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Here's some news sources :)

 

 

1/ Trump claimed that the U.S. is “rounding the corner” on the coronavirus pandemic, predicting that “Next year will be the greatest economic year in the history our country, I project.” The U.S., however, continues to see about 36,000 new cases a day, about 850 new deaths, on average, every day, a 8.4% unemployment rate, and about half of the jobs lost during the pandemic have been recovered. Dr. Anthony Fauci, meanwhile, called the current COVID-19 data “disturbing,” and that the U.S. might not return to pre-coronavirus life until the end of 2021. Fauci added that the U.S. will be in a “more precarious situation” in the fall and winter if current case rate continues. (NBC News / CNN / CNBC / NBC News / CNN / The Guardian)

2/ Trump insisted that “everyone knew” the coronavirus was airborne in February, saying “When I say it was airborne, everybody knew it was airborne. This was no big thing. Read the reports. China came out with a statement that it was an airborne disease. I heard it was an airborne disease. I assumed it early on.” It wasn’t until March, however, that the World Health Organization acknowledged that the virus could be spread through airborne particles. (CNN / CNBC)

  • Trump held six indoor rallies after admitted to Bob Woodward on Feb. 7 that he knew the coronavirus “goes through air” and is more deadly than “even your strenuous flus.”In the interview, Trump told Woodward, “It goes through air, Bob,” adding, “you just breathe the air and that’s how it’s passed.” Yet Trump participated in rallies in New Hampshire on February 10, Arizona on February 19, Colorado on February 20, Nevada on February 21, South Carolina on February 28, and North Carolina on March 2. No social distancing measures were implemented for those rallies. (CBS News)

  • Trump falsely claimed at a rally in Michigan that he had revitalized the auto manufacturing industry in the state. However, the industry had lost jobs before the coronavirus pandemic hit the state in March. “We brought you a lot of car plants, we brought you a lot … and we’re going to bring you a lot more,” Trump told the crowd. Only one new major assembly facility — a Jeep plant on Detroit’s east side — has been announced during Trump’s term, and two General Motors plants in Michigan were idled by the company last year. Trump also said that after speaking with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, officials announced “five new car companies are coming to Michigan,” but no such announcement has been made. More than 5,000 Michiganders attended the rally at an aircraft hanger in Freeland, MI, most of whom were not wearing masks. The director of the National Institutes of Health, meanwhile, said he was “pretty puzzled” and “rather disheartened” by Trump’s crowded campaign rally in Michigan. (Detroit Free Press / Common Dreams / Politico)

3/ A top prosecutor working on Attorney General William Barr’s probe of the Russia investigation resigned because of concerns about political pressure to deliver a report before the presidential election. In 2019, Barr appointed U.S. Attorney John Durham to investigate the FBI’s legal justification for the counterintelligence investigation that looked at ties between Trump’s 2016 campaign and Russian efforts to meddle in the election. Nora Dannehy said she believed that Durham was pressured by Barr to produce results of their investigation before the work was completed. (Hartford Courant / CNN / Associated Press / Politico)

4/ A retired judge appointed to review the Justice Department’s effort to dismiss its prosecution of Michael Flynn said it seems like a “corrupt and politically motivated favor” done in response to pressure by Trump. In a court filing, John Gleeson said the department should not be allowed to drop the case because “the only coherent explanation for the Government’s exceedingly irregular motion […] is that the Justice Department has yielded to a pressure campaign led by the President for his political associate.” (Politico / Axios / CNBC / Reuters)

5/ In a reversal, a federal appeals court blocked hundreds of thousands of felons in Florida from registering to vote if they still owe fines and fees. In May, a lower court found that the law discriminated against the majority of felons by imposing an unlawful “pay-to-vote system.” (Washington Post / New York Times)

6/ A group of 14 states asked a federal judge to reverse service cuts and changes at the U.S. Postal Service. The states filed a motion asking a U.S. District Court in Washington to order USPS to treat election mail, including ballots and registration forms, as First Class mail and to ensure it’s delivered promptly. The states also asked the judge to end the “leave behind” policy, which requires that postal trucks leave at certain times, irrespective of whether or not there is additional mail to load. They also asked the judge to order USPS to replace or reinstall any removed sorting machines needed to ensure timely processing. (Washington Post)

  • The Trump campaign is considering holding a political event on White House grounds near Election Day. While Trump was criticized for using the venue as a political prop during the Republican National Convention, he was reportedly so happy with how things went that he wants to do it again. One option under consideration would be for Trump to hold a victory party with supporters on election night. Another option is a rally-style event at the White House on the night before the election. No final decision has been made and plans could still change, the people said. (NBC News)

7/ A federal judged rejected the Trump administration’s request to exclude undocumented immigrants from being counted in the U.S. Census. A three-judge panel in New York ruled that the move would violate the statute governing congressional apportionment because it runs afoul of a statute saying apportionment must be based on everyone who is a resident of the United States. The panel found that Trump’s July 21 memorandum was “an unlawful exercise of the authority granted to the President,” and that all residents must be counted for apportionment purposes regardless of their legal status. (Washington Post / Politico / NBC News)

8/ ICE agents flew immigrant detainees to Virginia in order to facilitate the deployment of Homeland Security tactical teams to quell protests in Washington. The June 2nd transfers were done to skirt rules that prevent ICE agents from traveling on the charter flights unless detainees are also aboard. After the transfer, dozens of detainees tested positive for the coronavirus, leading an outbreak of more than 300 inmates at the Farmville, Va., immigration jail. One died. (Washington Post)

9/ Secretary of State Mike Pompeo assigned official government work to a top advisers through his wife, who used a private email account to relay the requests. As a congressman, Pompeo was criticized Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email system while serving at the State Department. Pompeo is currently being investigated by the State Department inspector general’s office about the misuse of government resources. In May, Pompeo asked Trump to fire then-inspector general Steve Linick. (McClatchy DC)

10/ The Trump administration withheld nearly $4 million for a program that tracks and treats FDNY firefighters and medics suffering from 9/11 related illnesses. The payments were authorized by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, but Treasury Department started withholding parts of payments about four years ago. The payments are meant to cover medical services for firefighters, emergency medical technicians, and paramedics treated by the FDNY World Trade Center Health Program. (New York Daily News)

poll/ 62% of Americans fear that political pressure from Trump will cause the FDA to approve a coronavirus vaccine without making sure it’s safe and effective. (Washington Post)

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Twitter flags Trump’s tweet telling NC voters to make ‘ballot count’ by ‘voting twice’...

This idea of Trumps is just adolescently transparent.

1 - tell the fuck-knuckles that love Trump to vote twice in NC.

2 - the election apparatus then disqualifies these votes after the voting.

3 - NC is won by democratic voters only voting once.

4 - claim that the election is rigged because all the Trump voters were disqualified.

 

Not brilliant, but it could work.

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19 hours ago, chocolat steve said:

The stock market hit an all time high (S&P 500 that is. DJIA almost got there) but has been falling lately. Don't be surprised of a crash later this month or more likely in October. The stock market has gone up in spite of all economic data saying it shouldn't. Which supports what many of us have said for a while. It's being arbitrarily propped up. The central bank has been propping it up for a while, pre Trump. Trump knows this. He spoke about it during his first campaign and it resonated with the masses because it made sense. Once in he not only let it happen, he would complain the Fed chief isn't doing enough of it. 

You an only blow up a balloon so far until it pops. 

https://www.newsroom.co.nz/oram-stock-markets-skip-reality

I read this article and it opened my eyes wide - 

specifically this bit - 

"  First, stock markets are increasingly unrepresentative of the breadth of activity in economies. Only 1 percent of US companies are listed on US markets. Those that are listed account for barely one-third of employment. The New Zealand market is even less representative with, for example, the primary sector barely represented even though it accounts for some 15 percent of GDP.

But despite the pandemic’s deep damage and stresses to economies, stock markets are soaring because investors are pouring increasing sums into them. This strongly reflects a lack of attractive alternatives. For example, rock bottom interest rates mean bonds offer low yields and no scope for capital growth. Fear of missing out on the equity boom is another driver for many investors.

As a result, some stock markets have become extraordinarily large relative to the size of their economies. Those in the US, for example, are now worth close to an equivalent of 200 percent of US GDP. Back in 1990 they were equivalent to only 60 percent of GDP, rising to 120 percent in 1996.  "

also

"   Further evidence of the increasingly speculative nature of the tech bubble is the proliferation of companies trading on a multiple of more than 10 times sales. Bloomberg data shows more than 530 out of America’s 8,513 listed common stocks are in that category. That’s 6.2 percent of all common stocks, up from a ratio of 3.8 percent at the market’s low in March. By comparison, at the absolute peak of the dotcom bubble in March 2000 6.6 percent of stocks traded above 10 times sales.

As Andrew Parlin, a fund manager noted in his recent article in the FT: “In 2000, three of the top 10 US stocks by market capitalisation had price-to-sales ratios over 10 times: Cisco, Intel and Oracle. Today, four of the top 10 US stocks have price-to-sales ratios over 10 times: Microsoft, Facebook, Tesla and Visa.”

Moreover, “if a stock trading on 10 times sales earns net profit margins of 20 percent — a very high margin indeed — its price-to-earnings ratio is an extremely expensive 50 times.”

So, detachment from reality is perhaps the most important thing stock markets are telling us about themselves.   "

 

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On 9/11/2020 at 1:24 PM, chocolat steve said:

Not that I'm disagareeing with you, but what do you recommend for impartial political news? 

They are all biased to a degree but CCN is more entertainment than real news, I don't think they ever mention Trump without the word racist being included.

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Coss, the article says 'Investors' are pouring money. Its a fairly ubiquitous term. In theory, anyone with 2 cents to rub together can be an investor. However, they used a common term for specific people. These investors are already very rich. They hedge funds, 1%, and also companies investing in their own stock. The pay package of most CEOs and senior management is in stock options so they use revenue from the company and buy back their own stock to inflate it. Also, central banks the world over to varying degrees have done various actions that result in raising stock prices. I'll give you one. Companies have taken out trillions of corporate loans globally. In America alone its about 20 trillion. The companies get a historically low interest rate so the interest payments can easily be paid when you have next to zero interest rate. Central banks then have been buying corporate bonds as part of QE so that fuels more. Hence the stock market rises as a consequence. At&T The American phone company has a corporate debt larger than most industrialized countries (160 billion - 180 billion) 

As an aggregate globally:

Global corporate debt rose from 84% of gross world product in 2009 to 92% in 2019, or about $72 trillion. In the world's eight largest economies—the United States, China, Japan, the United Kingdom, France, Spain, Italy, and Germany—total corporate debt was about $51 trillion in 2019, compared to $34 trillion in 2009.
 
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I have 4 older siblings who served, 2 in active combat (Vietnam and the first gufl war), several cousins, a few in both Iraq and Afghanistan. My cousin who was in Afghanistan when it kicked off, really isnt' surprised at this. 

https://news.yahoo.com/veterans-fortify-ranks-militias-aligned-141628711.html

Although only a small fraction of the nation’s 20 million veterans joins militia groups, experts in domestic terrorism and law enforcement analysts estimate that veterans and active-duty members of the military may now make up at least 25% of militia rosters. These experts estimate that there are some 15,000 to 20,000 active militia members in around 300 groups.

 

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/jun/24/us-military-white-supremacy-extremist-plot

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Vietnam the most pointless war in American history, how many dead 55k and for what? the Viet Kong won anyway despite the huge sacrifice made by decent service personal. If the Americans had not got the Brits to leave administering Vietnam in 45 the Viet Minn may well have been defeated for good. The Brits employed the Japanese to fight and almost defeat the unpopular communists, unfortunately the French returned, alienated the populace and were hopeless at jungle warfare. If Kennedy had lived he would have certainly prevented the bloodbath. Another American cock up!

 

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On 8/31/2020 at 11:52 PM, Flashermac said:

No, you cannot own an RPG launcher in any state, nor can you own hand grenades, landmines etc, artillery pieces, or fully automatic weapons.

Most modern military weapons are what is today called an assault weapon, the large magazine semi-automatic M16 and AK-47 types, and I still don't understand why these are legal.  They were made for combat, not for hunting, target shoot, or home defense. It puzzled me when I moved back to the US 20+ years ago and found that people could buy weapons they had no businesses owning. We couldn't own them in the 1960s and '70s. For one thing, it is comparatively easy to convert them illegally to fully automatic.   A shotgun is actually very effective  for home defense, as is a handgun. What more would you need?

A double-barrel hammer-type shotgun is an exellent choice for home. Keep a gas cartridge in one barrell and buckshot in the other. Then you have a choice of deciding how to respond to an intrusion. If the intruder is non-threatening, you can hit him with the gas. If he is threatening, you drop him with the buckshot. But these days it seems to be the in thing to have an assault weapon, even if it is more dangerous to yourself than to others.

False.  Private citizens can own selective fire weapons (i.e., fully automatic), although the hoops are difficult to jump through.  They can also own artillery pieces, and even fully operational tanks.  There are "license fees", that are quite high, that being the closest the government can actually get to outlawing them.

The M-16 and AK-47 are full auto.  The AR-15 is the semiautomatic version of the M-16.  As you correctly observe, it is quite easy to convert to full auto.

The AR-15 is not popular because it is an "assault weapon"  (There is NO SUCH THING as an "assault weapon" or "assault rifle".)  It is popular because it is an extremely well-designed weapon, with a great deal of flexibility, that was designed with mission adaptation (adding gadgets as needed for special tasks) specifically in mind.  It is in part popular because of the very unusual straight-line design, which eliminates muzzle climb.

Flash, the Second Amendment was never about hunting.  It was never about personal home defense.  It was ALWAYS about ensuring that, when and if it became necessary for the people of the United States of America to overthrow the government AGAIN (recall that they'd just had to do that very thing!), they would have the weapons to do it.  The other pieces are secondary, albeit absolutely necessary in some areas.  (This is precisely why the Supreme Court ruled for Heller against the District of Columbia, and then for McDonald against Chicago.)  It is also why the Ninth Circus Court of Appeals just threw out California's attempt to ban "large capacity" magazines.

 

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