USA Politics/Election Thread: Biden, Harris, Trump, Democrats, Republicans, et al

[Ilunga]

3 hours ago, 24K PureCool said:

Oh put a sock in it. Don't blame anyone but western democracies all deciding to not or pull out of the bidding for these games.

 

It was literally between Beijing already with all the infrastructure built or Almaty that would have to build everything from scratch and be the next Sochi. It was a no brainer move for the IOC at the time given the already ballooning cost of the game especially after the financial disaster that was sochi 2014. Kazakhstan doesn't have a great human rights record either so that was a non factor.

 

The IOC was literally willing to give the 2022 games to any western nation that wanted it. Heck China bid for these games as a joke and only as a practice run for a future bid after failing like the last 3 or 4 times to even reach the candidate stage. 

 

I will never put any morale judgement on any athlete competing, they trained their whole life for this and might be their only chance to experience the Olympics. They don't have any say on where the games are played. 

Then you condone human rights violations as well.

 

If your family,relatives people were suffering human rights violations you would be the first to scream for justice.

[24K PureCool]

35 minutes ago, Ilunga said:

Then you condone human rights violations as well.

 

If your family,relatives people were suffering human rights violations you would be the first to scream for justice.

Well if you want to put that cap on me then by all means. I am in support of the athletes, I ain't gonna put my own morality onto people who have pursued this their whole life for this one chance to live their dreams.

 

Like I said, the athletes have nothing to do with where they play. The issue of where the games are played are above their pay grade. The blame if any should be squarely on the IOC and the other NOCs who did not bid for these games that forced the IOCs hands. 

[Ilunga]

4 hours ago, 24K PureCool said:

Well if you want to put that cap on me then by all means. I am in support of the athletes, I ain't gonna put my own morality onto people who have pursued this their whole life for this one chance to live their dreams.

 

Like I said, the athletes have nothing to do with where they play. The issue of where the games are played are above their pay grade. The blame if any should be squarely on the IOC and the other NOCs who did not bid for these games that forced the IOCs hands. 

I totally agree with the fact that the IOC like the NBA are a morally bankrupt organisation that puts money first.

 

The Chinese are committing genocide,do you realise what that means ? 

Would you want your loved one's,friends relatives,people to experience that ?

 

They also restrict the freedoms of their citizens.

Would you like Canadaians to have their freedoms taken away ?

 

We do not have the power to stop them however we can show them that that sort of behaviour is  intolerable. 

 

How would you feel if Leylah Fernandez accused a senior government official of sexual harrassment and was "disappeared" ?

 

Today our government announced like the US we won't be sending diplomats.

A Chinese analyst stated that is a huge loss of face for the Chinese and if athletes don't show up that will be an even bigger loss of face.

Something the Chinese authorities take very seriously.

They are using these games as a huge propaganda tool in their society.

 

 

 

Edited December 8, 2021 by Ilunga

[Tortorella's Rant]

 

[NewbieCanuckFan]

 

 

Conan O’Brian:  “Just a reminder folks.  Guns don’t make lousy Christmas cards.  People make lousy Christmas cards”

[NewbieCanuckFan]

It’s ok because old RICH white guy said he’s sorry:

 

 

 

[gurn]

Seems Drumpf even had a chilling effect on the US Military:

https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/us/39-soldiers-to-get-purple-hearts-after-cbs-news-investigation/ar-AARCgWf?ocid=msedgdhp&pc=U531

The Army will award the Purple Heart to dozens of additional soldiers injured when Iran struck their airbase in Iraq with ballistic missiles in January 2020. The shift comes after a CBS News investigation last month found these same soldiers had not been recognized with the award and denied the medical benefits that come with it, despite appearing to qualify.

 

In a statement to CBS News, a spokesman said the Army's Human Resources command, which oversees awards, approved 39 Purple Heart submissions for soldiers wounded in the attack. The command notified these soldiers on Wednesday.

The attack was the largest ballistic missile strike against American forces in history and came days after the U.S. killed the powerful Iranian general Qassem Soleimani, head of the elite Quds military force and the man behind deadly attacks on American bases.

"It rocked everything," said Platoon Sergeant Daine Kvasager, who received the award on Tuesday after initially being denied it. Kvasager told CBS News in November that he was knocked over by a shockwave after one of the missiles hit about 150 feet from him. "The whole earth shook."

Though no American troops were killed, Kvasager and members of his team, called Taskforce Scarecrow, suffered traumatic brain injuries, or TBIs. Yet after the attack, only 23 of 59 team members diagnosed with TBIs received the Purple Heart.

Last month, members of Taskforce Scarecrow told CBS News that they felt pressure to downplay their growing injuries to avoid a further escalation with Iran and avoid undercutting former President Trump's initial public comments.

A week after the attack, Trump was asked about the soldiers' injuries at a press conference, and he said he "heard they had headaches" and "I can report it is not very serious."

"The messaging I was getting was just the political situation wasn't going to support more approvals," said Captain Geoffrey Hansen, who helped lead Taskforce Scarecrow on the base known as Al Asad.

In an October 6 letter obtained by CBS News, their commander, Colonel Gregory Fix, wrote that following the attack, he was "directed not to inquire about the remaining awards." He urged the Army's Human Resources command to "review and/or reconsider" Purple Hearts for all injured soldiers who did not receive one.

Among those who received the Purple Heart on Tuesday was 22-year-old Jason Quitugua, who took his own life last month. Quitugua, who was promoted to sergeant posthumously, defended the base when the missiles struck and was diagnosed with a TBI.

He struggled, you know, like we all are, like I am," said Kvasager, who served with Quitugua.

Ksavager used to help run armed drone operations as part of the unit, but the now 31-year-old struggles with vision and hearing problems and suffers from constant headaches and memory loss. He says he can no longer do his job.

After CBS News brought these cases to the Pentagon's attention, a spokesman said the Army's Human Resources Command would review the soldiers' Purple Heart submissions. And more than two dozen members of Congress led by Representative Mike Thompson, a California Democrat, asked the Secretary of the Army to "expeditiously" award the Purple Heart to soldiers injured in the missile attack, citing the CBS News investigation.

With the latest additions, the military has now recognized 68 soldiers injured in the attack with Purple Hearts, including soldiers from other units who were on the base.

The award carries lifetime benefits, including priority medical care at Veterans Affairs hospitals, home loan benefits, and preferences for federal hiring. Some states offer Purple Heart recipients tuition waivers for undergraduate and postgraduate university programs.

The Army spokesman said the Human Resources command would continue to review Purple Heart nominations for 11 additional soldiers at the base.

Mike Pridgeon also received the award on Tuesday. In an interview last month, he said he suffered from constant headaches, memory loss and vision issues. He said by denying him and others the award, the Army had sent a message to injured soldiers that their sacrifice was "insignificant" and "not worth consideration.

"It's not something you ever want to earn," he said. "But it's something that my son can see as to why I am the way I am, why I changed."

[gurn]

""The messaging I was getting was just the political situation wasn't going to support more approvals," said Captain Geoffrey Hansen, who helped lead Taskforce Scarecrow on the base known as Al Asad."

 

In an October 6 letter obtained by CBS News, their commander, Colonel Gregory Fix, wrote that following the attack, he was "directed not to inquire about the remaining awards." He urged the Army's Human Resources command to "review and/or reconsider" Purple Hearts for all injured soldiers who did not receive one."

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Who ever 'directed' Colonel Fix not to inquire about the remaining awards, should be exposed and dishonourably discharged. imo

[RUPERTKBD]

17 minutes ago, gurn said:

""The messaging I was getting was just the political situation wasn't going to support more approvals," said Captain Geoffrey Hansen, who helped lead Taskforce Scarecrow on the base known as Al Asad."

 

In an October 6 letter obtained by CBS News, their commander, Colonel Gregory Fix, wrote that following the attack, he was "directed not to inquire about the remaining awards." He urged the Army's Human Resources command to "review and/or reconsider" Purple Hearts for all injured soldiers who did not receive one."

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Who ever 'directed' Colonel Fix not to inquire about the remaining awards, should be exposed and dishonourably discharged. imo

My guess is that it was tied to Trump's description of "headaches"....

 

Wouldn't want to contradict the Dear Leader's uninformed musings with facts. That might make his look bad.....

[4petesake]

46 minutes ago, NewbieCanuckFan said:

It’s ok because old RICH white guy said he’s sorry:

 

 

 

If justice is blind it’s definitely not colour blind. So nice to be white and wealthy.

 

 

 

 

[gurn]

Damn, Drumpf is truly a walking disaster area:

https://www.msn.com/en-ca/money/topstories/sec-investigating-trump-s-1-25-billion-deal-to-create-truth-social-platform/ar-AARCcwP?ocid=msedgdhp&pc=U531

Wall Street’s top financial regulators are investigating former U.S. president Donald Trump’s $1.25 billion deal to float his new social media venture, TRUTH Social , on the stock market, a filing shows.

Digital World Acquisition Corp, the blank-check acquisition firm that agreed to merge with Trump Media & Technology Group Corp (TMTG), disclosed in a regulatory filing on Monday that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) were probing the deal.

 

Trump Media & Technology did not respond to requests for comment.

In its first financial projections since the announcement of the merger, Digital World said it expected the average revenue per user of Trump’s social media app, TRUTH Social, to grow to $13.50 in 2026, with 81 million total users.

That is despite the app not having reached even trial mode. Trump plans to launch the beta version of TRUTH Social in the first quarter of 2022.

Digital World also said it expected TMTG to reach 40 million total subscribers by 2026. By comparison, social media platform Twitter Inc has over 200 million daily active users.

Trump was banned from top social media platforms after the Jan. 6 attack by his supporters on the U.S. Capitol amid concerns he would inspire further violence.

U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren had asked the SEC to investigate TMTG’s proposed merger with Digital World over potential violations of securities laws, including whether they had sufficiently disclosed when deal talks began.

Digital World said the SEC asked for documents in early November relating to communications between Digital World and TMTG, meetings of Digital World’s board, policies and procedures relating to trading, the identification of banking, telephone, and email addresses and the identities of certain investors.

 

 

The SEC stated in its request that its investigation does not mean the regulator has concluded that anyone violated the law, Digital World added.

The SEC declined to comment on Monday.

The investigations come amid excitement among Trump supporters and retail investors over the planned deal. Frantic trading of Digital World’s shares has driven Trump Media’s valuation from $875 million in October to close to $4 billion.

Digital World, whose shares ended trading on Wednesday down 2.6% at $43.81, said FINRA had asked for details in late October and early November about “surrounding events,” including a review of trading, that preceded the announcement of the merger.

A Reuters review of trading data showed unusual activity on Oct. 20 ahead of the merger’s announcement later that day. More than 1 million warrants, worth a total of around $500,000, were traded, compared with only 119,000 warrants on Oct. 19, according to Refinitiv data.

FINRA said in its request that its inquiry should not be construed as an indication that any violations of Nasdaq rules or federal securities laws have occurred, Digital World added.

FINRA declined to comment.

TOTAL PROCEEDS

Trump Media said last Saturday it had entered into agreements to raise about $1 billion from a group of unidentified investors, bringing the deal’s total proceeds to $1.25 billion.

But TMTG will receive this money only if the deal is completed. A vote required for Digital World shareholders to approve the transaction has yet to be scheduled.

Some on Wall Street have been reluctant to associate with Trump, and the Digital World filings did not disclose which investors backed the $1 billion fundraising.

With the exception of Trump being named TMTG chairman, the company had not identified any of its top executives until Monday, when it announced that Devin Nunes would step down as a U.S. representative to join as its CEO in January. Nunes, the top Republican on the House Intelligence Committee, has been one of Trump’s staunchest allies in Congress.

(Reporting by Noor Zainab Hussain in Bengaluru and Greg Roumeliotis in New York Additional reporting by Noel Randewich in San Francisco Editing by Shinjini Ganguli and Alexander Smith)

 

 

[gurn]

[RUPERTKBD]

47 minutes ago, gurn said:

Remember the schadenfreude displayed by the local Faux News / Trump fans when CNN headquarters were damaged during the George Floyd protests?

 

I'm betting those same people are outraged by this "attack" on a right wing media outlet and an attack on Christmas itself....

[JoeyJoeJoeJr. Shabadoo]

44 minutes ago, RUPERTKBD said:

Remember the schadenfreude displayed by the local Faux News / Trump fans when CNN headquarters were damaged during the George Floyd protests?

 

I'm betting those same people are outraged by this "attack" on a right wing media outlet and an attack on Christmas itself....

Remember the poster awhile back telling us how outraged he was that the liberal media was inciting the BLM riots by falsely reporting about people being murdered by police? 

[RUPERTKBD]

5 minutes ago, JoeyJoeJoeJr. Shabadoo said:

Remember the poster awhile back telling us how outraged he was that the liberal media was inciting the BLM riots by falsely reporting about people being murdered by police? 

Good times....

 

I just watched a video compilation on the Faux News response to the Christmas Tree arson....outrage is a bit of an understatement. I think I might have sprained my eyeballs, I was rolling them so much....

 

Tucker Carlson wanted to know why it wasn't being investigated as a "hate crime", while another panelist angrily announced "You won't break our Christmas spirit!" (I got a real William Wallace vibe out of that one)

[Tortorella's Rant]

 

[Industrious1]

Some great points made in that video.  

 

Reminds me of watching the election and Rosemary Barton lighting up every time the liberals won a seat (I believe at one point she even misspoke and mentioned that 'we' had won another riding...who is 'we'?).   

 

Made me wonder if I was watching a state broadcaster, which was really disappointing because I've come to expect neutrality from the CBC.   

[thedestroyerofworlds]

Last stop, the Supreme Court.  

 

 

https://www.cnbc.com/2021/12/09/trump-loses-appeal-to-block-jan-6-panel-from-getting-white-house-records.html

Trump loses appeal to block Jan. 6 Capitol riot probe from getting White House records

 

• A federal appeals court rejected President Donald Trump’s effort to block a House committee from getting White House records related to the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.
• The decision comes a day after Trump’s former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows sued the committee in Washington federal court, seeking to void two subpoenas related to him from the same select committee.
• Trump is almost certain to ask the Supreme Court to overturn the ruling.

[thedestroyerofworlds]

[Alflives]

1 hour ago, thedestroyerofworlds said:

Last stop, the Supreme Court.  

 

 

https://www.cnbc.com/2021/12/09/trump-loses-appeal-to-block-jan-6-panel-from-getting-white-house-records.html

Trump loses appeal to block Jan. 6 Capitol riot probe from getting White House records

 

• A federal appeals court rejected President Donald Trump’s effort to block a House committee from getting White House records related to the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.
• The decision comes a day after Trump’s former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows sued the committee in Washington federal court, seeking to void two subpoenas related to him from the same select committee.
• Trump is almost certain to ask the Supreme Court to overturn the ruling.

How good would it be for His Orangeness to go the prison?