“US troops drink Iceland capital’s entire beer supply in one weekend”
Iceland has had a weird relationship with beer in general. Full-strength beer was banned for many decades.
Category: Knowledge and News
Trump told donors that Soleimani was "saying bad things about our country" before the strike, which led to his decision to authorize his killing. “How much of this shit do we have to listen to? How much are we going to listen to?” @Kevinliptakcnn https://t.co/4arhEkmXJz
— Kaitlan Collins (@kaitlancollins) January 18, 2020
Sadly, the cure is not perfect. When asked if he discussed Ambassador Yovanovich with Parnas, Devin Nunes again seemed to have an unfortunate memory lapse.
There is no female nudity!
If we had any other President, that headline would only be found on The Onion. In this case, however, there is no irony or snark. That headline is literally true.
The White House is looking at ways to circumvent the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.
And the President really said, “It’s just so unfair that American companies aren’t allowed to pay bribes to get business overseas. We’re going to change that.”
To be fair, Trump has a good point, although coming out in favor of bribery and corrupt practices is really not the best way to express that point. This is one of the few areas where he is not ignorant. He knows this situation well because of the business he was in. In many, many countries, you can’t build things without either (1) having extremely powerful friends or (2) bribing people. Or both.
I had the same challenges in my area. There are many countries in the world where one can’t obtain the simplest business permits without bribing one or even a series of corrupt officials. Some countries are worse than others. Among the most populous countries, Russia, Indonesia, Brazil, Nigeria, Mexico and a few others are especially corrupt, but they are not the only ones, just the worst ones. There are corrupt countries in the E.U., and there are many parts of the USA that are crooked as can be, although we tend to disguise our bribes in euphemistic terms like “campaign contributions” or “supporting your foundation.”
Of all the countries I worked in, there were only about ten where the basic business processes (licenses and permits) were quite transparent and the results seemed to be determined honestly and objectively. The Scandinavian countries were quite honest, as was The Netherlands. I never dealt with Canada or New Zealand personally, but many colleagues told me those places were honest and straightforward. Germany and the UK were also ethical, in my experience, but loaded with unnecessary red tape and too much bureaucracy.
So I have some sympathy for Trump’s frustration, but I think that legalizing bribery sounds like a rash solution. I think it would turn quickly into a system of bribes and kickbacks. (“I can get the company to offer you a six million dollar bribe if you’ll agree to forward two million of it back to me.”)
(And there is a technical question as well. Bribes are not only illegal, but they are also non-tax-deductible. If they were legalized, could they then be claimed as deductible business expenses?)
He told the top military brass, “You’re all losers. You don’t know how to win anymore. You’re a bunch of dopes and babies.”
She talks to Lev, one of Rudy Giuliani’s minions (One of the Lev and Igor duo)
The biggest reveals are summarized here.
He represents a wildly entertaining (and scary) turn in the Ukraine story, based on the current tranche of Lev Parnas documents.
- On the one hand, he was somehow involved as an associate of our favorite Giuliani henchmen and all-around cartoon characters, Lev and Igor, in surveillance of our ousted ambassador to Ukraine.
- He made a bizarre off-color comment about Kamala Harris when she withdrew from the presidential race. “Went down, brought to her knees. Blew it. Must be a hard one to swallow. #KamalaHarris #heelsup”
- He has a history of strange interactions with authorities:
In May, Hyde was removed by police from Trump National Doral Miami in Florida. According to an incident report filed by the Doral police department, Hyde told the responding officer that he was in fear for his life and “a hit man was out to get him.” He was not arrested. Police escorted him from the hotel and transported him to an undisclosed location. In the vehicle, Hyde said his computer had been hacked by the Secret Service and that the Secret Service was watching him at the premises, according to the incident report.
In June, responding to a protective order, Simsbury police removed six firearms and more than 800 rounds of ammunition last year from his home. Officers seized three rifles, two shotguns, a flare launcher, and other shooting accessories.
When asked for his comments on the newly available documents, Hyde succinctly responded, “Bull Schiff is a giant bitch.”
He is currently a Republican candidate for a seat in Congress.
There are a few new anecdotes:
1. Trump told the Prime Minister of India, “It’s not like you’ve got China on your border.”
2. He wanted to change US law to allow corporations to bribe foreign officials.
3. He didn’t know why Pearl Harbor was important.
4. “Trump agrees to participate in an HBO documentary that features judges and lawmakers — as well as all the living presidents — reading aloud from the Constitution. But Trump struggles and stumbles over the text, blaming others in the room for his mistakes and griping, ‘It’s like a foreign language.'”
5. Axios reported in December 2018 that former New Jersey governor Chris Christie and Trump met privately to discuss Christie possibly becoming his next chief of staff. After Christie respectfully turns down the job, he asks Trump how the details of their meeting leaked out, since it was just the two of them and first lady Melania Trump in the room. “Oh, I did it,” said Trump.
It was so cold that the zoo brought the penguins inside!
I’m not joking. That really happened. “Jamie Dorgan, director of animal care at the zoo, told CTV News it was too cold outside ‘even for the penguins.'”
NEW:
A federal judge just GRANTED permission for Lev Parnas to share extractions from three more electronic devices with the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. pic.twitter.com/DnXuRTViCw
— Adam Klasfeld (@KlasfeldReports) January 13, 2020
After our trip to DC, we worked through the night providing a trove of Lev Parnas’ WhatsApp messages, text messages & images—not under protective order—to #HPSCI, detailing interactions with a number of individuals relevant to the impeachment inquiry. #LetLevSpeak #LevRemembers pic.twitter.com/HdHaCyZXIm
— Joseph A. Bondy (@josephabondy) January 13, 2020
The Supreme Court on Monday decided not to “Free the Nipple,” refusing to hear an appeal by three women fined by a city in New Hampshire for exposing their breasts in public who argued that banning female but not male toplessness violates the U.S. Constitution.
Do we really care about the legal niceties? I think women should not only be allowed to go topless, but should be required to do so when the temperature is 60 or higher.
I would allow some women to file for disability exceptions, in a process kinda like applying for a special parking sticker. So, for example, while Alexandra Daddario must be topless, Kathy Bates can slide.
In the immortal words of Jeff Spicoli, righteous bucks!
The Democratic party continues its march to winnow out all the youth and diversity and narrow the field to the cranky old white people.
Booker’s exit was inevitable. He had no path to victory.
He’s the Jimmy Carter for a new millennium – nice man, smart, idealistic. He even has a better resume than Carter. In fact, he looks perfect on paper: football star and class president at Stanford; Yale Law School; Rhodes scholar; mayor; senator. People say he is a moving speaker as well, yet all of those credentials couldn’t gain him any traction.
I guess the time ain’t right for Carter 2.0.
That noted, Booker seems like a great V.P. choice when the eventual cranky old white person gets the nomination.
I have to give Trump credit. Over the course of his presidency he has learned to make his lies more subtle. His exact words were, “I can reveal that I believe it would have been four embassies.” If you think about it, that may not be a lie at all.
This is tantamount to saying “I can reveal that I believe in God,” as opposed to “I can reveal that God exists.” He wasn’t revealing that there was evidence to establish a fact, but only that he believed it, which may be true. Without the ability to read his mind, it’s not possible to conclude whether he believed it or not.
That is one fire approximately the size of Delaware, or enough to roast three quintillion marshmallows.
“There are about 155 fires burning in NSW, 50 of which are uncontained.”
“The strong winds were reaching speeds of up to 55 mph, lofting embers out ahead of fires to start new spot fires, and propelling the front edges of fires forward at high rates of speed, breaching containment lines.”
Twenty-eight people have died, about 6000 buildings have been destroyed and more than 70,000 square miles of land has been burnt. Conservative estimates suggest more than a billion animals have perished.
“The strategy session, which has not been previously reported, came as mass protests against Iran’s growing influence in Iraq were gaining momentum, putting the Islamic Republic in an unwelcome spotlight. Soleimani’s plans to attack U.S. forces aimed to provoke a military response that would redirect that rising anger toward the United States, according to the sources briefed on the gathering, Iraqi Shi’ite politicians, and government officials close to Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi.”
This is a Reuters report, not the work of some right-wing spin machine. I notice the that liberal American press has almost totally ignored this, or buried it on the back pages.