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On August 03 2017 03:09 Doodsmack wrote:Show nested quote +On August 03 2017 00:23 mozoku wrote:
I also think you guys are forgetting, in the liberal rush to say "I told you so", that it wasn't a foregone conclusion in November that Trump's presidency was going to turn out like it has. Nobody was sure if he was going to act more presidential post-election, or what his policy priorities would be. The unknown Republican is better than the certainly bad Hillary, was a lot of R's perspective.
If you think this is just me being an apologist (even though I didn't even vote for Trump), read the post-election news when everyone was eagerly awaiting for his Cabinet picks so they could try to get an idea of where his presidency would go. Nobody thought he was going to be firing half of them and marginalizing the other half in favor of his family. What was absolutely clear is that Trump is hopelessly feeble minded, and is never going to change. Pairing that with leadership of the country does not lead to good outcomes. It just was never conceivable that the man could run the country with any amount of smoothness. http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/07/25/donald-trumps-ghostwriter-tells-all
I have been wrong on many politicians and don't consider myself particularly prescient but I was totally sure Trump would turn out just that way or worse. And so was absolutely everyone around me. The guy is a lying douchebaggy bully with a clinical narcissistic personality disorder, a frighteningly tenuous relationship with reality and a career of conspiracy theorist and business crook, how the hell did anyone think he could be anything else than a disaster?
At that point it reminds me germans after the war saying they didn't think Hitler would do all the horrible things he wrote and repeated he would do (not a Godwin, I don't compare the two, just the excuse of their supporters). Listen to one Trump discourse and you know that you want that man as far away from office as possible. It was not a dice roll unless one is hopelessly naive or just goes with wishful thinking to a level that borders delusion.
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On August 03 2017 03:20 a_flayer wrote:Show nested quote +On August 03 2017 03:05 Biff The Understudy wrote:On August 03 2017 02:31 {CC}StealthBlue wrote:
Interesting.
It's also interesting that those numbers in GB are abysmal. Europe must have fucked up somewhere for its muslim population to be so much less tolerant on LGBT issues than its US counterpart. Or maybe simply different muslim population migrate to the US and the UK. IIRC UK has Muslim schools from age 4-18. Do those exist in the US?
https://www.usnews.com/news/top-news/articles/2017-05-12/to-ease-fears-us-muslim-schools-reach-out-to-neighbors
Yep. We have Catholic schools too. We got it all here in America land.
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On August 03 2017 03:20 KwarK wrote:
US has greater protections for religious schools and home schooling than the UK by far.
That's not what I asked. Are there exclusively Muslim schools, or do Muslims (who are mostly brown) tend to go to school with the other brown people? That there are religious schools for Christians is obvious, as they still appear to hate homosexuals at an alarming rate. Not saying that's the only cause, but I can imagine this is a significant contributing factor.
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On August 03 2017 02:55 a_flayer wrote:I am reminded of this from my good friend Nick Hanauer (I don't actually know him, but he's a plutocrat with a sensible message). I left out the lead-in and the middle bit, which is also a good read, but here's the bit relevant to the conversation about income: http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2017/07/18/to-my-fellow-plutocrats-you-can-cure-trumpism-215347Show nested quote +Trumpism poses a threat to all Americans, but to the superrich most of all—because we have the most to lose. Sure, estate tax repeal might at first sound like win, but permanently creating a class of entitled aristocrats out of our own kids isn’t likely to improve our democracy, Meantime, if you aren’t already planning to give away the bulk of your fortune, you’re kind of a selfish jerk. That’s why, as counterintuitive as it might sound, the single best way to advance our own interests is to put more energy and money into advancing the economic interests of others. For example: by fighting to pass a $15 an hour minimum wage.
$15? Crazy. I know.
“That’s impossible,” one retail executive told me, “you can’t pay people that much.”
“A $15 minimum wage is a job-killer,” sputtered the CEO of a large restaurant chain.
“That will destroy the economy,” a manufacturing executive tut-tutted.
Bullshit. It simply isn’t true that reasonable wages, decent labor protections and higher taxes on the rich would destroy the economy. Such were the norms back in the 1950s and 1960s when America’s growth rates were much higher—and there’s no empirical evidence to suggest that we couldn’t support similar norms today. The truth is that when economic elites like us say “We can’t afford to adopt these higher standards,” what we really mean is, “We’d prefer not to.” We like to frame our claims as objective truths, like the so-called “law” of supply and demand, but what we’re really asserting is a moral preference. We are simply defending the status quo. Show nested quote +In 2014, when I last checked in with you all, my home city of Seattle had just passed a $15 minimum wage ordinance. The derision thrown my way for supporting this initiative was predictable. Pundits from the Chamber of Commerce, Forbes and AEI went crazy. “Job killer” they screamed. When wages rise, they said, employment plummets. Seattle we were told, would slide into the ocean. Restaurant closures. Epic job losses. Poverty. Economic Armageddon!
Over the last three years we have implemented the policy in stages. Today, all large employers—those with more than 500 workers on their payroll—pay their workers $15 an hour (or $13.50 for those that provide medical benefits). Small employers pay between $11 and $13. Let me remind you that this minimum wage includes tipped workers, who now earn a remarkable 700 percent more than the federal tipped minimum of $2.13—as stark an experiment in whether higher wages kills jobs as has ever been attempted. So how is Seattle doing?
When the ordinance passed in June of 2014, Seattle’s unemployment rate already stood at a healthy 4.5 percent; in April 2017, it hit a record low of 2.6 percent (basically a labor shortage). Seattle is now the fastest growing big city in America. Our restaurant industry is booming, second only to San Francisco in the number of eateries per capita, with food service industry job growth far outpacing the nation. Restaurateurs who once warned against raising wages are now complaining about how hard it is to fill the positions they have. Around the corner from my office, the sandwich chain Jimmy Johns is paying drivers $20 an hour plus tips, well above the mandated minimum rate. Are there many factors at play? Of course. But our city has proven that raising wages does not automatically kill jobs. In fact, of the 10 largest counties in the nation, King County, Washington had the largest year over year job growth in 2016 (3.8 percent), and was the only one of the 10 counties to see over-the-year growth in wages (3.5 percent).
How can this be? Because that is how capitalism works. Because when workers earn more money, businesses have more customers and hire more workers. Because a thriving middle class is the source and cause of growth in capitalist economies. Because when restaurants pay restaurant workers enough so that even they can afford to eat in restaurants, it’s great for restaurants!
This leaves out a whole lot of relevant factors.
1) What KwarK said above about how globalization and how that affect wages today vs wages decades ago
2) Seattle is the primary beneficiary of the Bay Area's rising costs for tech companies. Of course an area with a giant influx of highly paid tech workers is going to have rapid economic growth.
3) The most comprehensive study to date (sponsored by the State of Washington) found evidence that the $15 minimum wage is economically detrimental to Seattle. Granted, I don't put much stock in those studies no matter what they say, but it is a weird omission in the guy's article.
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On August 03 2017 03:25 a_flayer wrote:Show nested quote +On August 03 2017 03:20 KwarK wrote:
US has greater protections for religious schools and home schooling than the UK by far. That's not what I asked. Are there exclusively Muslim schools, or do Muslims (who are mostly brown) tend to go to school with the other brown people? That there are religious schools for Christians is obvious, as they still appear to hate homosexuals at an alarming rate. Not saying that's the only cause, but I can imagine this is a significant contributing factor.
There isn’t a boat load of easy to access data on the subject, but from my experience: No. There are Muslim schools that take all sorts of students. But like the majority of Americans immigrants and minority groups, most Muslims go to public schools.
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To be honest, what i was asking is why he thought they were overpaid in the past. It is obvious that nowadays their work (if it hasn't ceased already) doesn't hold that value anymore (if any), but that's because the context had changed enough so the value of that labour nowadays has nothing to do with its value in the past, not because it was being overpaid at the time (or to use Kwark's post, didn't they deserve to be overpaid like the educated america was being overpaid?).
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Keep in mind that those that exaggerated that Trump would bring the rise of fascism were pretty off the mark. He is just a run-of-the-mill incompetent scumbag. So not all bad things about him were true.
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United States43282 Posts
On August 03 2017 03:49 LegalLord wrote:
Keep in mind that those that exaggerated that Trump would bring the rise of fascism were pretty off the mark. He is just a run-of-the-mill incompetent scumbag. So not all bad things about him were true.
Keep in mind that we're 6 months in and last week he was telling the police that they're not being rough enough with the public. I think Trump is becoming normalized to the extent that people forget just how fucked up most of what he says and does is. He literally made a speech calling upon the police to up their brutality game.
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On August 03 2017 03:49 LegalLord wrote:
Keep in mind that those that exaggerated that Trump would bring the rise of fascism were pretty off the mark. He is just a run-of-the-mill incompetent scumbag. So not all Just most of the bad things about him were true.
Fixed that for you.
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The rise of any authoritarian begins with a slow erosion political norms that is combined with a general apathy to oppose them. Trump isn’t the guy. But he the preview section before the movie.
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And Trump would love to be a fascist dictator, he is just simply not competent enough to actually achieve that status.
So the thing saving the US from Trumps generally disgusting ideas of how a country should be run is Trumps incompetence.
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President Donald Trump plunges to a new low as American voters disapprove 61 - 33 percent of the job he is doing, according to a Quinnipiac University national poll released today. White men are divided 47 - 48 percent and Republicans approve 76 - 17 percent. White voters with no college degree, a key part of the president's base, disapprove 50 - 43 percent.
Today's approval rating is down from a 55 - 40 percent disapproval in a June 29 survey by the independent Quinnipiac (KWIN-uh-pe-ack) University. This is President Trump's lowest approval and highest disapproval number since he was inaugurated.
American voters say 54 - 26 percent that they are embarrassed rather than proud to have Trump as president. Voters say 57 - 40 percent he is abusing the powers of his office and say 60 - 36 percent that he believes he is above the law.
President Trump is not levelheaded, say 71 - 26 percent of voters, his worst score on that character trait. Voter opinions of most other Trump qualities drop to new lows:
62 - 34 percent that he is not honest;
63 - 34 percent that he does not have good leadership skills;
59 - 39 percent that he does not care about average Americans;
58 - 39 percent that he is a strong person;
55 - 42 percent that he is intelligent;
63 - 34 percent that he does not share their values.
[...]
poll.qu.edu
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Two U.S. senators are demanding that Secretary of State Rex Tillerson quickly tap into $80 million in available funds to counter propaganda by Russia and terrorist groups, with one lawmaker calling his delay in using the money "indefensible."
The comments by Republican Sen. Rob Portman of Ohio and Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut came in response to a POLITICO story that detailed how Tillerson has taken no action to spend the money, which was allocated last year by Congress, possibly because of concerns that it could hurt his efforts to reduce tensions with Russia.
“This is indefensible," Murphy said in a statement Wednesday. "Every day, [the Islamic State] is spreading terrorist propaganda and Russia is implementing a sophisticated disinformation campaign to undermine the United States and our allies. I strongly urge Secretary Tillerson to take this issue seriously and use the tools and resources he has at his disposal to stand up to our adversaries.”
Added Portman: “Countering foreign propaganda should be a top priority, and it is very concerning that progress on combating this problem is being delayed because the State Department isn’t tapping into these resources."
Portman and Murphy were behind legislation that allocated $60 million this fiscal year to the State Department so it can counter Russian disinformation campaigns that U.S. intelligence officials believe influenced the 2016 election.
The $60 million is supposed to fund the Global Engagement Center, an interagency unit established last year and based at the State Department that specializes in countering propaganda. The $60 million is currently parked at the Pentagon, waiting on Tillerson's request for a transfer.
An additional $19.8 million is in State's coffers, but has not been given to the center, according to sources inside and outside the State Department. That chunk of money is supposed to focus on countering terrorist propaganda.
The $60 million will be unavailable if not transferred by Sept. 30, the end of this fiscal year, officials told POLITICO. The fate of the $19.8 million is unclear. Another $60 million will be available for transfer in fiscal 2018.
The State Department's press office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the senators' statements. Tillerson spokesman R.C. Hammond has told POLITICO that officials have not presented a clear plan for how to spend the money, an assertion disputed by a former State Department official.
According to the former official, Tillerson aides have given varying reasons why he has held off on requesting and spending the funds, including his desire to avoid major decisions before implementing his plan to reshape and shrink the department.
But during the discussions, one aide also mentioned that Tillerson is trying to work through disagreements with Russia, and that the center's work could undermine that effort, the former senior State official said.
Source
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Congress caught on to Bannon’s really terrible plan to fight the deep state. Bet this leads to even more powers being stripped from the executive branch.
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The U.S. Air Force successfully launched an unarmed intercontinental ballistic missile from California, the fourth such test this year.
The 30th Space Wing says the Minuteman 3 missile launched at 2:10 a.m. Wednesday from Vandenberg Air Force Base, about 130 miles (209 kilometers) northwest of Los Angeles.
An Air Force statement said the test would show the effectiveness, readiness, and accuracy of the weapon system.
Minuteman missiles are regularly tested with launches from Vandenberg that send unarmed re-entry vehicles 4,200 miles (6,800 kilometers) across the Pacific to a target area at Kwajalein Atoll.
However, the latest U.S. launches come amid tensions with North Korea as that nation develops its own ICBMs.
Flight data on North Korea's most recent test, conducted Friday, showed that a broad part of the mainland United States, including Los Angeles and Chicago, is now in range of Pyongyang's weapons, according to analysts.
In response, the U.S. Air Force flew two B-1 bombers over the Korean Peninsula on Sunday in a show of force. The U.S. also said it conducted a successful test of a missile defense system located in Alaska.
Previous Minuteman ICBM launches this year were conducted in February, April and May. That month, the Air Force also conducted a test of a missile interceptor launched from Vandenberg. The interceptor destroyed a mock warhead over the Pacific.
Source
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What does the Global Engagement Center actually do? As in how does it actually work to fight internet disinformation? The articles I've seen have been vague on how it operates. Its page on the State website is vague as well, and there's no Wikipedia as far as I can tell.
This is admittedly a little off-topic since Tillerson never invoked this defense, but I'm not sure the way to fight disinformation is to start a "Truth Ministry." I'd feel more comfortable with sanctions for parties acting to spread disinformation... preferably backed by the international community.
As I'm uninformed and Congress apparently voted for the Global Engagement Center, I feel like I'm probably just unaware of the details that justify it but at the same time I'm having trouble finding those details.
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We already know how to fight disinformation. Educate the public and limit the venues for them to spread misinformation. That part is easy. This isn’t some 1984 style truth ministry. None of this stuff is that new. We were just caught off guard.
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On August 03 2017 04:30 Plansix wrote:
We already know how to fight disinformation. Educate the public and limit the venues for them to spread misinformation. That part is easy. This isn’t some 1984 style truth ministry. None of this stuff is that new. We were just caught off guard.
Really? Where have you been the past twenty years or so? Look at the "My ignorance counts just as much as your knowledge/experience" in this country. Creationism, Anti-Vaxxers, Flat Earthers.
We we're already stupid we just needed the push to Idiocracy.
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On August 03 2017 04:35 {CC}StealthBlue wrote:Show nested quote +On August 03 2017 04:30 Plansix wrote:
We already know how to fight disinformation. Educate the public and limit the venues for them to spread misinformation. That part is easy. This isn’t some 1984 style truth ministry. None of this stuff is that new. We were just caught off guard. Really? Where have you been the past twenty years or so? Look at the "My ignorance counts just as much as your knowledge/experience" in this country. Creationism, Anti-Vaxxers, Flat Earthers. We we're already stupid we just needed the push to Idiocracy.
PREACH! I'm finding myself more and more becoming isolated to those around me because they are just so dumb when it comes to certain topics. I just stare at them and then sit quietly, knowing the fight is useless once the seed of stupidity is planted firmly inside their skulls.
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On August 03 2017 04:37 ZerOCoolSC2 wrote:Show nested quote +On August 03 2017 04:35 {CC}StealthBlue wrote:On August 03 2017 04:30 Plansix wrote:
We already know how to fight disinformation. Educate the public and limit the venues for them to spread misinformation. That part is easy. This isn’t some 1984 style truth ministry. None of this stuff is that new. We were just caught off guard. Really? Where have you been the past twenty years or so? Look at the "My ignorance counts just as much as your knowledge/experience" in this country. Creationism, Anti-Vaxxers, Flat Earthers. We we're already stupid we just needed the push to Idiocracy. PREACH! I'm finding myself more and more becoming isolated to those around me because they are just so dumb when it comes to certain topics. I just stare at them and then sit quietly, knowing the fight is useless once the seed of stupidity is planted firmly inside their skulls.
It is indeed quite hard ot get through to such people; a better educational system with more emphasis on wisdom would help.
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EPT
