Chindie Posted May 23, 2018 VT Supporter Share Posted May 23, 2018 (edited) The US does like to flirt with fascist mentalities so hardly a shocker. I hope teams have the bollocks to stay in the changing room en masse. (They won't, of course. This is a sport that had owners threatening to sack players for kneeling and had one player effectively ostracised for doing it). Edited May 23, 2018 by Chindie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andym Posted May 23, 2018 Share Posted May 23, 2018 In other news, is there anybody that Michael Cohen hasn't taken money from for access to Trump? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HanoiVillan Posted May 23, 2018 Share Posted May 23, 2018 Also of note: Trump backs away from China trade war, while a Trump development gets a $500 million Chinese loan 'May initially looked to be the month that the long-awaited US-China trade war would finally arrive. Sunday, though, things changed. President Trump seems to have basically just backed down. “We’re putting the trade war on hold,” Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin announced on Fox News Sunday. Trump’s proposed tariffs on China are suspended while talks continue on possible revisions to US-China trade policy. The White House spun this furiously, of course. The New York Times reported on Friday that the Trump administration had secured a Chinese pledge to purchase an additional $200 billion in American-made goods. But financial journalists from CNBC and Bloomberg both reported Chinese officials saying they had promised no such thing. And Monday’s joint statement from US and Chinese officials makes no reference to a specific $200 billion figure. This all comes just one week after he suggested he might back down on an unrelated US-China dispute over the cellphone company ZTE. But even as economic policy reporters and the business press detail the palace intrigue, reversals, and dissension, most do not even mention a well-documented conflict of interest.They seem too polite to mention that Trump’s personal financial interests play a role in the decision-making. Trump has a direct financial interest in a major real estate development project essentially underwritten by a state-owned Chinese bank. In a normal administration, this would be a weeks-long scandal dominating media coverage of the White House. The project in Indonesia, called Lido City, secured a $500 million loan from the Metallurgical Corporation of China (MCC). MCC is a state-owned enterprise, and its involvement in the huge Indonesian development seems to be part of China’s “Belt & Road” initiative. China will finance major international projects that will, in return, use Chinese companies as suppliers. Lido City, according to its backers’ promotional website, “is an iconic 3,000 hectare Live, Work and Play development set to deliver an unprecedented range of premium first-in-kind leisure, entertainment, and lifestyle choices for elevated living.” One of those lifestyle choices will be what the developers are billing as Asia’s first “Trump community,” featuring a resort, golf course, condominiums, and private villas. [...] The actual terms of Trump’s deal with Lido’s developers are completely opaque, with the Trump Organization merely saying it will be “involved with the 700-hectare Lido development” and that the country club “will showcase the Trump brand’s impeccable standard of excellence by offering a captivating golf experience that features state-of-the-art facilities, 24/7 lifestyle concierge at the Lifestyle Country Club, uncompromising personal service and attention to detail.” But while the specific terms are unclear, Trump has some kind of licensing arrangement, an equity stake in the development, or both. Either way, he has a clear financial interest in the problem going forward, and the loan from the Chinese government is good news for his pocketbook. The existence of this egregious conflict of interest, meanwhile, has been noted by the press but remains weirdly unintegrated into ongoing coverage of the Trump administration’s back-and-forth on China policy. [...] Way back in January 2017, Trump attorney Sheri Dillon reassured the public that “no new foreign deals will be made whatsoever during the duration of President Trump’s presidency.” She was, obviously, misleading people about that and doing so on behalf of Trump. A company that he owns and that is run by his sons — sons who also serve as close political advisers — is doing business all around the world, including with foreign governments, at the same time that Trump is doing multifaceted international negotiations with those same governments.' https://www.vox.com/2018/5/21/17375900/trump-trade-lido-city-indonedia 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheAuthority Posted May 23, 2018 VT Supporter Share Posted May 23, 2018 5 minutes ago, HanoiVillan said: Way back in January 2017, Trump attorney Sheri Dillon reassured the public that “no new foreign deals will be made whatsoever during the duration of President Trump’s presidency.” She was, obviously, misleading people about that and doing so on behalf of Trump. A company that he owns and that is run by his sons — sons who also serve as close political advisers — is doing business all around the world, including with foreign governments, at the same time that Trump is doing multifaceted international negotiations with those same governments.' https://www.vox.com/2018/5/21/17375900/trump-trade-lido-city-indonedia Just for reference here is the press conference. It was unbelievable at the time. Oh, and all of those folders full of paper - the press were never given access to them and no-one has ever been allowed to review them since. He is like P. T. Barnum. If P.T. Barnum was a compulsive liar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maqroll Posted May 24, 2018 Author Share Posted May 24, 2018 2001 was a long time ago- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bickster Posted May 24, 2018 Moderator Share Posted May 24, 2018 Ha Ha Trump has been prevented from blocking people on twitter, it infringes the First Amendment Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StefanAVFC Posted May 24, 2018 Share Posted May 24, 2018 Urgh, the day after this nonsense about fining players for kneeling during the anthem, this happens. No wonder they're protesting. Pigs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NurembergVillan Posted May 24, 2018 Moderator Share Posted May 24, 2018 The North Korea summit is off then. SUPPLIES! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chindie Posted May 24, 2018 VT Supporter Share Posted May 24, 2018 We'll err, we'll just put this Nobel Prize on ice then shall we? Shocker. It's almost like constantly referring to 'the Libya model' (i.e. get them to ditch the WMDs and end with the dictator strung up) was a bad move. Almost like someone knew that. Almost. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chindie Posted May 24, 2018 VT Supporter Share Posted May 24, 2018 What the US wanted was never going happen anyway, and theres a theory that one of the games being played in Washington to play Trump was to build the summit into something it couldn't possibly be to ensure it failed in spectacular fashion. To have Trump rock up expecting to have Kim personally load the bombs into Air Force 1, and actually get a waste of time in turn. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DCJonah Posted May 24, 2018 Share Posted May 24, 2018 (edited) On 23/05/2018 at 17:49, snowychap said: NFL clubs to be fined if players kneel That's a bloody disgraceful stance from the NFL. This is where you need some of the mega star players to actually stand up. The sort that owners will not risk losing for games. Wonder if anyone is brave enough. Lebron James has spoken out in the past, lets see if anyone from the nfl does. Edited May 24, 2018 by DCJonah 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HanoiVillan Posted May 24, 2018 Share Posted May 24, 2018 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brumerican Posted May 24, 2018 Share Posted May 24, 2018 5 hours ago, StefanAVFC said: Urgh, the day after this nonsense about fining players for kneeling during the anthem, this happens. No wonder they're protesting. Pigs. If all the black players downed tools for one or two games Roger Goodell would shit his pants. It's only a billion dollar industry because people want to watch the best players , so a couple of games consisting of back up white guys serving up shite will have the league in crisis. I really hope ALL the players show some solidarity over this because they really do have the upper hand if they're brave enough. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maqroll Posted May 25, 2018 Author Share Posted May 25, 2018 9 hours ago, DCJonah said: This is where you need some of the mega star players to actually stand up. The sort that owners will not risk losing for games. Wonder if anyone is brave enough. Lebron James has spoken out in the past, lets see if anyone from the nfl does. Some have, including the players union and the owner of the NY Jets. The NFL has succeeded in keeping the issue alive next season when it might have just faded out. Now it's a huge issue again. Incredibly stupid move on several levels. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post choffer Posted May 25, 2018 VT Supporter Popular Post Share Posted May 25, 2018 20 hours ago, DCJonah said: This is where you need some of the mega star players to actually stand up. The sort that owners will not risk losing for games. Wonder if anyone is brave enough. Lebron James has spoken out in the past, lets see if anyone from the nfl does. I’m not sure you’ve fully grasped the story. This is the last thing they want to do. 6 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DCJonah Posted May 26, 2018 Share Posted May 26, 2018 Reading about illegal immigrants being separated from their young children is actually heart breaking. **** this country. For me up there with the worst countries in the world. Could do so much good yet does so much evil. **** them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keyblade Posted May 27, 2018 Share Posted May 27, 2018 On 26/05/2018 at 10:31, DCJonah said: Reading about illegal immigrants being separated from their young children is actually heart breaking. **** this country. For me up there with the worst countries in the world. Could do so much good yet does so much evil. **** them. Not only separated from their parents, but ICE also somehow "lost" over a thousand children. Now they almost certainly will never be united with their families. Like you say, it's pure evil and shows Trump's "animals" comment being put into devastating practice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maqroll Posted May 27, 2018 Author Share Posted May 27, 2018 This barbarity by Sessions and border control (who killed a 20 year old Guatemalan last week) is the new Trump low point for me. This IS a fascist regime. It's worse than most people thought it was going to be. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DCJonah Posted May 27, 2018 Share Posted May 27, 2018 54 minutes ago, maqroll said: This barbarity by Sessions and border control (who killed a 20 year old Guatemalan last week) is the new Trump low point for me. This IS a fascist regime. It's worse than most people thought it was going to be. But do most americans really care? For me that's what makes it such a terrible country at the moment. Trump being president seems to allow the true hatred to come out. I won't tarnish everyone with the same brush, i have spent time travelling all over the states and met some wonderful people but it seems not enough of the good ones exist. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maqroll Posted May 27, 2018 Author Share Posted May 27, 2018 People of good conscience are reeling over this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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