Thread: Discussion and Debate Community Thread

  1. #4421

    Default Re: Discussion and Debate Community Thread

    Two career prosecutors who handled the case against Roger Stone, a confidant of President Trump, resigned their posts Tuesday after the Justice Department signaled it planned to reduce their sentencing recommendation for the commander-in-chief’s friend.

    The department’s decision to overrule frontline prosecutors and the prosecutors’ subsequent moves laid bare the tension that has roiled the Stone case in recent days — between career prosecutors and department leadership — and raises fresh concerns about the politicization of Trump’s Justice Department.

    The Justice Department’s statement came hours after Trump tweeted about the sentence prosecutors recommended, saying: “This is a horrible and very unfair situation. The real crimes were on the other side, as nothing happens to them. Cannot allow this miscarriage of justice!”

    Kerri Kupec, a Justice Department spokeswoman, said the White House did not communicate with the agency on Monday or Tuesday, and that the decision to reverse course was made before Trump’s tweet.

    https://www.washingtonpost.com/natio...18a_story.html
    I guess the Trump Admin isn’t taking any days off in their quest to turn us into just another hole country.
    Of these facts there cannot be any shadow of doubt: for instance, that civil society was renovated in every part by Christian institutions; that in the strength of that renewal the human race was lifted up to better things-nay, that it was brought back from death to life, and to so excellent a life that nothing more perfect had been known before, or will come to be known in the ages that have yet to be. - Pope Leo XIII

  2. #4422

    Default Re: Discussion and Debate Community Thread

    Trump just dismantling the Deep State obviously.

  3. #4423

    Default Re: Discussion and Debate Community Thread

    In other justice related news, Smollett has been indicted by a special prosecutor in Chicago.



  4. #4424
    Morticia Iunia Bruti's Avatar Praeses
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    Default Re: Discussion and Debate Community Thread

    CIA and westgerman BND read since 1970 the encrypted communications of allies and adversaries (BND code name: "Operation Rubikon"), as The Washington Post and ZDF, a german public broadcaster, and the SRF, a swiss public broadcaster, disclosure in a joint reportage:

    CIA and BND know already early about Iran moves in the Hostage Crisis of 1979, shared Argentina military operations with the UK during the Falkland War in 1982 and about the human right violations of the arentinian millitary junta and know early about Pinochet coup against the elected President of Chile, Victor Allende, in 1973.

    From time to time there were "frictions between the two partners over money, control and ethical limits, with the West Germans frequently aghast at the enthusiasm with which U.S. spies often targe
    ted allies."

    For years, BND officials had recoiled at their American counterpart’s refusal to distinguish adversaries from allies. The two partners often fought over which countries deserved to receive the secure versions of Crypto’s products, with U.S. officials frequently insisting that the rigged equipment be sent to almost anyone — ally or not — who could be deceived into buying it.

    In the German history, Wolbert Smidt, the former director of the BND, complained that the United States “wanted to deal with the allies just like they dealt with the countries of the Third World.” Another BND official echoed that comment, saying that to Americans “in the world of intelligence there were no friends.”

    The Cold War had ended, the Berlin Wall was down, and the reunified Germany had different sensitivities and priorities. They saw themselves as far more directly exposed to the risks of the Crypto operation. Hydra had rattled the Germans, who feared the disclosure of their involvement would trigger European outrage and lead to enormous political and economic fallout.


    https://www.washingtonpost.com/graph...ge%2Fstory-ans
    Last edited by Morticia Iunia Bruti; February 11, 2020 at 06:15 PM.
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  5. #4425
    swabian's Avatar igni ferroque
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    Default Re: Discussion and Debate Community Thread

    Quote Originally Posted by Carmen Sylva View Post
    CIA and westgerman BND read since 1970 the encrypted communications of allies and adversaries (BND code name: "Operation Rubikon"), as The Washington Post and ZDF, a german public broadcaster, and the SRF, a swiss public broadcaster, disclosure in a joint reportage:

    CIA and BND know already early about Iran moves in the Hostage Crisis of 1979, shared Argentina military operations with the UK during the Falkland War in 1982 and about the human right violations of the arentinian millitary junta and know early about Pinochet coup against the elected President of Chile, Victor Allende, in 1973.

    From time to time there were "frictions between the two partners over money, control and ethical limits, with the West Germans frequently aghast at the enthusiasm with which U.S. spies often targe
    ted allies."

    For years, BND officials had recoiled at their American counterpart’s refusal to distinguish adversaries from allies. The two partners often fought over which countries deserved to receive the secure versions of Crypto’s products, with U.S. officials frequently insisting that the rigged equipment be sent to almost anyone — ally or not — who could be deceived into buying it.

    In the German history, Wolbert Smidt, the former director of the BND, complained that the United States “wanted to deal with the allies just like they dealt with the countries of the Third World.” Another BND official echoed that comment, saying that to Americans “in the world of intelligence there were no friends.”

    The Cold War had ended, the Berlin Wall was down, and the reunified Germany had different sensitivities and priorities. They saw themselves as far more directly exposed to the risks of the Crypto operation. Hydra had rattled the Germans, who feared the disclosure of their involvement would trigger European outrage and lead to enormous political and economic fallout.


    https://www.washingtonpost.com/graph...ge%2Fstory-ans
    Yeah Sure. And my grandma is another CIA snake and my underwear is uplinked to the NSA server.

    Seriously... Where is the proof, the sources?

    Who is even this ominous Greg Miller there? Another American drama queen who sells his ass for BS stories like that?

    If there was any substance to stuff like that it would nuke the worldwide media. Why do you even bother, sweetie?

    EDIT: Yeah, sry. It's apparently true, eh. <.<

    I only skimmed it and had a few drinks, so...

    While i think it's good they spied on all those MENA countries and South America at the time, i find it problematic that they spied on NATO partners as well. There is no justification for that. Between allies, there should be (and is) cooperation of secret services, if possible, but this is paranoid nonsense.
    Last edited by swabian; February 18, 2020 at 01:16 PM.

  6. #4426
    Aexodus's Avatar Persuasion>Coercion
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    Default Re: Discussion and Debate Community Thread

    Well, I think i speak for everybody when I say: what the hell was that?
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    Quote Originally Posted by Himster View Post
    The trick is to never be honest. That's what this social phenomenon is engineering: publicly conform, or else.

  7. #4427

    Default Re: Discussion and Debate Community Thread

    We've been purging elements of the polity that are not PC enough for the Forum. Be thannkful Aexodus, for you have been spared. For now.

  8. #4428
    Aexodus's Avatar Persuasion>Coercion
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    Default Re: Discussion and Debate Community Thread

    Time for a military coup.

    Denver get ready.
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    Quote Originally Posted by Himster View Post
    The trick is to never be honest. That's what this social phenomenon is engineering: publicly conform, or else.

  9. #4429

    Default Re: Discussion and Debate Community Thread

    Ignore List (to save time):

    Exarch, Coughdrop addict

  10. #4430

    Default Re: Discussion and Debate Community Thread

    An interesting bit about a Japanese officer who repatriated Ottoman prisoners of war from Vladivostok, despite the protests of the Greek authorities, which had invaded Anatolia at that time.



    And now time for some bragging. Great Sultan and not only visually. I expect a big thank you, Aexodus!

  11. #4431

    Default Re: Discussion and Debate Community Thread

    In case anyone missed the latest episode of the reality show I’ve come to affectionately refer to as “holification:”
    The clemency orders that the president issued that day to celebrity felons like Mr. Kerik, Rod R. Blagojevich and Michael R. Milken came about through a typically Trumpian process, an ad hoc scramble that bypassed the formal procedures used by past presidents and was driven instead by friendship, fame, personal empathy and a shared sense of persecution. While aides said the timing was random, it reinforced Mr. Trump’s antipathy toward the law enforcement establishment.
    All 11 recipients had an inside connection or were promoted on Fox News. Some were vocal supporters of Mr. Trump, donated to his campaign or in one case had a son who weekended in the Hamptons with the president’s eldest son. Even three obscure women serving time on drug or fraud charges got on Mr. Trump’s radar screen through a personal connection.

    https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/19/u...p-pardons.html
    Of these facts there cannot be any shadow of doubt: for instance, that civil society was renovated in every part by Christian institutions; that in the strength of that renewal the human race was lifted up to better things-nay, that it was brought back from death to life, and to so excellent a life that nothing more perfect had been known before, or will come to be known in the ages that have yet to be. - Pope Leo XIII

  12. #4432
    Aexodus's Avatar Persuasion>Coercion
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    Default Re: Discussion and Debate Community Thread

    https://time.com/3819227/punisher-iraq-isis/

    So apparently the Punisher emblem is actually quite popular among servicemen.
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    Quote Originally Posted by Himster View Post
    The trick is to never be honest. That's what this social phenomenon is engineering: publicly conform, or else.

  13. #4433
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    Default Re: Discussion and Debate Community Thread

    You see it on a disturbing number of the cars of off-duty policemen here in the states too. It's hilarious since it shows that they have no idea about what the punisher is actually about, but also terrifying because it shows they think they're above the law.

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  14. #4434

    Default Why is Trump popular in India?

    This is an honest question. I'm more than happy to vote for Trump, but the cult of personality in India has always perplexed me a bit. Even before this last visit I heard he was very popular there.

    So whats the rub?


    And those white hats?



    And this comparison...




    So again, honest question, why the love?

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    Last edited by Abdülmecid I; February 24, 2020 at 12:06 PM. Reason: Clarification added.
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  15. #4435

    Default Re: Why is Trump popular in India?

    The left already seething at his reception.



  16. #4436
    Aexodus's Avatar Persuasion>Coercion
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    Default Re: Why is Trump popular in India?

    The BJP is a Hindu Nationalist party, they’re not exactly cosmopolitan liberals. For better or worse, they like what they see in Trump’s America First rhetoric.
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    Quote Originally Posted by Himster View Post
    The trick is to never be honest. That's what this social phenomenon is engineering: publicly conform, or else.

  17. #4437

    Default Re: Discussion and Debate Community Thread

    Swift justice that achieves what due process cannot has always been alluring. Not just to cops of course.

  18. #4438
    irontaino's Avatar Protector Domesticus
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    Default Re: Why is Trump popular in India?

    Quote Originally Posted by Phier View Post
    This is an honest question. I'm more than happy to vote for Trump, but the cult of personality in India has always perplexed me a bit. Even before this last visit I heard he was very popular there.

    So whats the rub?
    Looks just like the cult here in the States.
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  19. #4439
    Aexodus's Avatar Persuasion>Coercion
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    Default Re: Discussion and Debate Community Thread

    Quote Originally Posted by Akar View Post
    You see it on a disturbing number of the cars of off-duty policemen here in the states too. It's hilarious since it shows that they have no idea about what the punisher is actually about, but also terrifying because it shows they think they're above the law.
    Quote Originally Posted by Love Mountain View Post
    Swift justice that achieves what due process cannot has always been alluring. Not just to cops of course.
    Pretty much.

    In the case of the Punisher, it was actually U.S. soldiers that first brought him to the battlefield in Iraq. The unit of Chris Kyle, the American Sniper, called themselves the Punishers, labeling their gear with the four-fang skull and painting it on walls of Iraqi homes and buildings to mark their territory.

    “He righted wrongs. He killed bad guys. He made wrongdoers fear him,” wrote Kyle in his autobiography, which details his life as the U.S.’s most deadly sniper. “We spray-painted it on our Hummers and body armor, and our helmets and all our guns. We spray-painted it on every building or wall we could, We wanted people to know, We’re here and we want to with you.”
    Last edited by Aexodus; February 24, 2020 at 01:30 PM.
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    Quote Originally Posted by Himster View Post
    The trick is to never be honest. That's what this social phenomenon is engineering: publicly conform, or else.

  20. #4440
    Akar's Avatar I am not a clever man
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    Default Re: Discussion and Debate Community Thread

    Ahh yes, Chris Kyle. The American hero who bragged about sniping looters during Hurricane Katrina.

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