Part of the ‘deal’ that Gallagher made was he has to retire at the end of the month to keep his pin and current rank so he is not being reinstated. His hearing to take the pin away was scheduled early December. That has now been cancelled, but I wouldn’t put it past the Navy to attempt to hold another hearing 2 or 5 years from now once I-need-a-distraction leaves the White House.
Good news! Trump just signed a bipartisan bill banning animal cruelty! It was already illegal per state laws, but this will make it easier to prosecute interstate crimes now that there's a federal law against it.
@Balrog99 "No your honor, I didn't kill him. He was just killed with my knife! and I posed with the corpse! Uh, and my own unit said I did it....uh.... I'm innoncent?"
Apparently you were there when the alleged murder happened? Why didnt you testify?
It wouldn't make a difference to you. People who WERE there DID testify. But apparently the word of one person who posed with a dead body for a picture, that was killed with knife, means more than multiple people who were there? What universe exactly do you live in?
@Balrog99 "No your honor, I didn't kill him. He was just killed with my knife! and I posed with the corpse! Uh, and my own unit said I did it....uh.... I'm innoncent?"
Apparently you were there when the alleged murder happened? Why didnt you testify?
It wouldn't make a difference to you. People who WERE there DID testify. But apparently the word of one person who posed with a dead body for a picture, that was killed with knife, means more than multiple people who were there? What universe exactly do you live in?
The universe where people don't get pissed off when people who they don't know, and have never met dont agree with them wholeheartedly about another person they don't know, have never met and only have second-hand information about. You should join me here, it's a lot more peaceful.
@Balrog99 "No your honor, I didn't kill him. He was just killed with my knife! and I posed with the corpse! Uh, and my own unit said I did it....uh.... I'm innoncent?"
Apparently you were there when the alleged murder happened? Why didnt you testify?
It wouldn't make a difference to you. People who WERE there DID testify. But apparently the word of one person who posed with a dead body for a picture, that was killed with knife, means more than multiple people who were there? What universe exactly do you live in?
A medic did testify HE killed him as a mercy killing, but this was only AFTER it was clear he himself would face no repercussions for saying so. The rest of the squad didn't just testify about this incident. They said they were forced to alter his sniper rifle so he could no longer take pot shots at civilians and that Gallagher threatened to kill his SEAL squad mates if they told anyone about him.
This reminds me of the right-wing worship of another psychopath, Chris Kyle, the "American Sniper". I encourage everyone to look into the lawsuit Jesse Ventura filed (and won) against his estate. Kyle was a lying piece of garbage, who ultimately got exactly what he had coming to him.
@Balrog99 "No your honor, I didn't kill him. He was just killed with my knife! and I posed with the corpse! Uh, and my own unit said I did it....uh.... I'm innoncent?"
Apparently you were there when the alleged murder happened? Why didnt you testify?
It wouldn't make a difference to you. People who WERE there DID testify. But apparently the word of one person who posed with a dead body for a picture, that was killed with knife, means more than multiple people who were there? What universe exactly do you live in?
A medic did testify HE killed him as a mercy killing, but this was only AFTER it was clear he himself would face no repercussions for saying so. The rest of the squad didn't just testify about this incident. They said they were forced to alter his sniper rifle so he could no longer take pot shots at civilians and that Gallagher threatened to kill his SEAL squad mates if they told anyone about him.
This reminds me of the right-wing worship of another psychopath, Chris Kyle, the "American Sniper". I encourage everyone to look into the lawsuit Jesse Ventura filed (and won) against his estate. Kyle was a lying piece of garbage, who ultimately got exactly what he had coming to him.
Really? A defamation lawsuit regarding possibly lying about a bar fight makes one a 'psycopath'? He deserves death for that? I hope you're not a judge...
@Balrog99 "No your honor, I didn't kill him. He was just killed with my knife! and I posed with the corpse! Uh, and my own unit said I did it....uh.... I'm innoncent?"
Apparently you were there when the alleged murder happened? Why didnt you testify?
It wouldn't make a difference to you. People who WERE there DID testify. But apparently the word of one person who posed with a dead body for a picture, that was killed with knife, means more than multiple people who were there? What universe exactly do you live in?
A medic did testify HE killed him as a mercy killing, but this was only AFTER it was clear he himself would face no repercussions for saying so. The rest of the squad didn't just testify about this incident. They said they were forced to alter his sniper rifle so he could no longer take pot shots at civilians and that Gallagher threatened to kill his SEAL squad mates if they told anyone about him.
This reminds me of the right-wing worship of another psychopath, Chris Kyle, the "American Sniper". I encourage everyone to look into the lawsuit Jesse Ventura filed (and won) against his estate. Kyle was a lying piece of garbage, who ultimately got exactly what he had coming to him.
Really? A defamation lawsuit regarding possibly lying about a bar fight makes one a 'psycopath'? He deserves death for that? I hope you're not a judge...
There is ample reason to believe he lied about most of his feats. And some of them involved fantasies about sitting on the roof of the Superdome during Katrina shooting people for looting. He didn't just lie about Ventura (who I normally have very little sympathy for). He concocted the whole thing out of thin air and used it as the focal point for selling his book. The incident didn't only not go as described, it never even took place at all. The willingness to go public with such a tall-tale calls into question his entire character and everything he ever said.
The burden on a public figure like Ventura to meet the standard for defamation is unbelievably high, and it still wasn't even a close call. Moreover, because Kyle was already dead, Ventura was painted as the bad guy for suing his estate (not his widow as the media constantly claimed). Kyle ruined Ventura's reputation as a former SEAL in life AND in death when he attempted to defend himself against the first charge. Point being, if he was willing to concoct a completely fictional bar fight to sell a book, what WOULDN'T he do or lie about?? Kyle marinated and bathed himself in glory over his kills in Iraq, and then made every other totally suspect aspect of his biography cater to the public's bloodlust (god knows how many of those people were innocent bystanders). He lived by the gun and died by it. The canonization of Chris Kyle was just a micocosm of the rest of the bullshit we were fed in that time period.
@Balrog99 "No your honor, I didn't kill him. He was just killed with my knife! and I posed with the corpse! Uh, and my own unit said I did it....uh.... I'm innoncent?"
Apparently you were there when the alleged murder happened? Why didnt you testify?
It wouldn't make a difference to you. People who WERE there DID testify. But apparently the word of one person who posed with a dead body for a picture, that was killed with knife, means more than multiple people who were there? What universe exactly do you live in?
A medic did testify HE killed him as a mercy killing, but this was only AFTER it was clear he himself would face no repercussions for saying so. The rest of the squad didn't just testify about this incident. They said they were forced to alter his sniper rifle so he could no longer take pot shots at civilians and that Gallagher threatened to kill his SEAL squad mates if they told anyone about him.
This reminds me of the right-wing worship of another psychopath, Chris Kyle, the "American Sniper". I encourage everyone to look into the lawsuit Jesse Ventura filed (and won) against his estate. Kyle was a lying piece of garbage, who ultimately got exactly what he had coming to him.
Really? A defamation lawsuit regarding possibly lying about a bar fight makes one a 'psycopath'? He deserves death for that? I hope you're not a judge...
There is ample reason to believe he lied about most of his feats. And some of them involved fantasies about sitting on the roof of the Superdome during Katrina shooting people for looting. He didn't just lie about Ventura (who I normally have very little sympathy for). He concocted the whole thing out of thin air and used it as the focal point for selling his book. The incident didn't only not go as described, it never even took place at all. The willingness to go public with such a tall-tale calls into question his entire character and everything he ever said.
The burden on a public figure like Ventura to meet the standard for defamation is unbelievably high, and it still wasn't even a close call. Moreover, because Kyle was already dead, Ventura was painted as the bad guy for suing his estate (not his widow as the media constantly claimed). Kyle ruined Ventura's reputation as a former SEAL in life AND in death when he attempted to defend himself against the first charge. Point being, if he was willing to concoct a completely fictional bar fight to sell a book, what WOULDN'T he do or lie about?? Kyle marinated and bathed himself in glory over his kills in Iraq, and then made every other totally suspect aspect of his biography cater to the public's bloodlust (god knows how many of those people were innocent bystanders). He lived by the gun and died by it. The canonization of Chris Kyle was just a micocosm of the rest of the bullshit we were fed in that time period.
The Snopes page about him is about 3x longer than normal because a regular article can't contain all his bullshit claims: https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/kyle-file/
Now, Kyle didn't shoot people from the roof of the Superdome. But he clearly WANTED people to BELIEVE he was summarily executing American citizens like Charles Bronson in Death Wish for making off with a TV from a department store (and most of those stories at the time were amplified right-wing propoganda meant to distract from the fact that Bush left an American city to drown for a full week before doing anything). And he believed that, to his audience, that act would make him look heroic and noble. So no, I do not mourn this guy whatsoever. His delusions and tales about violence he wished he could have committed here leave me to have serious questions about who he was killing in Iraq. Because it seems to me he was just a murderer looking for a loophole and found it in the Army.
@Balrog99 "No your honor, I didn't kill him. He was just killed with my knife! and I posed with the corpse! Uh, and my own unit said I did it....uh.... I'm innoncent?"
Apparently you were there when the alleged murder happened? Why didnt you testify?
It wouldn't make a difference to you. People who WERE there DID testify. But apparently the word of one person who posed with a dead body for a picture, that was killed with knife, means more than multiple people who were there? What universe exactly do you live in?
The universe where people don't get pissed off when people who they don't know, and have never met dont agree with them wholeheartedly about another person they don't know, have never met and only have second-hand information about. You should join me here, it's a lot more peaceful.
So, what evidence do you have that counters multiple witness testimony, the murder weapon, and photo evicedence that he is guilty? Oh and I should probably menton. Accepting a presidential pardon is a guilty pela. But go ahead and try to keep bending the universe to match your biases.
@Balrog99 "No your honor, I didn't kill him. He was just killed with my knife! and I posed with the corpse! Uh, and my own unit said I did it....uh.... I'm innoncent?"
Apparently you were there when the alleged murder happened? Why didnt you testify?
It wouldn't make a difference to you. People who WERE there DID testify. But apparently the word of one person who posed with a dead body for a picture, that was killed with knife, means more than multiple people who were there? What universe exactly do you live in?
The universe where people don't get pissed off when people who they don't know, and have never met dont agree with them wholeheartedly about another person they don't know, have never met and only have second-hand information about. You should join me here, it's a lot more peaceful.
So, what evidence do you have that counters multiple witness testimony, the murder weapon, and photo evicedence that he is guilty? Oh and I should probably menton. Accepting a presidential pardon is a guilty pela. But go ahead and try to keep bending the universe to match your biases.
So now my not agreeing with your premise somehow affects the space-time continuum? Fascinating....
He wasn't 'pardoned' by Trump because he wasn't found guilty of anything criminal. Trump just didnt allow him to be dishonerably discharged for being a dick. There's a big difference. He was never going to jail, he was just going to lose his pension.
That sounds like entrapment. If ICE kept the profits here, that sounds like fraud as well. And I'd question the entire logic of the operation. Encouraging people to enter the United States just so you can deport them doesn't actually reduce immigration.
If that's true, it's either illegal or a profoundly stupid idea no matter what your views on immigration are. Or both.
That sounds like entrapment. If ICE kept the profits here, that sounds like fraud as well. And I'd question the entire logic of the operation. Encouraging people to enter the United States just so you can deport them doesn't actually reduce immigration.
If that's true, it's either illegal or a profoundly stupid idea no matter what your views on immigration are. Or both.
If the goal was to remove them from the country, then why create the OPTION they did with this fake university?? If they needed a renewed student visa to stay and this college was the only option to them, then if the college didn't exist, they could simply deport them because of the expired visa. This step has no reason to exist. The only reason for it to exist is to steal money BEFORE deporting them.
The reason for it is presumably to spread the word among the community of students seeking visas that there's a chance their visa will be invalid and they'll have wasted a lot of time and money trying to enter the US. I can imagine that would successfully put off a small number of people who's aim is ultimately to work illegally in the US. I can also imagine that it will put off a somewhat larger number of people who are genuine students, but decide the US doesn't sound like the sort of place they want to study. I find it much more difficult to imagine though how on earth this scheme ever got off the drawing board ...
The idea put forward by ICE that foreign students would automatically know that this university was fake is also pretty absurd. It was listed as a legitimate, accredited, institution on federal web-sites and why would anyone want to check beyond that? ICE arrested even students who transferred away from Farmington after arriving there and realizing that the university had no courses. In addition ICE charged 8 'recruiters' with more serious crimes. One of those was being paid no cash for his activities, but instead being 'paid' in tuition credits. That seems to me to be a graphic illustration of the fact that this student believed he was going to a genuine university - but he was sent to prison anyway ...
@Balrog99 "No your honor, I didn't kill him. He was just killed with my knife! and I posed with the corpse! Uh, and my own unit said I did it....uh.... I'm innoncent?"
Apparently you were there when the alleged murder happened? Why didnt you testify?
It wouldn't make a difference to you. People who WERE there DID testify. But apparently the word of one person who posed with a dead body for a picture, that was killed with knife, means more than multiple people who were there? What universe exactly do you live in?
The universe where people don't get pissed off when people who they don't know, and have never met dont agree with them wholeheartedly about another person they don't know, have never met and only have second-hand information about. You should join me here, it's a lot more peaceful.
So, what evidence do you have that counters multiple witness testimony, the murder weapon, and photo evicedence that he is guilty? Oh and I should probably menton. Accepting a presidential pardon is a guilty pela. But go ahead and try to keep bending the universe to match your biases.
So now my not agreeing with your premise somehow affects the space-time continuum? Fascinating....
He wasn't 'pardoned' by Trump because he wasn't found guilty of anything criminal. Trump just didnt allow him to be dishonerably discharged for being a dick. There's a big difference. He was never going to jail, he was just going to lose his pension.
There is a pretty hefty amount of evidence painting the guy as guilty. But you have refused to post any kind of reason why you think he isn't. So yes, you claiming this guy is innocent without any kind of evidence that clears him smacks of universe bending bias. And yes, Trump officially pardened him. Making his intentions know before the trial does not somehow mean a pardon never happened.
So the farm bailout wasn't just a handout because of Trump's trade war. It also went straight to the top. 13% of the money went to the top 1%. In other words, it was handed right to Big Ag. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-11-21/trump-pledged-to-help-small-farms-but-aid-is-going-to-big-ones
Also worth mentioning that this farm bailout is now TWICE as expensive as the much-maligned auto bailout of the Obama years, with two key differences:
1.) Obama didn't create the need for the auto bailout, whereas Trump's farm bailout "necessity" is a 100% direct result of his own actions.
and
2.) The auto bailout got paid back, with interest. We'll never see a dime of this money again.
I heard a brief clip on the news of Pelosi at the COP25 climate summit. She was saying that there was an ironclad commitment from Congress to the international process to fight climate change. Unfortunately rather more than that is badly needed . With greenhouse gas emissions continuing to rise significantly year on year, the target to halt world temperature rises at 1.5% above pre-industrial levels already looks doomed. Unless there are really major changes in the attitudes and actions of many governments in the next few years the older target of 2% is going to be missed as well.
I heard a brief clip on the news of Pelosi at the COP25 climate summit. She was saying that there was an ironclad commitment from Congress to the international process to fight climate change. Unfortunately rather more than that is badly needed . With greenhouse gas emissions continuing to rise significantly year on year, the target to halt world temperature rises at 1.5% above pre-industrial levels already looks doomed. Unless there are really major changes in the attitudes and actions of many governments in the next few years the older target of 2% is going to be missed as well.
Well Germany seems to be falling on the sword with their environmental policies. I think they're hoping that other countries will follow their lead. If they wind up going it alone it will be devastating to their economy as they'll have to compete with countries that aren't as environmentally conscious. This could go either way and I personally would not bet on what the outcome will be...
We are now in a self-fulfilling prophecy. We've dismissed the problem for so long, the argument now is that it is too late to do anything. Which is probably true. So now the battlecry will be "we can't do anything about it anyway".
The next step is where things get really scary. The catastrophic weather events are going to overwhelmingly occur near to the equator in poor countries who had essentially nothing to do with man-made climate change on a macro level. But they will be the ones dying. And as it becomes more clear, what will happen is this: the moment the right acknowledges the problem will be the EXACT moment they can use it as reasoning to become more nativist, as climate refugees with nowhere else to turn attempt to move north. The shooters in both New Zealand AND Texas were inspired essentially by the idea that climate change is going to create a severe scarcity of inhabitable land and resources, and that white people must be the ones who hold it. This worldview is already taking shape. Deep down, the deniers know it's happening. But the reaction won't be to do anything about it. It will be to bunker down and fortify.
We are now in a self-fulfilling prophecy. We've dismissed the problem for so long, the argument now is that it is too late to do anything. Which is probably true. So now the battlecry will be "we can't do anything about it anyway".
The next step is where things get really scary. The catastrophic weather events are going to overwhelmingly occur near to the equator in poor countries who had essentially nothing to do with man-made climate change on a macro level. But they will be the ones dying. And as it becomes more clear, what will happen is this: the moment the right acknowledges the problem will be the EXACT moment they can use it as reasoning to become more nativist, as climate refugees with nowhere else to turn attempt to move north. The shooters in both New Zealand AND Texas were inspired essentially by the idea that climate change is going to create a severe scarcity of inhabitable land and resources, and that white people must be the ones who hold it. This worldview is already taking shape. Deep down, the deniers know it's happening. But the reaction won't be to do anything about it. It will be to bunker down and fortify.
Well, on the plus side, we are slowly weaning off fossil fuels for energy. At least the end of the world scenarios probably won't happen. I think it's more because oil is becoming too valuable to just burn than any real environmental consciousness on corporations' part though...
Weather's terrible all over. Fires are constantly burning everywhere from Australia to California to Brazil.
The climate IS changing and extreme weather is threatening people's lives.
The Republican agenda fueling this must be stopped in the United States and liberals all over the world must act as well or they too must be voted out of power.
Weather's terrible all over. Fires are constantly burning everywhere from Australia to California to Brazil.
The climate IS changing and extreme weather is threatening people's lives.
The Republican agenda fueling this must be stopped in the United States and liberals all over the world must act as well or they too must be voted out of power.
If the liberals are voted out who do you turn too? There is no alternative to the entrenched bullshit parties we have in this country...
I heard a brief clip on the news of Pelosi at the COP25 climate summit. She was saying that there was an ironclad commitment from Congress to the international process to fight climate change. Unfortunately rather more than that is badly needed . With greenhouse gas emissions continuing to rise significantly year on year, the target to halt world temperature rises at 1.5% above pre-industrial levels already looks doomed. Unless there are really major changes in the attitudes and actions of many governments in the next few years the older target of 2% is going to be missed as well.
Well Germany seems to be falling on the sword with their environmental policies. I think they're hoping that other countries will follow their lead. If they wind up going it alone it will be devastating to their economy as they'll have to compete with countries that aren't as environmentally conscious. This could go either way and I personally would not bet on what the outcome will be...
So they are not falling on their sword, but you are predicting it will happen in the future. Got any evidence for that? If they don't meet the renewable energy output goals by 2022, they won't just shut down their nuclear reactors, cause a massive countrywide blackout and call it a day.
Germany is a pretty self-sufficient economy. They can produce their own food, they have various ores, except for rare earth minerals, and they have an incredible technological and industrial base producing a vast array of goods. Whatever they do, they can't collapse as a country. They can have negative growth and more unemployment and take it in. They don't have to win the competition in the stupid game of global capitalism to survive.
I heard a brief clip on the news of Pelosi at the COP25 climate summit. She was saying that there was an ironclad commitment from Congress to the international process to fight climate change. Unfortunately rather more than that is badly needed . With greenhouse gas emissions continuing to rise significantly year on year, the target to halt world temperature rises at 1.5% above pre-industrial levels already looks doomed. Unless there are really major changes in the attitudes and actions of many governments in the next few years the older target of 2% is going to be missed as well.
Well Germany seems to be falling on the sword with their environmental policies. I think they're hoping that other countries will follow their lead. If they wind up going it alone it will be devastating to their economy as they'll have to compete with countries that aren't as environmentally conscious. This could go either way and I personally would not bet on what the outcome will be...
So they are not falling on their sword, but you are predicting it will happen in the future. Got any evidence for that? If they don't meet the renewable energy output goals by 2022, they won't just shut down their nuclear reactors, cause a massive countrywide blackout and call it a day.
Germany is a pretty self-sufficient economy. They can produce their own food, they have various ores, except for rare earth minerals, and they have an incredible technological and industrial base producing a vast array of goods. Whatever they do, they can't collapse as a country. They can have negative growth and more unemployment and take it in. They don't have to win the competition in the stupid game of global capitalism to survive.
Well, I was speaking politically when I said 'falling on the sword', not generalizing about all the German people. I should have been more clear. Survival of a government is much more tenuous than an entire population. Democracy means the side in power better get it right, or there will be consequences.
Even if a different party comes to power and German environmental policies change, Germany will not dismantle their wind turbines and stop using biomass. The progress that has been attained in this regard which is miles ahead of probably 99% other countries will not be undone by a change of who's in power. And to get even to that level of sustainable power it took an ironclad commitment at some point in history. So saying that political commitment isn't worthwile because it doesn't lead to everlasting political support (like anything does) is pretty equivalent to saying nothing should be done. In fact, what should be done is more than proclamations of ironclad support. What needs to happen are radical things that transform societies.
With Kamala Harris suspending her campaign today (and for anyone wondering, the reason people who drop out "suspend" their campaign is so they can continue to pay off debt with money received from donors), the face is now between two things. Either the Democrats will have the courage of their convictions and nominate someone who is pushing for meaningful change (Sanders or Warren) or they will continue to be scared of their own shadow and retreat once again to a neo-liberal no-man's land in the hopes that they can siphon off enough Trump voters with Biden or Buttigieg by trying to placate people who are probably never going to vote for them in the first place.
Biden continues to prove on a daily basis he is simply not up for this, but he is Joe Biden and he was VP for 8 years, and that is, apparently, more than enough for alot of people. Mayor Pete is whip-smart but there is nothing underneath. I have no idea where he stands on anything.
With Kamala Harris suspending her campaign today (and for anyone wondering, the reason people who drop out "suspend" their campaign is so they can continue to pay off debt with money received from donors), the face is now between two things. Either the Democrats will have the courage of their convictions and nominate someone who is pushing for meaningful change (Sanders or Warren) or they will continue to be scared of their own shadow and retreat once again to a neo-liberal no-man's land in the hopes that they can siphon off enough Trump voters with Biden or Buttigieg by trying to placate people who are probably never going to vote for them in the first place.
Biden continues to prove on a daily basis he is simply not up for this, but he is Joe Biden and he was VP for 8 years, and that is, apparently, more than enough for alot of people. Mayor Pete is whip-smart but there is nothing underneath. I have no idea where he stands on anything.
The Warren campaign is foundering too from what I've been reading. That leaves who, Bernie? That could be interesting...
Even if a different party comes to power and German environmental policies change, Germany will not dismantle their wind turbines and stop using biomass. The progress that has been attained in this regard which is miles ahead of probably 99% other countries will not be undone by a change of who's in power. And to get even to that level of sustainable power it took an ironclad commitment at some point in history. So saying that political commitment isn't worthwile because it doesn't lead to everlasting political support (like anything does) is pretty equivalent to saying nothing should be done. In fact, what should be done is more than proclamations of ironclad support. What needs to happen are radical things that transform societies.
Don't put words in my mouth. I'm allowed to be sceptical so let's see where this ends up. I'm not on a side and already said I have no prediction as to the outcome. My view of human-nature is a bit less optimistic than yours, however...
Comments
It wouldn't make a difference to you. People who WERE there DID testify. But apparently the word of one person who posed with a dead body for a picture, that was killed with knife, means more than multiple people who were there? What universe exactly do you live in?
The universe where people don't get pissed off when people who they don't know, and have never met dont agree with them wholeheartedly about another person they don't know, have never met and only have second-hand information about. You should join me here, it's a lot more peaceful.
A medic did testify HE killed him as a mercy killing, but this was only AFTER it was clear he himself would face no repercussions for saying so. The rest of the squad didn't just testify about this incident. They said they were forced to alter his sniper rifle so he could no longer take pot shots at civilians and that Gallagher threatened to kill his SEAL squad mates if they told anyone about him.
This reminds me of the right-wing worship of another psychopath, Chris Kyle, the "American Sniper". I encourage everyone to look into the lawsuit Jesse Ventura filed (and won) against his estate. Kyle was a lying piece of garbage, who ultimately got exactly what he had coming to him.
Really? A defamation lawsuit regarding possibly lying about a bar fight makes one a 'psycopath'? He deserves death for that? I hope you're not a judge...
There is ample reason to believe he lied about most of his feats. And some of them involved fantasies about sitting on the roof of the Superdome during Katrina shooting people for looting. He didn't just lie about Ventura (who I normally have very little sympathy for). He concocted the whole thing out of thin air and used it as the focal point for selling his book. The incident didn't only not go as described, it never even took place at all. The willingness to go public with such a tall-tale calls into question his entire character and everything he ever said.
The burden on a public figure like Ventura to meet the standard for defamation is unbelievably high, and it still wasn't even a close call. Moreover, because Kyle was already dead, Ventura was painted as the bad guy for suing his estate (not his widow as the media constantly claimed). Kyle ruined Ventura's reputation as a former SEAL in life AND in death when he attempted to defend himself against the first charge. Point being, if he was willing to concoct a completely fictional bar fight to sell a book, what WOULDN'T he do or lie about?? Kyle marinated and bathed himself in glory over his kills in Iraq, and then made every other totally suspect aspect of his biography cater to the public's bloodlust (god knows how many of those people were innocent bystanders). He lived by the gun and died by it. The canonization of Chris Kyle was just a micocosm of the rest of the bullshit we were fed in that time period.
Sources?
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/kyle-file/
Now, Kyle didn't shoot people from the roof of the Superdome. But he clearly WANTED people to BELIEVE he was summarily executing American citizens like Charles Bronson in Death Wish for making off with a TV from a department store (and most of those stories at the time were amplified right-wing propoganda meant to distract from the fact that Bush left an American city to drown for a full week before doing anything). And he believed that, to his audience, that act would make him look heroic and noble. So no, I do not mourn this guy whatsoever. His delusions and tales about violence he wished he could have committed here leave me to have serious questions about who he was killing in Iraq. Because it seems to me he was just a murderer looking for a loophole and found it in the Army.
So, what evidence do you have that counters multiple witness testimony, the murder weapon, and photo evicedence that he is guilty? Oh and I should probably menton. Accepting a presidential pardon is a guilty pela. But go ahead and try to keep bending the universe to match your biases.
So now my not agreeing with your premise somehow affects the space-time continuum? Fascinating....
He wasn't 'pardoned' by Trump because he wasn't found guilty of anything criminal. Trump just didnt allow him to be dishonerably discharged for being a dick. There's a big difference. He was never going to jail, he was just going to lose his pension.
If that's true, it's either illegal or a profoundly stupid idea no matter what your views on immigration are. Or both.
If the goal was to remove them from the country, then why create the OPTION they did with this fake university?? If they needed a renewed student visa to stay and this college was the only option to them, then if the college didn't exist, they could simply deport them because of the expired visa. This step has no reason to exist. The only reason for it to exist is to steal money BEFORE deporting them.
The idea put forward by ICE that foreign students would automatically know that this university was fake is also pretty absurd. It was listed as a legitimate, accredited, institution on federal web-sites and why would anyone want to check beyond that? ICE arrested even students who transferred away from Farmington after arriving there and realizing that the university had no courses. In addition ICE charged 8 'recruiters' with more serious crimes. One of those was being paid no cash for his activities, but instead being 'paid' in tuition credits. That seems to me to be a graphic illustration of the fact that this student believed he was going to a genuine university - but he was sent to prison anyway ...
http://nymag.com/intelligencer/amp/2019/11/trump-ordered-to-pay-usd2-million-over-fishy-fundraiser.html?utm_source=msn&utm_medium=f1&utm_campaign=feed-part&__twitter_impression=true
There is a pretty hefty amount of evidence painting the guy as guilty. But you have refused to post any kind of reason why you think he isn't. So yes, you claiming this guy is innocent without any kind of evidence that clears him smacks of universe bending bias. And yes, Trump officially pardened him. Making his intentions know before the trial does not somehow mean a pardon never happened.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-11-21/trump-pledged-to-help-small-farms-but-aid-is-going-to-big-ones
Also worth mentioning that this farm bailout is now TWICE as expensive as the much-maligned auto bailout of the Obama years, with two key differences:
1.) Obama didn't create the need for the auto bailout, whereas Trump's farm bailout "necessity" is a 100% direct result of his own actions.
and
2.) The auto bailout got paid back, with interest. We'll never see a dime of this money again.
Well Germany seems to be falling on the sword with their environmental policies. I think they're hoping that other countries will follow their lead. If they wind up going it alone it will be devastating to their economy as they'll have to compete with countries that aren't as environmentally conscious. This could go either way and I personally would not bet on what the outcome will be...
The next step is where things get really scary. The catastrophic weather events are going to overwhelmingly occur near to the equator in poor countries who had essentially nothing to do with man-made climate change on a macro level. But they will be the ones dying. And as it becomes more clear, what will happen is this: the moment the right acknowledges the problem will be the EXACT moment they can use it as reasoning to become more nativist, as climate refugees with nowhere else to turn attempt to move north. The shooters in both New Zealand AND Texas were inspired essentially by the idea that climate change is going to create a severe scarcity of inhabitable land and resources, and that white people must be the ones who hold it. This worldview is already taking shape. Deep down, the deniers know it's happening. But the reaction won't be to do anything about it. It will be to bunker down and fortify.
Well, on the plus side, we are slowly weaning off fossil fuels for energy. At least the end of the world scenarios probably won't happen. I think it's more because oil is becoming too valuable to just burn than any real environmental consciousness on corporations' part though...
The climate IS changing and extreme weather is threatening people's lives.
The Republican agenda fueling this must be stopped in the United States and liberals all over the world must act as well or they too must be voted out of power.
If the liberals are voted out who do you turn too? There is no alternative to the entrenched bullshit parties we have in this country...
So they are not falling on their sword, but you are predicting it will happen in the future. Got any evidence for that? If they don't meet the renewable energy output goals by 2022, they won't just shut down their nuclear reactors, cause a massive countrywide blackout and call it a day.
Germany is a pretty self-sufficient economy. They can produce their own food, they have various ores, except for rare earth minerals, and they have an incredible technological and industrial base producing a vast array of goods. Whatever they do, they can't collapse as a country. They can have negative growth and more unemployment and take it in. They don't have to win the competition in the stupid game of global capitalism to survive.
Well, I was speaking politically when I said 'falling on the sword', not generalizing about all the German people. I should have been more clear. Survival of a government is much more tenuous than an entire population. Democracy means the side in power better get it right, or there will be consequences.
Biden continues to prove on a daily basis he is simply not up for this, but he is Joe Biden and he was VP for 8 years, and that is, apparently, more than enough for alot of people. Mayor Pete is whip-smart but there is nothing underneath. I have no idea where he stands on anything.
The Warren campaign is foundering too from what I've been reading. That leaves who, Bernie? That could be interesting...
Don't put words in my mouth. I'm allowed to be sceptical so let's see where this ends up. I'm not on a side and already said I have no prediction as to the outcome. My view of human-nature is a bit less optimistic than yours, however...