***Official Political Discussion Thread***

[IATT]

 

[elpablo21]

Finally getting a sequel to

 

[Mark Antony]

 

[DLF]

Democrats are the moral party. Like idf is the moral army.

 

[RustyShackleford]

Right on time with another silly hot take

Anyone acting like the GOP and the Democrats are the same are either not paying attention or not serious

 

[jpzx]

 

[Belgium]

 

[Belgium]

My job has been pissing me off for the longest, and I got a homie that works for the IRS telling me come be an economist for them.

Best believe it I ever make the move, y'all better not be talking about any reselling around me.

If I get a hint that mplsdunk is flipping rabbit feed, and not claiming the profits, I'm alerting the authorities.

Or if @WASHED KING reselling Chelsea boots online.

I'm telling.

Let him sell a pair of Chelseas to Belgium and I'm getting those two for wire fraud, money laundering and conspiracy to commit misogyny

Try me, and imma be on my work phone like...

7 times undefeated by Paypal’s money laundering compliance probes fam, bring it on

Might even cop these to celebrate if you get your new job

 

[RustyShackleford]

What in the high fashion hell are those, b.

 

[Mark Antony]

Getting your boots glazed is crazy.

 

[biggie62]

Belgium def trying to get his meatball Ron on.

 

[mplsdunk]

taking brunch to the next level

 

[DripNick]

7 times undefeated by Paypal’s money laundering compliance probes fam, bring it on

Might even cop these to celebrate if you get your new job

Glazed leather is WILD

 

[RustyShackleford]

Political Pressures on Biden Helped Drive ‘Secret Cell’ of Aides in Hostage Talks

The deal came as Democrats are increasingly divided over Mr. Biden’s embrace of Israel, particularly as the civilian toll in Gaza grows.

www.nytimes.com

Israel’s acceptance of the terms of a hostage deal with Hamas late on Tuesday reflected the intense pressure brought by the Biden administration to reach an agreement that would free some of those held by the armed group and produce potential longer-term opportunities to de-escalate the conflict.


The initial approval of the deal by the Israeli cabinet came after a “secret cell” of top aides to President Biden worked furiously over the past several weeks on a web of negotiations involving Qatar, Egypt and Israel, an effort hampered by communications outages in Gaza and a series of last-minute disputes that derailed the talks.


White House officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the five weeks of sensitive negotiations that had led to a deal, said the agreement would include the release of three Americans: two women and a toddler. The officials said they would continue to push for the release of all U.S. hostages.


The deal came at a time when Democrats are increasingly divided over Mr. Biden’s embrace of Israel, particularly as the civilian toll in Gaza grows, and as polling shows the president receiving low marks on his handling of the crisis ahead of his re-election campaign.


But the arrangement was also the latest example of the widening breach between the White House and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over Israel’s overwhelming response to the Hamas attacks, which has led to the deaths of about 12,000 people in Gaza. For weeks, Mr. Biden has publicly and privately tried to convince the prime minister to pause the bombardment of Gaza to allow in humanitarian aid and to reduce civilian casualties.


Mr. Netanyahu has consistently refused to consider a wide-scale halt to Israel’s military operations in Gaza unless it would lead to the release of the hostages.


White House officials said that over the last several weeks, Mr. Biden had concluded that convincing Mr. Netanyahu to accept a dayslong suspension of the fighting — rather than more limited pauses for several hours at a time — would require linking the break to a deal to free hostages from captivity in the tunnels used by Hamas fighters.

Mr. Biden made that case with increasing urgency to Mr. Netanyahu during 13 calls since the Hamas attacks and a face-to-face meeting in Israel, officials said, underscoring the president’s willingness to ratchet up the pressure on his counterpart. Mr. Biden’s initial full-throated embrace of Israel’s right to defend itself in the hours after the Oct. 7 attacks has evolved into repeated calls for restraint by the Israeli forces in Gaza.


Aides said the president was also hopeful that the hostage release could be an early step toward a broader peace in the region once the immediate crisis ends. In an opinion article published in the Washington Post on Sunday, Mr. Biden described how far his ambitions stretch beyond the four-day pause in fighting agreed to on Tuesday.


“Our goal should not be simply to stop the war for today,” he wrote. “It should be to end the war forever, break the cycle of unceasing violence, and build something stronger in Gaza and across the Middle East so that history does not keep repeating itself.”


Mr. Biden and his top aides have repeatedly said they do not tell Israel how to respond to the slaughter of 1,200 people inside their country, and Mr. Netanyahu made it clear on Tuesday that he intended to resume military operations against Hamas as soon as the hostages were freed in accordance with the deal.

“The war will continue,” Mr. Netanyahu said.


But some senior American officials have signaled they would not be disappointed if the pause became a more permanent cease-fire. If the White House tries to use the hostage deal to press for a longer-term cease-fire and start moving toward the bigger questions about occupation and a two-state solution, that could put Mr. Biden on another collision course with Mr. Netanyahu when the fighting is scheduled to resume.

A top administration official, who briefed reporters on Tuesday in the hours before the deal was finalized, said the pause in fighting was a step toward an eventual push for peace. But the official cautioned that such a possibility was a long way off.


The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss a deal that had not yet been finalized.


In the short term, the president and his aides say they are focused on ensuring that Hamas lives up to the promises the militant group made during weeks of negotiations that often seemed destined to fail.


The first sign of progress came in late October, when U.S. officials received word through intermediaries in Qatar and Egypt that Hamas could accept a deal to release women and children. In return, they wanted Israel to free Palestinian prisoners, pause the fighting, and delay a ground invasion.


With Israeli troops massing outside Gaza, officials in Israel and the United States debated whether to accept the deal. Israeli officials did not think Hamas was serious about the offer and refused to delay the ground offensive. Hamas refused to provide any proof of life about the hostages. Negotiations stalled.


At the White House, Mr. Biden and his foreign policy team kept pressing. On Nov. 14, hope swelled again after Mr. Netanyahu called the president to say he could accept the latest offer from Hamas. But just hours after the call, Israeli military forces stormed Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza, which they said served as a Hamas command center. Suddenly, communications between Hamas and the officials in Qatar and Egypt went silent. When Hamas resurfaced hours later, they made it clear: The deal was off.


For several days, the militant group demanded that Israeli troops withdraw from the hospital, which Israel refused. It took several days for the talks to resume, following a call from Mr. Biden to the emir of Qatar.


Administration officials continued pressing Israel and, through the intermediaries, Hamas. After Mr. Biden’s call, top aides, including the director of the C.I.A., met with the emir in Qatar to go over the latest draft — a six-page text with detailed steps for implementation on both sides.


Within a week, the diplomatic pressure paid off. On Tuesday evening, as the Israeli cabinet took its final vote to approve the deal, Mr. Biden headed out of Washington for a five-day Thanksgiving vacation with his family on the island of Nantucket.


The Israeli decision, announced by Mr. Netanyahu’s office, would allow for a pause of at least four days in the fighting in Gaza. If it holds, it will be the longest halt in hostilities since Hamas’s Oct. 7 attacks prompted Israel to begin its bombardment of Gaza.

In a statement on Tuesday night, Mr. Biden pledged to work with regional leaders “to ensure this deal is carried through in its entirety. It is important that all aspects of this deal be fully implemented.”


But even with the deal in place, Mr. Biden faces challenges ahead. There are still Americans being held hostage in Gaza, and the tensions in the United States, and within his own party, show few signs of diminishing.


Officials said they were keenly aware that the horror for the families of those still in captivity in Gaza will not end until their loved ones are home.


For Mr. Biden, it could not happen soon enough.

“As president, I have no higher priority than ensuring the safety of Americans held hostage around the world,” Mr. Biden said in his statement, adding, “Today’s deal should bring home additional American hostages, and I will not stop until they are all released.”

So Biden has been telling Bibi to chill, but Bibi is not listening to him.

Makes sense.

 

[DLF]

Vote indedepent

 

[RustyShackleford]

Vote indedepent Help Trump win

 

[Public Enemy]

Finally getting a sequel to

It seems to be for the time period 2004-2008

Kellogg, Kraft Win Antitrust Suit Against Egg Companies (Correct)

General Mills Inc., a Kraft Heinz Co. unit, Kellogg Co., and Nestle SA for years likely overpaid for eggs because the nation’s largest producers and two trade groups conspired to restrict the supply, an Illinois federal jury decided on Tuesday.

news.bloomberglaw.com

"the jury found that damages would be limited to 2004-2008. The plaintiffs had alleged the conspiracy ran from 1998 to 2008 with damages extending through 2012."

Cal-Maine to appeal decision in egg price fixing lawsuit (NASDAQ:CALM)

Cal-Maine Foods plans to appeal a verdict that found them liable in a conspiracy to inflate egg prices. Read more here.

seekingalpha.com

 

[Nike Jordan]

 

[osh kosh bosh]

Why would I do that?


There are more takeaways in that poll like:

- a majority (2/3) of Democrats who know their representatives' stance on Israel find them much more supportive of the country than they actually are.

Yah im not surprised that high information voters have much more ideologically doctrinaire political positions. and so?

the point is nothing in that polling says "biden is too soft on Israel" is some super popular position with democratic party.

You've tried to present it twice now by cherry picking polls that like 70% party wants Biden to be harder on Israel. And this is to say nothing of independents who Biden also needs to win.

It's obviously not the case.

You don't agree with Biden's handling of Israel. I get it, stop presenting it like it's just sage political advice.

hese are the people with the clearance levels who see how some of the sausage gets made, and they feel strongly enough about the WH and Congress' stance to sign open letters calling the administration to turn down the level of support for Israel

So? Yah again the most highly educated and elite members of the democratic party, disagree with Biden. That's not evidence that they are tapped into what the median voter thinks.

And again are you making a political case or a policy case.

You just need to accept that what's rational to you and me may not be rational to people who are close enough to this conflict to get worried when they see an international number on their phone.

There's nothing for me to accept. It hasn't happened. You're are saying it will happen I'm saying it won't.

I'll accept it when Biden loses Michigan on the backs of Arab Americans deciding to elect Trump.

Those voters are not looking at abstaining as "voting FOR Trump;" they're looking at it as not voting for someone who is not going to raise the finger to protect their families and friends. It's a moral thing, and morality is not always rational. Obviously, nothing says that they won't change their position in a year, but this is where we currently stand.

Yah I don't believe them. And even if did I don't believe it will hold in a year.

And bottom line I don't think it's a strong enough political argument for changing the policy.

A year from now a group of people in one swing state will do something totally irrational.

Why would Biden change a policy he clearly believes in based on such a weak political argument?


Imo you should just stop with the political argument and say you don't like Biden's policy. Instead pretending he should change it based on what irrational behaviour might happen based on reasoning that doesn't make sense, a year from now..

 

[Based Jesus]

 

[Belgium]

What in the high fashion hell are those, b.

Even I was baffled when I opened Saint Laurent's new arrivals recently and that was one of the first that popped up
The term glazed leather immediately reminded me of donuts but apparently it's just waterproofed leather that maintains the patent leather-ish glossy look.

Either way it if I did end up buying them it still wouldn't be the wildest thing I've worn to the office (see below)
A while back our Officer Manager was giving an onboarding tour to a new coworker and the newbie asker her "what about the dress code?"
The office manager replied "uh, there is none. look around, you've got Nick there in a giant Pikachu t-shirt, Tom's wearing some death metal band shirt with cargo shorts and (my name) is, uh, well you'll see."

 

[mplsdunk]

Dress code in an office is insane to me, as long as you’re not wearing anything hateful who cares?

 

[Belgium]

Dress code in an office is insane to me, as long as you’re not wearing anything hateful who cares?

Judging by the people from other companies I see around in the office tower our office is in, I assume quite a few of the companies have a dress code. The idea has always been silly to me and I wouldn't appreciate a dress code.
I don't know all the companies off the top of my head but some of the office floors house a huge international accounting firm, a Federal Tax Agency office, ... so that's probably why I see so many of the exact same corporate/officewear fits every day.

 

[mplsdunk]

Government workers here dress like total bums.

Slap on some khakis that don’t fit, an under armor golf shirt, some hokas and your badge and head to work.

But yeah dress code is silly. Especially if you just stay in the office.

 

[DLF]

How anti-semetic