Monitoring Biden and other Contemporary Events

@engineer,

engineer wrote:

- The magical "petrodollar" that the fringe likes to throw about is nice for the US, but by no means critical to our economy. Oil is denominated in dollars so those buying in other currencies have to convert their currencies to dollars and incur a small fee to do so. If oil contracts were written in various currencies or a basket of currencies, then they could save that small transaction fee. Them paying that fee while the US does not is not driving world dominance. It is convenient for selling countries to have one standard for contracts. It does not give the US any power to control world energy markets (as Saudi Arabia has recently demonstrated.)

^^^^ This should be required reading for every conspiracy theorist on the planet.

When I first heard this petrodollar nonsense, it was the far right "federal reserve is a conspiracy and income tax is illegal" sort of people who were babbling about it.

But the far left has certainly taken it and made it their own.

0 Replies

@oralloy,

oralloy wrote:

Lash wrote:
So, what I'm missing is: the US should be able to drone families, kill journalists, bomb countries, and install dictators--but it's ok because...
Why is it ok again?

[…]Neither do we install dictators.[…]

https://www.npr.org/2019/01/31/690363402/how-the-cia-overthrew-irans-democracy-in-four-days

On Aug. 19, 2013, the CIA publicly admitted for the first time its involvement in the 1953 coup against Iran's elected Prime Minister Mohammad Mossadegh.

The documents provided details of the CIA's plan at the time, which was led by senior officer Kermit Roosevelt Jr., the grandson of U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt. Over the course of four days in August 1953, Roosevelt would orchestrate not one, but two attempts to destabilize the government of Iran, forever changing the relationship between the country and the U.S. In this episode, we go back to retrace what happened in the inaugural episode of NPR's new history podcast, Throughline.
_______________

Anything?

2 Replies

Here's an important legal win.

Quote:

ACLU @ACLU
3h
BREAKING: A federal judge has issued an order that immediately blocks Florida’s Stop WOKE Act from being enforced in higher education.

The First Amendment protects our right to learn, and that includes learning about issues related to race and gender.

Quote:

Mary Ellen Klas @MaryEllenKlas
2h
Don't skip the footnotes: "...here, the State has responded to fears of “woke indoctrination” in university classrooms. But rather than combat “woke” ideas with countervailing views...the State has chosen to eliminate one side of the debate.../3

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Quote:

James Fallows @JamesFallows
24m
In case you were wondering what's been on Fox for the last while...

Hunter Biden!

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@Lash,

Lash wrote:

Anything?

Supporting the Iranian clerics when they overthrew their democracy is not the same thing as installing the dictator ourselves. The Iranian clerics were going to overthrow their democracy with or without us.

And even in the support role our role was minimal. Most foreign support for the Iranian clerics came from the UK, who was justifiably outraged because Iran was stealing their oil.

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@Lash,

Lash wrote:

Anything?

It should also be noted that during the Cold War we were forced to support dictatorships in order to keep Communism from destroying the world. We ended those policies more than 30 years ago when the Cold War ended.

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@blatham,

hahahahahaha!!! And Hillary's e-mails redux!

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@Lash,

Filed under, "if you can't stand the heat"...

0 Replies

@Frank Apisa,

Quote:

trying to be reasonable with her is like trying to explain quantum mechanics to a ferret.

My not falling for the trolling and staying calm and reasonable scorches her boxer shorts more than anything.

2 Replies

@bobsal u1553115,

She's not trolling. She is genuinely representing the truth as she believes it to be true.

The same with me as well, for the record. (And I happen to nearly always be right.)

I doubt that, throughout the history of this site, that any regular here has ever engaged in trolling.

1 Reply

@oralloy,

Allegedly. Allegedly.

1 Reply

@bobsal u1553115,

I think everyone here is representing the truth as they believe it to be true.

Some people are wrong of course. But all are sincere.

1 Reply

@bobsal u1553115,

Tsk. I thought we were having a productive conversation. I’m crestfallen.

1 Reply

@Lash,

Quote:

Tsk. I thought we were having a productive conversation. I’m crestfallen.

We were. Then you used ad homs on me and told me you were quitting the discussion because you didn't want to derail it.

So I'm guessing you haven't left yet.

1 Reply

So strange that when a Republican wins, it's the will of the people, and when a Democrat wins, it's election fraud.

1 Reply

@Wilso,

Progressives cheat. Conservatives don't (but should).

0 Replies

@bobsal u1553115,

I was attempting to move a long conversation that others may not be interested in to another thread.

Yet, you keep mentioning me.

Like a troll.

1 Reply

@Lash,

Seriously. You've responded to everything I posted to you - sometime several times, and you've responded to me re: comments I made to others - so who's trying to troll whom? We'll leave your "ad homs" to themselves.

Lash, I am an adult, and you are an adult. When you can speak to me like an adult, speak to me again.

Bet a dollar to a donut you will not be able to resist responding to this with more "ad homs", but I am done.

0 Replies

@oralloy,

oralloy wrote:

I think everyone here is representing the truth as they believe it to be true.

Some people are wrong of course. But all are sincere.

You might be right. Most here have a clear agenda.

Sincerity is not always what it's cracked up to be. The Khmer Rouge were extremely sincere and mercilessly thorough.

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Trump, Sons Had Role in Tax Fraud Scheme, Allen Weisselberg Reportedly Testifies

Former Trump Organization chief financial officer Allen Weisselberg testified in court Thursday, describing how Donald Trump and two of his children allegedly participated in a scheme to defraud tax authorities.

Weisselberg said Donald Trump, or at times Eric Trump or Donald Trump Jr., signed checks to pay up to $100,000 for private school tuition for Weisselberg's grandchildren. Weisselberg said he then instructed the company's controller to deduct the $100,000 from his salary, allowing him to report a smaller income. Copies of some of the checks signed by the Trumps have been shown in court.

Weisselberg said the first time Trump signed a tuition check, Weisselberg told him, "Don't forget, I'm going to pay you back for this." The payback, he said, was the salary reduction.

Two Trump Organization entities and Weisselberg are accused of more than a dozen counts of fraud and tax evasion. Weisselberg entered a guilty plea in August, admitting to charges filed by the Manhattan District Attorney's Office accusing him of receiving more than $1.7 million in untaxed compensation.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-organization-trial-fraud-scheme-allen-weisselberg-testifies/

0 Replies

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