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dirtbag
climber
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Jul 11, 2018 - 07:46am PT
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Milktoast
Trad climber
Minister of Moderation, Fatcrackistan
Jul 11, 2018 - 07:31am PT
I would dare say a majority of Americans don't give a f*#king damn for the people in those Baltic states and would not willingly sacrifice a son or daughter in their defense, ever.
The only value those states have to the US empire is as a potential threat to the sovereign interests of Russia. The leadership of Russia does not want a NATO garrison on it's doorstep, any more than American leadership wanted a Russian base in Cuba.
DMT
You keep saying it’s all about american empire. That’s simplistic. It’s not that simple. I brought up the Baltics as an example of European states that want the alliance. Meanwhile, you sure are quick to throw away the check on Russian advances that NATO has provided—and still provides.
70 plus years of Western Europe without warfare? I’d say that’s a damned good bargain.
Yeah, I know, Americans don’t want their kids killed in Poland. Parents said the same thing in 1914 and 1940, but the world had other things in mind. If Russians know we mean business if they f*#k around then an attack is much less likely.
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StahlBro
Trad climber
San Diego, CA
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Jul 11, 2018 - 08:03am PT
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Putin's puppet tRump faulting Germany for being owned by Russia.
You can't beat that irony with a schnitzel.
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EdwardT
Trad climber
Retired
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Jul 11, 2018 - 08:07am PT
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Russia has done little but retreat for the past 30 years...
30 years, eh?
All of that retreat ended in 1991.
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dirtbag
climber
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Jul 11, 2018 - 08:20am PT
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Which is fine, if that's what a person wants to support. Just understand the incredible drain on resources it represents. Don't come crying to me about how the federal budget gets spent on bullets and don't pretend the historic deficits are unrelated.
You can be both for NATO and critical of excessive military spending.
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dirtbag
climber
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Jul 11, 2018 - 09:40am PT
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Yep...enjoy your day.
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Tom
Big Wall climber
San Luis Obispo CA
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Topic Author's Reply - Jul 11, 2018 - 10:21am PT
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President Putin's twitter attacks on NATO have been rebuked by the United States Senate. In a rare instance of nearly unanimous bipartisan solidarity, the Senate voted 97-2 to oppose Donald Putin's efforts to weaken and/or dismantle the NATO alliance.
The measure also called for stronger American efforts to counter Russian interference in elections.
https://www.defensenews.com/smr/nato-priorities/2018/07/10/us-senate-votes-to-defend-nato-as-trump-attacks/
“In the absence of U.S. presidential leadership, I want to make clear to our allies abroad, as well as our adversaries in the Kremlin, as to where members in the United States Senate stand,” said Menendez, adding that the chamber stands for the rule of law, an international order based on democratic values and with its allies.
“President Trump’s slap-dash approach to foreign policy, borne out of heated campaign rallies, instead of thoughtful Cabinet meetings, has real implications for our national security,” Menendez said. “Such reckless behavior by President Trump has weakened the United States on the global stage and created a more dangerous world for our citizens and our troops serving abroad.”
Mr. and Mrs. Putin are scheduled to meet alone in Helsinki, with only Mr. Putin's translator in the room to compensate for Mrs. Putin's poor command of the Russian language.
There will be no reporters, aides, recording devices or other documentation of the tryst. The rest of the world will have no way of knowing which positions the couple favors.
Twitter is concerned that the public is losing faith in it as a valid, reliable source of accurate information.
Specifically, company executives say that Twitter is being perverted by fake accounts that artificially boost the number of "followers" of certain Tweeters, and thereby distort the perceived integrity of those Tweeters.
The company has been culling millions of accounts in an all-out offensive against the fraud, thereby assuring the public that Twitter will not tolerate misinformation on its platform.
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/11/technology/twitter-fake-followers.html
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Tom
Big Wall climber
San Luis Obispo CA
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Topic Author's Reply - Jul 11, 2018 - 11:28am PT
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In order to invoke the 25th Amendment, the Cabinet and Vice-President must concur that the president is incapacitated.
Mike Pence can't even decide if he wants his bottle of water on the table. Trump has to decide for him.
[Click to View YouTube Video]
Mike Pence is not going to vote that Trump is incapacitated, because he's even more incapacitated. He's totally reliant on Trump for his behavioral cues. Pence is star-struck and entranced by Trump, like a movie extra on the same sound stage as Robert De Niro.
Trump is expecting his supporters to stand firm, and not flinch, in the face of his Quixotic trade wars. When Harley-Davidson decided to save itself, and move manufacturing overseas, Trump said the company "double-crossed" him, and he called the employees 'traitors'.
Trump's plan is for Americans, especially his supporters in the Midwest, to hunker down, endure the pain of battle, and remain confident that General Trump will eventually win the war. Trump's promise is that a little pain, now, will result in a lot of prosperity later.
Trust me. I'm the best at what I do. I make deals.
 Donald Trump
Trump is preparing to increase his offensive on the Eastern Front, and put another $200 billion worth of Chinese goods on his hit list. The Chinese, for their part, are already prepared with an equivalent countermove.
Trump is preparing to increase his offensive on the Western Front, and put tariffs on automobiles imported from Europe. This will disrupt car makers here, too, because parts are sourced internationally. The EU is ready to match Trump's escalating tariffs, move for move.
Trump's tariffs are allegedly justified in the name of national security, which is the only way Trump can autonomously enact them. Trump has, in effect, claimed that the entire American economy is a national security disaster that he, alone, can fix. He says he will put tariffs on all Chinese imports, if necessary, to get his point across that The Art Of The Deal overrules everything else in the universe.
Trump is an inexperienced, uneducated, incompetent and undisciplined moron who is experimenting with drastic changes to the economy, just to see what will happen. Trump is gambling recklessly, with other people's money, and doesn't really care what the outcome is.
Congress will, eventually, act to stop the madman. Trump's WWE-type tough-guy bluster and deranged policies are costing the GOP its voters. Even complete idiots will not tolerate an infinite amount of senseless abuse.
UPDATE EDIT:
The Senate voted 88-11 today to stop the madman from destroying the world economy. Good for them. Well done. Keep up the good work. It's about time. What took them so long?
The Senate GOP is now an honorable, responsible and patriotic group that will no longer bow down, and suckle the feces-slathered phallus of Mrs. Putin.
Praise the Lord!
https://www.cnn.com/2018/07/11/politics/senate-trump-tariff-vote/index.html
Senators voted overwhelmingly Wednesday calling on Trump to get congressional approval before using national security as a reason for imposing tariffs on other nations.
The House GOP may still be in its infantile, suckling stage, and not yet ready to join the Senate GOP at the grown-ups' table.
Which is OK. The House GOP will likely be voted out of power in November, and the losers can go do their growing up somewhere else.
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Tom
Big Wall climber
San Luis Obispo CA
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Topic Author's Reply - Jul 11, 2018 - 12:59pm PT
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^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
What do you mean "real" things that Trump could be criticized for?
When ICE kidnaps immigrant children from their parents at the border, and puts them up for adoption in Michigan, is that a "fake" thing?
Is Trump's disastrous tariff war a "fake" thing?
Is it "fake" that Trump is actively attempting to dissolve NATO and the EU?
I think your statement would have been more correct like this:
"There are many other, additional, things that Trump should be criticized for."
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10b4me
Social climber
Lida Junction
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Jul 11, 2018 - 01:03pm PT
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I'm all for America standing down from it's militaristic adventures
better tell that to trump. what's he gonna do with that yuge military budget he wants?
Dingus, I actually agree, to some extent, with what you are saying.
However, if we pulled all the troops from foreign soils, that would close the door on any future alliances, imo.
I think these former allies would then form economic alliances with Russia, or China, and say f*#k you 'murika.
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monolith
climber
state of being
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Jul 11, 2018 - 02:04pm PT
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No. It's real U.S. policy for years now.
Nope. Damn you are gullible. Did you read that in Drudge?
Seperation was done only in extreme circumstances(such as parental abuse, drugs, uncertainty if true parent, etc) under Obama.
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Norton
climber
The Wastelands
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Jul 11, 2018 - 02:09pm PT
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No. It's real U.S. policy for years now
it that so? do tell us more....
name it, show the US government program not only separating children from parents for extended periods, for years now. and in addition as you say, sending the children to Michigan
be careful, concealing your powerful "conservative" intellect could be telling...
try to make your point without deflecting to call Hillary Clinton a "bitch"
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wilbeer
Mountain climber
Terence Wilson greeneck alleghenys,ny,
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Jul 11, 2018 - 02:09pm PT
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Despite your obvious Fox News like information,there has never been a law or policy to break up immigrant families until may of 2018.
You need more than a dictionary.
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Tom
Big Wall climber
San Luis Obispo CA
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Topic Author's Reply - Jul 11, 2018 - 02:51pm PT
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And, there has never been a policy of intentionally failing to secure records linking separated children to their parents, so that the children become classified as "unaccompanied minors".
The Separation of Families scandal has only been scratched at the surface.
The reason about half of all kidnapped children under the age of 5 can't be reunited with their parents is because the original intent was to permanently separate them. The original intent was to provide a supply of "orphaned" adoptees in remote areas of the country.
Stolen children is big business in Third World countries. Trump believed the U.S. was missing out, so he enacted his monstrous policy.
Michael Avenatti is on haitus from the Stormy Daniels scandal, because New York prosecutors have called dibs on Michael Cohen.
Avenatti has been staying busy with the stolen-children-for-sale scandal.
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August West
Trad climber
Where the wind blows strange
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Jul 11, 2018 - 02:57pm PT
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So, you fight to rip a 8 month old fetus out of the womb, I say a state should be able to issue what laws they like and the feds should have little say.
Yes, conservative states should be allowed to make abortion illegal, or at the very least, be allowed to regulate abortion providers out of existence.
That way, middle income woman can fly to states where it is legal to have abortions, but many poor women will not be able to.
How very Republican.
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clifff
Mountain climber
golden, rollin hills of California
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Jul 11, 2018 - 03:17pm PT
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ExCon - thanks for the link on Ed Schultz. Here's more:
America is Morally Bankrupt | Ed Schultz
[Click to View YouTube Video]
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Tom
Big Wall climber
San Luis Obispo CA
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Topic Author's Reply - Jul 11, 2018 - 03:28pm PT
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Think of the problems that would be solved if we simply annexed Mexico
You need to change the battery in your calendar.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_C._Fremont
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10b4me
Social climber
Lida Junction
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Jul 11, 2018 - 04:22pm PT
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ATG, tell us about your climbing.
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Tom
Big Wall climber
San Luis Obispo CA
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Topic Author's Reply - Jul 11, 2018 - 05:09pm PT
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With respect to annexing Mexico:
NAFTA was intended to make Mexico more America-like, with a more favorable environment for corporate investment, which would raise the living standard there, and reduce the incentive for people to cross the border illegally.
A related program established by Mexico and the United States involved companies known as Maquiladora Factories. They had duty-free access to U.S. materials, and the manufactured goods had lower, preferential tariffs when exported to the United States.
These two programs resulted in a net migration from the United States back across the border to Mexico, for undocumented workers. NAFTA and the Maquiladora programs made Mexico more like America. It wasn't necessary to annex Mexico in order to make it a better place to live. All we had to do was extend some of our economic principles across the border to them.
Trump is now attacking NAFTA as being a bad deal for America.
NAFTA was intended to be a form of assistance, somewhat like charity, to our neighbor to the south. It was never about the United States winning all the chips. Mexico was intentionally given favorable treatment, because the U.S. wanted to help them out.
It is no coincidence that The Trump Foundation, which was supposed be be a non-profit organization, was actually a fraudulent charity that was established as a source of illicit income for the Trump family.
VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV
The primary reason the elite, conservative class wants to outlaw abortion is that more poor people would mean more workers in competition for lower wages.
It has always been understood that the GOP's Holy Grail, criminalizing abortion, would only apply to poor people. Elliot Brody, the RNC's financial chairman, didn't hesitate for a moment to pay for his Playboy Bunny's abortion.
Those so-called "Pro-Life" people are sick and disgusting. Occupying their self-conferred exalted status in society, they treat "lesser" people the way ranchers treat livestock. They want to breed them as fast as possible, to maximize the rate of exploitation and maximize their personal profits.
Ironically, these are the same people who are anxious for Jesus to come back to life, swinging his big ol' cross like a super-scythe, cutting down the evil ones, and plowing them deep, down into the soil.
VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV
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Happiegrrrl2
Trad climber
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Jul 11, 2018 - 05:09pm PT
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There are a few big difference between now and before Roe v Wade was decided, with regards to paternal responsibility, or at least liability.
Back in '73, a man could simply move away, and there'd be little help in the way of getting that deadbeat to financially support his offspring. He could deny being the father, could even have friends slutshame the pregnant woman or new mother, and avoid responsibility.
Nowadays, any man who impregnates a woman pretty much has to go completely off the radar, if they don't want up to half their paycheck "taken" to pay for their bastards.
It's not only poor women who are brought back to something of a slave state when abortion becomes an impossible obstacle to overcome, but poor and even not at all poor men, and the other women and children in their lives.
One other difference is that pregnancy and unmarried female parenthood carries next to no stigma anymore, whereas back before RvW it was enough to have people sending their daughters off "to help poor Aunt Emma" recovering from some made up illness, and whisk the newborn off for adoption. Girls and young women can't be so easily forced to give away children whether they want to or not, anymore.
So long as the laws/regulations for child support don't also get overturned, a good number of "good, Christian boys" are going to be sold into indentured service as well.
Think about it guys.... surely there are at least a few of you who know of men who skipped out on the financial support of children they made. Where would they be now, if they'd been unable to avoid paying their due?
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