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Thread: The Match Cut 2017 Political Thread (or: The Lord of the Leaks: The Trump Towers)

  1. #51
    Second star to the right [ETM]'s Avatar
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    I know this is for US politics, but I thought this might amuse you guys: right now in Serbia, there's a fictional character running for president. By that I mean a creation not unlike Colbert's alter ego from The Daily Show. A 24yo student from a small town in Serbia entered local politics as a character created as a parody of current Serbian politics: self centered and corrupt, only openly so. His campaign was so successful that his "party" ended up in second place at the elections for town council and officially entered the local government. He then rounded up a group of non-affiliated expert advisers who helped push through some very positive initiatives and captured the attention of national (and now even wider) news. On a whim, he decided to run for president... It turns out he had almost no problem gathering the needed support for an official candidacy, and is now in fact one of the ten candidates.

    Thing is, the ruling party, SNS, whose leaders are the current president and prime minister, has splintered from the radical right wing party which rose in the nineties and went mainstream, seizing the moment when the pro-EU democratic coalition which brought down Milošević basically blew it and lost support, so most of the moderate and progressive voters abstained from the elections, so SNS won by a margin similar to Trump (basic majority of barely enough votes, about a quarter of the population). They're corrupt and aimless, going back to the tried and true model of corruption on all levels, breeding nationalism while taking over local governments and public utilities everywhere, essentially bribing their way through with empty promises, which still work on a lot of people. For example, yesterday's election rally in Novi Sad, where I live, was attended by 30,000 enthusiastic people... who were all bused in from all over the country, just to make it look like their candidate has support in this province, which he clearly doesn't.

    It's gonna be really interesting in the coming weeks, because one of a few things can happen: they can either find some way to annul the kid's candidacy, which could be potentially disastrous, because it would be obviously staged, or he could run and draw enough votes away from the usual suspects to make things very, very interesting. Like I said - there are so many disillusioned abstinent voters who are rallying behind this guy right now that I could easily see him getting more votes than anyone could predict.

    http://www.rferl.org/a/serbian-presi.../28375875.html

  2. #52
    Replacing Luck Since 1984 Dukefrukem's Avatar
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    Quote Quoting Dead & Messed Up (view post)
    Issue is, he claimed deductions on the order of $100 million to get down to paying a 25% tax rate. I don't blame him for that, because if the loopholes are there, they're going to get exploited. (I'd prefer a loophole free system where the issue doesn't come up, but y'know.) Other issue is it highlights the disparity between his taxes with (25%) and without (4%) the alternative minimum tax, which he's promised to abolish.
    Yeh I understand. It all stems from a $900 million loss from 2006.
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    Quote Quoting D_Davis (view post)
    Uwe Boll movies > all Marvel U movies
    Quote Quoting TGM (view post)
    I work in grocery. I have not gotten sick. My fellow employees have not gotten sick. If the virus were even remotely as contagious as its being presented as, why haven’t entire store staffs who come into contact with hundreds of people per day, thousands per week, all falling ill in mass nationwide?

  3. #53
    Moderator Dead & Messed Up's Avatar
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    Feels like shit is about to get really crazy.

  4. #54
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    https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/23/t...obama-era.html

    Senate just voted to fuck us over in favor of telecoms. So that's cool. :/

    Republican lawmakers moved to dismantle landmark internet privacy protections for individuals on Thursday, the first decisive strike against telecommunications and technology regulations created during the Obama administration and a harbinger for more deregulation to come.

    In a 50-to-48 vote largely along party lines, the Senate Republican majority on Thursday voted to overturn the privacy rules, which had been created in October by the Federal Communications Commission.

    The move means a company like Verizon or Comcast can continue tracking and sharing people’s browsing and app activity without asking their permission. An individual’s data collected by these companies also does not need to be secured with “reasonable measures” against hackers. The privacy rules, which had sought to address these issues, were scheduled to go into effect at the end of this year.

  5. #55
    “We appreciate today’s Senate action to repeal unwarranted F.C.C. rules that deny consumers consistent privacy protection online and violate competitive neutrality,” the cable industry lobby group, NCTA-The Internet & Television Association, said in a statement on Thursday.
    I mean, I guess privacy protection is "consistent" if it doesn't exist at all.

  6. #56
    Director bac0n's Avatar
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    I for one, am in favor of this. I am REALLY REALLY IN FAVOR OF THIS.

    I AM REALLY IN FAVOR OF THIS.

    And I also love America.
    Losing is like fertilizer: it stinks for a while, then you get used to it. (Tony, Hibbing)

  7. #57
    Replacing Luck Since 1984 Dukefrukem's Avatar
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    So the American Health Care Act is dead.

    Not a good look White House. (And House of Rep, for that matter)
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    Quote Quoting D_Davis (view post)
    Uwe Boll movies > all Marvel U movies
    Quote Quoting TGM (view post)
    I work in grocery. I have not gotten sick. My fellow employees have not gotten sick. If the virus were even remotely as contagious as its being presented as, why haven’t entire store staffs who come into contact with hundreds of people per day, thousands per week, all falling ill in mass nationwide?

  8. #58
    Sometimes internet people are the best...


  9. #59
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    I got your #resistance right here, kids. #drinkpepsi

    [
    ]

  10. #60
    Piss off, ghost! number8's Avatar
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    She's being rightfully skewered for that. Disgusting.
    Quote Quoting Donald Glover
    I was actually just reading about Matt Damon and he’s like, ‘There’s a culture of outrage.’ I’m like, ‘Well, they have a reason to be outraged.’ I think it’s a lot of dudes just being scared. They’re like, ‘What if I did something and I didn’t realize it?’ I’m like, ‘Deal with it.’
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  11. #61
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    But Pepsi is blue like the resistance

    #drinkpepsi

  12. #62
    collecting tapes Skitch's Avatar
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    Thats...awful. Fukk cola from Syrup is the first thing that sprung to mind.

  13. #63
    Replacing Luck Since 1984 Dukefrukem's Avatar
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    How did Pepsi approve that?
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    Quote Quoting D_Davis (view post)
    Uwe Boll movies > all Marvel U movies
    Quote Quoting TGM (view post)
    I work in grocery. I have not gotten sick. My fellow employees have not gotten sick. If the virus were even remotely as contagious as its being presented as, why haven’t entire store staffs who come into contact with hundreds of people per day, thousands per week, all falling ill in mass nationwide?

  14. #64
    Piss off, ghost! number8's Avatar
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    Quote Quoting Donald Glover
    I was actually just reading about Matt Damon and he’s like, ‘There’s a culture of outrage.’ I’m like, ‘Well, they have a reason to be outraged.’ I think it’s a lot of dudes just being scared. They’re like, ‘What if I did something and I didn’t realize it?’ I’m like, ‘Deal with it.’
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  15. #65
    Piss off, ghost! number8's Avatar
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    Twitter is great.

    Quote Quoting Donald Glover
    I was actually just reading about Matt Damon and he’s like, ‘There’s a culture of outrage.’ I’m like, ‘Well, they have a reason to be outraged.’ I think it’s a lot of dudes just being scared. They’re like, ‘What if I did something and I didn’t realize it?’ I’m like, ‘Deal with it.’
    Movie Theater Diary

  16. #66
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    Quote Quoting Dukefrukem (view post)
    How did Pepsi approve that?
    "This is a global ad that reflects people from different walks of life coming together in a spirit of harmony, and we think that's an important message to convey."

    "The creative showcases a moment of unity, and a point where multiple storylines converge in the final advert. It depicts various groups of people embracing a spontaneous moment, and showcasing Pepsi's brand rallying cry to 'Live For Now,' in an exploration of what that truly means to live life unbounded, unfiltered and uninhibited."

    http://www.adweek.com/brand-marketin...red-in-social/

    (lol)

  17. #67
    Piss off, ghost! number8's Avatar
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    You know, when Trump announced a while back that he already has his 2020 re-election slogan and it's the tagline to The Purge: Anarchy, I laughed, but I figured it was just a coincidence. But today the White House hired Blumhouse's head of PR to run WH communications, so I'm not so sure anymore.
    Quote Quoting Donald Glover
    I was actually just reading about Matt Damon and he’s like, ‘There’s a culture of outrage.’ I’m like, ‘Well, they have a reason to be outraged.’ I think it’s a lot of dudes just being scared. They’re like, ‘What if I did something and I didn’t realize it?’ I’m like, ‘Deal with it.’
    Movie Theater Diary

  18. #68
    collecting tapes Skitch's Avatar
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    So is Bannon like, out out? Or just semi-removed?

  19. #69
    Moderator Dead & Messed Up's Avatar
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    Quote Quoting Skitch (view post)
    So is Bannon like, out out? Or just semi-removed?
    He's still an advisor, so far as I know.

  20. #70
    Piss off, ghost! number8's Avatar
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    Happy New War Day.
    Quote Quoting Donald Glover
    I was actually just reading about Matt Damon and he’s like, ‘There’s a culture of outrage.’ I’m like, ‘Well, they have a reason to be outraged.’ I think it’s a lot of dudes just being scared. They’re like, ‘What if I did something and I didn’t realize it?’ I’m like, ‘Deal with it.’
    Movie Theater Diary

  21. #71
    Moderator Dead & Messed Up's Avatar
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    Quote Quoting number8 (view post)
    Happy New War Day.
    I'll give us one more, for old time's sake:

    But her emails.

  22. #72
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    Quote Quoting number8 (view post)
    Happy New War Day.
    The United States military has been in Syria for over 2 years. In what way is this a "new war"?

    Quote Quoting Dead & Messed Up (view post)
    But her emails.
    I still see this line pop up on twitter every now and again. I've never liked it. The emails thing was silly, but that retort is sillier.

    It's lets Clinton et al off the hook in too many ways. In the past, it forgave her terrible candidacy and terrible campaign. In this context, it ignores that fact that she was, and always has been, a major hawk who would have likely jumped into Syria as Trump is doing now.

    ---

    I kinda wish I could gotcha everybody on social media and pop quiz them -- like, if you can't name every country the United States is currently bombing (without using Google), you don't get to gripe publicly about the current administration. (And a bonus, trick question: Is Somalia a designated war zone or not?)

    Because my gut feeling is a majority would fail.

  23. #73
    Piss off, ghost! number8's Avatar
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    Fair enough. I shall step up my knowledge of current events so I may one day regain the privilege of snarking on the US government with resigned flippancy.
    Quote Quoting Donald Glover
    I was actually just reading about Matt Damon and he’s like, ‘There’s a culture of outrage.’ I’m like, ‘Well, they have a reason to be outraged.’ I think it’s a lot of dudes just being scared. They’re like, ‘What if I did something and I didn’t realize it?’ I’m like, ‘Deal with it.’
    Movie Theater Diary

  24. #74
    Not a praying man Melville's Avatar
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    Why would the Assad government use chemical weapons when (a) the US seemed to be fully on its side for the first time, and (b) it (like the US) could use conventional weapons to kill civilians with apparent impunity? It seems to be a bizarre decision, and the analyses I've read don't really give a compelling explanation. I expect a lot of conspiracy theories about false flags.
    I am impatient of all misery in others that is not mad. Thou should'st go mad, blacksmith; say, why dost thou not go mad? How can'st thou endure without being mad? Do the heavens yet hate thee, that thou can'st not go mad?

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  25. #75
    Quote Quoting Irish (view post)
    The United States military has been in Syria for over 2 years. In what way is this a "new war"?
    This is the first time the U.S. has attacked the Assad government. Up until now, they've been fighting ISIS.

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