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Post by mhbruin on Jan 10, 2024 9:28:29 GMT -8
A hangover is the wrath of grapes.
It's Still the Economy, Stupid
Americans of various racial backgrounds largely agree that the government should focus on the economy and foreign policy issues in 2024, but recent polling shows that views among racial groups diverge on some high-profile topics, including racism and immigration.
About 7 in 10 U.S. adults across racial backgrounds — including white, Black, Hispanic and Asian adults — name issues related to the economy in an open-ended question that asks people to share up to five topics they would like the government to prioritize in 2024, making it the most commonly mentioned issue for each group, as well as for U.S. adults overall at 76%.
Inflation specifically stood out as a major issue. About 3 in 10 adults who are white, AAPI or Hispanic list inflation as an important focus for 2024. About 2 in 10 Black adults also listed inflation as a top concern.
Biden Needs to Run Ads About How Bad the Economy Was Under Trump.
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Post by mhbruin on Jan 10, 2024 9:37:31 GMT -8
Screw You! Now Give Me $400 Billion.
Trump told ally U.S. wouldn't help if Europe was attacked — then asked for $400B: report
French European Commissioner Thierry Breton claims that Donald Trump once said that America would not come to the aid of Eurpoean allies if they were attacked militarily, Politico reported.
"'You need to understand that if Europe is under attack we will never come to help you and to support you,'" Trump told European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in 2020, according to Breton.
Breton recounted the story at an event in the European Parliament in Brussels on Tuesday. He says the EU's then-trade chief Phil Hogan was also present for Trump's comments.
Also read: 'This trial date will stick': George Conway thinks Trump's immunity fight will end quickly
"'By the way, NATO is dead, and we will leave, we will quit NATO,'" Trump also said, according to Breton. "And he added, ‘And by the way, you owe me $400 billion, because you didn’t pay, you Germans, what you had to pay for defense,'" Breton said.
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Post by mhbruin on Jan 10, 2024 9:39:15 GMT -8
To Err is Human, But It Takes Previous Guy to Really Screw Things Up
Donald Trump's golf course in Scotland is hemorrhaging money as he continues dumping cash into the foundering resort, according to a report.
Trump International Golf Club Scotland, which owns the resort near Aberdeen, lost more than $938,260 last year after losing a reported $886,134 the year before, according to company filings reported by The Telegraph.
Accounts for the Trump-owned Golf Recreation Scotland, which owns the larger Turnberry golf course in Ayrshire, are overdue from last year, the newspaper reported, but that company posted nearly $18.7 million in losses in 2021.
Revenues for Aberdeen actually jumped by nearly 75 percent to nearly $4.6 million in 2022, with more than $1.27 million in gross profit, but the company was dragged under by more than $1.9 million in administrative expenses.
Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump are listed as sole directors of Trump International Golf Club Scotland, whose ultimate owner is The Donald J. Trump Revocable Trust, but the course owes more than $60 million in interest-free loans to the former president.
Trump promised to invest more than $1.25 billion in the resort and create 800 jobs, but after 10 years of operation only 81 people are employed there.
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Post by mhbruin on Jan 10, 2024 9:43:06 GMT -8
A Strong Women Scares the Shit Out of the QOP.
Former FBI special agent Stuart Kaplan suggested on Fox News Tuesday evening that because pop star Taylor Swift posted a link to register voters, she may be some sort of covert asset.
"In modern times, with these people having such influence and such, you know, immeasurable amount of followers, she can potentially singlehandedly swing voters because of just the amount of followers that she potentially can influence," said Kaplan in discussion with Jesse Watters.
"Yeah, because when she posted the link to the Vote.org, like hundreds of thousands of young Taylor Swift fans all of a sudden registered to vote," said Watters. "I wonder who got to her, from the White House or from wherever. Who makes that initial handshake? Is it the binder?"
"The administration has what they consider a perception optics management team," said Kaplan. "And those are professionals that go out and identify those people who may be unsuspecting, whether with knowledge or without knowledge, to do these type of campaigns. Now it is quite possible, frankly, that Taylor Swift does not know that she is being utilized in a covert manner to swing voters. But the bottom line is that the Biden administration is savvy, identifying how many followers and how many voters, potentially, she can influence. With either right information or misinformation, she can swing the voters."
Former FBI agent Asha Rangappa added that it's "Not just Fox."
"A former FBI agent," she wrote. "Apparently a woman doesn’t have enough agency to encourage people to vote on her own…she has to be a puppet of the government."
Mother Jones' Washington bureau chief David Corn said, "[These] people are bonkers. Taylor Swift, a covert Pentagon asset! And does the CIA have Beyoncé?"
I Am Sure He Would Rather Taylor Was Making Babies and Cooking Dinner for Her Man
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Post by mhbruin on Jan 10, 2024 9:44:58 GMT -8
And This List Is NOT Complete
CNN anchor Abby Phillip ran through a laundry list of Donald Trump's excuses as he tried yet again on Tuesday to escape some of the 91 criminal charges against him.
The Newsnight host listed what she suggested was a complete list of the reasons why Trump says he should avoid prosecution or evade the civil claims against him. It wasn't short.
“He says he’s immune. Presidents can’t obstruct justice. His intent wasn’t corrupt. The case is moving too fast. Or moving too slow. It’s an unfair venue. The judge is biased, and so are the clerks. The juries, too. He’s never met her. He doesn’t know her. She’s not his type. It was his personal account. Political persecution, witch hunt, perfect phone call, the deep state,” she said.
As she spoke, a list of the reasons Trump has used — so far unsuccessfully — scrolled on the screen next to her.
And she went on: “The first amendment and the fourth, the fifth, the sixth, and tenth amendment.”
The list took nearly a minute for her to get through. So far, Trump's lawyers have been unsuccessful in getting him off the hook in the four criminal cases he’s facing, coupled with several civil trials including defamation and fraud.
What About "I Paid Back the Loans So No One Was Hurt"?
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Post by mhbruin on Jan 10, 2024 9:46:55 GMT -8
Technlogy vs. Parkinson'sAt bay for the moment were tremors caused by Parkinson's disease affecting her muscle control. She could do things others take for granted, like write crisply with a pen or hold a cup of coffee without spilling. The reprieve shared by the Canadian woman at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas came thanks to a GyroGlove. "It's a life changer for me," said Wilson-Garrett, describing how GyroGlove stopped tremors that make seemingly simple tasks like getting dressed a challenge. GyroGear has built the world's most advanced hand stabilizer, with strategic partners that include Chinese technology group Foxconn, according to founder Dr. Faii Ong. The key to GyroGlove is an attached gyroscope about the size of a hockey puck but with a disk inside that spins faster than a jet engine turbine, according to Ong. 
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Post by mhbruin on Jan 10, 2024 9:50:18 GMT -8
Are the Houthis Out of Control? Yea Man.
UK and US naval forces have repelled the largest attack yet by Yemen's Houthi rebels on Red Sea shipping, UK Defence Secretary Grant Shapps says.
Carrier-based jets and warships shot down 21 drones and missiles launched by the Iran-backed group overnight.
The Houthis said they targeted a US ship in retaliation for the killing of rebels who tried to attack a container ship by using speed boats last month.
Mr Shapps said he had "no doubt" that Iran was heavily behind such attacks.
Asked about possible Western strikes on Houthi targets in Yemen in response, he said: "Watch this space."
The Houthis have carried out 26 attacks on commercial shipping in the Red Sea since 19 November, according to the US military.
The group has claimed - often falsely - that it is targeting ships linked to Israel in protest at Israeli actions during the war in the Gaza Strip.
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Post by mhbruin on Jan 10, 2024 9:55:13 GMT -8
So Let Me Get This Straight
A President Can Order the Murder of His Political Opponents, But He Faces No Penalty Unless He is Impeached and Convicted. So He Orders the Murder of Sentators Who Would Vote to Convict.
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Post by mhbruin on Jan 10, 2024 9:58:10 GMT -8
Pray That This Guy is RightThis Might Be the High-Water Mark of Trumpism An argument for why Trump’s numbers can’t get much better and Biden’s numbers are likely to improve. [Mark] Halperin then says that Biden’s three big problems are: That he’s playing from behind as an incumbent, which sets a media narrative against him. That Republicans have quickly and decisively rallied to Trump. That parts of the Obama coalition—black, Hispanic, and young voters—have not (yet?) rallied to Biden. I slightly disagree with Halperin on the importance of #1 and what he calls the Dominant Media. My own view is that journalists tend to overdetermine the influence of the media in electoral politics. But however much weight you want to give this factor, Halperin is directionally correct: Because Biden is trailing Trump, the media slant is always something like, “Unemployment is 3.9%; Here’s Why That’s Bad for Biden.” And the only way that’s going to flip is if Biden moves ahead in the polling. As for #2 and #3, those are vectors along which Biden can reasonably hope to improve and Trump probably cannot. For instance: I would posit to you that, over the next month, we will be approaching the high-water mark for Trump’s poll numbers. This Might Be the High-Water Mark of Trumpism
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Post by mhbruin on Jan 10, 2024 10:01:55 GMT -8
How Much Is Due to Hamas' Actions and How Much Is Due to Israel's Tone-Deaf Response?
The number of antisemitic incidents in the U.S. rose sharply in the three months after the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel, according to new data from the Anti-Defamation League, which tracked a total of 3,283 anti-Jewish incidents between Oct. 7 and Jan. 7 — a 360% increase compared to the same period in 2022.
The preliminary data compiled by the ADL, first reported by NBC News, shows there was an average of nearly 34 antisemitic incidents every day following the Oct. 7 assault, putting 2023 on track to be the highest year for antisemitic acts against Jewish people since the ADL began keeping track in the late 1970s, according to the organization.
The preliminary three-month tally was higher than the total number of antisemitic incidents recorded in any full year over the last decade, save for 2022, when the total number hit a high of 3,697. Todd Gutnick, a spokesman for the ADL, said the group will soon release data covering the first nine months of last year.
Either Way, It's Terrible
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Post by mhbruin on Jan 10, 2024 10:04:38 GMT -8
No Good Deed Goes UnpunishedThe Fed Launched a Bank Rescue Program Last Year. Now, Banks Are Gaming It.
An emergency lending program the Federal Reserve created during the 2023 banking crisis has turned into easy money. Borrowing from the Fed’s bank term funding program has increased to new highs in recent weeks, a strange consequence of the market’s flip to forecasting multiple Fed rate cuts over the coming 12 months. The rate banks pay to use the program, BTFP for short, is tied to future interest-rate expectations. Now that investors have priced in a series of rate cuts later this year, banks are able to pocket the difference between what they pay to borrow the funds and what they can earn from parking the funds at the central bank as overnight deposits.
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Post by mhbruin on Jan 10, 2024 10:05:55 GMT -8
Roger Stone Spoke With Cop Pal About Assassinating Eric Swalwell and Jerry NadlerWeeks before the 2020 presidential election, infamous political operative Roger Stone sat across from his associate Sal Greco at a restaurant in Florida. At the time, Greco was an NYPD cop working security for Stone on the side. Their conversation, at Caffe Europa in Fort Lauderdale, focused on two House Democrats for whom Stone harbors particular animosity, Jerry Nadler and Eric Swalwell. In audio of the conversation obtained exclusively by Mediaite, Stone made threatening comments about the two lawmakers. “It’s time to do it,” Stone told Greco. “Let’s go find Swalwell. It’s time to do it. Then we’ll see how brave the rest of them are. It’s time to do it. It’s either Nadler or Swalwell has to die before the election. They need to get the message. Let’s go find Swalwell and get this over with. I’m just not putting up with this shit anymore.”
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Post by mhbruin on Jan 10, 2024 10:08:01 GMT -8
Previous Guy's New Defense. "I Was Too Dumb to Know."Trump Demands Election Crimes Case Be Dropped In New Filing — Because Nobody Told Him Overturning Election Was CrimeFormer President Donald Trump demanded the election crimes case against him be dismissed on the grounds that he didn’t have advance notice he would be committing a crime by trying to overturn the election. Trump faces criminal trials in Washington DC, Georgia, New York, and Florida on a total of 91 felony counts — all of which are currently on the schedule prior to the general election. In the Georgia election crimes case, Trump was indicted on 13 counts related to election crimes in a sweeping RICO case brought by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis against 19 co-defendants. In a new filing to the Fulton County Superior Court to presiding Judge Scott McAfee, Trump’s attorney argued Trump “lacked fair notice” that his conduct could be considered criminal: Our country has a longstanding tradition of forceful political advocacy regarding widespread allegations of fraud and irregularities in a long list of Presidential elections throughout our history, therefore, President Trump lacked fair notice that his advocacy in the instance of the 2020 Presidential Election could be criminalized. President Trump, like all citizens, is entitled to have fair warning as to where the line is drawn which separates permissible activity from that which is allegedly criminal. See United States v. Lanier, 520 U.S. 259, 265 (1997) (“‘No man shall be held criminally responsible for conduct which he could not reasonably understand to be proscribed.”). “Due process bars courts from applying a novel construction of a criminal statute to conduct that neither the statute nor any prior judicial decision has fairly disclosed to be within its scope…” Id. at 266 (internal citations omitted). “ statute or a rule may be held constitutionally invalid as applied when it operates to deprive an individual of a protected right although its general validity as a measure enacted in the legitimate exercise of state power is beyond question.” Boddie v. Connecticut, 401 U.S. 371, 379 (1971).
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