US Politics Mega-thread - Page 2715

On January 05 2016 12:46 Mohdoo wrote:
The fact that these guys are guaranteed going to prison makes me think they may actually make a violent last stand. Their lives are basically over at this point. Either they go down fighting or spend their lives in prison.

On January 05 2016 13:34 OuchyDathurts wrote:


....no one agrees with that line of thinking because it's stupid as hell. It's completely devoid of any rational or nuanced thought. You're just taking things to their extremes, its the worst case of black or white possible.

Unless you're willing to KILL for something it shouldn't be against the law. Hmm, very intelligent and thought provoking.

I think reading someone else's mail should be against the law. Makes sense, it's their property, its private correspondence meant for them, it could contain privileged and sensitive information, no logical person would say otherwise. If someone opens something in my mail am I willing to go and shoot them? Do I want the police to send the SWAT team to kill them? No, that's fucking retarded.

Smart people see nuance, they're able to evaluate a situation and see shades of grey. They don't just instantly distill everything down to "IF YOU AREN'T WILLING TO KILL....". Stealing should be illegal, not willing to shoot someone over the money in my wallet or the TV on my wall. Not every situation turns into kill or let it go unless you're a psychopath.

This is the same bullshit line of argument that is "All taxation is theft by threat of death!". It's a joke made up by the feeble minded to persuade others with feeble minds.

No one takes that seriously because its not serious.

On January 05 2016 18:57 Ghostcom wrote:


Well it's not really a siege according to Time.com:

http://time.com/4167006/oregon-militia-standoff-ranchers-fbi/?xid=homepage

On January 05 2016 19:53 Gorsameth wrote:

Why are they guaranteed to go to prison?
They have previously held an armed standoff with the government over grazing rights and did not go to jail for that either.

If news of this dies down quick enough I fully expect the government to give them what they want and let them walk away because they want to avoid a confrontation going bad and making national news as a bloodbath.

With only weeks before GOP primary voters first cast their ballots, the level of alarm among establishment Republicans about the enduring dominance of Donald Trump and Ted Cruz is reaching new heights.

In private conversations with several former aides, Mitt Romney, who in March will keynote the National Republican Congressional Committee’s annual fundraising dinner, has expressed rising frustration about Trump’s prolonged lead in polls and has argued that the real-estate mogul could inflict lasting damage on the party’s brand.

In Washington and elsewhere, meanwhile, Republicans are on the hunt for a political entity that can be used to stop Trump. In recent weeks, Alex Castellanos, a veteran TV ad man who was a top adviser to George W. Bush and Romney, has been meeting with top GOP operatives and donors to gauge interest in launching an anti-Trump vehicle that would pummel the Manhattan businessman on the television airwaves.

Those who’ve met with Castellanos say he’s offered detailed presentations on how such an offensive would play out. Castellanos has said that an anti-Trump ad campaign, which would be designed to cast him as a flawed strongman, would cost well into the millions. It was unclear, the sources said, whether Castellanos, who did not respond to a request for comment, would ultimately go through with the effort.

One growing worry about Trump or Cruz, top party officials, donors, and operatives across the country say, is that nominating either man would imperil lawmakers in down-ballot races, especially those residing in moderate states and districts.

The armed militiamen occupying a federal building in rural, eastern Oregon won't have power there for long, according to a Tuesday morning report in The Guardian.

An anonymous source in Washington, D.C. told The Guardian that federal authorities planned to cut power at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge near the small town of Burns, Oregon.

“It’s in the middle of nowhere,” the unnamed government official told The Guardian. “And it’s flat-ass cold up there.”

The source told the Guardian that they didn't have any information about the FBI's plan of action, but said the National Park Service (called the US Park Service by The Guardian) planned to cut the outpost's power.

The Malheur National Wildlife Refuge is under the jurisdiction of the Fish and Wildlife Service. A statement on the Malheur webpage says the refuge is closed until further notice. The National Park Service's role was not immediately clear.

“After they shut off the power, they’ll kill the phone service,” the official told The Guardian. “Then they’ll block all the roads so that all those guys have a long, lonely winter to think about what they’ve done.”

On January 06 2016 01:18 Mohdoo wrote:
If Rubio doesn't win one of the first few states, I think it's officially Cruz vs Trump. It's also interesting to see the establishment can't wrap it's head around how much less effective TV ads are nowadays.

On January 06 2016 00:29 Mohdoo wrote:


They are essentially asking a giant portion of land be completely handed over for locals to do as they please. That is so utterly impossible. There's no way they will get that. It's insane.

On January 06 2016 01:22 zeo wrote:
Would anyone really look into how corrupt the BLM really is if these guys hadn't decided to sit down on public property with guns?

On January 06 2016 01:22 zeo wrote:

A man was convicted of domestic terrorism for an act he already served prison time for just because he didn't want to sell his land to the government. The Bureau of Land Management have pressured and thugged the ranchers in the area to sell their land for 50 years, denying access to water that was already paid for, fencing off and blocking access between two parts of privet property and so on.

So he goes to jail for 2 years because of a backfire, refuses to sell his land for the 50th time, then the BLM goes 'no,no,no what he did is actually terrorism(???)' so they reopen the case and sentence him again to 5 years in jail for something he has already been punished for. According to the 5th amendment the US government is violating the constitution and the Hammond's have every right to protest.

That said, I don't agree with these methods but what power do you actually have against the government when that government starts competing against the people for land and uses its own laws to gain an unfair advantage? I'm actually appalled by the way the media has been covering this, not one mention of the backstory to this standoff. Would anyone really look into how corrupt the BLM really is if these guys hadn't decided to sit down on public property with guns?

On January 06 2016 01:29 Mohdoo wrote:


No one is going to. As soon as their socioeconomic position was established by their interviews, it was a lost cause. They are just rednecks mad at the government who took it too far by bringing guns. They are, if anything, discouraging people from carrying the fight because there is so much negative image created by these terrorists. Who is going to say "yeah, us too!"?

On January 06 2016 01:29 Mohdoo wrote:


No one is going to. As soon as their socioeconomic position was established by their interviews, it was a lost cause. They are just rednecks mad at the government who took it too far by bringing guns. They are, if anything, discouraging people from carrying the fight because there is so much negative image created by these terrorists. Who is going to say "yeah, us too!"?

The single biggest contributor to climate change in California is a blown-out natural gas well more than 8,700ft underground, state authorities and campaign groups said Monday.

The broken well at the Aliso Canyon natural gas storage site has released more than 77,000 metric tons of the powerful climate pollutant methane since the rupture was first detected on 23 October, according to a counter created by the Environmental Defense Fund.

Methane is a fast-acting climate pollutant – more than 80 times more powerful than carbon dioxide over a 20-year time frame.

Experts believe the breach, which has forced the evacuation of hundreds of residents from the town of Porter Ranch, is the largest ever in the US.

Locals have complained of headaches, sore throats, nosebleeds and nausea, caused by the rotten-egg smell of the odorant added to the gas to aid leak detection by SoCalGas, the utility that operates the natural gas storage site.

About 1,000 people are suing the company. There are also concerns about the leak’s effect on smog and ozone. The company said it was monitoring air quality.

The leak is unlikely to be brought under control before late February – and even that timetable depends on work crews’ success in locating and plugging a 7-inch pipe deep underground.

On January 06 2016 01:33 Gorsameth wrote:
they were convicted of Federal Arson but the judge lowered the sentence below the mandatory minimum. A higher court ruled there was insufficient reason for the reduction so they now have to serve the actual minimum sentence (5 years) there was no re conviction. there was no double jeopardy. Its simple basic judicial process.

The convicted actually did not protest it and have reported to jail to serve their time. The people occupying the federal building have no affiliation with the convicted and the convicted have publicly distanced themselves from the action.