, Elon Musk, Kennedy and Vivek front and second row.

Red blooded males turning up to watch some gladiator style combat!

Interesting to see no dems in sight.

LOL, sure. Or, a bunch of closeted homosexuals gather to watch a bunch of well built sweaty men wrasslin'. They wear waterproof shorts so no one sees the happy endings.

Also LOL @ UFC. Betcha watche Joke Poor "vs" Tyson too.

Wake me up when they bring back Christians v Lions. Thats a sport I could get into.

[F5 Dave]

Apparently that's an old trope and hardly happened, besides which the Romans became christianised and made it virtually compulsory in their empire thus doing more to spread the lie further than even before or since. It would have remained a fringe Jewish cult or likely replaced by the next thing.

[HenryDorsetCase]

Apparently that's an old trope and hardly happened, besides which the Romans became christianised and made it virtually compulsory in their empire thus doing more to spread the lie further than even before or since. It would have remained a fringe Jewish cult or likely replaced by the next thing.

I've seen GLADIATOR and BEN HUR, so I think I know better than 2000 years of history and scholarly endeavour. Plus to verify my research I spent an entire toilet break looking at Youtube. So I clearly know what I'm on about. In fact I am overqualified for this thread.

[sugilite]

OK, had to laugh at this - how far off the truth is it actually?


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=07KHdLsofbY

[pritch]

OK, had to laugh at this - how far off the truth is it actually?


That's clever. Trump will hate it if he sees it. A couple more like that and Trump will send Musk back to Twitter, or Tesla, or SpaceX, or anywhere but Mar A Lago.

[F5 Dave]

Ah come now, if you can't beat em.. .

This arrived in the mail today . From China, which amuses me. And no money will have gone to Donald of course.

Within the budget of these special Christmas presents.

I'm going to be popular when she sees this.

[Dean]

Ah come now, if you can't beat em.. .

This arrived in the mail today.

I'm going to be popular when she sees this.

Good boy…

Wear it with pride.

[HenryDorsetCase]

Good boy…

Wear it with pride.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IslF_EyhMzg

Indeed. Quite.

[sugilite]

The maga mob are DESPERATELY attempting to hide this unnderage statutory rape report on gaetz. Which if course means the evidence against gaetz is damming, likely even more so than the witness testimony released by a hacker yesterday.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hhaaGGXlf00

Furthermore to this issue, here Marge tells the world that their are plenty of other scum bag magas that have done deals paying off complainants using tax payer money.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/nov/19/trump-cabinet-gaetz-marjorie-taylor-greene

This is what America voted for, multiple sex offending walking vomit bags to run the country. :no:

[Laava]

Make America Gay Again.

[pete376403]

The maga mob are DESPERATELY attempting to hide this unnderage statutory rape report on gaetz. Which if course means the evidence against gaetz is damming, likely even more so than the witness testimony released by a hacker yesterday.
[
Furthermore to this issue, here Marge tells the world that their are plenty of other scum bag magas that have done deals paying off complainants using tax payer money.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/nov/19/trump-cabinet-gaetz-marjorie-taylor-greene

This is what America voted for, multiple sex offending walking vomit bags to run the country. :no:


https://www.nytimes.com/2024/11/20/us/politics/matt-gaetz-venmo-payments-sex.html?campaign_id=190&emc=edit_ufn_20241120&instance_id=140174&nl=from-the-times&regi_id=96860793&segment_id=183709&user_id=8d2e2536c983806372541db8cf28bb3d

[pritch]

The maga mob are DESPERATELY attempting to hide this unnderage statutory rape report on gaetz. Which if course means the evidence against gaetz is damming,

Other Congressmen have said that Gaetz was in the habit of showing photos of his parties to his colleagues. There are reports that the Ethics Committee has some of the photographs and since half of the committee are Democrats, and some of the Republicans disapprove of his behaviour, odds are the photos will eventually become more or less public.

We can hope that the Senate Republicans do their job but their record does not inspire confidence.

[neels]

Other Congressmen have said that Gaetz was in the habit of showing photos of his parties to his colleagues. There are reports that the Ethics Committee has some of the photographs and since half of the committee are Democrats, and some of the Republicans disapprove of his behaviour, odds are the photos will eventually become more or less public.

We can hope that the Senate Republicans do their job but their record does not inspire confidence.

And it's over, before it began.

https://www.stuff.co.nz/world-news/360495840/matt-gaetz-withdraws-donald-trumps-pick-us-attorney-gaeneral

The nomination of Linda McMahon for education secretary still stands though, and at least it's her husband not her that's been accused of sex trafficking, complete with wikipedia page.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vince_McMahon_sex_trafficking_scandal

[pete376403]

There's always another one - https://www.rawstory.com/hegseth-police-report-comments/?utm_source=Iterable&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Nov.21.2024_5.16pm
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/11/21/pete-hegseth-monterey-police-report/?utm_campaign=wp_post_most&utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter&carta-url=https%3A%2F%2Fs2.washingtonpost.com%2Fcar-ln-tr%2F3fb5bad%2F673f68c82a32e422f6c4e61d%2F65c1ea96 faddfc25ca3a9258%2F13%2F58%2F673f68c82a32e422f6c4e 61d

[pritch]

My initial impression was that Hegseth was not the worst of Trumps nominations but it seems that was premature. It was apparently he who convinced Trump to pardon convicted war criminals. The details of his alleged sexual assault show a serious lack of judgement at a minimum and an inability to hold his drink. His white supremacist views would have allowed him to fit right in to trump's cabinet though. Photographs of Hegseth sans shirt show some "interesting" tats.

[sugilite]

My initial impression was that Hegseth was not the worst of Trumps nominations but it seems that was premature. It was apparently he who convinced Trump to pardon convicted war criminals. The details of his alleged sexual assault show a serious lack of judgement at a minimum and an inability to hold his drink. His white supremacist views would have allowed him to fit right in to trump's cabinet though. Photographs of Hegseth sans shirt show some "interesting" tats.

He should be a shoe in, he seems to pass the first two requisites to have trump nominate them.
1. Have past or ongoing sexual allegations against you. Extra points for paying off the complainant.
2. Be a television personality.
***
***
***
***
***
97. Be qualified to do the job.

[neels]

Pam Bondi, the replacement nomination for Matt Gaetz, seems ideally qualified to work in a Trump led organisation.


Beginning in 2010, Bondi's association with Scientology and the multiple fundraisers that wealthy Scientologists have organized for Bondi's political campaigns have provoked controversy. Bondi has justified those contacts and her speeches before leading Scientologists by arguing that the group wishes to help her crack down on human trafficking.

In 2011, Bondi also pressured two attorneys to resign who were investigating Lender Processing Services, a financial services company now known as Black Knight, following the robosigning scandal, as part of their work for Florida's Economic Crime Division. After the resignations, Bondi received campaign contributions from Lender Processing Services, though she denied any quid pro quo.

In 2013, Bondi persuaded Governor Rick Scott to postpone a scheduled execution because it conflicted with a fundraising event. After questions were raised in the media, Bondi apologized for moving the execution date.

In 2013, Bondi also received criticism following a campaign donation from Donald Trump. Prior to the donation, Bondi had received at least 22 fraud complaints regarding Trump University. A spokesperson for Bondi announced that her office was considering joining a lawsuit initiated by Eric Schneiderman, the Attorney General of New York, regarding tax fraud potential charges against Trump. Four days later, however, a political action committee established by Bondi to support her re-election, And Justice for All, received a $25,000 donation from the Donald J. Trump Foundation, after which Bondi declined to join the lawsuit against Trump University. Both Bondi and Trump defended the propriety of the nonprofit foundation's political donation.

[onearmedbandit]

It just comes across as a very slow moving never ending train wreck.

[Laava]

https://youtu.be/yFeWw2YFXlM?si=jS74byQq-dgSi3dk

[pritch]

The first trans woman, Sarah McBride, has been elected to the US Congress. So of course Nancy Mace (R) SC, is writing a bill stating that people in Congress must use the toilets of the gender they were assigned at birth. Apparently every Representative in Congress has a suite of offices which includes a toilet. So there are at least 435 shit houses in Congress which sounds about right. *




* That number does not include the 100 plus in the Senate.

[Kickaha]

So I don't quite understand, is he draining the swamp or refilling it to overflowing? :laugh:

[onearmedbandit]

This could almost be a thread of its own, or go in the Musk thread, but I decided here will do fine. Quite an interesting watch.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/GZ5XN_mJE8Y?si=GRABIUxt6vu0v9Ie" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>

[pritch]

So I don't quite understand, is he draining the swamp or refilling it to overflowing? :laugh:

He is the swamp.

[husaberg]

So I don't quite understand, is he draining the swamp or refilling it to overflowing? :laugh:


He is the swamp.

I muse that by draining the swamp he can fit in more fetid swamp creatures like himself.

[pritch]

This could almost be a thread of its own, or go in the Musk thread, but I decided here will do fine. Quite an interesting watch.


That was interesting indeed. Initially I was thinking I knew most of it anyway. Toward the end though some of it was riveting. I'd given up on Twitter because I wasn't seeing posts from people I was interested in. Just an endless succession of Trump aligned nonsense or worse, the dubious thoughts of Elon. And that was way before the election.

[pritch]

How things work in DC - if you don't really want them to work?

Y'all will be aware that Trump named Musk and Ramaswamy to head DOGE, a panel to seek out government waste. DOGE is not an offical arm of Government, only Congress can create government departments. That means there is a requirement for a congressional representative to link DOGE to the inner workings of Congress. The selection of that person will provide a hint as to how seriously Congress are taking this. The Speaker of the House, Mike Johnson, and the Chair of the Oversight Committee, James Comer, have appointed..... drum roll.... Marjorie Taylor Greene.

That's Marge who announced that Californian forest fires were caused by Jewish space lasers, the Democrats are controlling the hurricanes, of "peach tree dishes" and the German "Gazpacho police" among other things.

[sugilite]

drum roll.... Marjorie Taylor Greene.

That's Marge who announced that Californian forest fires were caused by Jewish space lasers, of "peach tree dishes" and the German "Gazpacho police" among other things.

We may need to ease up on greene since she has turned over a new leaf and now become a truthsayer :devil2:
I'm really looking forward to greene bringing a transparent review of this corruption by gop senators. :laugh:

https://media.zenfs.com/en/the_new_republic_521/141b2c2a434b9dd73758dfdc375ba8f9

[pritch]

Madison Cawthorn made mention of drug fuelled sex orgies in DC. He may have known that of which he spoke.

[husaberg]

Madison Cawthorn made mention of drug fuelled sex orgies in DC. He may have known that of which he spoke.

Well that's a different sort of Congress.... but hey when in Rome...:killingme

[HenryDorsetCase]

Well that's a different sort of Congress.... but hey when in Rome...:killingme

How does that go? Oh yeah "When in Rome, watch the motherfucker burn". I remember now.

[Laava]

https://www.ducatiforum.co.uk/proxy.php?image=https%3A%2F%2Fcdn.bsky.app%2Fimg%2 Ffeed_thumbnail%2Fplain%2Fdid%3Aplc%3Agkgmduxh722o cstroyi75gbg%2Fbafkreiau56576hyhfgklicdi3igp6xscbx tfffagv4ft7i4jxhmcwmxdra%40jpeg&hash=e6e4a466687c8d8f8f8e6c8694876600https://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/blob:https://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/94213182-47a6-40fd-9d73-edd7b0d6d12f

[pritch]

I did not see this coming.

https://edition.cnn.com/2024/11/21/business/video/donald-trump-guitar-merchandise-sale-cntm-digvid

[Laava]

They would be easy to make. One string and no frets, fucking monotonous like him.

[1/32 man]

Is there a tarrif on that?

[sugilite]

Pretty much - yep.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IcTeAinPtkQ

[HenryDorsetCase]

I did not see this coming.

https://edition.cnn.com/2024/11/21/business/video/donald-trump-guitar-merchandise-sale-cntm-digvid

2 things

1. Do those bro-country assholes that worship him even play Gibson ?

2. Tay Tay rescued Gibson for this bullshit?


Jeeves - Hand me my Telecaster, at once!

[Dean]

Elon is going to make some awesome moves in DOGE, his resume speaks for itself.
Watch this space!

[pritch]

Elon is going to make some awesome moves in DOGE, his resume speaks for itself.
Watch this space!

That's not supposed to be how it works. DOGE can do nothing but make recommendations.

[Dean]

That's not supposed to be how it works. DOGE can do nothing but make recommendations.

As I said - watch this space

[sugilite]

As I said - watch this space
Heyya Dean.

I do not feel billionaires, with at least one of which have a keen interest in gaining even more Government contracts than they already have should be let anywhere near Government spending coffers. These people are not known to have altruistic tendencies in their nature.

I know you are allergic to answering any questions I ask you, but hey - what gives you faith that these 2 billionaires have the integrity to do a good job for the American people?

[Kb2020dope]

Elon is going to make some awesome moves in DOGE, his resume speaks for itself.
Watch this space!

Hi Dean,

I definitely agree with elon's amazing resume!

Mate what's with the tu tangata stuff?

[onearmedbandit]

Moderators Note - I have removed a post from this thread for going off topic and handed out an infraction to the author of the post. Fuck around and find out is the go here. If you don't like the consequences don't fuck around.

[Kb2020dope]

Moderators Note - I have removed a post from this thread for going off topic and handed out an infraction to the author of the post. Fuck around and find out is the go here. If you don't like the consequences don't fuck around.

Hey mate,

100% fair enough, on reflection I over stepped the mark. I would like to apologise to you, husaberg and everyone else. I'll definitely read what I've typed in depth before sending in future.

Thanks

[Dean]

Heyya Dean.

I do not feel billionaires, with at least one of which have a keen interest in gaining even more Government contracts than they already have should be let anywhere near Government spending coffers. These people are not known to have altruistic tendencies in their nature.

I know you are allergic to answering any questions I ask you, but hey - what gives you faith that these 2 billionaires have the integrity to do a good job for the American people?

Hi Sug,

Hope you’re well!

This happens all across the world - think industry governance groups (also industry steering groups/boards) for both private and public sectors. Plenty of CEO’s etc that hold appointments in such who collaborate with public sector in some capacity to make recommendations and/or decisions for the betterment of said industry.

I have no evidence to believe he wouldn’t act in accordance with his roles terms and conditions, do you?

[TheDemonLord]

what gives you faith that these 2 billionaires have the integrity to do a good job for the American people?

I know it wasnt asked of me, but I think it is an interesting question - and the answer varies wildly between Trump and Elon.

For Trump - my answer is this: Look at the things he has lost by engaging in Politics:

- Part of his Ear
- His friendships within the entertainment industry
- His Reputation to a large part
- Considerable amounts of Money
- His right to a CCW and own a Firearm (among other things)

Now, I know you think some of them are justified (and suffice to say I do not think so) - but I want you to consider this - suppose he never entered Politics - He would still be a regular guest in the Celebrity scene, none of the trials and convictions would have happened, he would still be beloved in the US etc.

The Man has taken a lot of hits, both literally and metaphorically, to do what he has done - and in order to take that kind of continued and sustained attack, you have to have some serious convictions.

We can argue the merits of his policies as to whether or not they will achieve the desired outcome - I will take one policy - Tariffs, I think that Trump sincerely believes that this will drive manufacturing back to the US. Whether or not it does is a much longer and more complex question that we can speculate on. However, if it does happen - I believe that will do a good job for the American people. More Jobs, more money velocity, better Balance of Payments. There are other Policies that I will touch on, but they will come under...

Mr Musk.

Musk is an interesting Character - it is Him that we really have to thank for overcoming some of the roadblocks to EVs. Under his stewardship of Twitter - it has gone from a place that had a demonstrable left-wing bias, to now having a much more neutral stance (which people say is a Right Wing Bias - but I digress).

Looking at how he acts and what projects he invests in, I think it is fair to say he has a vision for a better world. EVs being the obvious example, but I think SpaceX and his goal of a Martian Colony is also key here - in the other thread we talked about resource extraction and ecological damage - if there is no known ecology, then theoretically that should be the greenlight to pillage with wild-abandon.

Then there is the effect at how a pivotal event (such as landing on Mars) and the Engineering that goes on behind it, will inspire a next generation of engineers (the Star Trek effect).

And it seems clear to me that Musk is one of those people that are so far on the Spectrum, that they are not swayed by emotional appeals, but by a genuine sense of fairness and the application of the rule of law. Before Musk, Twitter was banning people for wrong-think and saying the wrong name or pronouns, After Musk, people were banned for sharing illegal content.

A fair application of the rules, on its own, would be a good thing for the American People.

But further to that is both Trump and Elons view of Government largesse. I think it is fair to say that just like in NZ, the size of Government, relative to the size of the population has increased, with no discernible increase in efficiency. In fact in many ways I would say that the larger the Government is, the more inefficient it becomes.

Whilst I, personally, might be more along the lines of Milei and Afuera! Favoring just axing entire Government departments - I think even a centrist position of accepting that some fat needs to be trimmed at the Federal level is reasonable.

And that would also be a good thing for the American People.

Finally for both - is that they seem to genuinely believe in the idea of American exceptionalism.

I will preface this with saying I am a Native Brit and I find American Exceptionalism to be rather Gauche - So it is not like I am a fan of the idea in general. But then, I am not an American.

Having leaders who think the American way of life is the Best and want it to be the Best is, IMO, good for the American people. Its like the equivalent of saying Fake it till you make it, but at a national level. If people believe they can do the impossible, they will find a way to make the impossible, possible.

Things like the Star Trek effect are manifestations of that - you have a Sci-Fi program that shows computers playing music, running VR Simulations, replicators creating things from seemingly nothing, Nerds watch that and think how cool that would be and try to make it real.

So to conclude - I think Trump, given what he has sacrificed, has a genuine love the of the Country and believes that his economic policies will bring prosperity back to America. Musk seems to be concerned with moving Humanity forward and having an even application of the rules. Both want to minimize government expansion and ungainly growth.

[pritch]

I hope this works here.


https://www.facebook.com/reel/1594440694496791

[1/32 man]

For Trump - my answer is this: Look at the things he has lost by engaging in Politics:

- Part of his Ear


Come on man, that is a false fact....his ear recovered very quickly and so biggly that you cannot see any lost part.

[1/32 man]

His friendships within the entertainment industry

Another false fact, Trump doesnt have any friends he has business acquaintances.....every interaction is a transaction.
Just look at him and his besty Epstein the pedo.....birds of a feather flock together.

[TheDemonLord]

Come on man, that is a false fact....his ear recovered very quickly and so biggly that you cannot see any lost part.

But it was still shot off by a wannabe assassin aiming at his head.

I think you are missing the wood for the trees.


Another false fact, Trump doesnt have any friends he has business acquaintances.....every interaction is a transaction.

Watch any interaction with any celebrity with Trump before 2014 - all smiles and hugs and full of good things to say. Once he announced his nomination, they all turned on him.

Even if they are business acquaintances - that has still gotta sting.


Just look at him and his besty Epstein the pedo.....birds of a feather flock together.

If Trump was implicated in the Epstein files, they would have been 'Leaked' years ago. In the same way that people suddenly remembered totally being Sexually Assaulted by Trump decades ago, right before a key election time period.

The fact that they havent been leaked gives a very strong indication he is not in there.

[sugilite]

Good morning Dean and tdl, I will answer both of you in one go, a 2 for if you like.
First of all, I do admire a lot of what Musk has done and he has built some spectacular companies no doubt. To TDL, yes he has changed the dynamics of twitter greatly and it is not as much a left wing echo chamber. However, this DOGE gig is neither building a company, or changing social political leanings of a user base. The responsibilities of this DOGE thing is cutting spending and Government structure down to size. A noble endeavor of which I approve greatly of the concept btw. From what I can make out, the closest thing Musk has done to the rigors of that role is restructure twitter. And on the tech front, he did a terrible, terrible job. He came is and slashed and burned the IT infrastructure supporting twitter. He did so without first finding out the best possible way of doing it. Then he displayed great hubris in overestimating what the remaining infrastructure the network could handle. I will list 3 cases below that highlight why Musks combination of impatience and hubris make him a poor choice for the position.
1. He absolutely FUCKED Ron Desantis Presidential nomination roll out. The network crashed big time.
2. His big podcast with trump, the exact same thing happened. He blamed a DDOS attack, which I doubt was the reason, and even if it was, he should of foreseen that. DDOS can be mitigated - if it even was that.
3. This one is a tesla fuck up. He fired his entire super charger team after having a tantrum that it's leader did not cull enough staff, then had to go back cap in hand rehiring a bunch of them.
https://www.msn.com/en-au/money/news/elon-musk-backtracks-rehires-laid-off-tesla-supercharger-staff/ar-BB1mkEge

The twitter fuck ups 1 and 2, he has no excuse, he is a tech guy. Whether it was infrastructure like i believe it was, or he underestimated traffic and was not prepared for the capacity demands - both scenarios was a big fail - his fail.
The Tesla super chargers one highlights his petulant nature and the damage that does.

The intricacies and interconnections of Government departments absolutely will be very complex and would take a fair amount of time to decipher in order to make well thought out and strategic cuts. Musk is waaaaaaaaay to impatient to learn about those. It is inevitable his slash and burn techniques will do a lot of damage and ultimately hurt the American people.

Now the interesting part for me, when I used billionaires in plural relating to this DOGE initiative, TDL looks to have assumed I was talking about trump, and Dean seemed to miss it entirely. But I was actually referencing Ramaswamy, Mr under the radar. Ramaswamy ran the strangest presidential nomination campaign ever seen. Every time he got a mike in his hand he praised trump like a dizzy cheerleader. Don't believe me, watch the video below.
Clearly he has targeted one of trumps worst character flaws, his ability to be manipulated through flattery. So Ramaswamy clearly was misusing the presidential nominee process for some sort of mechanism to curry flavor with trump. And it worked, look at the position he has now. So a manipulating billionaire with a long term goal carried out in plain view. This guy cannot be trusted, no fucking way. And look how he flew under both of your radars. To me it looks like the guys main qualification was giving trump a very skilled handjob under the table.

Again, I praise the concept of DOGE, but there will for sure be vastly better qualified people trump could of chosen.
I invite the pair of you drop the fanboi stance and open your eyes.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dmXJ99oC4k&pp=ygUfZ29wIHByZXNpZGVudGlhbCBub21pbmVlIGRlYmF0ZQ% 3D%3D




I have no evidence to believe he wouldn’t act in accordance with his roles terms and conditions, do you?


I know it wasnt asked of me, but I think it is an interesting question - and the answer varies wildly between Trump and Elon.

Mr Musk.

Musk is an interesting Character - it is Him that we really have to thank for overcoming some of the roadblocks to EVs. Under his stewardship of Twitter - it has gone from a place that had a demonstrable left-wing bias, to now having a much more neutral stance (which people say is a Right Wing Bias - but I digress).

Looking at how he acts and what projects he invests in, I think it is fair to say he has a vision for a better world. EVs being the obvious example, but I think SpaceX and his goal of a Martian Colony is also key here - in the other thread we talked about resource extraction and ecological damage - if there is no known ecology, then theoretically that should be the greenlight to pillage with wild-abandon.

[sugilite]

Another false fact, Trump doesnt have any friends he has business acquaintances.....every interaction is a transaction.
Just look at him and his besty Epstein the pedo.....birds of a feather flock together.

Agreed, every one of tdl's items on the trump sacrifice list, he would happily make to get the most prestigious job in the USA.
In fact, trump really missed an opportunity by not getting into the cemeteries business. All the bodies of past allies he has thrown under the bus would of made him far wealthier than he is currently.

I have spoken about trumps "bravery" under fire before, though I would like to add that trumps ego is such that he could not possibly imagine a world without him in it. I think he believes the evangelical line he is protected by god. I suspect he is more likely being protected by the other christian teams leader :devil2:

[TheDemonLord]

Good morning Dean and tdl, I will answer both of you in one go, a 2 for if you like.
First of all, I do admire a lot of what Musk has done and he has built some spectacular companies no doubt. To TDL, yes he has changed the dynamics of twitter greatly and it is not as much a left wing echo chamber. However, this DOGE gig is neither building a company, or changing social political leanings of a user base. The responsibilities of this DOGE thing is cutting spending and Government structure down to size. A noble endeavor of which I approve greatly of the concept btw. From what I can make out, the closest thing Musk has done to the rigors of that role is restructure twitter. And on the tech front, he did a terrible, terrible job. He came is and slashed and burned the IT infrastructure supporting twitter. He did so without first finding out the best possible way of doing it. Then he displayed great hubris in overestimating what the remaining infrastructure the network could handle. I will list 3 cases below that highlight why Musks combination of impatience and hubris make him a poor choice for the position.
1. He absolutely FUCKED Ron Desantis Presidential nomination roll out. The network crashed big time.
2. His big podcast with trump, the exact same thing happened. He blamed a DDOS attack, which I doubt was the reason, and even if it was, he should of foreseen that. DDOS can be mitigated - if it even was that.
3. This one is a tesla fuck up. He fired his entire super charger team after having a tantrum that it's leader did not cull enough staff, then had to go back cap in hand rehiring a bunch of them.
https://www.msn.com/en-au/money/news/elon-musk-backtracks-rehires-laid-off-tesla-supercharger-staff/ar-BB1mkEge

The twitter fuck ups 1 and 2, he has no excuse, he is a tech guy. Whether it was infrastructure like i believe it was, or he underestimated traffic and was not prepared for the capacity demands - both scenarios was a big fail - his fail.
The Tesla super chargers one highlights his petulant nature and the damage that does.

The intricacies and interconnections of Government departments absolutely will be very complex and would take a fair amount of time to decipher in order to make well thought out and strategic cuts. Musk is waaaaaaaaay to impatient to learn about those. It is inevitable his slash and burn techniques will do a lot of damage and ultimately hurt the American people.

Now the interesting part for me, when I used billionaires in plural relating to this DOGE initiative, TDL looks to have assumed I was talking about trump, and Dean seemed to miss it entirely. But I was actually referencing Ramaswamy, Mr under the radar. Ramaswamy ran the strangest presidential nomination campaign ever seen. Every time he got a mike in his hand he praised trump like a dizzy cheerleader. Don't believe me, watch the video below.
Clearly he has targeted one of trumps worst character flaws, his ability to be manipulated through flattery. So Ramaswamy clearly was misusing the presidential nominee process for some sort of mechanism to curry flavor with trump. And it worked, look at the position he has now. So a manipulating billionaire with a long term goal carried out in plain view. This guy cannot be trusted, no fucking way. And look how he flew under both of your radars. To me it looks like the guys main qualification was giving trump a very skilled handjob under the table.

Again, I praise the concept of DOGE, but there will for sure be vastly better qualified people trump could of chosen.
I invite the pair of you drop the fanboi stance and open your eyes.

I thought Viveks net worth was like 8-900 Million - however I checked - 1.1 Billion as of 2024 - so you will forgive me for not thinking you meant Vivek.

For Elon - considering how Bloated Twitter was, drastic action was needed. As the phrase goes - cant make an Omelette without breaking a few eggs.

To be honest - as someone who likes Ron, his issue was not his Twitter launch. His issue was that he got absolutely bodied in the Republican Primaries by Vivek. Ron needed to show that in a room full of big personalities, he could stand head-and-shoulders above the rest.

Because if he won the debates, the next opponent would be Trump who is no slouch when it comes to debate.

Vivek was an unknown, came in and just started annihilating the competition - and if Ron couldnt handle Vivek, he could not handle Trump - and that was when he was sunk - IMO.

Reading the article about the supercharger team in full - it says that the head of a department was tasked with shrinking the headcount, they did not - so Musk fired everyone, then rehired a select few people.

It is a bit clunky, but I can also see a number of reasons for doing so (making sure other department heads fall in line, for example) - and considering the headcount was over 500, even if the few people they hired back where at massively inflated Salaries, I suspect there was still a net-saving.

There is also the point to be made about walking back an overeach. Some people would be too proud to do it - Musk doesnt seem to care about that and just does what is needed.

Let us for a moment assume Musk does indeed slash and burn, and let us also assume that in some instances goes too far, like Tesla and has to hire some people back - I see that as a net-win for the American Taxpayer and for the American people as a whole.

I am going to use a different scenario - At a company I worked at previously - we had a *LOT* of Bloat - Legacy systems, duplicates, Services that were actively loosing us money (e.g. 1 server costing us several thousand a year to run including licencing etc.) - for a handful of customers paying us $20 a month to use - the list goes on and on.

I spent the better part of 4 years undertaking various clean-up projects. Some where relatively easy - two stand out as having issues - one was due to a missed customer segment when we did the pre-shutdown audit, we turned the system back on - migrated that segment, then shut it down (but it caused a lot of noise). The second was about 70 percent into a migration project, one migration batch had a key mistake, took me most of a day to fix it. One of the Big Cheeses (who was *very* risk averse) tried to stop the project (bearing in mind, it was in the state it was because it had tried to be migrated multiple times and half-assed each time) - I basically used my force of personality to tell him to get fucked - continued and completed it.

There were some customers that were pissed at the migration, it had been very heavy-handed and in hindsight, there were a number of things I would do differently to ease that process.

But... after the migration was done, the reduction in ticket volume was something like 70% for that platform. I saw a decrease in escalations by about 90% - because our T1 team went from having to support 4 different OS versions with 3 different Control Panel versions, each with slightly different configurations and nuances - to 1 OS, 1 Control panel version - all servers built using the same script.

In conversation with a customer who was pretty grumpy about the migration, I happened to talk to them about it afterwards - they begrudgingly admitted that the new servers and control panel were much better than the old one, the system was more stable, better performance etc.

The point of that long-winded segway is to say that sometimes, you have to have a period of short-term pain whilst things are changed, in order to get long-term benefits. I believe Elon will be able to do that.

On Vivek - I will talk about him separately.

[onearmedbandit]

https://www.1news.co.nz/2024/11/26/special-counsel-asks-judge-to-dismiss-trump-election-interference-case/

Special counsel asks judge to dismiss criminal charges against Trump

[sugilite]

https://www.1news.co.nz/2024/11/26/special-counsel-asks-judge-to-dismiss-trump-election-interference-case/

Special counsel asks judge to dismiss criminal charges against Trump

Justice delayed leads to ultimate justice denied. Well played trump and shame on you usa justice system.

[TheDemonLord]

So Vivek.

What do I make of him?

He is very much in the Trumpian mold of believes in American Ideals, believes in American Exceptionalism, has a big mouth, exceptionally quick and witty with his barbs - and he can't be called an Old White Man - so that is always hilarious.

Bearing in mind, Vivek has only really come to political prominence since the Republican debates - but the thing I get from him, is that he lived the American Dream - and he wants everyone to get a shot at living it too.

He is against the things I am against (anti-woke, anti-ESG and other Marxist claptrap), He is a Hindu (which is interesting in the US political climate) and he seems to hold some beliefs that are religiously informed (his views on Abortion for example), he is concerned about excessive beaurocracy and wants to cut it, including making civil servants to be at-will employees.

Most of those things, I believe will be good for the American people - I am not too hot on the religious stuff, but Abortion - by being a States Rights issue, is out of the purview of the Federal Government.

I don't get manipulator vibes from him - he has admitted he didn't vote until 2020 - to quote JRM - There is far more Zeal in a convert than a believer.

[sugilite]

the only wall actually being built in regards to usa
Culling the government spending affects every American person. This is not some social media adjustment or IT project. This effects everyone. You just covered job losses, but fucking up government departments budgets creating massive down stream consequences are not addressed by you at all. Pretty much your entire post looks to be justifying why the wrong guy for the job could still do the job. Just hire someone more suited in the first place.

[pete376403]

Culling the government spending affects every American person. This is not some social media adjustment or IT project. This effects everyone. You just covered job losses, but fucking up government departments budgets creating massive down stream consequences are not addressed by you at all. Pretty much your entire post looks to be justifying why the wrong guy for the job could still do the job. Just hire someone more suited in the first place.
You talking about US or NZ (Dr of Literature Willis)?

[sugilite]

So Vivek.

What do I make of him?

I don't get manipulator vibes from him
Well, other than perverting the gop presidential process to maneuver himself in a position of power exploiting trumps character weakness.

[sugilite]

You talking about US or NZ (Dr of Literature Willis)?

Indeed there are uncomfortable similarities.

[TheDemonLord]

Culling the government spending affects every American person. This is not some social media adjustment or IT project. This effects everyone. You just covered job losses, but fucking up government departments budgets creating massive down stream consequences are not addressed by you at all. Pretty much your entire post looks to be justifying why the wrong guy for the job could still do the job. Just hire someone more suited in the first place.

I agree it does effect every American person - less Inflation, lower taxes etc. ;)

Okay - so I am gonna use Vivek wikipedia page for this - it lists the following departments:

Education Department - Education is handled at the State level, from what I can tell, this exists as basically a glorified Teachers Mafia and leans heavily in one direction politically.
FBI - I feel this is more to do with the way the FBI has handled themselves in regards to Trump vs Hilary vs Biden. Without rehashing old arguments - my sincere belief is that the FBI has not been politically neutral - and as such have tarnished their reputation.
ATF - This is a relic of Prohibition and should have been disbanded when the Volstead act was repealed.
IRS - I think this is more aligned with the FBI, they have been doing politics over the years - targetting right-leaning groups IIRC and the expansion of the IRS as a pseudo-law enforcement arm is of concern.
Nuclear Regulatory Commission - This one, I do not know what the issue here is, I know many people have accessed the NRC as being captured by the industry - so maybe that is his issue
USDA's Food and Nutrition Service - I suspect this is due to his dealings with it when he ran a pharmaceutical company, probably also has shades of RFK-esque influence.

Of the six departments, 1 being repealed would benefit Americans absolutely (Dept of Education) - as I dont think it does anything useful. 1 should be repealed on principle (The ATF) - Pets and Pet owners around American would be much safer for a smaller fed.

The FBI and the IRS I dont see them getting disbanded per se, but I do see them getting a very severe wrap across the knuckles and told to pull their fucking head in. I see this as benefitting the Average American - because I believe the reason for the expansion is to target the individual who is indulging in a little bit of victimless grey area enterprise.

The NRC - I don't agree with this one, but also have not heard him talk about it in depth as to what his issue is. For me, the US Navy and the Atomic Energy Commission (which I think morphed into the NRC) have been pretty consistent at using Nuclear Power without fucking it up. They seem to be working well, this one I wouldnt touch.

the USDA and FDA - My thoughts are this - there is a theory that many of the US health related issues have causal factors in the preservatives and additives in food - especially when you compare to the likes of say Italy, where many Americans eat the same type of food (Pasta, Pizza etc.) but with vastly different outcomes (Homemade in Italy vs Store bought in the US) and the average health in the Med is better.

Same goes for Pharmaceuticals - I think this is a deeper problem, partly stemming from a for-profit healthcare system - which is if I have to pay the full cost of seeing a Doctor - you can be sure I want a solution for $3K, I don't want to be told that I need to exercsise more and eat less, I want a pill that will fix my problem - otherwise what the hell did I just waste $3K on?

That notion aside, I think the US population has an over-reliance on Medication and there are consequences for this. I am assuming a good faith interpretation here that what is being proposed is some form of RFK style reform.

To answer the question would it be better for the American people - to which my retort would be: I dont think it could get that much worse, therefore I am willing to take the risk that it would make things better.

[pritch]

Indeed there are uncomfortable similarities.

There are currently billionaires and economists warning about the US economy. It has been doing fine since Obama hauled it out of the wreckage caused by Bush's GFC - the COVID blip excepted. The markets though are apparently considered to be becoming unstable, a "correction" may be due. The last thing needed is heavy handed amateurish interference by the likes of Trump or Musk. If the US economy crashes the damage will be widespread. All the way to NZ.

If they put huge numbers of civil servants out of work that'll take money out of the system. If they start rounding up all the people with brown faces, crops will rot in the fields and the construction industry among others will grind to a halt. Wealthy people might have to do their own house work and Mar A Lago will need new staff.

Musk has no qualifications or experience for his new role. Even if his new "panel" has no power as such it can still do a lot pf damage. We could run a sweep on how long it will take before he stipulates that all US federal offices use Tesla cars.

Ramaswamy may know about the biotech industry but he doesn't seem to know much about how the world works. The only report I have seen of his intentions regarding his new job is that he wants to get rid of Veterans Affairs. That'll go down well. He also wants to make changes to the FDA that would benefit him personally of course.

Trump doesn't become President until 20/1/25 but he's already done so much damage that there's likely to be chaos even if he chokes on a late night cheeseburger before then.

Ah well, there's nothing much we can do, except minimise personal debt so as best to navigate any local financial upheaval. Good luck all.

[Laava]

Well, other than perverting the gop presidential process to maneuver himself in a position of power exploiting trumps character weakness.
Is he a roman?

[onearmedbandit]

They're going to round up all the people with brown faces?

[Laava]

If they can somehow change that to just the people with dirty faces might be an idea?

[pritch]

They're going to round up all the people with brown faces?

Pretty much. Don't be too literal though. Google Tom Holman. When Homan was asked about breaking up families, some legal some illegal he said it wasn't necessary to break up the family. They can deport the whole family.

[onearmedbandit]

I know it's not meant in the literal sense. But it is a type of rhetoric I would expect from certain news outlets and people with extreme views. I'm not saying you hold extreme views, I'm saying it's language I'd expect from someone in that fold.

[pete376403]

I agree it does effect every American person - less Inflation, lower taxes etc. ;)

much less money for the federal govt to spend supporting the individual states, of which the majority are republican (red). MAGAs going to be pissed when their
welfare gets turned off

[Dean]

Hi Dean,

I definitely agree with elon's amazing resume!

Mate what's with the tu tangata stuff?

Yup you can’t beat Elon’s resume.

They’re not bad people, very similar views to us mate, if you’re not up to much this weekend give me a bell and come for a ride with us.

[1/32 man]

Quote Originally Posted by 1/32 man View Post
Come on man, that is a false fact....his ear recovered very quickly and so biggly that you cannot see any lost part.
But it was still shot off by a wannabe assassin aiming at his head.

I think you are missing the wood for the trees.

I think you are having trouble over this point mate.....his ear was shot off and then it is completely back there a few days later?
He wore a tampon on his ear for a while and then miraclulously the ear is healed....Maybe he is the son of god?

Come on TDL concede a point here

[TheDemonLord]

I think you are having trouble over this point mate.....his ear was shot off and then it is completely back there a few days later?
He wore a tampon on his ear for a while and then miraclulously the ear is healed....Maybe he is the son of god?

Come on TDL concede a point here

Concede a point - what point is it you are trying to get me to concede?

Let us play this out to its logical conclusion:

If his ear was miraculously healed, the implication is that it was not shot.
If you are implying it was not shot, then you are implying that the blood was not real.
If you are implying the blood was not real, then you are implying that it was staged.
If you are implying it was staged, then you are saying the entire event was a Hoax.

So let us skip the middle men: are you saying it was an elaborate hoax?

As for the ear - The ear is just thin skin, it bleeds a hell of a lot: example (https://www.canberratimes.com.au/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/silverstone-feed-data/696224e2-f0e3-4f9a-9633-fa8bc4f9b85d.jpg/r0_0_800_600_w1200_h678_fmax.webp) - but pretty easy for a skilled plastic surgeon to stitch up, healing time for ears is pretty quick too:

NZ Website about Ear Plastic Surgery (https://www.drmarkgittos.co.nz/facial-surgery/ear-correction-otoplasty-ear-surgery/#:~:text=Recovery%20from%20Otoplasty%20ear%20pinni ng,bandage%20for%2024%2D48%20hours.)


After the surgery, your ears will be covered with protective bandages to protect the incision area. You will wear the bandage for 24-48 hours. This bandage will be replaced with an elastic band to protect your ears from traumas for the next 5-7 days.

Dissolvable stitches are often used when suitable, and these then dissolve within 7-10 days

Which, if you will note, lines up almost perfectly with when Trump stopped wearing a bandage in public.

[Berries]

I don't even think it was Trump on stage.

[pritch]

I know it's not meant in the literal sense. But it is a type of rhetoric I would expect from certain news outlets and people with extreme views. I'm not saying you hold extreme views, I'm saying it's language I'd expect from someone in that fold.

It might seem like that but nothing about what is happening currently is normal. A criminal has been elected President and he is busy appointing other criminals and extremists to his cabinet. Normal language and expectations don't apply.

IIRC you thought they wouldn't deport citizens. Homan has said they will import whole families where the younger members are citizens and grandma isn't. They have now mentioned removing citizenship from naturalised citizens. In some states people with a brown face are stopped and have to produce ID just because they have a brown face. The next step is not to worry about the ID just load them into the van. If that sounds radical there is precedent. In Colorado during Trump's previous tenure unmarked vans were snatching random people off the street.

[pritch]

If his ear was miraculously healed, the implication is that it was not shot.


Odds are it wasn't. He was more likely hit by a piece plastic or glass from something that had been hit by a bullet.

[sugilite]

So let us skip the middle men: are you saying it was an elaborate hoax?

Not that elaborate as it turns out.
1. Create confusion within the secret service detail. Tick
2. Befriend loaner looking for purpose, tell him he is being taken on as a undercover operative protecting trump. Tick
3. Tell him to get up on the roof with a gun- people see him doing this and report it to the secret service who mysteriously do nothing about it. Tick
4. Have another operative actually hidden on the roof fire a gun at the podium glass. Tick
5. Have secret service take the patsy out. Tick
6. Have trump duck down and have a paid secret service mole deploy blood capsule. Tick
7. Take election stealing iconic photo and job done. Double tick.

While this may sound unlikely to you, let me remind you there is a kiwi biker seen around these parts that would have us believe justice thomas took millions in undeclared bribes, and yet is somehow not corrupt.

What can I say - Your "stories" are an inspiration :msn-wink:

[TheDemonLord]

4. Have another operative actually hidden on the roof fire a gun at the podium glass. Tick


So, to be charitable to the first part - the myriad of failures by the Secret Service are pretty hard to explain due to mere incompetence - that I will grant you.

Although a quick aside - Trump had requested more SS agents, the Biden administration denied that request - so that is another stumbling block...

Another thought though - assume you *were* trying to stage an Assassination, you wouldnt want to demonstrate that level of stupidity from the SS - one would hope that such a nefarious mastermind who planned and pulled it off would have thought how bad it would look for the SS...

But it is this line here that is the bit where it goes from plausible if not a bit of a reach to outright ridiculous:

Anyone on here that has a firearms licence - would you stand downrange and allow someone to take a potshot at your general direction, through a plate of glass?

I sure as shit wouldnt. Too many variables, to great a risk of a random deflection or other fragment doing serious injury or death.

And since we have the picture of the bullet in flight, I am ruling out the possibility of blanks and other stage effects.


let me remind you there is a kiwi biker seen around these parts that would have us believe justice thomas took millions in undeclared bribes, and yet is somehow not corrupt.

And if I recall the story correctly, that same Kiwibiker asked for a single instance in 30 years of judgements, where they went against the constitution in favor of their supposed benefactors - I hear that he is still waiting...

[F5 Dave]

God anointed the ear of the chosen one and yeh hallelujah it doth was healed.
More Miraclestm to be announced.

[Laava]

Not that elaborate as it turns out.
1. Create confusion within the secret service detail. Tick
2. Befriend loaner looking for purpose, tell him he is being taken on as a undercover operative protecting trump. Tick
3. Tell him to get up on the roof with a gun- people see him doing this and report it to the secret service who mysteriously do nothing about it. Tick
4. Have another operative actually hidden on the roof fire a gun at the podium glass. Tick
5. Have secret service take the patsy out. Tick
6. Have trump duck down and have a paid secret service mole deploy blood capsule. Tick
7. Take election stealing iconic photo and job done. Double tick.

While this may sound unlikely to you, let me remind you there is a kiwi biker seen around these parts that would have us believe justice thomas took millions in undeclared bribes, and yet is somehow not corrupt.

What can I say - Your "stories" are an inspiration :msn-wink:
Fuck yeah! i believe it!


God anointed the ear of the chosen one and yeh hallelujah it doth was healed.
More Miraclestm to be announced.
Fuck yeah! I believe it!
wait what, which god are we talking about here? The christians god, Trunts god or the god that the Density church troglodytes believe in? Or maybe one of the others although it is hard to imagine any deity having empathy towards the fat orange cunt.

[sugilite]

Another thought though - assume you *were* trying to stage an Assassination, you wouldnt want to demonstrate that level of stupidity from the SS - one would hope that such a nefarious mastermind who planned and pulled it off would have thought how bad it would look for the SS...
Tricked loner = patsy 1, SS = Patsy 2. Takes suspicion away from the party doing the dirty. Not your wheelhouse with this espionage stuff huh?


Anyone on here that has a firearms licence - would you stand downrange and allow someone to take a potshot at your general direction, through a plate of glass?
I sure as shit wouldnt. Too many variables, to great a risk of a random deflection or other fragment doing serious injury or death.
I know trump is notoriously tight, but even he, rather than pick an ops expert from Cletuses Craigs List advert stating "Brown oops R Us" would have his team hire an expert with say the skills of the sniper that took poor patsy 1 out at only 5.5 seconds after the first shot was heard? It is almost like they were expecting it huh!
Now for the love of god, please do not nit pick what I have said any further. It took me about 45 seconds to come up with the first scenario, and if you force me to think another 15 seconds about it in order to make an amendment - I could well have the men in black turn up in a black SUV, bundle me into it and start pulling my teeth in order to try and find out where the hell I got the exact blue prints to their plan from!




And if I recall the story correctly, that same Kiwibiker asked for a single instance in 30 years of judgements, where they went against the constitution in favor of their supposed benefactors - I hear that he is still waiting...
Hohoho, it still seems like this fairy telling perp is a bit upset I did not fall for that trap of inviting me into a pit of supreme court rulings that make quicksand seem pleasantly buoyant in comparison. And if course if we address the fact that this perp (lets call them "Smugglepuss" shall we?) seems blissfully unaware that a corrupt judge can operate in MANY ways other than the within court itself. I mean imagine the power and influence of a supreme court judge in the old boys club where a wink or implied nudge can and does result in windfalls counted in the millions. And I'm pretty sure that "Smugglepuss" was even born in the land that birthed old boys clubs!

Moving forward from this point on, I would suggest if this "Smugglepuss" wants to trap a hapless sugi in the wild, that they do not have neon signs proclaiming "trap ahead", then putting a bunch of road cones around the trap with a sign saying "watch your step" then offering the further courtesy of spraying the spikes at the bottom of the pit in day-glow paint, or if filling the pit with judicial quicksand, only to leave several life rings lying around within easy reach.

[HenryDorsetCase]

Fuck yeah! i believe it!


Fuck yeah! I believe it!
wait what, which god are we talking about here? The christians god, Trunts god or the god that the Density church troglodytes believe in? Or maybe one of the others although it is hard to imagine any deity having empathy towards the fat orange cunt.

I like Shiva, the Destroyer. Also the one with all the arms. And the one that looks like an elephant.

[TheDemonLord]

Tricked loner = patsy 1, SS = Patsy 2. Takes suspicion away from the party doing the dirty. Not your wheelhouse with this espionage stuff huh?

Well, hold up - I am looking at the great deceptions of WW2 as my baseline - and they all had one thing in common: Believability.

Look at all the failings that the SS did on that day - pick any one of them - and I would believe it to be an oversight. Pick any two of them and I would go that is pretty bad - but all the mistakes together?

Either it is was a master stroke of 4D chess to make the SS look so utterly incompetent that it would rise above suspicion, because even a deliberate collusion attempt couldn't be that bad...

Or the SS really did drop the ball that hard.

And if I am honest, the latter is a pretty hard pill to swallow on its own merits.


I know trump is notoriously tight, but even he, rather than pick an ops expert from Cletuses Craigs List advert stating "Brown oops R Us" would have his team hire an expert with say the skills of the sniper that took poor patsy 1 out at only 5.5 seconds after the first shot was heard? It is almost like they were expecting it huh!
Now for the love of god, please do not nit pick what I have said any further. It took me about 45 seconds to come up with the first scenario, and if you force me to think another 15 seconds about it in order to make an amendment - I could well have the men in black turn up in a black SUV, bundle me into it and start pulling my teeth in order to try and find out where the hell I got the exact blue prints to their plan from!

When would I ever nitpick you further...:innocent::innocent::innocent:

The big issue for me though is the ballistics - too much risk downrange of something going pear shaped. Expert shot or not, there is too much risk of a ricochet or shrapnel or other thing hitting Trump and causing serious injury if it was staged.


Hohoho, it still seems like this fairy telling perp is a bit upset I did not fall for that trap of inviting me into a pit of supreme court rulings that make quicksand seem pleasantly buoyant in comparison. And if course if we address the fact that this perp (lets call them "Smugglepuss" shall we?) seems blissfully unaware that a corrupt judge can operate in MANY ways other than the within court itself. I mean imagine the power and influence of a supreme court judge in the old boys club where a wink or implied nudge can and does result in windfalls counted in the millions. And I'm pretty sure that "Smugglepuss" was even born in the land that birthed old boys clubs!

Moving forward from this point on, I would suggest if this "Smugglepuss" wants to trap a hapless sugi in the wild, that they do not have neon signs proclaiming "trap ahead", then putting a bunch of road cones around the trap with a sign saying "watch your step" then offering the further courtesy of spraying the spikes at the bottom of the pit in day-glow paint, or if filling the pit with judicial quicksand, only to leave several life rings lying around within easy reach.

A rather long winded way of politely declining the challenge.

I have read a few of Thomas judgements on the Constitution - I highly recommend them, the man has got some impressive insight and intellect.

He seems steadfast in his originalist approach to the constitution - even on decisions where I might otherwise disagree from a practicality stand-point, even on decisions where I would be happy for the Law to remain in place.

When it comes to the Constitution as written and as it was intended, it was to limit the power of the Federal Government - such freedom will almost always benefit those with power and money.

To put it another way, Imagine the worlds fattest man going to town at the worlds most delicious all-you-can-eat buffet. Someone comes along and drops them a $100 bill to them. You then see that and say "He is bribing the fat man to overeat!".

[husaberg]

Fuck yeah! i believe it!


Fuck yeah! I believe it!
wait what, which god are we talking about here? The christians god, Trunts god or the god that the Density church troglodytes believe in? Or maybe one of the others although it is hard to imagine any deity having empathy towards the fat orange cunt.

Well at least two if not three of those gods are the almighty dollaroo.....
All Heil sky pixie almighty Dollaroo......
https://media1.tenor.com/m/wtw9CeNTVYUAAAAC/homer-the-simpsons.gifhttps://media1.tenor.com/m/yt7PeeUr310AAAAC/simpsons-the-simpsons.gif

[1/32 man]

Concede a point - what point is it you are trying to get me to concede?

Let us play this out to its logical conclusion:

If his ear was miraculously healed, the implication is that it was not shot.
If you are implying it was not shot, then you are implying that the blood was not real.
If you are implying the blood was not real, then you are implying that it was staged.
If you are implying it was staged, then you are saying the entire event was a Hoax.

So let us skip the middle men: are you saying it was an elaborate hoax?

As for the ear - The ear is just thin skin, it bleeds a hell of a lot: example - but pretty easy for a skilled plastic surgeon to stitch up, healing time for ears is pretty quick too:

NZ Website about Ear Plastic Surgery

Another wall of text....do you ever look at what you write?
Didn't you say a piece of his ear was shot off by an assasin?
Can we agree on that?

I am reminded of that old quote, " A fool is so sure of themselves but a wise man continually questions"

Now TDL if you want to reply to me please keep it short and simple....and go look at what you said/wrote about trumpz ear.

[pritch]

Interesting that elected but still to be inaugurated President Trump already has cropping farmers panicking. Most of them probably voted for him and his plans to get rid of illegal immigrants but now they are claiming they will need exemptions. It has belatedly occurred to them that they will have nobody to harvest their produce. Perhaps this is natures way of telling them they are too thick to be farmers.

[TheDemonLord]

Another wall of text....do you ever look at what you write?
Didn't you say a piece of his ear was shot off by an assasin?
Can we agree on that?

I did say a piece of his ear was shot off by an assassin.

If you are disputing that, then that requires a chain of beliefs - that culiminate in one end conclusion: If you do not believe that it was a bullet (or as per Pritch, fragments of the bullet or glass or shrapnel) that clipped Trumps ear, then you must believe it was somehow staged or faked.

So is that your position?

[husaberg]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B3xsgWHdyN4

[pritch]

A truly significant moment. Prepare for many more alternative facts.

[husaberg]

A truly significant moment. Prepare for many more alternative facts.

I'd suggest captain bone spurs will be out to settle some scores with those that were doing their jobs rather than his bidding last time around.
It will also be interesting to see What position MTG gets. head of conspiracies or On all fours? downward Dog?

[sugilite]

Fuck yeah! i believe it!
I'm starting to believe it myself :lol:



The big issue for me though is the ballistics - too much risk downrange of something going pear shaped. Expert shot or not, there is too much risk of a ricochet or shrapnel or other thing hitting Trump and causing serious injury if it was staged.
I don't know guns, but I'm quite sure that surely ballistics can be tinkered with that bullet velocity can be made significantly slower, de-powered if you like.
Now onto "that" photo. Because photography is something I know a bunch about, and to capture a bullet in a photo while holding the camera in the hands rather than a tripod - the photographer would have to crank the ISO up sky high. Now I've seen the photo of the photographer (released by the photographer that took the iconic photo - must have been his mates photo or sumthin) taking photos at the same time as the actual photo was taken. Now knowing the camera he is using, the flagship Sony A9. That is a heavy camera, and at the angle he is shooting, with his arms outstretched like that - he absolutely simply must have the ISO cranked up very high indeed.

https://andys-kawasaki-zxr-zx7r-tribute-site.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/angle.jpg


The trade off with using high ISO is the grain it introduces to the photo. Check out the photo below, don't mistake trump as being grainy, he's not, he is simply out of focus, it looks like the photographer is using a lens with a shallow depth of field (backed up after the exif data was released below). The part of the photo to actually look at is the in focus trump sign on the podium. That sign at high ISO would look like a grainy mess, especially the expansive blue area of the sign. If I had to guess, looking at the light conditions, the amount of the grain - I would say the photographer was shooting in the ISO range of 600 to 800 - which unless the photographer has the strength of the hulk and the steadiness of a gold winning Olympic pistol shooter, is nigh on impossible shooting hand held at the angles seen above to capture "that shot".

https://static01.nyt.com/images/2024/08/13/us/politics/13election-live-photo-assess/13election-live-photo-assess-superJumbo-v2.jpg


OK, I just found a very balanced article about this photo at the following link https://haje.medium.com/theres-a-problem-with-that-bullet-in-flight-photo-of-trump-333dc1eeda1a frustratingly i had to set up a free account to read it. It is very photo geeky so will understand if you are not keen to read it. The nutshell version is, the photographers camera and most settings are compatible with capturing such a photo. The photographer released the EXIF ( metadata). There was one part of the EXIF data the photographer went out of his way to remove - you probably have guessed - yep, the ISO setting. And I only just found this fact out after i wrote the above. (btw, even if a camera ISO is set to automatic, it still gets reported in the EXIF data)

https://andys-kawasaki-zxr-zx7r-tribute-site.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/exif.jpg

The Author of the article said thus "Oddly, the one piece of the exposure triangle that Doug Mills is not reporting here is the ISO speed. It makes no difference to our calculations, but it seems like a curious omission. Given he was shooting in ‘pattern exposure mod, it’s possible that he was shooting with a fixed shutter speed and aperture, and an automatic ISO, but that seems unlikely. No big deal, but a curiosity nonetheless." And before you break out the party hats and highlight the "no big deal" part. In terms of the bullet being captured in the photo - I agree. However, I think the article author was entirely focusing on the bullet, and not that the sign has no meaningful grain. And before you may mention grain can be removed in post photo processing - grain is the one thing that is notoriously difficult, and nigh on possible to completely remove. Many a pro photographer, nay I would wager every professional photographer has tearfully consigned what would of been a world class photo were it not for the grain to the eternal photography dustbin of failure. So - Why would a photographer remove the ISO from the EXIF data? Because it would introduce a fundamental flaw that brings it's authenticity into question - that's why.

As an aside, something I never mentioned was when my wife (who has a background in health/medicine) saw the photo, the very first thing she said was "No way does a unfit overweight man have blood that brighter shade red, it would be a lot darker than that for sure." Sure, not proof on it's own sure, but yet another huh????? when it comes to this "assassination attempt". The reason I had not mentioned trumps suspiciously red blood before, was I was concerned it would send kb's conjoined twins off to the bathroom, tissues in hand at the very mention of a red blooded trump)

Hilariously for me, while I did think that was odd, I eventually settled on the official version sounding about right - until you started bringing it up on KB and I thought I would initially have a bit of fun by listing out my imaginary scenario. But with this research I've been doing, it just has too many holes in it now for me to keep believing the official version! My scenario is certainly more feasible than thomas taking millions in undeclared bribes - yet somehow not being corrupt :laugh: :laugh:
:laugh:




A rather long winded way of politely declining the challenge.

I have read a few of Thomas judgements on the Constitution - I highly recommend them, the man has got some impressive insight and intellect.
OK, Lets say I accept your assertion that thomas ruled correctly in every single case, you did not take the time to acknowledge corruption with a man of his power and influence can be had with other judges that may effect cases of thomases implausibly generous millionaire benefactor. thomas immediately stepped into my corruption pool by accepting undeclared millions. It ends there. A tdl post that reaches the moon is not going to change that.
I get that you greatly admire him, and accepting he is the bestest supreme court judge when it comes to rulings ever, the unfortunate fact that he chose to take a big fat shit on his legacy by taking the money is genuinely a real shame.


He seems steadfast in his originalist approach to the constitution - even on decisions where I might otherwise disagree from a practicality stand-point, even on decisions where I would be happy for the Law to remain in place.
OK, putting aside the fact that there is a person of power out there that you consider to be even more anally retentive than yourself scares me - because he chose to go down corruption lane, justice thomas is like that bright red tomato in the veges isle at the supermarket that when you pick it up and turn it over is disappointingly, rotten to the core on the other side. Again, what a shame.

[onearmedbandit]

What's the story on the guy who actually got shot and died? There's some serious questions to be answered here if they planned to kill someone in the crowd (when I say 'planned'' I mean they must've figured there was a probability someone would get hit).

[TheDemonLord]

I don't know guns, but I'm quite sure that surely ballistics can be tinkered with that bullet velocity can be made significantly slower, de-powered if you like.

So, I think there are a number of things here to address - IIRC on the video clips of the incident, you can clearly hear the Rifle Crack - which means the bullets were still supersonic. However, that is not what I meant. When I am talking Ballistics, I am not so much talking about the speed of the Bullet - I am talking about the inherent accuracy or innaccuracy of firearm.

The absolute *best* rifles have around a 0.15 MOA (Minute of Angle), 1 MOA is 1 Inch at 100 yards. The shot distance was 164 Yards. Bearing in mind that is with match-grade ammo or handloaded ammo. If we remove all the human factors, that means for the absolute best rifle - at that distance the bullet could be anywhere within about a quarter of an inch circle.

But we aren't talking a high-end bolt action precision rifle, we are talking a 20 year old DPMS AR-15, which is probably around 1 MOA - which means, again, if we have the best quality ammo, a round at that distance could hit anywhere within an inch and a half.

With store-bought el-cheapo Ammo, it is probably closer to 2 MOA.

This means, without any other factors (Wind, going through glass etc.) the bullet could go anywhere in that 1.5 inch circle. I want you to mentally draw a circle of that size, put the centre of it on your ear.

This is the part I mean by Ballistics - would you trust the worlds best shot to take that shot, knowing the the best mechanical accuracy of the Rifle and the Ammunition could land a round anywhere in that circle?

Then if we consider Pritch's view that it went through Glass - the deflection off the glass can be rather random


Camera Space Magic words

So, I know very little about Photography - so I will say - that is all very interesting and I will take your word that the things that are suspicious, are indeed suspicious.


As an aside, something I never mentioned was when my wife (who has a background in health/medicine) saw the photo, the very first thing she said was "No way does a unfit overweight man have blood that brighter shade red, it would be a lot darker than that for sure." Sure, not proof on it's own sure, but yet another huh????? when it comes to this "assassination attempt". The reason I had not mentioned trumps suspiciously red blood before, was I was concerned it would send kb's conjoined twins off to the bathroom, tissues in hand at the very mention of a red blooded trump)

Is Trump actually unfit though? I mean he's got a belly, but he could be an Iron Marshmallow - seems to do alright on Golf... As a question for your better half - is it possible that Trump is on some medication that would have had an effect on the color of his Blood. I also imagine being on stage delivering a speech to the crowd would be quite the uplifting experience and I dare say getting shot would get the heart pumping a lot.


Hilariously for me, while I did think that was odd, I eventually settled on the official version sounding about right - until you started bringing it up on KB and I thought I would initially have a bit of fun by listing out my imaginary scenario. But with this research I've been doing, it just has too many holes in it now for me to keep believing the official version! My scenario is certainly more feasible than thomas taking millions in undeclared bribes - yet somehow not being corrupt :laugh: :laugh:
:laugh:

For me the real key is the incompetence of the Secret Service - no one who was planning a believable inside-job would have made them look that stupid.


OK, Lets say I accept your assertion that thomas ruled correctly in every single case, you did not take the time to acknowledge corruption with a man of his power and influence can be had with other judges that may effect cases of thomases implausibly generous millionaire benefactor. thomas immediately stepped into my corruption pool by accepting undeclared millions. It ends there. A tdl post that reaches the moon is not going to change that.
I get that you greatly admire him, and accepting he is the bestest supreme court judge when it comes to rulings ever, the unfortunate fact that he chose to take a big fat shit on his legacy by taking the money is genuinely a real shame.

It is a fair challenge - but I want to ask this:

Lets say I am suddenly a Billionaire and decide to take Clarence out and buy him a Beer - is that corruption? I think we all agree not.
Lets say I up the ante, buy him dinner - is that Corruption?
Lets say it is a really nice dinner at a really fancy restaurant - are we there yet?
Lets say I take him on a hunting trip, the cost to me as a Billionaire is about the equivalent of lending one of your mates $20 - is that Corruption?

Suppose I agree with your premise for the sake of Charity - we have to accept that there is a line somewhere that goes from not corruption, to corruption: Does that line shift with the wealth of the individual. Something to you and I that would be a life-changing expense and a one-off experience to a Billionaire would be the equivalent of $5 and a packet of crisps - does the fact that it is hundreds of thousands of dollars change the fact to the person paying it is chump-change?

Which is to arrive at my point, if we take a strict view (such that you are proposing) that a Judge can't have rich friends - something I feel is absurd.

And the reason I ask for a ruling is because therein lies the real issue, putting aside the mock-horror by people who simply don't like him because he rules against their ideology - if, in all this furor and scrutiny and outrage, there was a case where it was pretty clear he had ruled against the constitution in favor of a Doner - it would be front and centre in every lefty-outlet from here to the moon.

But no such article surfaced

Even left-leaning Legal experts have conceded that Thomas is consistent in how he interprets and applies the constitution. That is to say: What did the people in 1787 mean when they said X. Not what people today would wish it to mean. The fact that he has some high-roller pals who take him on trips is, to me, incidental.

Your strict view is admirable - that once a single gold coin passes from hand to hand the recipient cannot be trusted, however for me - I need to see Action. And in my view, Thomas would rule the same way if I gave him a single dollar or a Billion dollars on an issue.


OK, putting aside the fact that there is a person of power out there that you consider to be even more anally retentive than yourself scares me - because he chose to go down corruption lane, justice thomas is like that bright red tomato in the veges isle at the supermarket that when you pick it up and turn it over is disappointingly, rotten to the core on the other side. Again, what a shame.

But when it comes to matters of Supreme Court rulings, you need that level of Retentiveness. Freedoms and rights are beset on all-sides by people with good intentions who sincerely believe that if they could break the rules just once, it would be worth it.

If there is a need for legislative change, is needs to come from the Legislature, not interpreted from the Judiciary.

As a prime example - the Treaty principles bill is a *classic* example where there is a set of vague and unwritten principles that have been subject to Judicial Activism - now the Legislature is trying to clarify this because of the problem(s) caused by said activism.

[1/32 man]

I did say a piece of his ear was shot off by an assassin.

Great that you acknowledged that....now we need to discuss how it grew back so quickly.

[R650R]

Great that you acknowledged that....now we need to discuss how it grew back so quickly.

Medical insurance and living in the land of silicon titties. Ear is mostly gristle. Bit of selleys no more gaps and some make up dusting job done. You can prob buy a kit off amazon.
“Have you just survived a driveby shooting but need to patch yourself up? Can’t access health system due to outstanding warrants? Our home ear repair kit is just for you”

[TheDemonLord]

Great that you acknowledged that....now we need to discuss how it grew back so quickly.

I already did - did you miss the part where I pointed to an ear plastic surgeon and their timelines for healing and how it almost exactly lined up with Trump?

[pritch]

That's a great photo. I'm not sure what it does show but I'm reasonably sure it doesn't show a bullet. More like a piece of plastic or glass from something that had been hit by a bullet.

[onearmedbandit]

There's similar pics online of bullets trajectories being captured, and separately plenty of experts agree that it is possible. So I guess it depends on what camp you're in. Me, I'm in neither, because I'm not an expert or knowledgeable enough in any of the areas.

[Berries]

MH370 vapour trail?

[Laava]

You can also clearly see the patsy who did 'pretend' to be shot as he goes thru his dramatic trauma act. He is also in the wrong place to take the bullet so some poor innocent bystander took it for him!

[onearmedbandit]

It's all making sense now! I knew we could solve it here at kiwibiker!

[Dean]

That's a great photo. I'm not sure what it does show but I'm reasonably sure it doesn't show a bullet. More like a piece of plastic or glass from something that had been hit by a bullet.

Well I guess you’ve solved it Pritch, with your extensive analysis, thank you so much!

[R650R]

That's a great photo. I'm not sure what it does show but I'm reasonably sure it doesn't show a bullet. More like a piece of plastic or glass from something that had been hit by a bullet.

With todays journalism standards it could be anything…

This article has got the conspiracy side of brain ticking over. They claim he used a shutter speed of 1/8000 “ unusual by industry standards” they got that right.
Just before I read this I googled muzzle velocity and tried matching typical shutter speed. There’s a common photography rule to give correct exposure triangle settings.
Called sunny f16 rule it means an iso camera (film but now digital) sensitivity of 100, shutter speed of 1/125 second and aperture (mechanical petal valve inside lense controlling light surface area) of f16.
To use a high shutter speed of 1/8000 for a static subject is ridiculous as even for a pro level camera you have to give away cleanliness of image by using higher iso, just think of crappy grainy image of early phone camera at night.
The assasination was late in day about 6pm where light is much weaker as far as photography goes.

Even if counteracting lenses shake due to using a big zoom lens like 400mm focal length a pro shouldn’t need more than 1/500 for static subject.

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/07/14/us/politics/photo-path-trump-assassination.html

[Laava]

That's a great photo. I'm not sure what it does show but I'm reasonably sure it doesn't show a bullet. More like a piece of plastic or glass from something that had been hit by a bullet.
Mostly pig meat by all accounts.

[Kb2020dope]

Yup you can’t beat Elon’s resume.

They’re not bad people, very similar views to us mate, if you’re not up to much this weekend give me a bell and come for a ride with us.

Hey mate,

100% it's impossible!

Hmmm looks like we will have to agree to disagree on this one bud. I personally feel they are a bunch of washed up no good ex gang members trying to recieve forgiveness. I feel like the majority have done unforgivable crimes. I will not ride with such folk.

[Kb2020dope]

Mostly pig meat by all accounts.

Hey bud,

I really really hope that is not a racist remark. We clearly all have different political views which is fine, but I hope you won't involve race moving forward.

Thanks in advance.

[Dean]

Hey mate,

100% it's impossible!

Hmmm looks like we will have to agree to disagree on this one bud. I personally feel they are a bunch of washed up no good ex gang members trying to recieve forgiveness. I feel like the majority have done unforgivable crimes. I will not ride with such folk.

Jason from Rugby is patched up with us, and you and him were close + he’s a massive Trump supporter, pull your finger out your arse mate that is such an ignorant comment.

[Kb2020dope]

Jason from Rugby is patched up with us, and you and him were close + he’s a massive Trump supporter, pull your finger out your arse mate that is such an ignorant comment.

I hope this is some kind of sick joke! The trump movement has nothing to do with a bunch of ex gang members in nz trying to repent! Supporting Tamaki is more costly than a couple of kids! There goes 30% of your pay check! You and jase are far to intelligent to fall for this BS! Step back and have a serious think about everything mate. Give me a call if you need to.

[Dean]

I hope this is some kind of sick joke! The trump movement has nothing to do with a bunch of ex gang members in nz trying to repent! Supporting Tamaki is more costly than a couple of kids! There goes 30% of your pay check! You and jase are far to intelligent to fall for this BS! Step back and have a serious think about everything mate. Give me a call if you need to.

PM me, take this offline

[Kb2020dope]

PM me, take this offline

Gladly, going off the nonsense you are saying you have had a few beverages. I'll give you a bell in the morning.

[Berries]

I'm getting confused now.


Can anyone spell bipolar?

[1/32 man]

Medical insurance and living in the land of silicon titties. Ear is mostly gristle. Bit of selleys no more gaps and some make up dusting job done. You can prob buy a kit off amazon.
“Have you just survived a driveby shooting but need to patch yourself up? Can’t access health system due to outstanding warrants? Our home ear repair kit is just for you”

Nailed it.

[pritch]

There's similar pics online of bullets trajectories being captured, and separately plenty of experts agree that it is possible. So I guess it depends on what camp you're in. Me, I'm in neither, because I'm not an expert or knowledgeable enough in any of the areas.

I've seen clips talking technicalities tp prove whatever theory the originator favoured. I'm talking the simple view. That projectile particle in the photo is light or white in colour. Bullets are generally dark in colour. It also appears to be too small.

What originally made me think that wasn't a bullet was Trump's comment that it whizzed by. At that range those bullets don't whiz they make a loud crack.

[Laava]

I've seen clips talking technicalities tp prove whatever theory the originator favoured. I'm talking the simple view. That projectile particle in the photo is light or white in colour. Bullets are generally dark in colour. It also appears to be too small.

What originally made me think that wasn't a bullet was Trump's comment that it whizzed by. At that range those bullets don't whiz they make a loud crack.
The other point is that in americastan, almost everyone has guns, even the newborns. So a kind of "herd immunity" thing happens where bullets now have little to no effect.
it is kinda like the Density/TuTangata gullibi(collective) where the brain washing gets in, and as it does, cause the brain to have less and less effect. This can be quite noticeable unless you simply choose to ignore it!:sunny:

[husaberg]

The other point is that in americastan, almost everyone has guns, even the newborns. So a kind of "herd immunity" thing happens where bullets now have little to no effect.
it is kinda like the Density/TuTangata gullibi(collective) where the brain washing gets in, and as it does, cause the brain to have less and less effect. This can be quite noticeable unless you simply choose to ignore it!:sunny:
But you have to remember the good guy with the gun doctrine . Clearly the only reason trump was shot at as is it was unarmed and clearly not a good guy...

[sugilite]

Is Trump actually unfit though? I mean he's got a belly, but he could be an Iron Marshmallow - seems to do alright on Golf...
If course you are correct, the viquor trump shows when getting in and out of his golf cart to take his shots is super impressive :laugh:



Lets say I am suddenly a Billionaire and decide to take Clarence out and buy him a Beer - is that corruption? I think we all agree not.
Lets say I up the ante, buy him dinner - is that Corruption?
Lets say it is a really nice dinner at a really fancy restaurant - are we there yet?
Lets say I take him on a hunting trip, the cost to me as a Billionaire is about the equivalent of lending one of your mates $20 - is that Corruption?
None of your examples come close to
Paying the extensive education fees for what is essentially thomasis adopted son
Paying off Thomas mothers extensive home loan
Paying for fancy overseas trips for thomas worth millions.
Your premise seems to be, well the guy giving these "gifts" is very wealthy, so it magically removes these acts from possibly being bribery - while simultaneously banging on how impressive thomas court rulings are - yet it slips thomas highly skilled and trained legal mind that he is bound by the rules in declaring these "gifts".
I would suggest, though regarding the above, I have no idea why I'm crediting that you are capable of entertaining the concept that maybe, just maybe - thomas would not pay back these billionaire investments in the form of a bum ruling in plain sight on the court, but rather he is a "bit" smarter than that and does his dirty under handed work in the hallowed halls of a old boys club safely out of sight. (you know the point I have been making and you have been steadfastly ignoring. :laugh:)



Which is to arrive at my point, if we take a strict view (such that you are proposing) that a Judge can't have rich friends - something I feel is absurd.

Absurd is ignoring he accepted millions without declaring it, and trying to make out because the briber is rich it is no longer a bribe. Honestly, 90% of your post extolling thomas prowess when rendering constitutional rulings while steadfastly ignoring corruption comes in many forms is rendered mute. Now that is absurd.

Seeing how we agreed largely on the waitangi issue, it did make me realize that our clashes on the trump thread is because of your sliding scale when it comes to judging anything trump (hes not lying, he is bombastic etc) and your seeming passion for unbridled corruption. It had me wondering, is this acceptance, nay passionate defense of wholesale corruption a Libertarian thing? So off to Wikipedia I went to look into this Libertarian gig.
Well, that was interesting on so many levels. 1st, if your idea of the perfect start to the day is a morning coffee, English muffin, and a good ole argument with someone on the internet, then being a Libertarian is perfect for you! What a rag tag mish mash of beliefs and ideology types!
OK, so back to are Libertarians corruption loving?
Nope, right here in paragraph one on wikipedia "Many libertarians conceive of freedom in accord with the Non-Aggression Principle, according to which each individual has the right to live as they choose, so long as it does not involve violating the rights of others by initiating force or fraud against them".

Hmm, so which flavor of libertarian are you? I think I found you right near the bottom of the definitions - I believe this is more or less you - yes?
"Conservative on economic issues (economic liberalism and fiscal conservatism) and liberal on personal freedom (civil libertarianism and cultural liberalism).It is also often associated with a foreign policy of non-interventionism."
But your specific flavor welcomes corruption as long as it does not have deep marxist roots?

More to Marxism, how I laughed when I saw this on the same wikipedia page - "In the mid-19th century, libertarianism originated as a form of anti-authoritarian and anti-state politics usually seen as being on the left (like socialists and anarchists especially social anarchists, but more generally libertarian communists/Marxists and libertarian socialists). Along with seeking to abolish or reduce the power of the State, these libertarians sought to abolish capitalism and private ownership of the means of production, or else to restrict their purview or effects to usufruct property norms, in favor of common or cooperative ownership and management, viewing private property in the means of production as a barrier to freedom and liberty."

Now if course I also noted that modern day libertarians come in flavors from the far left all the way to the far rights - hence my comment about the movement seemingly being geared towards inevitable and fervent arguing! But I really did have a good chuckle when reading about libertarian roots while recalling how many of your posts had the term "deep marxist roots" sprinkled through them :laugh:

[sugilite]

After 4 years of maga banging on about DEI hires and how surely the only fair way to hire people is to hire the most qualified canadite - let us have a look at trumps cabinet picks shall we?

https://i.ytimg.com/vi/AHXYSi4QYl4/sddefault.jpg

I would of expected trump to hire nothing but the best of the best of the best! I would less than boldly suggest these picks are far from that. Some maybe competent sure, but is this mob really the best of the best - really?

At least we now know what trumps mysterious "black Job" is - why it is HUD (urban housing). The last guy he had in that job was also black. Credit to trump on this one, he has finally shown he has turned over a new leaf and is now letting blacks into his housing projects :shifty:

Many black politicians auditioned for jobs with trump during the looooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooong election cycle, but the one I feel sorry for the most is tim scott, My goodness he sucked trumps dick so hard in public I thought he was in danger of turning trumps arsehole inside out :lol:

[pritch]

If course you are correct, the viquor trump shows when getting in and out of his golf cart to take his shots is super impressive :laugh:

Yeah he parks his cart on the green which is a definite no no. He can't even walk half the width of the green. Then again we can recall the time he used his motorcade just to cross the road. An athlete he ain't. He avoids side on photos if possible 'cause they show just how fat he is. That is one heavy duty red tie, it hides his gut and his nappies.

As to what is corruption and what's not. If one of Thomas's rich friends said, I'm flying to New Zealand next week, would you like to come?" That is one thing.
If his rich friend said," I'm not using my jet next week would you and your wife like to fly to New Zealand for a holiday?" That's different.
The value of the trip, which would amount to tens of thousands, would need to be declared. Reportedly that actually happened and no, it was not declared.

These days I only occasionally see TDL's posts but your quotes detailing his intransigence caught my eye.

[TheDemonLord]

If course you are correct, the viquor trump shows when getting in and out of his golf cart to take his shots is super impressive :laugh:

Trump seems to be a lot more fit than Biden, despite his midsection. That said - on a different note (and a complete aside) - Did you see RFKs Gym Work out - The man is an absolute Unit.


None of your examples come close to
Paying the extensive education fees for what is essentially thomasis adopted son
Paying off Thomas mothers extensive home loan
Paying for fancy overseas trips for thomas worth millions.

So, lets do the Math - Harlan Crow - Estimated Net worth of $2.5 Billion.

If I gave you $20 (with my salary) - how much would that be equivalent to someone like that, well, it is above $400,000.

Those things, to you and I, are massive expenses. To a Billionaire, its like $20. That was my entire point. Him paying for say private tuition is the equivalent of me buying you a Lemon, Lime and Bitters.


Your premise seems to be, well the guy giving these "gifts" is very wealthy, so it magically removes these acts from possibly being bribery - while simultaneously banging on how impressive thomas court rulings are - yet it slips thomas highly skilled and trained legal mind that he is bound by the rules in declaring these "gifts".

Do you consider a drink a Gift? If I invite you on a motorcyle ride and offer to pay for lunch, is that a Gift?


I would suggest, though regarding the above, I have no idea why I'm crediting that you are capable of entertaining the concept that maybe, just maybe - thomas would not pay back these billionaire investments in the form of a bum ruling in plain sight on the court, but rather he is a "bit" smarter than that and does his dirty under handed work in the hallowed halls of a old boys club safely out of sight. (you know the point I have been making and you have been steadfastly ignoring. :laugh:)

Okay, hear me out for second - let us pre-suppose that such a ruling existed. Do you not think that those who categorically hate Thomas and his conservative views would not have been steadfastly searching for such a ruling during all this time?

Were such a ruling to exist, we both know it would be splashed all across the front pages of NYT, WaPO, front and centre on CNN, MSNBC etc.

And the notion that it would be so underhanded and so subtle as to be completely undetectable to the most single-minded witchhunt and yet obvious corruption is a contradiction in-of-itself.

Which is to say this: I do not believe that these claims have any real legitimacy in that they are simply an attempt to get Conservative justices off of the SC, because the Democrats dont like that the SC is now ruling in accordance with the constitution.


Seeing how we agreed largely on the waitangi issue, it did make me realize that our clashes on the trump thread is because of your sliding scale when it comes to judging anything trump (hes not lying, he is bombastic etc) and your seeming passion for unbridled corruption. It had me wondering, is this acceptance, nay passionate defense of wholesale corruption a Libertarian thing? So off to Wikipedia I went to look into this Libertarian gig.
Well, that was interesting on so many levels. 1st, if your idea of the perfect start to the day is a morning coffee, English muffin, and a good ole argument with someone on the internet, then being a Libertarian is perfect for you! What a rag tag mish mash of beliefs and ideology types!
OK, so back to are Libertarians corruption loving?
Nope, right here in paragraph one on wikipedia "Many libertarians conceive of freedom in accord with the Non-Aggression Principle, according to which each individual has the right to live as they choose, so long as it does not involve violating the rights of others by initiating force or fraud against them".

Hmm, so which flavor of libertarian are you? I think I found you right near the bottom of the definitions - I believe this is more or less you - yes?
"Conservative on economic issues (economic liberalism and fiscal conservatism) and liberal on personal freedom (civil libertarianism and cultural liberalism).It is also often associated with a foreign policy of non-interventionism."
But your specific flavor welcomes corruption as long as it does not have deep marxist roots?

Freedom of Accord - does that extend to a SC justice getting the equivalent of $20 from a friend, because so long as it does not violate the rights of others, I think it does.

And that is the very crux of the issue



More to Marxism, how I laughed when I saw this on the same wikipedia page - "In the mid-19th century, libertarianism originated as a form of anti-authoritarian and anti-state politics usually seen as being on the left (like socialists and anarchists especially social anarchists, but more generally libertarian communists/Marxists and libertarian socialists). Along with seeking to abolish or reduce the power of the State, these libertarians sought to abolish capitalism and private ownership of the means of production, or else to restrict their purview or effects to usufruct property norms, in favor of common or cooperative ownership and management, viewing private property in the means of production as a barrier to freedom and liberty."

Now if course I also noted that modern day libertarians come in flavors from the far left all the way to the far rights - hence my comment about the movement seemingly being geared towards inevitable and fervent arguing! But I really did have a good chuckle when reading about libertarian roots while recalling how many of your posts had the term "deep marxist roots" sprinkled through them :laugh:

Thats European Libertarianism. Right Libertarianism has its roots in Classic and English Liberalism, which - you will note - preceed Marx by a good few centuries.

Some would argue as far back as Magna Carta.

As David Starky remarks: All bad ideas come from France.

[TheDemonLord]

After 4 years of maga banging on about DEI hires and how surely the only fair way to hire people is to hire the most qualified canadite - let us have a look at trumps cabinet picks shall we?

https://i.ytimg.com/vi/AHXYSi4QYl4/sddefault.jpg

I would of expected trump to hire nothing but the best of the best of the best! I would less than boldly suggest these picks are far from that. Some maybe competent sure, but is this mob really the best of the best - really?

At least we now know what trumps mysterious "black Job" is - why it is HUD (urban housing). The last guy he had in that job was also black. Credit to trump on this one, he has finally shown he has turned over a new leaf and is now letting blacks into his housing projects :shifty:

Many black politicians auditioned for jobs with trump during the looooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooong election cycle, but the one I feel sorry for the most is tim scott, My goodness he sucked trumps dick so hard in public I thought he was in danger of turning trumps arsehole inside out :lol:

If nothing else - I want to see Day 1 in the Department of Education, with Linda McMahon, commentated by Ol' JR:

"OH MY GOD ITS LINDA WITH A STEEL CHAIR! BAWWWW GAWD SHES BROKEN THEM IN HALF!"

[TheDemonLord]

As to what is corruption and what's not. If one of Thomas's rich friends said, I'm flying to New Zealand next week, would you like to come?" That is one thing.
If his rich friend said," I'm not using my jet next week would you and your wife like to fly to New Zealand for a holiday?" That's different.
The value of the trip, which would amount to tens of thousands, would need to be declared. Reportedly that actually happened and no, it was not declared.

I have two questions - firstly, what is the major philosophical difference between the two scenarios (and I will accept there are some - but I want to hear your take)

And secondly - there is that word 'Reportedly' - and call me cynical, but whenever I see that word nowadays, I usually find a trail of half-truths, He-said, She-said, unverifiable remarks and other such things.

[sugilite]

Wall of text
Bar the blurb on libertarian material, your entire post is moot and an exercise in misdirection.
It matters not how rich the briber is - not one bit.
What does matter is a supreme court justice - representing the highest court in the land in USA accepted millions in gifts and did not declare them - as he should of. How curious you in no way address that fact - like in no way at all.

[pritch]

I have two questions - firstly, what is the major philosophical difference between the two scenarios (and I will accept there are some - but I want to hear your take)

One is hospitality the other is ethically compromised. Which is why he didn't report it. Thomas has been receiving "gifts" from Crow for over twenty years. Even you can't believe Thomas would be an unbiased party to a SCOTUS hearing involving Crow.





And secondly - there is that word 'Reportedly' - and call me cynical, but whenever I see that word nowadays, I usually find a trail of half-truths, He-said, She-said, unverifiable remarks and other such things.

You possibly wouldn't consider Reuters a credible news source but I do.
https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-supreme-courts-clarence-thomas-took-more-undisclosed-travel-funded-by-2024-08-05/

[TheDemonLord]

Bar the blurb on libertarian material, your entire post is moot and an exercise in misdirection.
It matters not how rich the briber is - not one bit.
What does matter is a supreme court justice - representing the highest court in the land in USA accepted millions in gifts and did not declare them - as he should of. How curious you in no way address that fact - like in no way at all.

It does matter when we consider scale. Look, I will use a different example that is non-political - Shaq being infamously generous, Shaq giving a waitress a $4,000 tip is life-changing for the Waitress and pocket change for Shaq.

How many people here have Boats or Jetskis that they have let good friends borrow? What to you and I is the absolute pinnacle of Luxury, is akin to letting a mate borrow your boat or trailer.

I refuse to address it, because without the commensurate corrupt act, it is without basis. Looking at Pritchs' link, the alleged flight was from 2010 - Thomas defense is that they were "personal hospitality" - So, naturally - I decided to have a look - the first thing I found was that Supreme Court Justices are not actually legally bound to follow the ethics rules, they voluntarily choose to follow the Judicial Conference interpretations.

Then there is what constitutes Personal Hospitality:


Hospitality extended for a non-business purpose by an individual, not a corporation or organization, at the personal residence of that individual or his or her family or on property or facilities owned by that individual or his or her family.

So, if I were to pay for Clarence to come on a hunting trip, out of my own pocket, regardless of how much it cost or how lavish it was - it is almost certainly covered under this interpretation (which, FYI, was from a Democrat Senator.

There is some legalese around Private Jet travel - one article mentioned that this might have been a technical oversight, as Private Jets are often owned by a dedicated company, rather than an individual - but again, if I said 'Hey, wanna come fly with me to the Isle of Mann TT on my private jet' - is your first question going to be about the ownership status of the Jet.

Then there is the issue of who paid, if it was paid out of my individual account, all good. If it was paid by my companies account, it is an issue.

In short - there is a reasonable case that however distasteful you may find it, that from the rules as they are - Clarence did nothing wrong. At worst, he might need to amend an over decade old declaration.

And then we have the other half - despite all of that scrutiny, no proof has been offered of a dubious ruling in favor of his benefactors.

[TheDemonLord]

One is hospitality the other is ethically compromised. Which is why he didn't report it. Thomas has been receiving "gifts" from Crow for over twenty years. Even you can't believe Thomas would be an unbiased party to a SCOTUS hearing involving Crow.

Interesting perspective, not what I would have thought - I don't see it as Ethically Compromised.

As for Thomas being unbiased - in Twenty years then, it should be pretty easy to find an instance of Bias. Except I will note - that has never been alleged.


You possibly wouldn't consider Reuters a credible news source but I do.
https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-supreme-courts-clarence-thomas-took-more-undisclosed-travel-funded-by-2024-08-05/

I mean, the article isn't bad - one thing I did note though is this line:


"into the tax treatment of the use of Mr. Crow's superyacht and private aircraft."

Which I find telling, it sounds like they are going after a technicality of ownership of the asset, in order to dispute it being Personal Hospitality.

If I own a Private Jet, and I put it in it's own LLC for Tax purposes, then I fly you on it - did I fly you as a personal guest or did TheDemonLord Private Jet Inc. fly you as a business client?

It seems to me that when we dig into the meat of the matter, it is not the clear cut bribery claim that the Left is making out, but an exemption to the rules with some fuzzy grey areas, that from a certain perspective Thomas (who is not *required* to adhere to) has followed.

[1/32 man]

TDL seems to be a Russian troll with too much time on his hands...He is a Trump lover and defender and now is supporting ol Clarence.

Shit man, why dont you pick a winner for a change?

I cant be bothered with your "logical and wordy" replies.

I have judged you as someone with oppositional defiance syndrome....think I will try to ignore your bullshed from now on.

[pritch]

I don't see it as Ethically Compromised.

You are definitely in the minority there. A very small minority.




it sounds like they are going after a technicality of ownership of the asset, in order to dispute it being Personal Hospitality.


And that right there is the problem. Take his undeclared Indonesian trip, a holiday worth in excess of a million dollars, private jet to Indonesia for him and his wife then a cruise on Crow's private yacht. A very expensive gift - undeclared and therefore illegal and unethical.


I'm outa here.

[TheDemonLord]

TDL seems to be a Russian troll with too much time on his hands...He is a Trump lover and defender and now is supporting ol Clarence.

Da Tovarisch! Vodka!

Yes, I happen to like Clarence Thomas, If you have ever read any of the oral transcripts on SC hearings, he asks very few, but incredibly pointed questions and I find his legal reasoning very interesting.


Shit man, why dont you pick a winner for a change?

Presidency, Popular Vote, House and Senate - I did :msn-wink:


I cant be bothered with your "logical and wordy" replies.

I have judged you as someone with oppositional defiance syndrome....think I will try to ignore your bullshed from now on.

Nah, it's not that - I mean I know I sometimes like to take a contrarian position for shits and giggles - but on this issue - it has nothing to do with that and everything to do with stemming a poison that was seeping through society.

[TheDemonLord]

You are definitely in the minority there. A very small minority.

Perhaps, but then people said that only a Minority of people supported Trump - and well, the Popular vote says otherwise.

It would be more accurate to say I am a Vocal Minority of a silent Majority.


And that right there is the problem. Take his undeclared Indonesian trip, a holiday worth in excess of a million dollars, private jet to Indonesia for him and his wife then a cruise on Crow's private yacht. A very expensive gift - undeclared and therefore illegal and unethical.

If it was all paid for by Crow personally then it would not need to be declared, under the Personal Hospitality.

That is, as per the rules (which I remind you, SC Justices voluntarily abide by, they are not legislated to abide by).

Put aside the cost and the luxury for a moment - If I were to offer you a ride in my car and go somewhere - would you view the experience any differently if the car was registered in my name or registered to a Company?

Of course you wouldn't.

Which means the objection is based on the value of the hospitality, which comes back to my earlier point - if you follow this line of reasoning all the way down, it means Clarence can't have rich friends.

[sugilite]

It does matter when we consider scale.
Can you point to a single case where the judge pronounced that the briber was so rich it invalidated the bribery case?



In short - there is a reasonable case that however distasteful you may find it, that from the rules as they are - Clarence did nothing wrong. At worst, he might need to amend an over decade old declaration.
You seem to have forgotten the bribes of paying expensive education fees and the clarences mums house being paid for?


And then we have the other half - despite all of that scrutiny, no proof has been offered of a dubious ruling in favor of his benefactors.
Covered that when I said thomas would be smarter than that and the payback for the bribe will have occurred in the old boys club.

[sugilite]

My god, vance trumps ummmmmm, vp pick essentially cuckolds himself portraying himself as a sissy to trump in a thanks giving post - why?!?!?!?!


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UnP5JJwceF4

[sugilite]

Trump proposes swapping out drunkard, womanizing, financial mismanagement extraordinaire pete hegseth with a mere child abuser ron "meatball pudding fingers" desantis. Bit of a downgrade on the maga skill sets there....


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yU8xYgO3Ps8

[pritch]

Trump proposes swapping out drunkard, womanizing, financial mismanagement extraordinaire pete hegseth with a mere child abuser ron "meatball pudding fingers" desantis. Bit of a downgrade on the maga skill sets there....


So when he awoke this morning Matt Gaetz couldn't believe his luck. He was always more interested in Florida state politics than what was happening in DC. If DeSantis goes to Washington this is Gaetz' chance to be Governor of Florida.

[Dean]

Saw this article and it made my day:
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/rcna182923


her billion-dollar campaign raised and spent roughly twice as much as Trump in the final days of the race and the weeks that followed.

If she is so righteous over Trump - why did she need to spend an insane billion dollar campaign of hard earned taxpayer money to buy celebrity appearances etc etc then lose by a landslide.:clap::lol::laugh:

[husaberg]

Trumps previous statements about Asshat.


Almost any list of America’s top foreign rivals would include Iran, Russia and the government of Syria.


Sunday night, Donald Trump spoke approvingly of all three.


Trump infuriated Republican insiders—and contradicted one of his own senior foreign policy advisers—when he suggested that those three governments are playing a positive role in Syria’s civil war.


.....Assad is killing ISIS. Russia is killing ISIS and Iran is killing ISIS,” Trump said when asked about his plans for Syria. He was referring to the country’s president, Bashar Assad, and using an acronym for the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.


Although Trump has argued before against intervening in Syria, and often calls for cooperation with Russia against ISIS, his statement Sunday night was particularly blunt—and underscored the huge gap between Trump’s views and mainstream Republican thinking.


Trump’s position also contradicted the view of one of his senior foreign policy advisers...


“When it is said that Russia would make an ideal partner for fighting Radical Islam, it behooves us to remember that the Russians haven’t been very effective at fighting jihadis on their own territory, and are in cahoots with the Iranians,”


“In Syria, the two allies have loudly proclaimed they are waging war against ISIS, but in reality the great bulk of their efforts are aimed at the opponents of the Assad regime,” Flynn adds in the book, co-written with the conservative policy analyst Michael Ledeen, who has also been identified as a Trump campaign adviser.


After the debate, other experts called Trump’s claim factually and even morally dubious, arguing that Assad’s continued grip on power, with the support of Tehran and Moscow, makes it harder to defeat the radical Islamic group.


“ISIS wouldn’t be there but for Assad,” said Danielle Pletka, vice president of foreign and defense policy studies at the conservative American Enterprise Institute.


“For Assad, Iran and Russia, ISIS is at most a secondary enemy: The real enemy is the Syrian opposition (which they are crushing) and the Syrian population
Trump presented the situation differently. “Right now, Syria is fighting ISIS,” he said. That echoes Assad’s consistent claims that he is a heroic bulwark against radical terrorism, and not fighting a popular insurrection with ultimately peaceful goals.




Andrew Tabler, a Syria expert at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, supported the view that the Assad-Iran-Russia axis is not playing a significant role in the anti-ISIS fight.


“The U.S.-led coalition does the lion’s share of the fighting against ISIS,” Tabler said. He noted that the Syria government has recaptured only about 2 percent of the country’s territory since Russia intervened on its behalf. Little of that is in ISIS-controlled areas.


Iranian and Russian forces, aiding Assad’s embattled regime, have mostly targeted rebel fighters who themselves oppose ISIS. Some are relative moderates backed by the CIA, while others are radical Islamists aligned with Al Qaeda. Even those radicals consider ISIS to be too extreme.






U.S. officials believe that Russia began airstrikes in Syria last fall not to combat ISIS but to prevent Assad from potential defeat at the hands of other rebel groups.

[husaberg]

Saw this article and it made my day:
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/rcna182923



If she is so righteous over Trump - why did she need to spend an insane billion dollar campaign of hard earned taxpayer money to buy celebrity appearances etc etc then lose by a landslide.:clap::lol::laugh:

Out of interest can you figure out why Harris money was concentrated immediately prior to the election when trump raised and spend far more more prior?
Although the Trump campaign raised $382m in the period that Harris raised more than $1bn, outside groups like Super PACs (political action committees) contributed roughly $711m, according to data from Open Secrets in an October 26 report

The other important things is I don't believe Harris has a conviction for was it 34 or 39 separate fraud charges relating to misuse and fraud with campaign funds...
just some minor details aye....

[pritch]

Trumps previous statements about Asshat.

.....Assad is killing ISIS. Russia is killing ISIS and Iran is killing ISIS,” Trump said when asked about his plans for Syria. He was referring to the country’s president, Bashar Assad, and using an acronym for the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.



Assad was too busy killing his own people. The Kurds were killing ISIS. Trump betrayed the Kurds to save his properties in Turkey. The Kurds and the Marsh Arabs found out to their cost how reliable the US is as an ally.

Had a book here about a young Syrian guy who aspired to be a journalist. One night some jets flew in fast, dropped bombs, and left at the same speed they arrived. This was unusual, Assad's people flew around interminably dropping barrel bombs on civilian areas. The young guy thought about this and posted on social media that the US had entered the war. Then he went to sleep. When he awoke every major international news organisation wanted to interview him. Not bad for an aspiring journalist.
Oh and he was correct, the jets were American.

[Berries]

Saw this article and it made my day:
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/rcna182923
If she is so righteous over Trump - why did she need to spend an insane billion dollar campaign of hard earned taxpayer money to buy celebrity appearances etc etc then lose by a landslide.:clap::lol::laugh:
I think we have all moved on?

[Dean]

I think we have all moved on?

Who is “we”?

[Laava]

I see the FOC has loudmouthed about King Charles having and recovering from cancer. Not his job to make the world aware of other peoples health issues. The fuckwit has no filter.

[Berries]

Who is “we”?
Everyone on here except you.

[Grumph]

I see the FOC has loudmouthed about King Charles having and recovering from cancer. Not his job to make the world aware of other peoples health issues. The fuckwit has no filter.

Other leaders will learn again. Say nothing to him except "hello" and "yes or no" He's a walking intelligence leak.

And keep him at a long arms length unless you like being mauled by a convicted sex offender.

[onearmedbandit]

I thought it was old news that he had cancer and was on the road to recovery?

[Kb2020dope]

Everyone on here except you.

Hey pal!

I'm still celebrating. Also preparing for Vance 28 and Vance 32. Hopefully one day soon we can have a world government so we can get a proper leader instead of the piss weak center left and right candidates we unfortunately have here.

Just my view.
Dreams are free.

[Dean]

Everyone on here except you.

Well you were wrong, guess you can’t speak for everyone.

[Berries]

Well you were wrong, guess you can’t speak for everyone.
Oh dear. I was going to say everyone but you and your love doll but I thought you had grown up over the last few days so didn't want to mention her.

Proved a point though, nice one.