***Official Political Discussion Thread***

https://www.newsweek.com/russia-bel...n-vladimir-putin-alexander-lukashenko-1333800

RUSSIA MAY ABSORB BELARUS: 'WE’RE READY TO UNITE,' PRESIDENT SAYS

The president of Belarus has said the country is ready to unite with long-time ally Russia, raising the prospect of Moscow absorbing the eastern European dictatorship on the borders of Poland and Lithuania.

President Alexander Lukashenko, who has ruled the former Soviet state since the presidential post was created in 1994, said Friday his nation was ready to join with Russia, The Moscow Times reported.

Lukashenko made the comments on the third and final day of bilateral talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Rumors have long abounded that Belarus could be absorbed into Russia under Putin’s watch, deepening the “union state” arrangement that has existed between them since the late 1990s.

“The two of us could unite tomorrow, no problem,” Lukashenko said Friday. “But are you—Russians and Belarusians—ready for it?” the president added, according to Interfax. “We’re ready to unite and consolidate our efforts, states and peoples as far as we’re ready.”

Putin tried to question the very concept of independent states in his subsequent remarks. “There are simply no fully independent states in the world. The modern world is a world of interdependence,” the Russian president said.

He pointed to the European Union as proof of his assertion. “There, the European Parliament makes more binding decisions for all members than the Supreme Soviet of the USSR once took such decisions for the Union republics. Is it not a dependency?” Putin asked.

Putin also suggested that U.S. military deployments in Europe have undermined nation sovereignty there. “Do you think someone from European countries wants U.S. medium-range missiles to appear in Europe?” he asked.

“No one wants that. But they sit, they keep quiet. Where is their sovereignty? But apparently they believe that in the ultimate, general calculation, they are interested in such an organization in which they have invested part of their sovereignty,” he said.

Putin’s presidential term will end in 2024, and the current constitution prevents him for running again. It has been suggested that he could bypass these restrictions by creating a new nation through a union with Belarus.
Click to expand...

Putin's grown bold and assertive, which is expected when you control two governments.

And if you can control two, why not three?
 
valdez809 said:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/aakash...e-to-american-workers-for-amazon-pullout/amp/
Click to expand...
Amazon paid nothing in federal taxes in 2019 and they got a rebate, making their tax rate negative for the year (yes, Amazon got paid by the US government).


There are more factors to the discussion than just the number of jobs. Did Amazon move in to take advantage of the current workforce? Or was the plan to move in an displace the current population?

Maybe Amazon planned to spend money on the initial infrastructure needed to house their HQ. Who would take care of the maintenance of the roads and utilities years down the line? The community. Was there proof that the increase in the tax base coming from labor would cover the added cost of infrastructure maintenance, revamp of zoning laws, safety, etc...? Was there proof that offering a $3B rebate wouldn't negatively hurt the long term prospects of the community?

None of those concerns from the perspective of the community are addressed in the article. Instead, it's a full on attack on the rights of the locals to organize to defend what they see as an unfair arrangement.

Too much credence is given to capital owners when we have daily examples of their lying to secure deals with advantageous terms only for them. GE is paying back the French government because they failed to create the 10000 jobs they promised them. Foxcon is significantly dialing down the number of jobs they will create in Wisconsin after receiving record tax breaks.

Folks need to stop falling for the "jobs" euro step.
 
I am certain that the russian government has something on both Lindsay Graham and Mitch McConnell. With Trump behaving so boldly, as if he fears no repercussion from the leaders of his party, he has to have something on them through russia. His mentor Roy Cohn was a master of the dirty politic, and the way that Trump behaves, without fear mind you, blatant lies as truth, it has to be the dirt forcing both Graham and McConnell to back Trump at every turn.
 
gry60 said:
Amazon paid nothing in federal taxes in 2019 and they got a rebate, making their tax rate negative for the year (yes, Amazon got paid by the US government).


There are more factors to the discussion than just the number of jobs. Did Amazon move in to take advantage of the current workforce? Or was the plan to move in an displace the current population?

Maybe Amazon planned to spend money on the initial infrastructure needed to house their HQ. Who would take care of the maintenance of the roads and utilities years down the line? The community. Was there proof that the increase in the tax base coming from labor would cover the added cost of infrastructure maintenance, revamp of zoning laws, safety, etc...? Was there proof that offering a $3B rebate wouldn't negatively hurt the long term prospects of the community?

None of those concerns from the perspective of the community are addressed in the article. Instead, it's a full on attack on the rights of the locals to organize to defend what they see as an unfair arrangement.

Too much credence is given to capital owners when we have daily examples of their lying to secure deals with advantageous terms only for them. GE is paying back the French government because they failed to create the 10000 jobs they promised them. Foxcon is significantly dialing down the number of jobs they will create in Wisconsin after receiving record tax breaks.

Folks need to stop falling for the "jobs" euro step.
Click to expand...
Well said.

Why not offer the rebate (up to $3 billion) to existing businesses in the area or as an incentive to small businesses?

The Amazon HQ sounds like a suburban x Soviet nightmare. Tens of thousands of slightly above average people living in rows and rows of similar homes, all working at the same factory, but chugging out code instead of products, 9-5 jobs, etc.

Why not invest in incubators instead. Fund young entrepreneurs. It's not like NYC doesn't have enough people or is facing a brain drain of some sort. They have the people. Invest in them. Not some giant corporate compound that could probably exist in any city in the world.
 
gry60 said:
Amazon paid nothing in federal taxes in 2019 and they got a rebate, making their tax rate negative for the year (yes, Amazon got paid by the US government).


There are more factors to the discussion than just the number of jobs. Did Amazon move in to take advantage of the current workforce? Or was the plan to move in an displace the current population?

Maybe Amazon planned to spend money on the initial infrastructure needed to house their HQ. Who would take care of the maintenance of the roads and utilities years down the line? The community. Was there proof that the increase in the tax base coming from labor would cover the added cost of infrastructure maintenance, revamp of zoning laws, safety, etc...? Was there proof that offering a $3B rebate wouldn't negatively hurt the long term prospects of the community?

None of those concerns from the perspective of the community are addressed in the article. Instead, it's a full on attack on the rights of the locals to organize to defend what they see as an unfair arrangement.

Too much credence is given to capital owners when we have daily examples of their lying to secure deals with advantageous terms only for them. GE is paying back the French government because they failed to create the 10000 jobs they promised them. Foxcon is significantly dialing down the number of jobs they will create in Wisconsin after receiving record tax breaks.

Folks need to stop falling for the "jobs" euro step.
Click to expand...

https://www.syracuse.com/politics/2...on-exit-as-aoc-celebrates.html?outputType=amp

You have valid questions, but Amazon is a huge company and there’s no denying the economic impact that it was gonna create. As far as the locals go, they did wanted Amazon there. Now u have the Governor of NY and some other officials at odds. The long term effect will tell if it was a good move or not. As far as the tax incentives that Amazon was gonna get, it was a to entice Amazon to go there and eventually NY will get that $ back through Taxes and fees. Wither way. Just the fact that politicians from the same party in the same state can’t get on the same page, it’s alarming especially when its something of importantance like this.
 
Hopefully Russia absorbs Libbiefornia.
gry60 said:
Amazon paid nothing in federal taxes in 2019 and they got a rebate, making their tax rate negative for the year (yes, Amazon got paid by the US government).


There are more factors to the discussion than just the number of jobs. Did Amazon move in to take advantage of the current workforce? Or was the plan to move in an displace the current population?

Maybe Amazon planned to spend money on the initial infrastructure needed to house their HQ. Who would take care of the maintenance of the roads and utilities years down the line? The community. Was there proof that the increase in the tax base coming from labor would cover the added cost of infrastructure maintenance, revamp of zoning laws, safety, etc...? Was there proof that offering a $3B rebate wouldn't negatively hurt the long term prospects of the community?

None of those concerns from the perspective of the community are addressed in the article. Instead, it's a full on attack on the rights of the locals to organize to defend what they see as an unfair arrangement.

Too much credence is given to capital owners when we have daily examples of their lying to secure deals with advantageous terms only for them. GE is paying back the French government because they failed to create the 10000 jobs they promised them. Foxcon is significantly dialing down the number of jobs they will create in Wisconsin after receiving record tax breaks.

Folks need to stop falling for the "jobs" euro step.
Click to expand...

WELL SAID COMRADE. Broke Bois like Bozos always looking for da government handouts. Our President Elect allowed Bozos to avoid taxes but this clown stays disrespking our President Elect. Da tax bill is doing AMAZING THINGS. Da coffers are not only popping but they overflowing b.
 
valdez809 said:
https://www.syracuse.com/politics/2...on-exit-as-aoc-celebrates.html?outputType=amp

You have valid questions, but Amazon is a huge company and there’s no denying the economic impact that it was gonna create. As far as the locals go, they did wanted Amazon there. Now u have the Governor of NY and some other officials at odds. The long term effect will tell if it was a good move or not. As far as the tax incentives that Amazon was gonna get, it was a to entice Amazon to go there and eventually NY will get that $ back through Taxes and fees. Wither way. Just the fact that politicians from the same party in the same state can’t get on the same page, it’s alarming especially when its something of importantance like this.
Click to expand...
I am aware. What I am saying is, if the presence of Amazon was projected to create a $30B windfall for the state, why not wait for the government to collect that money and then get the $3B check back from NY? Also, are there punitive measures towards Amazon if they fail to deliver on their promise of jobs/tax revenue? I highly doubt it.
I am arguing a simple, yet fundamental point: the way the people engages with the capital class is flawed. We are to believe their promises, pay them (or assume the costs) upfront based on those promises, and when **** gets ****ed up (because those predictions are almost always based on best case scenarios), the wealthy get to walk away with their money and communities are left to deal with the consequences. There are way too many examples of that happening for me to side with Amazon/Cuomo here.
 
valdez809 said:
https://www.syracuse.com/politics/2...on-exit-as-aoc-celebrates.html?outputType=amp

You have valid questions, but Amazon is a huge company and there’s no denying the economic impact that it was gonna create. As far as the locals go, they did wanted Amazon there. Now u have the Governor of NY and some other officials at odds. The long term effect will tell if it was a good move or not. As far as the tax incentives that Amazon was gonna get, it was a to entice Amazon to go there and eventually NY will get that $ back through Taxes and fees. Wither way. Just the fact that politicians from the same party in the same state can’t get on the same page, it’s alarming especially when its something of importantance like this.
Click to expand...

There's also no denying the negative impact it was going to create:

It won’t be easy. There will be fights about parking and traffic and congestion and displacement.Existing residents will have concerns about all these newcomers moving in who they perceive to be just “passing through,” without established roots in the neighborhood.
Click to expand...

When Amazon supercharges your city’s tech sector, the tech sector’s poor record of hiring African Americans and Hispanics becomes your city’s problem
Click to expand...

And when you finally do get on a bus, it'll get stuck in traffic: the amount of time Seattle residents spend delayed by highway traffic has doubled in the last 5 years.
Click to expand...

https://www.citylab.com/equity/2017...eces-of-advice-for-amazons-hq2-winner/543402/

NYC is already struggling with rapid gentrification, an under-funded and horribly managed transit system (likely intentional in the hopes of privatization), ever increasing wealth inequality, and overpopulation. The deal would've been the last push in a long brewing plan to rid the city of its locals who made it what it is.

And nah, the locals did not want this, as it was the local council members, the elected officials who interact directly with citizens, that put a stop to the deal. You think it was a coincidence they were cut out of the negotiation process?
 
infamouserror said:
There's also no denying the negative impact it was going to create:







https://www.citylab.com/equity/2017...eces-of-advice-for-amazons-hq2-winner/543402/

NYC is already struggling with rapid gentrification, an under-funded and horribly managed transit system (likely intentional in the hopes of privatization), ever increasing wealth inequality, and overpopulation. The deal would've been the last push in a long brewing plan to rid the city of its locals who made it what it is.

And nah, the locals did not want this, as it was the local council members, the elected officials who interact directly with citizens, that put a stop to the deal. You think it was a coincidence they were cut out of the negotiation process?
Click to expand...

I have a friend from HS who recently moved back from Seattle in 2018 after living there for 9 years and he reiterates that point. He had enough of the tech bros and the way the city was headed.
 
Former Cambridge Analytica business development director Brittany Kaiser has been cooperating, at least for a while, and has received a subpoena in the Mueller investigation.
95cbf0100f3e55ed625ab40b979b1095.png

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news...ump-russia-robert-mueller-cambridge-analytica
Mueller questions Cambridge Analytica director Brittany Kaiser
Second former employee of controversial data firm to be questioned by special counsel’s inquiry into Russia collusion

A director of the controversial data company Cambridge Analytica, who appeared with Arron Banks at the launch of the Leave.EU campaign, has been subpoenaed by the US investigation into possible collusion between the Trump campaign and the Russian government.

A spokesman for Brittany Kaiser, former business development director for Cambridge Analytica – which collapsed after the Observer revealed details of its misuse of Facebook data – confirmed that she had been subpoenaed by special counsel Robert Mueller, and was cooperating fully with his investigation.

He added that she was assisting other US congressional and legal investigations into the company’s activities and had voluntarily turned over documents and data.
Kaiser, who gave evidence to the UK parliament last April in which she claimed Cambridge Analytica had carried out in-depth work for Leave.EU, is the second individual connected to the firm subpoenaed by the special counsel. The Electoral Commission has said its investigation into Leave.EU found no evidence that the campaign “received donations or paid for services from Cambridge Analytica …beyond initial scoping work”.

Damian Collins, chairman of parliament’s inquiry into fake news, said it was “no surprise” that Kaiser was under scrutiny by Mueller because “her work connected her to WikiLeaks, Cambridge Analytica and [its parent company] SCL, the Trump campaign, Leave.EU and Arron Banks”.

He said it was now vital Britain had its own inquiry into foreign interference: “We should not be leaving this to the Americans.”

Tom Watson, the deputy leader of the Labour party, echoed Collins’s statement, saying: “This is the first evidence that a significant player in the Leave.EU campaign is of interested to the global Mueller inquiry. People will be bewildered that the British government has no interest in establishing the facts of what happened.”

In August, Sam Patten, a US political consultant who had worked for Cambridge Analytica on campaigns in the US and abroad, struck a plea deal with Mueller after admitting he had failed to register as a foreign agent for a Ukrainian oligarch.

He became a subject of the special counsel’s inquiry because of work done with Paul Manafort, Trump’s campaign manager, in Ukraine. He had also set up a business with Konstantin Kilimnik, a key figure who Mueller has alleged has ties to Russian intelligence and who is facing charges of obstruction of justice. In a 2017 statement to the Washington Post, Kilimnik denied any connection to intelligence services. Kaiser, however, is the first person connected directly to both the Brexit and Trump campaigns known to have been questioned by Mueller.

The news came to light in a new Netflix documentary, The Great Hack, which premiered at the Sundance film festival last month and is expected to be released later this spring. Film-makers followed Kaiser for months after she approached the Guardian, including moments after she received the subpoena. She claims the summons came after the Guardian revealed she had visited WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange while still a Cambridge Analytica employee in February 2017, three months after the US election.

One part of Mueller’s investigation focuses on whether the Trump campaign sought to influence the timing of the release of emails by WikiLeaks before the election. Investigators are looking at communications between them. In the film, Kaiser says that she has gone from being a cooperating witness to a subject of investigation because of her contact with Assange.

In October 2017, it was revealed that Alexander Nix, the chief executive of Cambridge Analytica, had contacted Assange in August 2016 to try to obtain emails from Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign – which indictments from Mueller’s team say were obtained by Russian military intelligence – to use in Donald Trump’s campaign. When Kaiser gave evidence to parliament last year, she was asked about her relationship with Assange and WikiLeaks but failed to reveal that she had met Assange.

In the documentary, Kaiser is shown after receiving an email from the Guardian last June asking about meeting Assange and alleged donations of cryptocurrency to WikiLeaks. Kaiser did not respond to the email at the time, but on camera says: “She knows I met Assange. And she knows I donated money to WikiLeaks in bitcoin.”

Her legal representatives later wrote to the paper to say that the allegations, including that she had “channelled” donations to WikiLeaks, were false. Kaiser said she had received a small gift of bitcoin in 2011 – long before she worked at Cambridge Analytica – and, not knowing what else to do with it, gave it to WikiLeaks, because she had benefited from material it had released over the years.

Her lawyer told the Observer that the meeting with Assange came about after a chance encounter in London with an acquaintance who knew him. It lasted 20 minutes and consisted mainly of Assange telling her “about how he saw the world”. He said they did not discuss the US election.

Patten and Kaiser were involved in a controversial election campaign in Nigeria in January 2015, which former Cambridge Analytica employees say had “unsettling” parallels to the US presidential election.

The Guardian revealed that the data firm had worked alongside a team of unidentified Israeli intelligence operatives on the campaign. Ex-Cambridge Analytica employees described how the Israelis hacked the now-president of Nigeria’s emails and released damaging information about him to the press weeks before the election.
Click to expand...

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news...will-subpoena-mccabe-and-rosenstein-over-coup
Trump ally Graham will subpoena McCabe and Rosenstein over 'coup'
  • Senate judiciary chair furious over 25th amendment claims
Trump ally Lindsey Graham has promised a Senate investigation into claims senior justice department officials discussed invoking the 25th amendmentand removing the president from power.
“There’s an allegation by the acting FBI director at the time that the deputy attorney general was basically trying to do an administrative coup,” the South Carolina senator, the chair of the Senate judiciary committee, told CBS Face the Nation.

“[To] take the president down to the 25th amendment process. The deputy attorney general denies it. I promise your viewers the following, that we will have a hearing about who’s telling the truth.”
The acting FBI director referred to is Andrew McCabe, who Trump fired in March 2018, just short of his intended retirement. He told CBS about the discussions, which reportedly followed Trump’s firing of FBI director James Comey in May 2017, in an interview this week to promote his new book. He also said he authorized an investigation into Trump’s ties to Russia in the aftermath of the Comey firing.

The deputy attorney general is Rod Rosenstein, who wrote the memo justifying Comey’s firing, which said it was due to his handling of the investigation into Hillary Clinton’s emails.

In his book, The Threat: How the FBI Protects America in the Age of Terror and Trump, McCabe says Trump ordered Rosenstein to produce the memo, a claim the White House has denied.

Shortly after the Comey firing, Trump told NBC he had acted because of “this Russia thing”, meaning Comey’s involvement in the investigation of Russian election interference and links between Trump aides and Moscow.

The 25th amendment to the constitution provides for the removal of a president deemed incapable of discharging his duties. It has never been used. Fox News reported on Saturday that James Baker, formerly a senior FBI lawyer, testified to two House committees last year that he was told Rosenstein said he had found two cabinet members who would support such an effort.

The full McCabe interview was scheduled to air on 60 Minutes on Sunday night. The reporter who conducted it, Scott Pelley, said on Thursday McCabe also says Rosenstein offered to wear a wire to record incriminating conversations with Trump.

Rosenstein has denied discussing the 25th amendment or offering to wear a wire.

McCabe’s book is out on Tuesday. The Guardian obtained an early copy, in which McCabe does not mention the discussions about the 25th amendment or, directly, any offer from Rosenstein to wear a wire.

Graham was a fierce rival of Trump during the 2016 Republican primary but has become one of the president’s closest allies in power.

“I think everybody in the country needs to know if it happened,” he said. “It’s stunning to me that one of the chief law enforcement officers of the land – the acting head of the FBI – would go on national television and say, ‘Oh by the way I remember a conversation with the deputy attorney general about trying to find if we could replace the president under the 25th amendment.

“[McCabe] went on national television and he made an accusation that floors me … we’re going to find out what happened here and the only way I know to find out is to call the people in under oath and find out, through questioning, who’s telling the truth because the underlying accusation is beyond stunning.”

Asked if he would subpoena McCabe and Rosenstein to appear, Graham said: “How can I not, if that’s what it takes?

“I mean, you’re doing your job. The first amendment allows you to ask questions of the most powerful people in the country. I know he’s selling a book, and we need to take with a grain of salt maybe what Mr McCabe is telling us. But he went on national television and he made an accusation that floors me.

“…Well we’re going to find out what happened here and the only way I know to find out is to call the people in under oath and find out, through questioning, who’s telling the truth because the underlying accusation is beyond stunning.”

In the House, Democrats who took over committee chairs after the midterm elections are also planning investigations. On Saturday Adam Schiff, the chair of the intelligence panel, and Elliott Engel of foreign affairs told Politico they were working out the best way to obtain notes taken in private meetings between Trump and Russian president Vladimir Putin.

In such an atmosphere of bitter partisan rancour and startling claims of scandal, special counsel Robert Mueller is believed to be close to concluding his investigation of Russian election interference, links between Trump aidesand Moscow and potential obstruction of justice by the president.

Speaking on CNN’s State of the Union on Sunday, Schiff said he wanted to find out “whether the president is somehow compromised, if there is leverage the Russians could use over the president and if the Russians are in a position to expose wrongdoing by the president or his campaign that’s compromising”.

In April last year, the inspector general of the justice department faulted McCabe for misleading investigators regarding unauthorised leaks to the media.

Schiff was asked if he thought McCabe should be charged for allegedly lying to investigators, as a number of former Trump aides have been. The former FBI official “should be held to the same standard as anyone else that the justice department has looked at”, he said.
Click to expand...
 
Last edited:
Are they really legitimately trying to push this “national security” things? Everyone knows it’s fake including the man who called for it. This is as stupid as the “need” for a space force
 
blastercombo said:
Are they really legitimately trying to push this “national security” things? Everyone knows it’s fake including the man who called for it. This is as stupid as the “need” for a space force
Click to expand...
Chill man
We don’t know what the aliens are capable of
We need space force to defend against
Extraterrestrial threats
They already caught us slipping twice
Jeff goldblum and will Smith
May not be here to protect us the next time
 
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