demagogue on 14/5/2025 at 15:38
Just popping in to note, if you haven't heard the news, Trump wants to accept a $400M luxury airliner from the government of Qatar that he gets to keep after he leaves office, and the owners of TikTok bought $300M in $TrumpCoin (edit: Make that a sister company, owned by the same company that owns TikTok). And those are things we know about.
He was always taking and catering to bribes, even in his first term, but the level of bribery now is so flagrant, naked, and massive it almost leaves one speechless.
heywood on 14/5/2025 at 15:57
It makes Bob Menendez's gold bars seem trifling.
What are the chances that plane is loaded up with Chinese spy tech? I don't necessarily distrust Qatar, but I wouldn't take the chance using that in place of AF1.
I wonder what Qatar is looking for. They already have leverage over us for hosting US CENTCOM at Al Udeid airbase, supplying gas to Europe, and for playing mediator, and they can get any arms they want.
mxleader on 14/5/2025 at 17:13
Quote Posted by demagogue
Just popping in to note, if you haven't heard the news, Trump wants to accept a $400M luxury airliner from the government of Qatar that he gets to keep after he leaves office, and the owners of TikTok bought $300M in $TrumpCoin (edit: Make that a sister company, owned by the same company that owns TikTok). And those are things we know about.
He was always taking and catering to bribes, even in his first term, but the level of bribery now is so flagrant, naked, and massive it almost leaves one speechless.
It's almost refreshing in way that he isn't hiding anything like most politicians.
heywood on 14/5/2025 at 17:44
Corruption in the open isn't better than corruption behind closed doors. If anything, it just makes corruption look more acceptable so more people will engage in it.
Starker on 14/5/2025 at 19:08
Quote Posted by heywood
Colonization, missionaries, and aid workers didn't change much.
When I read about things such as the red rubber system and look at the neat lines of the borders of African maps that appear as if somebody had just drawn them with a ruler without any regard to the consequences, I can't help but profoundly disagree with that statement.
Nicker on 14/5/2025 at 19:18
Quote:
I can't blame that on Trump. Values and cultural norms have to change in equatorial Africa if great ape species are to be protected.
Sorry that you are suffering from compassion fatigue. Have a cup of tea.
It's an indirect result of his policies. Not all the harm and evil the orange turd is causing is intentional or targeted. Most of it is directed by his stupidity and amplified by the cowardice and corruption of his minions and lackeys.
The point is, reducing assistance to desperate people causes a unnecessary and preventable suffering for them and other creatures.
heywood on 14/5/2025 at 19:19
Quote Posted by Starker
When I read about things such as the red rubber system and look at the neat lines of the borders of African maps that appear as if somebody had just drawn them with a ruler without any regard to the consequences, I can't help but profoundly disagree with that statement.
Eh? How did arbitrary borders change the culture? As you can see right now, tribal conflicts transcend borders.
Nicker on 14/5/2025 at 19:27
Quote Posted by mxleader
It's almost refreshing in way that he isn't hiding anything like most politicians.
More importantly, Trump is doing it on a scale several orders of magnitude greater than any other elected leader. He's behaving like a dictator already. Again.
As Lawrence O'Donnell observed, as Trump visits the Middle East, he will be looked down on by bigger dictators, for coveting their used toys. That plane is a bribe from the man who funded the Oct 7th attack on Israel by Hamas.
[video=youtube;hChTPxJ8x8Q]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hChTPxJ8x8Q[/video]
Nicker on 14/5/2025 at 19:31
Quote Posted by heywood
Eh?
How did arbitrary borders change the culture? As you can see right now, tribal conflicts transcend borders.
Seriously. You need this explained? How arbitrarily imposed borders change power balances and generate chaos and violence? Where artificial majority and minority populations are created overnight with the stroke of a bureaucrat's pen?
Partition in India. Everywhere you see a straight, European drawn border in the Middle East = chaos and death.
heywood on 14/5/2025 at 20:53
The entire world is full of arbitrary borders, including our continent and Starker's. Some places are more prone to tribalism and perpetual conflict and some are not, but they all have been carved up by borders.
