America - The Official Thread

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Everyone likes to watch a good car chase


Edit: He made it to the freeway!

Edit: Finally stopped and ran on the streets. Why? You were doing so good! I mean the chopper lights were on them the whole time so they weren't getting away but c'mon! I was expecting that to end in a horrible crash with another car because they couldn't react in time going at such high speeds. Thankfully no one got hurt. 100 mph on service streets. Jeez...
 
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All I heard was gunfire and police sirens last night. Turns out 4 SWAT officers were fired at and injured. I still hear sirens during my run despite it being dawn.

PzR Slim
Anyone over in the US confirm if this video is legit. Is it doing the rounds over there? Looks mighty suspicious if it is.
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I’ve seen reports on that being the case in Texas where bricks were unloaded at an important building. Protesters pointed out how the bricks were perfectly placed on the street corner and were untouched.
 
PzR Slim
Anyone over in the US confirm if this video is legit. Is it doing the rounds over there? Looks mighty suspicious if it is.
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I'm gonna doubt it. Every one of these "mysterious brick" stories I've read has had a backstory that ends with them being there days before the protests.
phillkillv2
I’ve seen reports on that being the case in Texas where bricks were unloaded at an important building. Protesters pointed out how the bricks were perfectly placed on the street corner and were untouched.
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If you're referring to here in Dallas, that's debunked. They have been there for weeks, they're even on a Google Street photo.

Don't know why there's always this growing trend after a major event where people desperately want to believe some New World Order is secretly behind everything from Antifa to cops.
 
McLaren
I'm gonna doubt it. Every one of these "mysterious brick" stories I've read has had a backstory that ends with them being there days before the protests.

If you're referring to here in Dallas, that's debunked. They have been there for weeks, they're even on a Google Street photo.

Don't know why there's always this growing trend after a major event where people desperately want to believe some New World Order is secretly behind everything from Antifa to cops.
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Good to know it’s debunked.
 
McLaren
If you're referring to here in Dallas, that's debunked. They have been there for weeks, they're even on a Google Street photo.

Don't know why there's always this growing trend after a major event where people desperately want to believe some New World Order is secretly behind everything from Antifa to cops.
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Woah Google's in on it too. /s

PzR Slim
Anyone over in the US confirm if this video is legit. Is it doing the rounds over there? Looks mighty suspicious if it is.
Click to expand...

It's tough to tell what's going on with such a short clip.
 
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Holy crap. Biden goes after Trump like a lifeguard goes after a knife-wielding bad hombre at a public pool in 1950s Wilmington, Virginia Delaware*...or something.



"...

The president held up the bible at St. John's Church yesterday, I just wish he opened it once in a while instead of brandishing it. If he opened it, he could have learned something; that we're all called to love each other as we love ourselves. That's really hard work, but it's the work of America.

Donald Trump isn't interested in doing that work. Instead, he's preening and sweeping away all the guardrails that have long protected our democracy; guardrails that have helped make possible this nation's path to a more perfect Union; a Union that constantly requires reform and rededication, and yes, the protest from voices that are mistreated, ignored, left out or left behind. But it is a Union--a Union worth fighting for--and that's why I'm running for president.

In addition to the bible, the president might also want to open the U.S. Constitution once in a while. If he did, he'd find a thing called the First Amendment, and what it says at the beginning, it says 'the right of the people peacably to assemble, and to petition their Government for a redress of grievances.' That's kind of an essential notion built into this country. Mr. President, that's America.

..."

I don't respect Biden. I don't like Biden. I won't vote for Biden. ... But I'll take Biden.

Let a Republican majority Senate fight him on absolutely everything, as they can be expected to do, and I wager he'll still manage to be presidential.

As an aside, I cringed at the notion that Trump should love others as he loves himself, for a made-for-TV movie on Lifetime wouldn't be so cloyingly sappy. No such love for another can be shown like that of his love for himself.

*:dunce:

Virginia? Where did that come from?

 
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TB
Unless I'm missing something, not voting for Biden is essentially a vote for Trump.
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If I decline to vote for president in the 2020 election, instead sticking to lesser races and ballot measures, Trump doesn't get my vote. If I vote for an as yet unknown candidate for president in the 2020 election, Trump doesn't get my vote. If I write in "Murder Hornet" as I've been contemplating lately, Trump doesn't get my vote. The only way for Trump to get my vote is if I vote for Trump, and I'd sooner vote for Biden. But I won't like myself if I vote for Biden. If Trump's getting four more years is somehow the result of Biden having not gotten my individual vote, I'll be unhappy but I wouldn't do anything differently if given the opportunity.

To be clear, I'm not voting for Biden because I don't respect him and I don't like him. But I'll take him.

I'm not not voting for him because of trumped-up sexual assault allegations. Mind you I believe 100% that Biden is a groper and I absolutely consider that to be sexual assault in the absence of consent, but Tara Reade's allegation changing from groping (an allegation that I'm pretty sure I believe and that was corroborated by coworkers in that office) to penetrative assault corresponded a little too conveniently with the heavy criticism directed at Trump for mishandling the pandemic. A part of me wonders if Jacob Wohl got involved, having learned from his attack on Mueller that an actual accuser is necessary, and it's looking more and more like Reade is willing to lie for money if investigations into whether she provided false testimony as an expert witness are anything to go by.

I'm also not not voting for Biden because of trumped-up allegations of impropriety in connection with Benghazi Benghazi Benghazi Benghazi...dammit...Benghazi Benghazi Benghazi Benghazi...oh come on...Benghazi Benghazi Benghazi Benghazi Benghazi BURISMA[!!!], as that's just conspiratorial claptrap pushed by Trumpkins.

I'm voting my conscience, and my conscience says to not vote for Biden. But I'll take him.
 
TB
Unless I'm missing something, not voting for Biden is essentially a vote for Trump.
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That's one way of looking at it, however, say you're a Trump supporter and you hear someone is going to vote third party. Your initial thought would be a vote for Candidate XYZ is a vote for Biden since you're not voting for Trump.

I tend to look at it as "I'm voting for the person who's values and ideals most align with my own". This is typically the Libertarian candidate, but not always. In 2016 I didn't vote for Gary Johnson, however, this time around Jo Jorgensen is currently at the top of my list. Will she win? No, I know that, but at least I can feel comfortable that I voted for someone who I thought could do a good job instead of just voting for someone because they're the lesser of two evils.

My hope is at some point we get away from the two-party system. The only way to make that happen is to start with myself and do my due diligence in researching candidates from various parties to see who I think the best fit is. If the best candidate ends up being a Democrat or Republican, then so be it, but given my ideology on things that's rarely the case. The one big exception is for state government. A Mormon Republican will win by default here in Utah, I know it, the guy down the street knows it, even the Democrats know it. So I go through the process to switch my voter information to register as a Republican so I can vote in the primary and choose the least worst Mormon Republican to run the state and then just vote for whoever I want in the general election since it doesn't matter.
 
In the event that Biden is elected, however unlikely that may be, I've got April 2021 for the first concerted effort by the Republicans to get rid of him. I don't mean "hurr durr but they wanted to impeach him before he was elected" (that's an obvious one with the Ukraine bull****); I mean an actual effort by Republicans in Congress.
 
Joey D
That's one way of looking at it, however, say you're a Trump supporter and you hear someone is going to vote third party. Your initial thought would be a vote for Candidate XYZ is a vote for Biden since you're not voting for Trump.

I tend to look at it as "I'm voting for the person who's values and ideals most align with my own". This is typically the Libertarian candidate, but not always. In 2016 I didn't vote for Gary Johnson, however, this time around Jo Jorgensen is currently at the top of my list. Will she win? No, I know that, but at least I can feel comfortable that I voted for someone who I thought could do a good job instead of just voting for someone because they're the lesser of two evils.

My hope is at some point we get away from the two-party system. The only way to make that happen is to start with myself and do my due diligence in researching candidates from various parties to see who I think the best fit is. If the best candidate ends up being a Democrat or Republican, then so be it, but given my ideology on things that's rarely the case. The one big exception is for state government. A Mormon Republican will win by default here in Utah, I know it, the guy down the street knows it, even the Democrats know it. So I go through the process to switch my voter information to register as a Republican so I can vote in the primary and choose the least worst Mormon Republican to run the state and then just vote for whoever I want in the general election since it doesn't matter.
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I may be in the boring majority, but I think like this:

If there is a candidate with a reasonable chance of being competitive that aligns with my positions AND has leadership ability and a strong ethical foundation, then oh yeah, sign me up! However, that planetary alignment seems to be rare...

Imagine these candidates:
1. Agree with on issues, has good personal qualities, has no chance
2. Disagree with on issues, has good personal qualities, has a chance
3. Agree with on issues, has bad personal qualities, has a chance

On balance, I'll take #2 every time. I'd rather have a President in which I could reasonably expect them to act with some morality, even if I disagree with them, than one like Trump (even if I agreed with his positions! - though that becomes somewhat contradictory) where you basically expect cruelty in every action. I don't think Biden would be a bad President. I think he would be solidly middle-pack...which sounds pretty damn good right now.
 
I agree with this 100%. It's a good and just plan. I predict it will happen.


BREAKING|167,641 views|Jun 1, 2020,01:19pm EDT
BET Founder Calls For $14 Trillion In Slavery Reparations

Tommy BeerForbes Staff
Business
  • BET founder Robert Johnson argued Monday that "now is the time" for white America to acknowledge damages resulting from slavery, and for the U.S. Government to provide reparations in the sum of a $14 trillion wealth transfer to help prevent the country from splitting into separate and unequal societies.

    960x0.jpg

    BEDMINSTER TOWNSHIP, NJ - NOVEMBER 20: President-elect Donald Trump (C) greets Robert Johnson (R), ... [+]GETTY IMAGES
    KEY FACTS
    He was interviewed by CNBC on Monday morning, following six nights of protests, largely focused on police brutality, that have ravaged the country.

    Johnson told CNBC that "now is the time to go big," and that the government should pay trillions of dollars for reparations to help reduce racial inequality.

    Johnson called reparations the "affirmative action program of all time," and added that they were so important because it would demonstrate that white Americans acknowledge "damages that are owed" for the injustices created by slavery.

    Later Monday morning on CNBC, Merck Chairman and CEO Ken Frazier, who is black, said he was skeptical that a reparations bill would find requisite governmental support.
    https://www.forbes.com/sites/tommyb...trillion-in-slavery-reparations/#221d8eafa899
 
Dotini
I agree with this 100%. It's a good and just plan. I predict it will happen.


BREAKING|167,641 views|Jun 1, 2020,01:19pm EDT
BET Founder Calls For $14 Trillion In Slavery Reparations

Tommy BeerForbes Staff
Business
  • BET founder Robert Johnson argued Monday that "now is the time" for white America to acknowledge damages resulting from slavery, and for the U.S. Government to provide reparations in the sum of a $14 trillion wealth transfer to help prevent the country from splitting into separate and unequal societies.

    960x0.jpg

    BEDMINSTER TOWNSHIP, NJ - NOVEMBER 20: President-elect Donald Trump (C) greets Robert Johnson (R), ... [+]GETTY IMAGES
    KEY FACTS
    He was interviewed by CNBC on Monday morning, following six nights of protests, largely focused on police brutality, that have ravaged the country.

    Johnson told CNBC that "now is the time to go big," and that the government should pay trillions of dollars for reparations to help reduce racial inequality.

    Johnson called reparations the "affirmative action program of all time," and added that they were so important because it would demonstrate that white Americans acknowledge "damages that are owed" for the injustices created by slavery.

    Later Monday morning on CNBC, Merck Chairman and CEO Ken Frazier, who is black, said he was skeptical that a reparations bill would find requisite governmental support.
    https://www.forbes.com/sites/tommyb...trillion-in-slavery-reparations/#221d8eafa899
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Yeah, that's going to happen. Economy is a completely awful spot right now where the already projected additional $3 trillion stimulus bill would be shot down by the Senate, and it won't be til' after Memorial Day that negotiations are to start on it.
 
McLaren
Yeah, that's going to happen. Economy is a completely awful spot right now where the already projected additional $3 trillion stimulus bill would be shot down by the Senate, and it won't be til' after Memorial Day that negotiations are to start on it.
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I glad to see you don't disagree that reparations are the right and just thing to do, and that your only objection is on economic grounds. I feel confident any economic price is justified if the alternative is social breakdown, violence, rebellion or civil war.
 
Dotini
I glad to see you don't disagree that reparations are the right and just thing to do, and that your only objection is on economic grounds. I feel confident any economic price is justified if the alternative is social breakdown, violence, rebellion or civil war.
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Classic Dotinian sensationalism, if I may say so. This strikes me as a rightie-baiting move, possibly even a publicity stunt. Surely even Johnson doesn't realistically think there's 14 trillion dollars in the US economy available for such a move.

Somehow I don't think the average African-American is this ambitiously greedy, regardless of whether or not they agree with his motives. But I hope people won't be lining up to use this article as a basis on which to characterise black Americans as gold diggers.
 
Dotini
I glad to see you don't disagree that reparations are the right and just thing to do, and that your only objection is on economic grounds. I feel confident any economic price is justified if the alternative is social breakdown, violence, rebellion or civil war.
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I don't agree with it at all. Money does not automatically fix current injustices, & these reparations have a tendency to just give off the presumption that all white Americans owe all black Americans regardless of individual family history. Which is where much of the backlash comes in.
 
McLaren
I don't agree with it at all. Money does not automatically fix current injustices, & these reparations have a tendency to just give off the presumption that all white Americans owe all black Americans regardless of individual family history. Which is where much of the backlash comes in.
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I think a case could be made for giving reparations to African-Americans born pre-1965 in the Jim Crow South. Slavery however was way too long ago and only a tiny fraction of white Americans alive today are descended from slave owners.
 
PeterJB
I think a case could be made for giving reparations to African-Americans born pre-1965 in the Jim Crow South. Slavery however was way too long ago and only a tiny fraction of white Americans alive today are descended from slave owners.
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40 acres and a mule were promised to all slaves by the US. This promise was not kept. But I believe it must now be kept, at least in spirit.

Something real and meaningful must be done to address poverty and inequality. Words are not enough. Money and real estate should be part of the deal.
 
More journalists suffered interference, arrest or issues with the police in one weekend that the normally would in an entire year, not a good look at all.

https://www.ft.com/content/df31f4a5...TRs0VrKCxuvUI6OaD46HQP10dgWWa4NYpeIF0EL3-fYoc


PeterJB
Slavery however was way too long ago and only a tiny fraction of white Americans alive today are descended from slave owners.
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That's not how the numbers work on that, At the peak of slave ownership in the US of 1860, approx 7.5% of families owned slaves, with a population of circa 31 million (1860 census), very roughly that's around 5 million families (based on 6 people families), so 375,000 slave-owning families (ignores those that rented slaves rather than owned) and assuming the head of the family owns the slaves, that's roughly 375,000 slave owners.

Now looking at a generation as being roughly 30 years and a lowball of 2 children per owner and six generations, we get 128 descendants per owner, for 375,000 slave owners that's 48 million people. The white population of the US is circa 197 million, so that's roughly 25% based on a low ball number. That's not a tiny fraction at all.

https://www.politifact.com/factchec...viral-post-gets-it-wrong-extent-slavery-1860/
 
Monetary reparations/grants of property must be made to all current black US citizens, otherwise poverty and inequality are not addressed. The money and property should come from the federal government as originally promised, and not punitively from individual white citizens.
 
TexRex
In the event that Biden is elected, however unlikely that may be, I've got April 2021 for the first concerted effort by the Republicans to get rid of him. I don't mean "hurr durr but they wanted to impeach him before he was elected" (that's an obvious one with the Ukraine bull****); I mean an actual effort by Republicans in Congress.
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They're going to beat your estimate by about 10 months:
Senate Republicans Set Summer Of Investigations Involving Biden

What an absolutely insane waste of time, money, and effort when the country has two major crisis going on.

Eunos_Cosmo
I may be in the boring majority, but I think like this:

If there is a candidate with a reasonable chance of being competitive that aligns with my positions AND has leadership ability and a strong ethical foundation, then oh yeah, sign me up! However, that planetary alignment seems to be rare...

Imagine these candidates:
1. Agree with on issues, has good personal qualities, has no chance
2. Disagree with on issues, has good personal qualities, has a chance
3. Agree with on issues, has bad personal qualities, has a chance

On balance, I'll take #2 every time. I'd rather have a President in which I could reasonably expect them to act with some morality, even if I disagree with them, than one like Trump (even if I agreed with his positions! - though that becomes somewhat contradictory) where you basically expect cruelty in every action. I don't think Biden would be a bad President. I think he would be solidly middle-pack...which sounds pretty damn good right now.
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I agree I'd take #2 as well, but I don't think Biden fits #2 because he has bad personal qualities, so he's like a #4. Trump would also be a #4 as I disagree with him on the issues, has bad personal qualities, and has a chance. I don't want a #4, I want a #1, will settle for a #2, and want a #3 and #4 flung into the sun. In my opinion, Bernie Sanders fit #2 since I didn't agree with him, but I thought as a person, he was good for a politician.

Dotini
Monetary reparations/grants of property must be made to all current black US citizens, otherwise poverty and inequality are not addressed. The money and property should come from the federal government as originally promised, and not punitively from individual white citizens.
Click to expand...

Where do you think the federal money comes from? I mean yes, they clearly have a money forest growing somewhere in the northeast, but for the most part it comes from the people. I don't owe slavery reparations. My family came from Scotland in the early 1900s, settled in Canada, and eventually moved to Detroit to work beer industry. They never owned slaves, nor were even Americans at the time slavery was legal. They also lived in the north, where there weren't Jim Crow laws.

What African Americans are owed at this point is a system that respects their rights.
 

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