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Patrick Sawyer
climber
Originally California now Ireland
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Nov 14, 2017 - 11:56pm PT
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If this forum is anything to go by, America is sick indeed. And I am no better.
I am nothing but a hound dog, and you are no friend of mine.
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monolith
climber
state of being
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Nov 15, 2017 - 07:54am PT
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Not as sinister as claimed. We may not like it, but those who actually have to go in and clear out ISIS get to make the decisions.
We didn't want anyone to leave," Dillon said. "But this goes to the heart of our strategy, 'by, with and through' local leaders on the ground. It comes down to Syrians – they are the ones fighting and dying, they get to make the decisions regarding operations.
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red'sea
Trad climber
lexington
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Nov 15, 2017 - 09:35am PT
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Patrick,
america is very afraid. and as climbers,
we both know what fear gestates:
horrid conduct. a loss of poise and presence.
frantic gestures, ugly in their expression;
in vain attempts to regain stasis.
we as a country were raised upon gross excess.
we had everything we wanted, in over abundance.
thus we failed to develop any substance.
and now, as an adolescent culture,
we find ourself encountering challenges
bigger than our immature collective mind can process.
so, what you and the rest of the world sees is a country
stumbling through stiff growing pains.
many of our citizens (i.e. republicans) are committed
to the cheap and easy path.
because the uphill battle of compassion, selflessness and sacrifice
requires backbone.
which most republicans lack.
they shout and shimmer in an attempt to
distract the audience, which works for short periods (i.e. 4 f*#king years of t-rump) but eventually
their hollow song dies.
so hang tight, Patrick. Hang tight, world
america will be right back, after this word from our sponsor.
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zBrown
Ice climber
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Nov 15, 2017 - 12:24pm PT
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Keep all but the 'good' climbers out, but what about them damn melting glaciers?
[Click to View YouTube Video]
Many, many, many billions
Looking for his head, nobody had the heart to tell him to look in his ass
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Splater
climber
Grey Matter
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Nov 16, 2017 - 02:24pm PT
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Why do the alt-right posters start a new thread for every biased tidbit they hear on alt.conspiracy.bs ?
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Norton
climber
The Wastelands
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Nov 17, 2017 - 11:09am PT
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In Post-Weinstein Era, Trump Sexual Assault Accusers Await His Downfall
Three of the 16 women who have accused Trump of some form of sexual assault spoke to People on Thursday. The women discussed what it’s been like for them as more and more men in power are being publicly condemned for accusations of sexual misconduct in the wake of the #MeToo movement.
Former “Apprentice” contestant Summer Zervos is suing Trump for defamation after he publicly called her allegations fake. Zervos has accused Trump of groping and forcibly kissing her on several occasions in 2007. She served him a subpoena last month requesting all documents from his campaign that pertain to “any woman alleging that Donald J. Trump touched her inappropriately.” The judge in Zervos’ case is expected to decide before the end of the year whether the suit should move ahead. hp
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NutAgain!
Trad climber
South Pasadena, CA
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Topic Author's Reply - Nov 17, 2017 - 04:45pm PT
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The growing appreciation of FARA might be a foot in the door to campaign finance reform in general:
https://www.npr.org/2017/11/17/563737981/a-toothless-old-law-could-have-new-fangs-thanks-to-robert-mueller
This quote especially resonates with me:
"Americans have a right to know who is acting in the United States to influence the U.S. government or public on behalf of foreign principals," said acting Assistant Attorney General for National Security Dana Boente. "The Department of Justice is committed to enforcing FARA and expects compliance with the law by all entities engaged in specified activities on behalf of any foreign principal, regardless of its nationality."
Now if we can get that principle extended to not just foreign agents, but also to multi-national corporations, because that is another class of entities whose interests may not coincide with American interests. Even within America, we should have more transparency about who is promoting different agendas. We have a right to voter anonymity, but the moment we pay to influence others, I believe our right to anonymity is surrendered.
I would also like to see:
1. Mass media advertising (Internet, radio, TV, etc.) requires a license to pay for advertising.
2. To maintain an advertiser license, advertisers must:
 Publicly disclose detailed balance sheets and income statements
Disclose the identity of all funding sources, including traces through intermediary corporations until contribution percentages can be allocated to individual humans and publicly traded companies.
Upon discovery that any of the contributing funds are tainted by companies with hidden ownership or beneficiaries, the funds must be forfeited to the regulating agency (not returned to the source).
(Tricky part still to figure out: "ownership" is not enough... must find beneficial interest. A rich shadowy figure can give money to a lawyer, and the lawyer opens a shell company and looks like the owner on paper. Need some mechanism to further trace funds, put "seasoning" requirements like mortgage lenders do when they are qualifying the borrower source of funds. But very rich people can afford to wait out and circumvent the laws intended to prevent this.... Also need to ensure these laws don't backfire and enable politically-motivated false accusations of hidden beneficiaries that cause the funds to be confiscated. Solutions?)
Disclose all expenditures to the level of explicit candidates, political races, ballot initiatives, or political parties, and/or socio-political issue
3. An investigative agency (like an FBI white collar crime division) identifies questionable ownership, e.g. where nominal owner contributions do not reconcile with the owner's income as declared on USA personal tax returns over a period of years (in the case of USA citizens), net worth, lifestyle, etc. subject to increasing scrutiny as discrepancies appear.
4. Mass media (Internet/radio/TV/newspaper/etc) entities that receive some threshold percentage of income from advertising must file reports of licensed funding for political activity, disclosing the category of advertisement and the registration number of the funding source. No political advertising can be accepted from non-licensed sources. Independent watchdog groups can tally/estimate the posted advertisements and reconcile that with public declarations of advertising volume tied to registered sources.
People are clever and will find ways to circumvent any system if the reward is high enough, but I think this would revolutionize democracy in America in a good way.
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Ken M
Mountain climber
Los Angeles, Ca
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Nov 18, 2017 - 12:20pm PT
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Trump did nothing for detained UCLA players in China, LaVar Ball says
“Everybody wants to make it seem like he helped me out,” the father of LiAngelo Ball said. LiAngelo and two other student athletes were arrested on shoplifting charges while the basketball team was overseas for a game. They have been suspended indefinitely from playing.
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rottingjohnny
Sport climber
Sands Motel , Las Vegas
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Nov 18, 2017 - 12:26pm PT
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Trump was really playing up his part in releasing the 3 knuckle heads...NPD behavior...
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Ken M
Mountain climber
Los Angeles, Ca
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Nov 18, 2017 - 12:27pm PT
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Wa Post:
Perspective
Foreign Service leadership being ‘decapitated’ and ‘depleted at a dizzying speed’
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Norton
climber
The Wastelands
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Nov 18, 2017 - 02:07pm PT
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Why are Police in the USA so Terrified?
they are nowadays trained to be afraid, afraid of civilians
civilians who are armed even better than they are, thanks to black powder muskets being widely available now
they are trained to use the rational "I want to go home to my family" as the excuse for I had to kill him because he was reaching in his pocket and i thought it was for a gun
because the US Armed Forces have freely given military grade weapons including tanks to police forces all over the country
better not be driving while black, its bad enough to be pulled over while white
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WBraun
climber
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Nov 18, 2017 - 05:01pm PT
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St00pid drunk politard brainwashed Luzzers ^^^^ blather away daily bullsh!t they really know nothing about ......
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Reilly
Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
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Nov 18, 2017 - 05:27pm PT
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Werner, it keeps ‘em off the streets.
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drF
Trad climber
usa
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Nov 18, 2017 - 05:58pm PT
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St00pid drunk politard brainwashed Luzzers ^^^^ blather away daily bullsh!t they really know nothing about ......
You're off the mark man.
The L00ns words are meaningful.
Norton's read the ACA....several times??
Norton is here all day posting links.
He's the source brah.
Don't fight it lol!
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rottingjohnny
Sport climber
Sands Motel , Las Vegas
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Nov 18, 2017 - 06:01pm PT
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Werner...I think it's spelled Loozzers...? thanks Rotbrain..
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Yury
Mountain climber
T.O.
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Nov 18, 2017 - 07:20pm PT
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NutAgain!:
The growing appreciation of FARA might be a foot in the door to campaign finance reform in general:
https://www.npr.org/2017/11/17/563737981/a-toothless-old-law-could-have-new-fangs-thanks-to-robert-mueller It looks like a typical witch hunt to me.
FARA is used so infrequently and inconsistently. For example RT was asked to register as a foreign agent, but BBC, Al Jazeera, France 24 and others were not.
It looks like Mueler is desperate because of his attempt to use FARA instead of more common regulation.
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NutAgain!
Trad climber
South Pasadena, CA
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Topic Author's Reply - Nov 19, 2017 - 05:21pm PT
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On the one hand I agree that it's a "witch hunt" in that much of the public and political support for the process is partisan-based. However, at the center of the hunt are fundamental issues of right and wrong, plainly unethical behavior, that perhaps are not so uncommon but they should be. I am glad that there is a big deal being made out of holding people accountable. I'm still a big fan of a principle I learned by kindergarten: two wrongs don't make a right. A guilty person shifting focus to what other guilty people have done is toddler-level misdirection.
That said, I would like to see the drive toward increasing transparency and accountability in our government be more of a shared values thing across party lines, rather than a partisan weapon. We've reached the point of caring more about which team wins than how much they cheated to get there. Ultimately the fault lies with all of us as voters because election results show what issues concern voters and what candidate and party behaviors lead to victory. That is the most damning thing about our country. Our behaviors and beliefs and values (subject to manipulation by others) have directly led to our present government.
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drF
Trad climber
usa
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Nov 19, 2017 - 08:14pm PT
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Couple of hours ago there was a weak ass Crankloon post
Vanished..Gone again
What's with this serial post-deleter-pussy coward.
Lots of peeps here have noticed this..no?
RottunJoany...what's up with your coward boo?
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