US Politics Mega-thread - Page 3905

On May 30 2016 23:54 Mohdoo wrote:
It's just the sad reality of how most of humanity is genetically inclined to be followers.

As a witness to the removal of fallen U.S. troops from Afghanistan, Army Chaplain Christopher John Antal can’t recall a time when that solemn ceremony wasn’t conducted without the presence of drones passing along the horizon.

They were sleek and quiet, making a gentle humming noise as they flew over the flight lines — where aircraft can be parked and serviced — of the Kandahar airfield in Afghanistan, where he was stationed in 2012. Not everyone had access to the flight lines, according to Antal, but he was responsible for participating in dignified transfer ceremonies, also known as ramp ceremonies, which were set there to greet the caskets of fallen service personnel as they were returned to base, en route to the U.S. On these occasions, he would watch the drones drift in and out, loaded with Hellfire missiles.

“It was [a] stark contrast to the solemnity of what I was doing at the ceremonies,” Antal, a Unitarian Universalist minister, told ABC News about watching the drones during the ceremonies. “When I would watch them and think about where they had been and where they were going, it would break my soul.”

On April 12, Antal resigned his commission as an officer in the Army because of his conscientious objection to the United States’ drone policy. In a letter addressed to Commander-in-Chief Barack Obama, Antal wrote, “The executive branch continues to claim the right to kill anyone, anywhere on Earth, at any time, for secret reasons, based on secret evidence, in a secret process, undertaken by unidentified officials. I refuse to support this policy of unaccountable killing.” In doing so, he joined other previous members of the armed forces who have addressed Obama to criticize his drone strike policy, including four former members of the Air Force who penned a letter in November of 2015 warning the president that the strikes “served as a recruitment tool similar to Guantanamo Bay.”

The White House has defended the use of force in certain situations. "Since his first day in office, President Obama has been clear that the United States will use all available tools of national power to protect the American people from the terrorist threat posed by al-Qa’ida and its associated forces," reads a 2013 fact sheet on policies and procedures for counter-terrorism operations outside the U.S. and areas of active hostilities.

Earlier this year, the Obama administration agreed to publish a redacted version of the so-called playbook for U.S. drone operations overseas. Antal hopes that with the publication, Americans will open their eyes to what is really happening with armed drones. The administration has not made clear when the documents will be released

The G7 nations have for the first time set a deadline for the ending most fossil fuel subsidies, saying government support for coal, oil and gas should end by 2025.

The leaders of the UK, US, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the European Union encouraged all countries to join them in eliminating “inefficient fossil fuel subsidies” within a decade.

“Given the fact that energy production and use account for around two-thirds of global greenhouse gas emissions, we recognise the crucial role that the energy sector has to play in combatting climate change,” said the leaders’ declaration, issued at the end their summit in Japan. The pledge first entered into G7 (then known as G8) declarations in 2009 but has until now lacked a firm timeline.

Shelagh Whitley, a research fellow at the Overseas Development Institute, called it an “historic day” but said 2020 was a more appropriate date if governments were serious about their commitments to the global climate deal agreed in Paris in December.

Across the G7, subsidies are already falling, assisted by falling commodity prices. A notable exception is the UK, which increased subsidies by opening up new tax breaks for North Sea oil producers. Japan has been criticised for funding new coal projects, both at home and abroad.

On May 31 2016 04:31 Liquid`Drone wrote:
a republican 'third party' run, and the republican run getting 3rd, is just what the US needs to implement proportional representation. The most likely way that happens is if the establishment parties feel sufficiently threatened by new political forces that they risk losing all influence/power by holding on to FPTP. Go Romney/martinez. :D

That's how it happened in Norway anyway.

On May 31 2016 04:54 Introvert wrote:
An independent run will only take the blame for a loss from where it belongs (Trump) and move it elsewhere. Trump and Trumpism should be allowed to lose, and lose badly, so hopefully we never see it again.

On May 31 2016 04:31 Liquid`Drone wrote:
a republican 'third party' run, and the republican run getting 3rd, is just what the US needs to implement proportional representation. The most likely way that happens is if the establishment parties feel sufficiently threatened by new political forces that they risk losing all influence/power by holding on to FPTP. Go Romney/martinez. :D

That's how it happened in Norway anyway.

On May 31 2016 04:54 Introvert wrote:
An independent run will only take the blame for a loss from where it belongs (Trump) and move it elsewhere. Trump and Trumpism should be allowed to lose, and lose badly, so hopefully we never see it again.

On May 31 2016 05:33 xDaunt wrote:

Trump is on course to wreck Hillary. These retards on the right need to get out of the way.

On May 31 2016 05:33 xDaunt wrote:

Trump is on course to wreck Hillary. These retards on the right need to get out of the way.

On May 31 2016 05:54 Introvert wrote:


If this email thing continues, he may win. I didn't expect to even see what we've seen so far.

I don't know what your second sentence means. You talking about the third party people?

On May 31 2016 05:49 {CC}StealthBlue wrote:
When she loses MSNBC...

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

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zrz_s-5Vc2k

On May 31 2016 05:33 xDaunt wrote:

Trump is on course to wreck Hillary. These retards on the right need to get out of the way.