Phil1111

After this I would never buy a Lenovo product. The influence that the Chinese state has through outright ownership and control of Chinese corporations is absolute.

You're just full of yourself aren't you? Kinda like a 19 year old teenager that has sex for the first time!! Grassley endorses conspiracy theory that women objecting to Kavanaugh are paid protesters "During an interview on Fox Business News, Maria Bartiromo asked Grassley, “Do you believe George Soros is behind all of this? Paying these people to get you and your colleagues in elevators or wherever they can get in your face.” Grassley replied, “I have heard so many people believe that. I tend to believe it. I believe it fit in his attack-mode he has, and how he uses his billions and billions of resources.” https://littlevillagemag.com/grassley-endorses-conspiracy-theory-that-women-objecting-to-kavanaugh-are-paid-protesters/

The Big Hack: How China Used a Tiny Chip to Infiltrate U.S. Companies The attack by Chinese spies reached almost 30 U.S. companies, including Amazon and Apple, by compromising America’s technology supply chain, according to extensive interviews with government and corporate sources. During the ensuing top-secret probe, which remains open more than three years later, investigators determined that the chips allowed the attackers to create a stealth doorway into any network that included the altered machines. Multiple people familiar with the matter say investigators found that the chips had been inserted at factories run by manufacturing subcontractors in China. This attack was something graver than the software-based incidents the world has grown accustomed to seeing. Hardware hacks are more difficult to pull off and potentially more devastating, promising the kind of long-term, stealth access that spy agencies are willing to invest millions of dollars and many years to get. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2018-10-04/the-big-hack-how-china-used-a-tiny-chip-to-infiltrate-america-s-top-companies Lenovo and ZTE shares hit by spyware row https://www.bbc.com/news/business-45756685

As he proudly unveiled his new trade deal with Canada this week, President Donald Trump heralded it as a “great victory” "in the milk and cheese heartland of Wisconsin... “It’s probably not going to have any impact at all as far as saving farms,” said Darin Von Rudin, a third-generation dairy producer and head of the Wisconsin Farmers Union. “... Compared to overall production in the U.S., the increased access to Canadian customers is “tiny,” not even enough to meet annual growth in American production, he said. As for the low milk prices U.S. farmers are facing, announcement of a tentative trade agreement had no effect on the market, said Mike North, president of the Wisconsin Dairy Business Association. “The price of milk, the price of product, there has been no movement on this news,” he said. “The net impact has been zero.”... What dairy farmers were offered in the deal is “mainly symbolic,” and represents only a small reduction in Canadian protectionism, Economist Ethan Harris of Bank of America Merrill Lynch said in a note to clients, CNBC reported. https://lfpress.com/news/economy/trump-called-it-a-great-victory-but-u-s-dairy-farmers-doubtful-the-deal-with-canada-will-solve-their-troubles/wcm/862512e1-1005-426f-bd71-6dee08e0dfcb

I thought of that, But don't forget, the donald was trying to weasel his way into the entire inheritance by amending Fred's will two years prior to his death. In addition that dosn't take into account transfers of assets as outlined in the NYT story. Its all good to trump supporters. Lying, cheating charities, cheating the government, cheating on wives with dozens of other women. Heck its likely to increase his polling numbers! It like when a prison inmate assaults a couple guards. In the minds of other inmates he becomes a hero. What say you Ron, Marc?

One billion in NY real estate has risen fourfold in the last 17 years. https://www.trulia.com/real_estate/New_York-New_York/market-trends/ Which means trumps 2000 inheritance would now be worth $4 billion. His actual is $2.8. http://time.com/5296830/donald-trump-net-worth-2018/ So he can't even beat the general market.

The "squeeze in global supplies is due in part to....trump! As he has enacted an attempt to cut off Iranian oil exports. US ready to drive Iranian oil exports to zero, says US national security adviser https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/aug/22/us-ready-to-drive-iranian-oil-exports-to-zero-says-us-national-security-adviser Plus to a lessor extent Venezuela and Libyan production issues. The previously quoted http://theconversation.com/factcheck-do-australians-pay-high-petrol-taxes-29264 chart of taxes/prices for major countries. Is interesting when looking at Norway. A major oil exporter, it has used high taxes to preserve environment, encourage conservation and Norwegians get richer as sovereign wealth fund adds billions https://www.cbc.ca/news/thenational/national-today-newsletter-budget-ghana-peacekeepers-norway-1.4552553

IRS Can Audit for Three Years, Six, or Forever: Here’s How to Tell https://www.americanbar.org/publications/blt/2017/08/06_wood.html 6. No Return or Fraudulent Return. What if you never file a return or file a fraudulent one? The IRS has no time limit if you never file a return or if it can prove civil or criminal fraud. If you file a return, can the IRS ever claim that your return didn’t count so that the statute of limitations never starts to run? The answer is “yes.” If you don’t sign your return, the IRS does not consider it a valid tax return. That means the three years can never start to run. The donald will likely already be wearing his orange jumpsuit by the time the IRS get around to him. Showtime to air documentary on NYT Trump tax story https://thehill.com/homenews/media/409595-showtime-to-air-documentary-on-nyt-trump-investigation "Showtime announced Tuesday evening it will air a new documentary film centered on a bombshell New York Times report alleging President Trump accrued millions of dollars from "dubious" tax schemes. "The film follows a team of New York Times investigative reporters through their diligent and intense efforts in uncovering the information that led to this exclusive report," according to a release from the channel. As part of the series "The Fourth Estate," which premiered on Showtime earlier, a film crew was embedded for more than a year to follow Times investigative reporters David Barstow, Russell Buettner and Susanne Craig. The documentary, "The Family Business: Trump and Taxes," will detail the trio's efforts to report on the alleged tax scheme. It will air on Sunday, Oct. 7, at 8:30 p.m. EST." That would be.....mmmmm.... 30days before midterms. But for trump cultists this is likely a selling point. Defrauding the state is conduct to be applauded. All government is bad and every action is legitimate if it keeps your money in your pocket.

Baloney. You "share" things that are deliberately provocative, and then whine and cry that you are 'attacked' when the ridiculousness of what you post is pointed out. IMO Ron dosn't whine and cry. In addition its wrong for him to view pointed objections of his ideas as attacks. He posts ideas that are inconsistent with the views of Jesus. trump and current republican policy is diametrically opposed to those of Jesus. Ron has explained his position clearly. Immigration, taxes, expanded social programs at the expense or direction of the state. Supersede the ideas and teachings of Jesus Christ.

I put some meat on the bones of your representations. You're talking completely out of your ass; you've not a clue about that which you're talking. Fourth Time's A Charm: How Donald Trump Made Bankruptcy Work For Him https://www.forbes.com/sites/clareoconnor/2011/04/29/fourth-times-a-charm-how-donald-trump-made-bankruptcy-work-for-him/#64700f527ffa The myth and the reality of Donald Trump’s business empire https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2016/02/29/the-myth-and-the-reality-of-donald-trumps-business-empire/?utm_term=.1acd56dfb71e Anyone paying attention knows that's 180 degrees from accurate. Inequality Is Rising Across the Globe — and Skyrocketing in the U.S. http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2017/12/inequality-is-rising-globally-and-soaring-in-the-u-s.html How do US taxes compare internationally? https://www.taxpolicycenter.org/briefing-book/how-do-us-taxes-compare-internationally "Total US tax revenue equaled 26 percent of gross domestic product (GDP), well below the 34 percent average for developed countries " Trump's Corporate Tax Slash Ignores How Little Companies Already Pay https://www.forbes.com/sites/eriksherman/2017/04/24/trumps-corporate-tax-slash-ignores-how-litte-companies-already-pay/#418809d158aa In other words, you consider him a religious leader, empowered divinely. Evangelical Fear Elected Trump The history of evangelicalism in America is shot through with fear—but it also contains an alternative. https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2018/06/a-history-of-evangelical-fear/563558/ The last story explains the thinking of evangelicals well. I know Ron states that he is not a "evangelical". And I prod him with a stick repeatedly with that designation. Just for fun at his expense. But IMO the Christian American tribe is painted with the same white coat of paint, by trump. What the last story lies about, is fear. It describes the true motivations of fear in their use of the bible. Its use of fear by its leaders. All appropriate and correct. But it ends the article with a lie. "But other evangelical options are available. Evangelicals are people of hope, not fear. The practice of Christian hope points us to a life beyond this world, but it also requires us to act in such a way that models God’s coming kingdom. The Kingdom of God is characterized by the love of enemies, the welcoming of strangers, the belief in the human dignity of all people, a humble and self-sacrificial posture toward public life, and a trust in the sovereign God of the universe. Fear is a natural human response to social change, but evangelicals betray their deepest spiritual convictions when they choose to dwell in it."

Well perhaps Jeff is not so much a moderate as he is an independent thinker in the lines of McCain. Calling out the trump cult takeover of the republican party. Has colored my opinions of him, favorably.

I thought there were no events? And I thought they weren’t even there when the events weren’t happening? Now he doesn’t want to talk about how he wasn’t aware of the events when they didn’t happen? Which concisely summarizes trump cult thinking.Christians across America are sending prayers for their boy Kav and death threats to the tramp, Dr. Ford. Here’s where Kavanaugh’s sworn testimony was misleading or wrong https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2018/09/28/heres-where-kavanaughs-sworn-testimony-was-misleading-or-wrong/?utm_term=.5980d441fea8 Top story may let you read story for free: https://www.google.com/search?q=kavanaugh+letter+support+penalty+purgery&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&client=firefox-b or: Every time Ford and Kavanaugh answered the question — and didn't answer the question https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/9/28/17914308/kavanaugh-ford-question-dodge-hearing-chart

Flake is a white man and a conservative. And he is still deluding himself that one day he could be nominated by Republicans for POTUS. His is also a moderate. But still, WTF. All it takes is one election for republicans to regain common sense. To relegate trump to the dustbin of history. Where he belongs.

Will Elon Musk be forced to leave Tesla? https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-45674603 "Elon Musk is in big trouble. Quite how big will depend on the outcome of a lawsuit filed by the US Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday. It accuses Mr Musk of securities fraud after tweeting that he had “funding secured” to take Tesla private, sending the stock price soaring. Mr Musk was lying about having that funding, the SEC said - although Mr Musk has called the lawsuit “unjustified”. Tesla's Musk pulled the plug on a settlement with the SEC at the last minute https://www.cnbc.com/2018/09/28/teslas-musk-pulled-plug-on-settlement-with-sec-at-last-minute.html "Tesla and the Securities and Exchange Commission were very close to a no-guilt settlement Thursday, reported CNBC's Andrew Ross Sorkin on Friday, citing sources. But, these people say Musk pulled out of the agreement at the last minute. Under the terms of the deal, Musk and Tesla would have had to pay a nominal fine, and he would not have had to admit any guilt. However, the settlement would have barred Musk as chairman for two years and would require Tesla to appoint two new independent directors, reported CNBC's David Faber, citing sources." IMO all of the SEC settlement terms are reasonable. In addition Musk needs help with Tesla. He needs a CEO that knows auto manufacturing. Elon, needs some help to keep his unbridled entrepreneurship on track.

I don't have a daughter, but I'd be FAR more comfortable with a trans person in the same bathroom with my daughter (if I had one), wife or sister than I would with her being alone (anywhere) with Kavanaugh or Trump. Ponder that. Ponder logic as a response to biased reasoning. More decisions are made by biased reasoning than by logic. Excellent point.

True of some lawyers, not others. I know several very ethical lawyers. One practices elder care; setting up advance healthcare directives and setting the legal framework for someone else to be the medical decision maker for people too altered to do it themselves. Another is a public defender. She does _not_ make much money, and gets attacked quite often for representing the poor and mentally deficient. A third is an expert in environmental law, and helps corporations navigate through the often-byzantine requirements of the EPA, local zoning and environmental protection standards and committees like the Coastal Commission. There are, of course, other scummy ones. Which means - choose wisely. Wow. So we both know the same two guys, One and a quarter million lawyers in the US. Two honest ones and we happen to know them both! All kidding aside. The FBI should file a report on each nominee before any president puts them up for nomination. A complete report. The yearbooks, Kavanaugh's choir-boy admissions and testimony don't make sense. Setting the assault issues aside. Lying be it on Fox during his interview. Or his testimony yesterday, should disqualify him. Having said that, midterms are near and republicans want this "victory". For their base.

I don't have a daughter, but I'd be FAR more comfortable with a trans person in the same bathroom with my daughter (if I had one), wife or sister than I would with her being alone (anywhere) with Kavanaugh or Trump. Ponder that. Ponder logic as a response to biased reasoning.

One potentially good outcome of this is that other judges with similar backgrounds may see what Kavanaugh went through and have no desire to go through that themselves. (I would say "and perhaps Trump won't nominate such people" but we all know he's not going to change a thing.) Oh! Lord! did you miss the boat on this line of thinking. Judges used to be lawyers. Never forget that concept. They arise from the same class of ambulance chasing, billing for work never done,... At the height of a political corruption trial, the prosecuting attorney attacked a witness. "Isn't it true," he bellowed, "that you accepted five thousand dollars to compromise this case?" The witness stared out the window as though he hadn't hear the question. "Isn't it true that you accepted five thousand dollars to compromise this case?" the lawyer repeated. The witness still did not respond. Finally, the judge leaned over and said, "Sir, please answer the question." "Oh," the startled witness said, "I thought he was talking to you."

Superb work by UK intelligence services.

The statute of limitations? What would be the point? I wonder when Marc gets back from vacation because i don't subscribe to Fox news. I'm sure Fox has the trump cult talking points for Thursday, today. Ron?

How the trade war highlights a culture clash between Chinese patience and Trumpian instant gratification "Wei Yen says that China’s past humiliation by Western powers and the Chinese tendency to wait out confrontation mean that a long drawn-out trade war could work in the country’s favour... Despite this pressure, China is unlikely to succumb to US demands. The typically Chinese response would be to draw out the trade war to gain bargaining power.... However, the way Trump has gone about getting China to concede will backfire. The bullying tactics are reminiscent of how China was humiliated by foreign powers a century ago when the country was weak and the government corrupt. But that was then and this is now. The country is no longer weak and its corruption is under control.... Xi Jinping, the paramount leader in a Confucian society, will be keen to avoid being shamed by the US in public view, a scenario that would also be totally unacceptable to the Chinese leadership and people... In fact, the trade war may have inadvertently strengthened the Chinese resolve to resist foreign intervention while at the same time emboldening its current leadership, which bills itself as the guardian of the “Chinese dream”. The US may also be unwittingly drawn into a game that it started but can't finish gracefully simply because of its misreading of the Chinese character." https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/united-states/article/2165202/how-trade-war-highlights-culture-clash-between

'No accident' Brett Kavanaugh's female law clerks 'looked like models', Yale professor told students Guardian learns Amy Chua said she would advise students on their physical looks to help win post in Kavanaugh’s chambers https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/sep/20/brett-kavanaugh-supreme-court-yale-amy-chua Sounds like a well vetted SC nominee for the serial sexual predator president, trump. Conservatives pushing Kavanaugh’s family-man image https://www.politico.com/story/2018/07/10/brett-m-kavanaugh-708499 Republicans better get this nomination rammed through, drip...drip...drip.

"Corruption was "embedded" in the world athletics body IAAF and its leaders had to be aware of doping scandals in Russia and other countries, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has said in the second part of its report into doping and corruption in athletics." http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-01-15/corruption-embedded-in-world-athletics-body-iaaf-says-wada/7089830 Wada warns doping whistleblowers about dangers of going public https://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/2018/02/08/wada-warns-doping-whistleblowers-dangers-going-public/ Russia doping ban lifted: What now for sport after Wada decision? https://www.bbc.com/sport/45583036 All makes republicans look like choir boys.

Mark Judge, who ostensibly witnessed the alleged attempted rape of Christine Blasey Ford, has no recollection of the alleged incident and has declined an invitation to testify before the Senate Committee. “I have no memory of this alleged incident. Brett Kavanaugh and I were friends in high school but I do not recall the party described in Dr. Ford’s letter,” Judge told the Senate Judiciary Committee in a statement sent by his lawyer. “... I have no more information to offer the committee and I do not wish to speak publicly regarding the incidents described in Dr. Ford’s letter.” Ya, think? They played on the same football team. Were both drinking buddies. If he has no recollection why would he not testify to that under oath to help his old friend, teammate and hard core drinking buddy? His testimony would clear his friend, discredit Kavanaugh's accuser and end the discussion. Who is Mark Judge? Here's what we know about Brett Kavanaugh's classmate https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2018/09/18/mark-judge-what-we-know-brett-kavanaugh-classmate/1344707002/ "He wrote about the 'debauchery,' drunkenness and 'immorality' of his youth Judge's memoirs, "Wasted: Tales of a GenX Drunk" and "God and Man at Georgetown Prep," describe school as a "nest of debauchery" and say his drinking and "immorality" began at Georgetown Prep, according to excerpts published by The Washington Post. In "Wasted," Judge wrote about a character named "Bart O'Kavanaugh" who drank until he passed out, according to the Post." Get the FBI onto the story. To which "In the Oval Office earlier Trump had said that the FBI should not be involved further investigating the Kavanaugh allegation because, "they don't want to be involved. It's not really their thing." He reiterated that view at the press conference. " https://www.cnbc.com/2018/09/18/trump-fbi-should-not-be-involved-further-on-kavanaugh.html The FBI could determine fairly quickly who is lying. Closely knit teams know what everyone is up to. The statements that Judge made that Kavanaugh was NOT part of the heavy drinking and debauchery to which Judge wrote a book about. FICTION. Kavanaugh's yearbook: Brett Kavanaugh's high school yearbook entry touts 'Keg City Club' membership, other references to beer drinking http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/ny-news-kavanaugh-high-school-yearbook-keg-city-sexual-references-20180918-story.html There is far, far too much lying going on all around.

"Shifting trade flows are redefining the Brazilian landscape, spurring more farmers to align their crops with Chinese appetites. The nation’s soy plantings have expanded by 2 million hectares in two years – an area the size of New Jersey – while land used for cane shrank by nearly 400,000 hectares, according to government data.... China’s growing demand for meat has supercharged soy imports for animal feed. The Asian nation paid US$20.3 billion last year for 53.8 million tonnes of soybeans from Brazil, nearly half its output – and up from 22.8 million tonnes in 2012. A new 25 per cent Chinese tariff on US soybeans – a retaliation for US levies by President Donald Trump – is expected to boost Brazil’s soy exports to an all-time record this year. Brazilian soybean exports to China rose to nearly 36 million tonnes in the first half of this year, up 6 per cent year on year. In July, they surged 46 per cent from the same month a year earlier to 10.2 million tonnes. https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy-defence/article/2159654/china-us-trade-war-has-brazilian-farmers-dumping-sugar Then there is corn, wheat and rice. Putin is smiling today. All according to his plan. Russia Expands Grip on Wheat Exports as Asia Set to Buy More https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-08-30/russia-expands-grip-on-wheat-exports-as-asia-forced-to-buy-more-j6zml2eg Worried about Russia's march on grain markets? It could be worse https://www.reuters.com/article/us-russia-grains-analysis/worried-about-russias-march-on-grain-markets-it-could-be-worse-idUSKBN1D30GK