In order to ensure that this thread continues to meet TL standards and follows the proper guidelines, we will be enforcing the rules in the OP more strictly. Be sure to give them a re-read to refresh your memory! The vast majority of you are contributing in a healthy way, keep it up!
NOTE: When providing a source, explain why you feel it is relevant and what purpose it adds to the discussion if it's not obvious. Also take note that unsubstantiated tweets/posts meant only to rekindle old arguments can result in a mod action.
MOORE — Police here are investigating why state Sen. Ralph Shortey was in a hotel room last Thursday with a teenage boy.
Police are reviewing text messages purportedly exchanged between Shortey and the teenager as part of the investigation, The Oklahoman has learned. Police became involved because of concerns raised by a relative of the boy.
On March 16 2017 05:16 a_flayer wrote: Neutrality is so annoying when you are heavily partisan, isn't it?
Neutrality for the purpose of being detached and superior to both sides of the discussion is super annoying. I have my disagreements with GH, but he wears his political views on his sleeve and pretend otherwise. I respect people who believe in things, rather than those who are to cynical to do so.
how do you view my kind of semi-neutrality? (not that i'm really all that neutral)
You don’t use it as a cudgel, so its fine.
Strive to be Jefferson, Hamilton or Madison. Don’t be Aaron Burr.
A new report last weekend has revealed that a force of several dozen armed private security contractors from Russia had operated in a part of Libya controlled by regional strongman Khalifa Haftar.
Coming just days after the Pentagon’s top Africa official warned the Senate that Moscow was trying to “do a Syria” in the North African nation, the report of Russian mercenaries in the war-torn country once again raises questions about the government of Vladimir Putin’s intentions in Libya and its United Nations-backed government, which Western countries see as the best chance of restoring stability to war-torn Libya.
“Russia is trying to exert influence on the ultimate decision of who and what entity becomes in charge of the government inside Libya,” General Thomas D. Waldhauser, the chief of the Pentagon’s Africa command, said in a testimony to the Senate’s foreign relations committee last week.
Russia has already irked numerous Western governments with its support of the brutal regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and, despite assurances from Oleg Krinitsyn - owner of private Russian firm RSB-group – that the mercenaries were sent to Libya as a commercial arrangement, it is unlikely that the Kremlin did not grant Krinitsyn its approval, according to Reuters.
Krinitsyn told Reuters that his firm did not work with the Russian defense ministry, but was "consulting" with the Russian foreign ministry.
RSB-group sent the contractors to eastern Libya last year and they were pulled out in February having completed their mission. The task of the security contractors was to remove mines from an industrial facility near the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi, in an area that Haftar's forces had liberated from Islamist rebels.
Krinitsyn did not say who hired his firm, where they were operating or what the industrial facility was. He did not say if the operation had been approved by the U.N.-backed government, which most states view as the sovereign ruler of Libya.
I realize this may be an unfashionable belief in a time of growing tolerance of drug use. But too many lives are at stake to worry about being fashionable. I reject the idea that America will be a better place if marijuana is sold in every corner store. And I am astonished to hear people suggest that we can solve our heroin crisis by legalizing marijuana – so people can trade one life-wrecking dependency for another that’s only slightly less awful. Our nation needs to say clearly once again that using drugs will destroy your life.
I think Sessions is a crusty old man who hates what he sees as black people cigarettes. I don't think republicans will let themselves crack down on states who legalized it, though. Such an enormous mistake that would be.
Danglars, xDaunt etc, do you guys think/hope the Trump administration will do anything about legal weed?
I realize this may be an unfashionable belief in a time of growing tolerance of drug use. But too many lives are at stake to worry about being fashionable. I reject the idea that America will be a better place if marijuana is sold in every corner store. And I am astonished to hear people suggest that we can solve our heroin crisis by legalizing marijuana – so people can trade one life-wrecking dependency for another that’s only slightly less awful. Our nation needs to say clearly once again that using drugs will destroy your life.
Sessions beating the anti-marijuana drum once again this time with dangerous hyperbole!
And Joe Manchin's dumb ass is right with him, pushing the old gateway drug lie.
TAPPER: What do you want president-elect Trump to do about this problem, sir?
MANCHIN: We need to declare a war on drugs, on illicit drugs, because it's not only going to from prescription.
... They got started out as a kid smoking occasional what we call recreational marijuana.
And then from there, that led into prescriptions, taking out of their parents or grandparents' medicine cabinet and become a cool kid. And then before you know it, it turned into where they just were hooked. Then heroin comes on. Now we have the fentanyl comes on. And it's just been unbelievable. President Trump needs to come in day one and say, listen...
Anyone have any insight as to who calls the shots in Trump's FP team other than the troll answer of Bannon? We seem to have Mattis, Pence, and Tillerson as the people with titles of relevance - but they all tend to say different things (also John Rambo McCain with his side-commentary). Actions reflect Mattis more than the others but I'm not sure how certain that is to continue.
House Speaker Paul Ryan said Wednesday that President Donald Trump and a Senate committee helped write the House's embattled replacement plan for Obamacare.
And the Wisconsin Republican insisted that "major components" of that bill will stay in place.
Ryan's comments on Fox Business News came as conservatives and other critics of the bill, which would repeal and replace key parts of the Affordable Care Act, clamored for changes.
Some conservative allies of Trump have called for the president to drop his support for the proposal because of the political perils of shrinking federal financial aid to help people get health coverage.
"Obviously, the major components are staying intact, because this is something we wrote with President Trump, this is something we wrote with the Senate committee," Ryan said.
"This is the plan we ran on all of last year."
The Congressional Budget Office estimated Monday that the bill, if it becomes law, will result in 24 million more people becoming uninsured by 2026 than would be the case under Obamacare. The CBO also noted that lower-income and older people who buy individual health plans would tend to face sharply higher health-care costs.
However, Ryan also said that as the bill moves through the legislative process, "we're making all kinds of improvements and refinements that we think make this bill better."
The bill, dubbed the American Health Care Act, is pending in the House, where it will be reviewed this week by the Budget Committee.
After being introduced last week, the bill instantly drew fire from more conservative members of Congress who said it did not go far enough in repealing Obamacare because it still offers tax credits to help people buy insurance and because it delays a rollback of the expansion of Medicaid.
But a number of moderate Republicans oppose a rollback of Medicaid and are worried about sharp drops in the number of people with insurance. They also have concerns about the bill defunding the family-planning group Planned Parenthood for one year.
Ryan said on Fox Business News that senators will get a crack at making amendments to the bill after it is passed out of the House.
On March 16 2017 07:31 LegalLord wrote: Anyone have any insight as to who calls the shots in Trump's FP team other than the troll answer of Bannon? We seem to have Mattis, Pence, and Tillerson as the people with titles of relevance - but they all tend to say different things (also John Rambo McCain with his side-commentary). Actions reflect Mattis more than the others but I'm not sure how certain that is to continue.
no insight personally; but what I hear is it's mostly his son-in law kushner. and that tillerson is really weak.
A new report last weekend has revealed that a force of several dozen armed private security contractors from Russia had operated in a part of Libya controlled by regional strongman Khalifa Haftar.
Coming just days after the Pentagon’s top Africa official warned the Senate that Moscow was trying to “do a Syria” in the North African nation, the report of Russian mercenaries in the war-torn country once again raises questions about the government of Vladimir Putin’s intentions in Libya and its United Nations-backed government, which Western countries see as the best chance of restoring stability to war-torn Libya.
“Russia is trying to exert influence on the ultimate decision of who and what entity becomes in charge of the government inside Libya,” General Thomas D. Waldhauser, the chief of the Pentagon’s Africa command, said in a testimony to the Senate’s foreign relations committee last week.
Russia has already irked numerous Western governments with its support of the brutal regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and, despite assurances from Oleg Krinitsyn - owner of private Russian firm RSB-group – that the mercenaries were sent to Libya as a commercial arrangement, it is unlikely that the Kremlin did not grant Krinitsyn its approval, according to Reuters.
Krinitsyn told Reuters that his firm did not work with the Russian defense ministry, but was "consulting" with the Russian foreign ministry.
RSB-group sent the contractors to eastern Libya last year and they were pulled out in February having completed their mission. The task of the security contractors was to remove mines from an industrial facility near the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi, in an area that Haftar's forces had liberated from Islamist rebels.
Krinitsyn did not say who hired his firm, where they were operating or what the industrial facility was. He did not say if the operation had been approved by the U.N.-backed government, which most states view as the sovereign ruler of Libya.
On March 16 2017 07:39 LegalLord wrote: Honestly... they should just give it up. No one wants this bill and no one is happy with it. It won't pass under current conditions.
They can't. They ran for 6 years on little more then 'repeal the ACA'. And now that they are in sole control of the government they have to deliver something. If they don't I could see a whole new wave of Tea Party challengers to replace the ones who failed their promise.
On March 16 2017 07:39 LegalLord wrote: Honestly... they should just give it up. No one wants this bill and no one is happy with it. It won't pass under current conditions.
They can't. They ran for 6 years on little more then 'repeal the ACA'. And now that they are in sole control of the government they have to deliver something. If they don't I could see a whole new wave of Tea Party challengers to replace the ones who failed their promise.
I'm imagining a world where Bannon isn't conservative enough. god damn
On March 16 2017 07:39 LegalLord wrote: Honestly... they should just give it up. No one wants this bill and no one is happy with it. It won't pass under current conditions.
They can't. They ran for 6 years on little more then 'repeal the ACA'. And now that they are in sole control of the government they have to deliver something. If they don't I could see a whole new wave of Tea Party challengers to replace the ones who failed their promise.
It's like the gift that kept on giving... until they won and they are stuck with the consequences of all things that go wrong.
On March 16 2017 07:51 Mohdoo wrote: I can see how someone would get cynical about the effectiveness of government when you are bad at governing.
It's mostly just the fact that Republicans lied out the ass for far too long, and now they have to live with the consequences of the situation they created. They have their safe seats but they're vulnerable to hostile takeovers by far right groups. Now their elected officials are unable to act, but in a position where they have to deliver, or else. And delivering will ruin them too because what the right-wingers want cannot be done without deadly consequences.
EPT
