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Post by djAdvocate on Jan 7, 2024 14:21:14 GMT -5
they aren't. and you know what is funny? before Trump, i was POSITIVE that this could never happen here. it can ONLY happen in places where the leader controls the flow of information. i reasoned that no leader could EVER control the flow of information in the US. ergo, i reasoned that fascism could NEVER happen here. little did i know that people would VOLUNTARILY give up their access to good information. little did i know that a hate and death cult would evelop 100M people in the US. i would never believe such a thing had i not witnessed it.
did i have clues? YES. i had clues. when 200M people thought that Iraq had WMD, that was a wakeup call for me. but then we elected Obama. and i thought everything would be OK. he was a smart, funny, charismatic moderate with a good sense of constitutional law and working together for a better future.Biden is a similar man. but the fact that HE is a smart, funny, charismatic moderate with a deep public service record and respect for the constitution doesn't seem to be working for him. hopefully i am wrong. but my hope has been decimated by Trump. i have to be honest. i have zero faith in the electorate, when i see these MAGA rallies where they laugh about an 80 year old man getting bashed in the head with a hammer. it is like laughing at Nazi propaganda. i just can't do it. it is far too serious, evil and dangerous to blithely ignore. the stakes keep going up in every election. this one is by far the most serious, UNLESS the threat is removed by the SCOTUS. and again, i doubt that will happen, even though a strict reading of the constitution requires it. Yeah it really sucks this is true for some people all over our planet including sadly the US. I also knew propaganda worked on too many people as I also was one of those that never believed the WMD propaganda from thE WH. I remember it took seeing a documentary by Roger Moore to wake some people up, which I went to with a friend whose eyes were opened but had chosen to believe if not fully prior to seeing the film. As a white woman I knew there would be a backlash. I knew the fact that Obama won and Hillary got sidelined yet again meant things I wasn't all that happy about. And it has played out in ways I have expected and ways that have saddened me. On the ways that make me happy, check out the watch company SPBK I think it is. I think it was a response birthed from the riots in Charlotte and made commercial and successful from the Shark Tank or similar. I hope they go far in supporting the schools in the area and making change through their business. As a white woman I get discriminated against constantly and sometimes it is very in my face by black men. Many black men feel that they are above me on the hierarchy and want white women perhaps to be considered less worthy than black women. IDK. But it suprised me not that yet again a man of any color triumphed over a long serving long studying white woman. We will break through eventually and Kamala was finally an entry point for women to the top two spots in the US government. I knew the right would be after her like white on rice simply because she existed. And definitely because she did not want to play to the be attractive enough tropes that are huge in the conservative community and still topple good women of any color in our country. Sad now writing that sentence as the appearance and dress of women are more scrutinized than what they actually do or accomplish. I figure Kamala is doing OK to good simply because the RW media can't seem to come up with anything better than harping on actual border crossings and ignoring every other related thing with US immigration. if you look at the history of civil rights globally, white men are on the top of the heap. second on the heap are NOT white women. it is men of color. THEN white women, then women of color. if you need me to support that claim, i absolutely can. but if you have eyes, you can see it. i mean everyone when i say "you".
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Post by djAdvocate on Jan 7, 2024 14:13:52 GMT -5
The Trump organization may be crooked but at least it is a business. Unlike the Biden family that has 20 shell companies that does not provide any product or services other than to move money around to other Biden family members. the Trump Organization has 500 shell companies. you read that right. FIVE HUNDRED. i have two shell companies. they are set up so that assets are held separately rather than jointly, and can be sold off as needed. one has a checking account, but no employees. the second doesn't even have a checking account. i file a tax return for it every year and it has nothing but zeroes on it. i am sure that HUNTER Biden does the same thing. i am sure that Trump does the same thing. you need to stop being so precious about this, rip. it is SOP for any business that is not run out of a garage.
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Post by djAdvocate on Jan 7, 2024 14:10:35 GMT -5
that takes our attention away from the worst disaster any US president has ever presided over: COVID.
more lives were lost due to Trump's mismanagement of that crises than were lost in the Civil War.
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Post by djAdvocate on Jan 7, 2024 12:19:37 GMT -5
they aren't. and you know what is funny?
before Trump, i was POSITIVE that this could never happen here. it can ONLY happen in places where the leader controls the flow of information. i reasoned that no leader could EVER control the flow of information in the US. ergo, i reasoned that fascism could NEVER happen here.
little did i know that people would VOLUNTARILY give up their access to good information. little did i know that a hate and death cult would evelop 100M people in the US. i would never believe such a thing had i not witnessed it.
did i have clues? YES. i had clues. when 200M people thought that Iraq had WMD, that was a wakeup call for me. but then we elected Obama. and i thought everything would be OK. he was a smart, funny, charismatic moderate with a good sense of constitutional law and working together for a better future.
Biden is a similar man. but the fact that HE is a smart, funny, charismatic moderate with a deep public service record and respect for the constitution doesn't seem to be working for him. hopefully i am wrong. but my hope has been decimated by Trump. i have to be honest. i have zero faith in the electorate, when i see these MAGA rallies where they laugh about an 80 year old man getting bashed in the head with a hammer. it is like laughing at Nazi propaganda. i just can't do it. it is far too serious, evil and dangerous to blithely ignore.
the stakes keep going up in every election. this one is by far the most serious, UNLESS the threat is removed by the SCOTUS. and again, i doubt that will happen, even though a strict reading of the constitution requires it.
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Post by djAdvocate on Jan 6, 2024 22:54:36 GMT -5
ok, there is no debating it any more. MAGA is a cult.
period.
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Post by djAdvocate on Jan 6, 2024 22:47:21 GMT -5
the ACA only does half the job.
the other half would be to have a ROBUST public option.
if Trump wins, we will go back to when America was "Great" for assholes like him, and terrible for the bottom 50%.
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Post by djAdvocate on Jan 6, 2024 22:45:15 GMT -5
democracy IS the issue. the main one, as far as i am concerned.
without democracy, nothing else matters. you might as well live in a shithole country without it, because you surely will become one without it.
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Post by djAdvocate on Jan 6, 2024 22:43:06 GMT -5
He's the reason I am not an NRA member. I too have met him. He travels with a bunch of bodyguards, and is very arrogant. He and Trump use the same playbook, spend money on anything you want, then plead to the masses to send in more in support of freedom. Maybe when he's gone and locked away, the NRA can get back to their original mission of gun safety and marksmanship. The NRA is the organization the pushed through many of the current gun laws back in the 1930's when they cared more about the people, and less about making money. this is PRECISELY how i feel, tractor. i was a card carrying member of the NRA. they taught me how to shoot as a teenager, and i got a membership through Boy Scouts. they have gone straight down the shitter.
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Post by djAdvocate on Jan 6, 2024 15:21:04 GMT -5
i can answer that. Deutsche has already said that they won't do any new business with Trump and no renewals. so from this point forward, he will have to SELF FINANCE. i think we can safely assume that some of the NY properties will be sold, the loans paid off (if in fact they are not upside down on the loans, which is entirely possible) and the proceeds used for purposes of paying the settlement. the other option would be that the sales could be FORCED, which would send Trump to the bankruptcy court (if, in fact, he is upside down on EVERYTHING). either outlook is going to be pretty entertaining. Total sarcasm. Without reading up on it, I was pretty sure Deutsche wanted nothing more to do with You Know Who. well, they certainly did as late as 3 years ago. but yeah, they pulled the plug on him while he was president. i can't help but think that there was some domestic pressure to do that, because there was certainly none here.
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Post by djAdvocate on Jan 6, 2024 15:19:30 GMT -5
I don’t think it’s a requirement for a president to do this, but all the modern presidents have done it - either put their business in a blind trust while they’re president, or sell it. This is so it won’t seem like the president is making business deals on the side. Trump made a big show of stacking up reams of paper that he claimed were transferring control of his business from himself to his kids. I don’t know if the paperwork was real or not, but there were many instances of Trump’s family profiting from his time in the WH. I'd go with 99.999% likely it was his showman's use of blank or paper printed with unimportant stuff on it. Remember the stack of blank papers he signed while at Walter Reed simply because he wanted to appear that he was hard at work? I think its not a codified law if President's do not follow convention, i.e. there is no penalty put into law. Maybe that can be fixed now while Biden is in office and the rabid think they wil catch him doing something even a tenth as bad as what Trump has already done. either that, or Top Secret Documents that he could read in the WH toilet.
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Post by djAdvocate on Jan 6, 2024 15:13:58 GMT -5
Leticia James is requesting $370M from Trump. i think she will get it. Can you imagine if this were one where treble damages applied? Let him fork over $1.1 billion. that would be subject to appeal. bird in the hand, and all that. edit: i want him fined NOW. i want him PAID UP this year. in fact, i want him sentenced, fined and paid up IN ALL CASES this year, but that is not going to happen. but that is what i would like to see.
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Post by djAdvocate on Jan 6, 2024 15:12:30 GMT -5
one final note- the most successful properties in the Trump Organization date back to Fred Trump. without his saavy, baby Trump would be in much bigger trouble than he is. instead, he will be able to cash in on his dad's (horrendous, but clever) legacy, and bail himself out.
again.
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Post by djAdvocate on Jan 6, 2024 15:10:49 GMT -5
for those of you wondering- i am sure some of you are- the Trump team requested that the court fine Trump $0. so he will be fined between $0 and $370M, in all likelihood.
for those of you wondering why LJ went for $370M, that number prevents appeal. it is actually a way of securing a convicting and fine.
so, Trump is fucked to the tune of $250M-$370M. if Engoron is spiteful, he will make it more than $370M, but i suspect that will be the number he will use, because the Trump Organization really offered zero defense, despite what they say. and, of course, they harassed the court continually, which does not garner sympathy.
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Post by djAdvocate on Jan 6, 2024 15:07:23 GMT -5
Who is going to loan him the money? Deutsche Bank? i can answer that. Deutsche has already said that they won't do any new business with Trump and no renewals. so from this point forward, he will have to SELF FINANCE. i think we can safely assume that some of the NY properties will be sold, the loans paid off (if in fact they are not upside down on the loans, which is entirely possible) and the proceeds used for purposes of paying the settlement. the other option would be that the sales could be FORCED, which would send Trump to the bankruptcy court (if, in fact, he is upside down on EVERYTHING). either outlook is going to be pretty entertaining.
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Post by djAdvocate on Jan 6, 2024 1:35:48 GMT -5
Leticia James is requesting $370M from Trump.
i think she will get it.
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Post by djAdvocate on Jan 6, 2024 1:18:55 GMT -5
That's a interesting read but didn't Trump divest his interests in the properties when he became President to his kids? He did not profit but his corporation did. Don't all politicians do that?
not really. the gold standard for this is what is called a BLIND TRUST.what that means is that some unrelated third party runs your business while you do your thing. the other alternative would be that you can sell all of your assets. there have been people fare more prudent than Trump that have done exactly that. what Trump did is maintain interest in his business but take himself out of the driver seat. and that did nothing, because he still profited from what is being reported. bigly.
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Post by djAdvocate on Jan 5, 2024 20:14:36 GMT -5
i talked to this guy on the phone one time.
arrogant prick.
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Post by djAdvocate on Jan 5, 2024 17:17:04 GMT -5
i will take Laramide again. long.
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Post by djAdvocate on Jan 5, 2024 17:16:04 GMT -5
congrats to uncle and KD!
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Post by djAdvocate on Jan 5, 2024 11:54:24 GMT -5
www.politico.com/news/2024/01/04/jan-6-defendant-judge-00133905there are a couple of things about the cbs report that are unclear. here is another take. Worrell said he was treated "fairly". i think he was treated KINDLY- with extreme deference and attention to his needs. if this were a black guy selling coke, they would have given him an EXTRA 10 years for cutting off his bracelet and evading arrest for 6 weeks. oh well. it is nice to know that if i mace an officer and felony trespass, that i will be offered parole before i am able to collect Social Security. it's great being a white guy.
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Post by djAdvocate on Jan 5, 2024 11:48:46 GMT -5
It's astonishing how long it is taking to mete out punishment....while I would hope the ones not yet brought to justice are quaking in their boots, given the source they are likely gatherin arms for a bigger insurrection. it seems so. hopefully the key people will be in jail next J6.
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Post by djAdvocate on Jan 5, 2024 11:01:54 GMT -5
i should point out that our "non binding international agreements" are guidance documents. they inform us of what we SHOULD do. and, indeed, that is how they generally work. thus, there is a large body of national and international law that follows the UDHR.
some countries do better with this stuff than others.
and then there are the shithole countries, and the countries that seem hell bent on becoming shithole countries, like the US. actually the US is fairly unique in that we were way ahead of the rest of the world, in 1973. i can't think of many other countries that have unwound as far as we have during that time, right off hand. maybe Poland?
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Post by djAdvocate on Jan 5, 2024 10:58:21 GMT -5
yes, it does. 2.2 says that we abide by our agreements. the US is signatory to the UDHR. the UDHR says that healthcare is a right. ergo, the US agrees that healthcare is a right (even if you don't). that is called a syllogism. it is rock solid. what i did in your reply is to point out other agreements we uphold, and asking you a simple question: do you think that the US should abide by it's agreements? yes or no?Now back to what I said, whether I think it we should abide by our agreements is not the topic, it was is healthcare a right and I still stand by no it is not. An agreement does not make it a right. no, an agreement is not a right, generally speaking.that is why i asked you if you think we should abide by our agreements. if we have established that the answer is YES, then we should abide by the UDHR. if the answer is NO, then i am free to bring WMD into the country, i guess. that's good news. i have been wanting some SAM's to shoot down drones.
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Post by djAdvocate on Jan 5, 2024 10:53:12 GMT -5
yes, it does. 2.2 says that we abide by our agreements. the US is signatory to the UDHR. the UDHR says that healthcare is a right. ergo, the US agrees that healthcare is a right (even if you don't). that is called a syllogism. it is rock solid. what i did in your reply is to point out other agreements we uphold, and asking you a simple question: do you think that the US should abide by it's agreements? yes or no?First of all it is not rock solid. The udhr is an agreement not a law. So it can be agreed upon that healthcare is a right it is not legally a right. That is the only thing rock solid. Yes we should abide by our agreements unless for some reason that we see fit not to. that sounds like NO to me. and that is fine. if i agree to be civil to you, so long as it suits me, that is not really an agreement to be civil to you. it is just me doing what i do. and if you don't like it, tough beans.
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Post by djAdvocate on Jan 5, 2024 10:47:20 GMT -5
Good for Abbot. NJ should tell NYC they are coming. He has found a good work-a-round to his problem. Maybe when these states/cities have had enough of this they will force their congress people fix the problem. Oh, and by the way... U.S. Sues Texas Over Migrant-Arrest LawThe Biden administration Wednesday sued the state of Texas and Republican Gov. Greg Abbott, arguing that a new law allowing the state to arrest and deport migrants who cross into the state illegally is an unconstitutional violation of federal-government authority. “Texas cannot run its own immigration system,” the Department of Justice wrote in its complaint. The suit argues that the Texas law is pre-empted by federal law and asks that it be invalidated and blocked from taking effect. Abbott signed the bill last month, and it is set to take effect in March. “Biden sued me today because I signed a law making it illegal for an illegal immigrant to enter or attempt to enter Texas directly from a foreign nation,” Abbott posted Wednesday night on X, formerly known as Twitter. “I like my chances.” he likes his chances? is he fucking retarded? his chances are NIL. this is clearly not a state right. speaking of rights. immigration is a federal issue. he has no RIGHT to deport people, whatsoever.
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Post by djAdvocate on Jan 5, 2024 10:45:10 GMT -5
i figured that one was coming.
the optics are bad on that ruling, of course.
Biden is going to have to address this "issue".
it is a bunch of bullshit. but he is going to have to address it.
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Post by djAdvocate on Jan 5, 2024 10:27:33 GMT -5
i know it is fun to say that this and that are not a right. it gets people all worked up. for example: you don't have any ownership rights to the land you live on in the US (with certain rare exceptions in places like Texas). i love that one. it freaks people out. but it is a fact. we also have no fundamental right to privacy in the US. that one really sucks. i hate that. what little privacy we have is through case law. and it ain't a lot. i am not sure that any of those are in the UDHR. but healthcare is.
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Post by djAdvocate on Jan 5, 2024 9:41:50 GMT -5
i read that article about him.
the judge seems deeply humane.
unlike the perp.
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Post by djAdvocate on Jan 5, 2024 9:33:07 GMT -5
sounds like a terrific guy.
another 10 years of singing with the choir.
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Post by djAdvocate on Jan 5, 2024 9:30:29 GMT -5
scgal - let me ask you something. trade AGREEMENTS are also generally non-binding. we can back out of them at any time, unless the language specifies enforcement mechanisms (they usually don't). are you saying that we should violate them, willy nilly? how about IHR2005? it specifies that countries should work together for public outbreaks like pandemics. in favor of ignoring that one, too? there are agreements about the transportation of WMD's. that ok, now? we either abide by agreements, or we don't. what is it? None of this has to do with the subject. I was simply stating that healthcare is not a right. yes, it does. 2.2 says that we abide by our agreements. the US is signatory to the UDHR. the UDHR says that healthcare is a right. ergo, the US agrees that healthcare is a right (even if you don't). that is called a syllogism. it is rock solid. what i did in your reply is to point out other agreements we uphold, and asking you a simple question: do you think that the US should abide by it's agreements? yes or no?
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