[Aptorian]

Understandable.

[Malankazooie]

Here come the pardons. And I think this is just the beginning. Buckle up, cause this could be a wild ride.

[Cause]

He pardoned two border agents who shot an unarmed man and than tried to cover it up? Is there more to this story? That’s crazy even for him.

Edit - https://www.cnn.com/...bill/index.html

Art of the deal at it again

This post has been edited by Cause: 23 December 2020 - 02:09 AM

[Grief]

Aptorian, on 21 December 2020 - 08:02 AM, said:

I think he's referring to the American stimulus package for corona-relief.

We really should have a refresh of the Discussion board rules, requiring people to provide context, preferably an article, before posting about a topic.

My 2c (chiefly as a member) is that this would probably discourage people from posting more than it's worth. It also leaves people (and mods) having to judge what needs citations and what doesn't. We can encourage people to flesh their posts out more - and to ask for clarifications when someone hasn't provided context - but I don't think rule-changes that make the barriers for posting higher is a great solution. I think it's perhaps more a question of culture.

I do think it's periodically worth discussing what people want out of these threads, and what we can do there from a moderation perspective, so happy to listen to any thoughts.

[HoosierDaddy]

This thread's quality waxes and wanes with the elections. You get far more participation in the electoral years/cycles, which leads to far more pretty less than quality posts, as it is more of an all-purpose banter/reaction/bull-shitting thread that kind of ramps up for a short period of time.

I suspect once Biden gets into office (or past the Georgia run-offs) we'll see a die down in activity in this thread and the low-quality posts will go with them for the most part.

IMHO.

[Macros]

Generally I follow it's just things occasionally dropped in that Americans or people who follow US politics closely will catch, where as I get most of my US info from here because the news on the whole depresses me and I don't follow much of it.

Who a that orange bastard (heh, that made me giggle for a whole NI other reason) pardons now will be, I won't say shocking, but fucking disgraceful

[Aptorian]

Grief, on 23 December 2020 - 03:09 AM, said:

Aptorian, on 21 December 2020 - 08:02 AM, said:

I think he's referring to the American stimulus package for corona-relief.

We really should have a refresh of the Discussion board rules, requiring people to provide context, preferably an article, before posting about a topic.

My 2c (chiefly as a member) is that this would probably discourage people from posting more than it's worth. It also leaves people (and mods) having to judge what needs citations and what doesn't. We can encourage people to flesh their posts out more - and to ask for clarifications when someone hasn't provided context - but I don't think rule-changes that make the barriers for posting higher is a great solution. I think it's perhaps more a question of culture.

I do think it's periodically worth discussing what people want out of these threads, and what we can do there from a moderation perspective, so happy to listen to any thoughts.

I agree and disagree. Of course the casual commentary and funny quip should be allowed but when commenting on a new event, like Trump's tweet of the day or some, to me, obscure court case - It should be expected that people provide context. Doesn't have to be a link but there should at least be a reference or explanation of what they want to discuss.

I can copy paste a handful of comments from the last two pages that are nonsensical if you haven't read what ever breaking bullshit is trending.

Edit: What I'm asking here doesn't actually require a rule change, I'm really just imploring people to put a little effort into their posts if they want an actual discussion.

This post has been edited by Aptorian: 23 December 2020 - 09:57 AM

[Terez]

Politico said:

Staffers in the Executive Office of the President were informed Tuesday that they "will start departing" on the week of Jan. 4, according to an email from the White House Management Office.

The memo, which was obtained by POLITICO, also included information pertaining to outgoing employees' payroll, benefits, sick leave, work records, ethics debriefing and security clearance.

Staffers were notified that they would receive a "comprehensive checklist" in the coming days and directed to "take inventory of your office space."

https://www.politico...ructions-450224

[Malankazooie]

Moving day is the worst.

[Malankazooie]

Yowzers, $2,000 now goes to the Senate. That's pretty much a non starter for them and it dies there, yeah?

If this does go through, how is Trump going to benefit himself from it? . . . the "fighting for the working man and those suffering from the China virus" president.

[Cause]

I think just giving people 2000 dollars is a great way to buy friendship.

Just as costing people 300 dollars of unemployment benefits for no reason is a great way to piss people off.

Let’s see what they say in Georgia.

I think really it’s just another example of the great negotiator doing a power move and than having to have his aids explain to him that the deadline was Sunday midnight before the government shuts down and so he had to backdown.

[Cause]

I think just giving people 2000 dollars is a great way to buy friendship.

Just as costing people 300 dollars of unemployment benefits for no reason is a great way to piss people off.

Let’s see what they say in Georgia.

I think really it’s just another example of the great negotiator doing a power move and than having to have his aids explain to him that the deadline was Sunday midnight before the government shuts down and so he had to backdown.

[Abyss]

Terez, on 23 December 2020 - 03:17 PM, said:

Politico said:

Staffers in the Executive Office of the President were informed Tuesday that they "will start departing" on the week of Jan. 4, according to an email from the White House Management Office.

The memo, which was obtained by POLITICO, also included information pertaining to outgoing employees' payroll, benefits, sick leave, work records, ethics debriefing and security clearance.

Staffers were notified that they would receive a "comprehensive checklist" in the coming days and directed to "take inventory of your office space."

https://www.politico...ructions-450224

You just know they're going to remove the B from all the keyboards.

[Malankazooie]

Definitely gonna be a political football, and it will impact Jan. 5. To what degree, not sure. It is to be determined what end zone that football will be spiked in, but the Democrats have been really terrible at framing and getting a message behind these things to their benefit. We shall see. Hopefully it goes their way. I don't think $2,000 will happen though.

[Azath Vitr (D'ivers]

Malankazooie, on 29 December 2020 - 06:03 PM, said:

Definitely gonna be a political football, and it will impact Jan. 5. To what degree, not sure. It is to be determined what end zone that football will be spiked in, but the Democrats have been really terrible at framing and getting a message behind these things to their benefit. We shall see. Hopefully it goes their way. I don't think $2,000 will happen though.

'With [...]Trump pushing for the bigger checks despite Republican resistance, Loeffler was cornered into supporting the popular provision after the House passed a bill increasing the direct relief. [...]

Perdue quickly followed up, tweeting that Trump "is right" and that he supports "this push for $2,000 in direct relief." Both Democratic Senate candidates in Georgia have openly supported increasing the checks from $600 to $2,000 and have made the issue a central focus heading into next week's runoffs. At the same time, it should be noted that Perdue specifically opposed the first round of $1,200 relief checks and refused to answer questions about the $2,000 payments until Tuesday.

Despite Loeffler's and Perdue's endorsement, it's still unclear if McConnell will have the 12 Republicans necessary to pass the measure in the Senate.'

https://www.thedaily...unoffs?ref=home

Guessing they're pretty certain it won't pass the Senate.

https://www.thedaily...unoffs?ref=home

This post has been edited by Azath Vitr (D'ivers: 04 January 2021 - 08:08 PM

[Cause]

Still it’s all kinda scary. I mean I guess it’s the governments jobs an therefore the jobs of politicians but it’s certainly created a situation were politicians are basically promising money to people in exchange for votes. Unusual situation absolutely but it seems unethical. I almost feel like they should have to revise themselves or something.

[Mentalist]

Cause, on 29 December 2020 - 06:40 PM, said:

Still it’s all kinda scary. I mean I guess it’s the governments jobs an therefore the jobs of politicians but it’s certainly created a situation were politicians are basically promising money to people in exchange for votes. Unusual situation absolutely but it seems unethical. I almost feel like they should have to revise themselves or something.

It's incredibly common to appeal to a certain segment by offering policies that favour them in some way.

This time it just happens to be almost everyone, *shrug*.

[Cause]

It’s not an uncommon occurrence but it’s not usually so direct, and so obviously politically charged.

[Azath Vitr (D'ivers]

'Trump Bizarrely Declares the Georgia Runoff "Illegal and Invalid"

Trump is trying to convince his followers that the Senate special election in Georgia is “both illegal and invalid” because of a bizarre election conspiracy theory, a move that could spell trouble for the two Republicans hoping to win re-election on Jan. 5. In a series of tweets late Friday, [...] Republicans have expressed concern that Trump’s constant attacks on Georgia’s Republican governor and secretary of state, voter fraud conspiracy theories, and feuds with congressional Republicans will depress turnout among conservative voters'

https://www.thedaily...nvalid?ref=home

[Malankazooie]

Wacky week coming up for Trump. You guys think he keeps it low key, or nah, he gonna Trump? I believe I heard he has an "anti-Biden rally" planned for when the last, procedural, and ceremonial, step is finalized Wednesday.