US Politics Mega-thread - Page 59

On March 30 2018 08:23 zlefin wrote:

you needn't have been around back then to know; there's plenty of historical sources from which to glean some passably accurate results.
and if you think this is a black hole of corrupt capitalism you'd be shocked at what it's like if you go to the places that are far worse, of which there are quite a lot.

On March 30 2018 09:16 Plansix wrote:


In the immortal Hilary Clinton investigation, Sessions has appointed a US attorney John W. Huber to look into the GOP's claims about the FBI. There is a healthy dose of cynicism out there because Huber is an Obama appointee and that will be blamed when Huber finds nothing.

To be honest, I am not entirely sure what they are looking for at this point.

Russia Retaliates, Expels 60 American Diplomats After U.S. Action


Days after President Trump ordered the expulsion of 60 Russian officials from the United States and the closure of the Russian Consulate in Seattle because of the poisoning of a Russian ex-spy and his daughter in the U.K., Russia has responded in kind.

In a move that sharply escalates already-deepening tensions with the West, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Thursday that Russia will expel 60 U.S. diplomats and close the U.S. Consulate in St. Petersburg.

Lavrov also said Russia will respond to other countries that have expelled Russian diplomats in a "reciprocal fashion," according to Russian media.

In a statement on its website, the Russian Foreign Ministry said U.S. Ambassador Jon Huntsman was summoned and told of the decision, which was a form of protest over "the outrageous and groundless" U.S. moves.

U.S. representatives have until Saturday to be out of the consulate building.

Fifty-eight employees of the U.S. Embassy in Moscow and two staff members of the Consulate General in the city of Yekaterinburg must leave the country by April 5, according to the Foreign Ministry.

Further retaliatory moves — from both sides — remain a possibility.

A statement from the White House press secretary on Thursday evening called the expulsions a "further deterioration in [countries'] relationship." It said, "The expulsion of undeclared Russian intelligence officers by the United States ... was an appropriate response to the Russian attack on the soil of the United Kingdom."

At a press conference Thursday, State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said the U.S. is still reviewing the Russian decision but added, "We reserve the right to respond."

On March 31 2018 01:23 Plansix wrote:
So apparently Pruitt “rented” a condo from a energy lobbyist for like $50 a month. They claim he rented a room, but the rest of the condo is empty. Add this to the long list of shady stuff that guy has done while attempting to dismantle the EPA.

But the NPR politics podcast talked about scandal fatigue in DC, where Trumps administration breaking so many rules that congress can’t, is unwilling to or does not have the tools to police the entire executive branch. Or they don’t even know where to start. I would love to say I’m outraged with the politicians in DC on that front, but even I’m feeling it. At this point, I just want make a list of things we will have to address post November 2018 and let the frustration smolder until then.

Anyone else feeling like it isn’t even worth pushing to address these clear abuses at this point?

A top Facebook executive warned in a leaked memo that the platform could lead to deaths and could help terrorists plan attacks, but argued that the negative outcomes were a reasonable byproduct of the company’s broader “growth tactics” and mission to “connect” people.

The public disclosure of the 2016 memo, in which a vice-president, Andrew “Boz” Bosworth, wrote “anything that allows us to connect more people more often is *de facto* good”, prompted the CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, to defend his company’s mission in a hastily released statement on Thursday.

Zuckerberg said Facebook “never believed the ends justify the means” and said he strongly disagreed with the memo circulated by Bosworth, whom he described as a talented but provocative force in the company.

Bosworth wrote: “Maybe it costs a life by exposing someone to bullies. Maybe someone dies in a terrorist attack coordinated on our tools.” The memo, which provides an insight into the philosophy among some at the Silicon Valley giant, continued: “It is literally just what we do. We connect people. Period. That’s why all the work we do in growth is justified.”

The memo, published in full by BuzzFeed and confirmed by Facebook representatives, comes at a time when the technology corporation is battling significant backlash in the wake of reporting in the Observer and the Guardian revealing that the personal information of 50 million users was used by the electioneering firm Cambridge Analytica.

The leaked memo – which implied that Facebook was pursuing growth at all costs and defended “questionable” data practices – prompted defensive statements on Thursday from Zuckerberg and Bosworth, who claimed that the memo was meant to be “provocative” and is out of line with the company’s values.

“Boz is a talented leader who says many provocative things. This was one that most people at Facebook including myself disagreed with strongly,” said Zuckerberg, who is currently facing intense scrutiny over the data scandal and is expected to soon testify before Congress. “We’ve never believed the ends justify the means. We recognize that connecting people isn’t enough by itself. We also need to work to bring people closer together. We changed our whole mission and company focus to reflect this last year.”

Bosworth said in his statement on Thursday: “I don’t agree with the post today and I didn’t agree with it even when I wrote it.” He argued that the intent of the memo was to “bring to the surface issues I felt deserved more discussion”, adding: “I care deeply about how our product affects people and I take very personally the responsibility I have to make that impact positive.”

The memo, however, had a very different tone, arguing that the harms caused by Facebook were just a part of its business: “The ugly truth is that we believe in connecting people so deeply that anything that allows us to connect more people more often is *de facto* good.”

He also wrote that all growth efforts are justified, adding: “All the questionable contact importing practices. All the subtle language that helps people stay searchable by friends. All of the work we do to bring more communication in. The work we will likely have to do in China some day. All of it.”

The memo was titled “The Ugly” and argued that the strategies to bring as many people as possible to the platform were essential to the company.

On March 31 2018 04:10 Dangermousecatdog wrote:
Also pretty funny; an employee saying that Facebook should screen for intengrity, blithely unaware that it is integrity that cause the leak, the man without any integrity is the one that sets the company culture to chase profits at the expence of deaths.

On March 31 2018 05:39 iamthedave wrote:


Tell that to people critical of Edward Snowden.

In early 2002, a year before the invasion of Iraq, the Bush administration was putting intense pressure on Bustani to quit as director-general of the OPCW — despite the fact that he had been unanimously re-elected to head the 145-nation body just two years earlier. His transgression? Negotiating with Saddam Hussein’s Iraq to allow OPCW weapons inspectors to make unannounced visits to that country — thereby undermining Washington’s rationale for regime change.

In 2001, then-Secretary of State Colin Powell had penned a letter to Bustani, thanking him for his “very impressive” work. By March 2002, however, Bolton — then serving as under secretary of state for Arms Control and International Security Affairs — arrived in person at the OPCW headquarters in the Hague to issue a warning to the organization’s chief. And, according to Bustani, Bolton didn’t mince words. “Cheney wants you out,” Bustani recalled Bolton saying, referring to the then-vice president of the United States. “We can’t accept your management style.”

Bolton continued, according to Bustani’s recollections: “You have 24 hours to leave the organization, and if you don’t comply with this decision by Washington, we have ways to retaliate against you.”

There was a pause.

“We know where your kids live. You have two sons in New York.”

Bustani told me he was taken aback but refused to back down. “My family is aware of the situation, and we are prepared to live with the consequences of my decision,” he replied.

After hearing Bustani’s description of the encounter, I reached out to his son-in-law, Stewart Wood, a British politician and former adviser to Prime Minister Gordon Brown. Wood told me that he vividly remembers Bustani telling him about Bolton’s implicit threat to their family immediately after the meeting in the Hague. “It instantly became an internal family meme,” Wood recalled. Two former OPCW colleagues of Bustani, Bob Rigg and Mikhail Berdennikov, have also since confirmed via email that they remember their then-boss telling them at the time about Bolton’s not-so-subtle remark about his kids.

Another former OPCW official, then-Special Assistant to the Director-General for External Relations Gordon Vachon, who was in the room for the meeting with Bolton, has confirmed that the Bush administration official implicitly threatened Bustani. The OPCW chief “could go quietly, with little fuss and restraint on all sides and ‘without dragging your name through the mud,’” Vachon recalled Bolton saying, in an email to The Intercept. “I cannot say from memory that I heard Mr. Bolton mention DG Bustani’s children, probably because I was reeling from Mr. Bolton’s thinly-veiled threat to DG Bustani’s reputation.”

On March 31 2018 07:23 Kyadytim wrote:
Assuming they agree on things. Given that Trump doesn't have opinions, just memory for the last thing he was told, they'll probably agree on a lot. So yeah, the US is probably heading to war with Iraq, because Bolton wants it, and Trump will be easily convinced that it will be good for his ratings.

On March 31 2018 08:33 Gahlo wrote:

Yes?

On March 31 2018 07:23 Kyadytim wrote:
Assuming they agree on things. Given that Trump doesn't have opinions, just memory for the last thing he was told, they'll probably agree on a lot. So yeah, the US is probably heading to war with Iraq, because Bolton wants it, and Trump will be easily convinced that it will be good for his ratings.

On March 31 2018 11:17 Mercy13 wrote:

Trump only noticed Bolton because he appeared on Fox News frequently and said nice things about the president. Now that Boltan has a position in the WH he won’t have as much time to go on tv so hopefully it will be much harder for him to influence Trump.

The poor guy is probably going to write a 2 page memo about why we should bomb Iran but forget to add pictures.

On March 31 2018 13:06 A3th3r wrote:
The US took out Saddam Hussein in Iraq because they invaded Kuwait, who they considered an ally at that time. Now, Iraq is in a state of disarray, so, that's what they get, I guess.