US Politics Mega-thread - Page 4072

On June 17 2016 07:59 DickMcFanny wrote:


Oh god, I didn't want to know this shit. Fuck you, google reverse image search...

On June 17 2016 08:03 xDaunt wrote:

Apparently "hammer boys" is not the right search to figure out who is in that picture....

Philadelphia has approved a tax on soda — and it's the first major U.S. city to do so.

The bill passed Philadelphia's City Council by a vote of 13-4.

Mayor Jim Kenney supported the tax. After the law passed, he called it "a historic investment in our neighborhoods and our education system."

As NPR's Allison Aubrey has reported, "One of the mayor's selling points in persuading the City Council to support the measure is that much of the estimated $91 million the tax would bring to the city's coffers each year would boost funding for programs including citywide pre-K education."

The new tax, which amounts to 1.5 cents per ounce, "will hit thousands of products, essentially anything bottled, canned or from a fountain with either sugar or artificial sweetener added, save for a few exceptions," as Philly.com reported.

The law lists these as examples of taxable products: "[Non-100%-fruit drinks; flavored water; energy drinks; pre-sweetened coffee or tea; and non-alcoholic beverages intended to be mixed into an alcoholic drink."

The exceptions include baby formula and products that are more than 50 percent milk, fruit or vegetable juice, according to the law. It is set to go into effect on Jan. 1.

Philly.com explains how it will impact the costs of beverages:

"The tax will be levied on distributors. Only time will tell how much will trickle down to consumers. But all in, it could add up to 18 cents to the cost of a 12-ounce can, $1 to the cost of a 2-liter container, and $2.16 to the cost of a 12-pack."

The vote follows a fierce campaign against the tax from the beverage industry, according to The Associated Press.

On June 17 2016 07:58 Gorsameth wrote:

Yeah, I don't agree with that and certainly don't think it is a productive dialog line to take.

Is it really just the Republicans or are plenty of Democrats also against tighter gun laws?

On June 17 2016 08:05 oBlade wrote:
I really think the president went in the wrong direction when he dismissed the extremist-inspired attacks as "homegrown" and said there was nothing that could be done. They may be self-radicalized, but it's not homegrown, it's not something in a vacuum like Marvin Heemeyer's bulldozer rampage. Even self-radicalized sounds weird. They were radicalized directly because of terrorist groups. When US foreign policy fails to deal with them, for whatever reason (Obama might not want part of his legacy to be sending troops to Syria, or didn't want to hurt DNC chances in 2016 by sending soldiers if it's politically unpopular), and then he only pushes the blame elsewhere, it invites criticism. McCain was pretty close to the mark. And it's not like we can say McCain is a Trump lackey after the attack during the primary.

On June 17 2016 02:23 Biff The Understudy wrote:

And a dysfunctional system that is completely unfair and send innocent people to the slaughter. Especially when they are black and poor.

Death penalty is a disgrace, and death penalty in the US is the one biggest shame of that country (even though the list is long). But some people want blood I guess.

On June 17 2016 08:27 CannonsNCarriers wrote:


You should tell CIA Chief John Brennan about the connection between Obama-Iraq-ISIS-Mateen. The CIA could really use your help making that connection.

"The Central Intelligence Agency chief has not been “able to uncover any link” between Orlando killer Omar Mateen and the Islamic State, despite Mateen’s stated allegiance to the jihadist group during Sunday’s LGBT nightclub massacre."

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/jun/16/cia-orlando-shooter-omar-mateen-isis-pulse-nightclub-attack

EDIT:

"Reinforcing four days of internal government assessments across multiple agencies and a Federal Bureau of Investigation inquiry, the CIA director, John Brennan, contrasted “lone wolf” killers in Orlando and San Bernardino last December with recent terrorist attacks in Paris and Brussels, which he told the Senate intelligence committee were “directed” by Isis leadership in Syria and Iraq."

Texas has lost its bid to keep Syrian refugees out when a federal judge on Thursday dismissed the state’s lawsuit over resettlements from the war-torn Middle Eastern country.

US district court judge David Godbey said the state failed to make “a plausible claim for relief” in its lawsuit against the federal government and the International Rescue Committee (IRC), a charity that aids refugees.

“I am disappointed with the court’s determination that Texas cannot hold the federal government accountable,” state attorney general Ken Paxton said in a written statement.

Texas officials argue that they should be consulted by the federal government before refugees are relocated there, and that the state should be provided with specific information about individual refugees.

But the judge said that existing US law does not support the state’s petition, a ruling that was cheered by the plaintiffs.

“The court is unequivocal in validating the lawfulness of the refugee resettlement program,” said Jennifer Sime, senior vice president of the IRC’s US Programs.

The non-profit group said Syrians are the most vetted of the refugees it settles in Texas.

A number of intelligence agencies are involved in the background check, and only those with the most well-founded cases ultimately qualify for resettlement.

On June 17 2016 07:47 DarkPlasmaBall wrote:


Rightly so.

On June 17 2016 09:11 SolaR- wrote:
To be honest I don't see why it matters if it was a direct attack from ISIS or not. It is still ISIS's influence, it is still radical Islamic terrorism, and it is clear the guy was heavily inspired by ISIS. So, what is the point? I actually think it's much worse of a situation, that an American citizen became a home grown Islamic terrorist, influenced by a radical group from the other side of the globe.

On June 17 2016 08:27 CannonsNCarriers wrote:


You should tell CIA Chief John Brennan about the connection between Obama-Iraq-ISIS-Mateen. The CIA could really use your help making that connection.

"The Central Intelligence Agency chief has not been “able to uncover any link” between Orlando killer Omar Mateen and the Islamic State, despite Mateen’s stated allegiance to the jihadist group during Sunday’s LGBT nightclub massacre."

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/jun/16/cia-orlando-shooter-omar-mateen-isis-pulse-nightclub-attack

EDIT:

"Reinforcing four days of internal government assessments across multiple agencies and a Federal Bureau of Investigation inquiry, the CIA director, John Brennan, contrasted “lone wolf” killers in Orlando and San Bernardino last December with recent terrorist attacks in Paris and Brussels, which he told the Senate intelligence committee were “directed” by Isis leadership in Syria and Iraq."

On June 17 2016 09:17 Nyxisto wrote:


The guy claimed allegiance with three terrorist groups who all at the same time are at war with each other. Isis is a brand for those guys. It makes about as much sense as blaming Ford when someone drives a Fiesta into a crowd of people.

These terrorists are basically like pirates, they aren't Osama Bin Laden. The lawyer of the French cell leader described the guy as "as stupid as an empty ashtray who hadn't even read the Quran". You're not dealing with the same terrorists we had 20 years ago.

On June 17 2016 09:31 SolaR- wrote:


Again, why does it matter? It doesn't matter that his ideas were disjointed and that he supported multiple groups. What does matter is that Radical Islam is influencing more and more Islamic youth at a drastic pace.

I think this form of terrorism is much worse and much more alarming. At least 20 years there was some semblance of who the enemy was. Now anyone can be an Islamic terrorist.

On June 17 2016 09:34 Nyxisto wrote:


It matters because it means that his primary motivation likely lay elsewhere. If he wouldn't have taken Islam as a motivation he could have put on a black trenchcoat and we'd be back to discussing videogames.

On June 17 2016 09:47 SolaR- wrote:


No it doesn't. It is clear that is motivation stemmed from radical Islamic beliefs. His motivation stemmed from radical Islam in general. He didn't care about the inside political war between the different extremists groups in the middle east. He related to their ideals, and their hatred of western culture.