Now That Trump's President... (not any more!)

Goddamnit, Josh. It's personnel.

  On 2/13/2018 at 11:26 PM, joshuatx said:

 

  On 2/13/2018 at 11:18 PM, ambermonk said:

And with Trump wanting to inflate our already bloated military budget and cut everything else that actually helps people...I just hate the bastard.

 

What irks me most about the budget is how goddamn inefficient it is. Most 4 star generals in post-war history with the fewest active duty personal in service. We spent crazy amounts in the cold war but with far more operational readiness. We're still engaged in the longest wars in US history. All while our military is riddled with corruption, no-bid contracts, cronyism, etc. Ike's worse dreams came true.

 

And I feel like in the past 12 years even as low-level NAF employee at my base, I've witnessed wasteful spending first hand, time and time again.

Not that I aspire to be POTUS one day, but if it were up to me, every one of our bases overseas would be closed and the property returned to the rightful owner that is the host nation. Okinawa (not necessarily all of Japan, but still semi-autonomous) is one of the most glaring examples of this. And if we're to seek out total nuclear disarmament worldwide, we should be the first to do so. And from that point onward, our military should have a strictly self-defense role.

Probably sounds too idealistic, and I'd be naive to think that day would ever come. But for the long run we're still fairly early into the 21st Century.

That's not just idealistic, it's absolutely impossible in our lifetimes. It's a fantasy in every sense of the word.

It is a goal we need to be working towards though, imo. Definitely on the denuclearization and in ways lessening our presence militarily around the world.

If only he understood that there are much safer ways to blow each other up.

  On 2/13/2018 at 7:46 PM, whosebrian said:

 

  On 2/13/2018 at 4:57 PM, bendish said:

this is crazy

 

https://theintercept.com/2018/02/09/donald-trump-russia-election-nsa/

CIA Director Mike Pompeo on Tuesday rejected two recent reports that said U.S. spies were cheated out of $100,000 when they paid a Russian spy to return stolen hacking tools, but instead received unverified information.

The Intercept and the New York Times both reported that a Russian offered to return that information for $1 million, and also offered information about President Trump.

But in a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing Tuesday, Pompeo said none of that story was true.

 

http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/cia-shoots-down-ridiculous-reports-of-secret-100000-payment-to-russia/article/2648950

 

Rasta don't work for no C.I.A

 

I don't believe Pompeo for a second. 

He seems a bit sketchy, yeah.

ITT: people who have more trust in some vague Russian than the director of the CIA.

i do not trust the CIA at all

I dont trust the russian shady informant either

however its madness to think the CIA will not and have not lied repeatedly 

its the CIA ffs Brennan, Clapper etc

why do you trust the CIA?

  On 2/14/2018 at 7:44 AM, goDel said:

ITT: people who have more trust in some vague Russian than the director of the CIA.

It's not as black and white as you present it.

But you have to take into account that the CIA director is on the record. Publically denouncing the events as presented by intercept/nyt. And I believe you need to understand the responsibility behind being the director of the CIA. Is the director biased? Sure he is! Would he present facts in a certain way? Absolutely! To the benefit of the CIA? Also, yes. If he feels the need to defend the CIA, you'd expect the director of the CIA to have some biased sense of reality.

Ok, this is the obvious stuff. The not so obvious stuff: would he need to defend the CIA over paying 100k for some info? I don't believe this is something he needs to lie about on public record. He would be better off by stating not being allowed to comment on classified matters. But he explicitly denied. Now, why would he want to deny so explicitly? He's on the record. If there's evidence he lies, the director of the CIA should be well aware of that evidence. Why would he take that risk? What is so important that a lie about 100k is warranted? I can think of no reason for the CIA director to put his ass on the line like this. The easier explanation is that the quality of reporting is not up to standards.

Which provides an easy transition into this twitter thread. You can mock me for posting yet another of those damned threads. The important takeaways here:

This was a direct response to one of the authors of the nyt article. As of this point I'm not aware of a response to the points made in the thread. Not even a "this is bullshit and doesnt even warrant a response". Perhaps ive missed something, but the lack of any response speaks volumes.

https://twitter.com/allmattnyt/status/962467272941080577

O matt did respond. Anti climax really. He considers the difference between " cia paying russians for info" and " russians leaking to us press to create distorting narratives" only a rearranging of the furniture. Unbelievable.

  Quote

IN LEAKED CHATS, WIKILEAKS DISCUSSES PREFERENCE FOR GOP OVER CLINTON

https://theintercept.com/2018/02/14/julian-assange-wikileaks-election-clinton-trump/

  On 2/14/2018 at 11:00 PM, psn said:

 

  Quote

IN LEAKED CHATS, WIKILEAKS DISCUSSES PREFERENCE FOR GOP OVER CLINTON

https://theintercept.com/2018/02/14/julian-assange-wikileaks-election-clinton-trump/

 

  Quote

 

Manning declined to comment on the leaked messages. When asked in a recent interview with The Guardian for her opinion of WikiLeaks, she noted that she had first tried to contact the Washington Post and New York Times before going to the group. “I ran out of time, and that was the decision I made. I can’t change that,” she said, adding that she has had no contact with Assange since 2010.

Probably not the best outcome here.

Assange is the biggest autist that has lived to date. smart enough as a hacker to front Wikileaks and release sensitive material to the public, stupid (or perhaps uncaring/self-interested) enough to not realise how that power might be manipulated by others and what the potential consequences might be.

Guess I should've known where Assange's allegiance lied this whole time. Seems ironic though considering when he first made the news in April 2010 with that leaked chopper footage of Iraq from 2007, when they gunned down those civilians because they thought one of them had a shoulder-launched SAM, when it turned out to be a large video camera.

Also, Assange supposedly hasn't addressed basic personal hygiene in a long time, last I heard.

  On 2/15/2018 at 2:30 AM, ambermonk said:

 

Also, Assange supposedly hasn't addressed basic personal hygiene in a long time.

Wikileaks?  More like wikireeks amirite....? 

...

Julian Swampass...ange

  On 2/14/2018 at 12:26 AM, Braintree said:

Goddamnit, Josh. It's personnel.

 

 

  Reveal hidden contents

I hope you don't take my outburst personelly

 

this is such a WATMM-esque exchange, lol

no worries

My co-worker and I literally talk about a crazy fucking news tidbit about the GOP or Trump daily as if it's the weather. There's nothing to do but shake out heads, chuckle and mutter "the fuck" and then go onto to other stuff. It feels like this.

  On 2/15/2018 at 4:10 AM, ambermonk said:

Julian Swampass...ange

Oh snap!

https://www.thedailybeast.com/nikolas-cruz-trained-with-florida-white-supremacist-group-leader-says

^^^ i heard trump will now go against white supremacists as aggressively as he's going against undocumented aliens and have them in detention soon

source: fake news

  Quote

 

After killing 17 people, US school shooter Nikolas Cruz bought a drink at Subway and stopped at McDonald's, police say.

Trump plans to visit this Mcdonald's, White House says.

source: fake news