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#77 May 31 2017 at 10:48 AM Rating: Decent
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Entire world: This is a problem we should work on.

USA: Merica! Merica! Merica!
#78 Jun 02 2017 at 11:55 AM Rating: Good
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All I can think of is that episode of Seinfeld where George decides to do the opposite of whatever normally works or makes sense and it all worked out somehow. Maybe this administration actually has it all figured out and we just don't know it yet.
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#79 Jun 02 2017 at 4:38 PM Rating: Excellent
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Well, George did the opposite of what George would usually do. He didn't do the opposite of what common sense would dictate.
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#80 Jun 02 2017 at 5:59 PM Rating: Default
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someproteinguy wrote:
And it seems Trump has backed out of the recent climate deal.


You can't back out of a deal that you weren't actually in in the first place. Like the Kyoto Accords, this agreement was yet another feel good piece of paper that had no actual value except for people to pat themselves on the backs and claim it did. And, like the Kyoto Accords, had the US actually ever complied with the terms, would have actually resulted in increased total global pollution (greenhouse gasses in this case).

And (once again, since this is like a freaking broken record for such silly agreements/accords/whatever), it did not measure pollution in terms of units of productive output, but rather lumped countries into categories based on perceived size, industrial level, wealth, etc, and applied different rules to each category (well, except for China, by far the worst offender, which got a pass because... well... no reason I guess except the feel good need to get them to sign on, so we can all congratulate ourselves for "doing something" about climate change).

And, like the Kyoto Accords, it's yet another such silly thing that was "agreed to" by a Democrat president, knowing full well he had no authority or power to actually comply with the agreement due to the whole "no chance this will ever be ratified" problem, but so he can collect accolades for being so environmentally conscious regardless of the absolute absence of tangible benefits, and leaving it to the next GOP administration to be the "bad guy" and be a rational adult about the whole thing and call it what it is (a complete BS waste of paper and time). And yeah, calling Trump "rational" is painful to start with, but that's where we're kinda at here.

Seriously. It's the same freaking thing we went through nearly 20 years ago, just with a different label. The world demand for "widgets" doesn't change if you demand that the US reduce its domestic pollution generation by X percent. Thus, the most likely way to meet such a demand is for widget production to move from the US, where the pollution per widget rate is very very low, to some other country, most likely one where the rate is very very high. Ergo, more global pollution, not less.

It's always amazing to me how people who claim to be thinking globally fall into this same trap every single time. If you want to actually do something about global pollution (of whatever pollutant we're talking about), the only way to do this is to apply the same rules to every country, everywhere. Same rate of pollution per unit of production must exist, or the system will not work. Yet, despite this very obvious fact, we still get the same ridiculous cherry picked accords/agreements instead. And the same numskulls rave about how great it is, and how important it is for global cleanliness or whatever, and the same horrified response when the adults in the room tell them that it wont actually work.


I'll say the same thing about this agreement that I said about Kyoto. It had nothing at all to do with global pollution, the climate, saving the earth, or green anything. It had everything to do with using those things to push for economic outcomes that those involved wanted. It's a global form of class warfare, where the "rich" must pay to help the "poor". The US is "rich", so it must suffer penalties. It's as simple as that. If you think it's at all about the environment, then you've been totally snowed.

Edited, Jun 2nd 2017 5:08pm by gbaji
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#82 Jun 04 2017 at 8:18 PM Rating: Excellent
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Trump handed China a huge gift with his announcement to withdraw. Honestly, Trump has been the best thing America has done for Russia & China since Edward Snowden. Russia is able to expand its influence without any US hassle and China is poised to clean up on the pacts and agreements we're abandoning.

Edited, Jun 4th 2017 9:19pm by Jophiel
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#83 Jun 05 2017 at 7:19 AM Rating: Good
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Well, he said he was going to make America great. He just didn't say who he was making it great for.
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#84 Jun 05 2017 at 9:43 AM Rating: Excellent
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gbaji wrote:
someproteinguy wrote:
And it seems Trump has backed out of the recent climate deal.


You can't back out of a deal that you weren't actually in in the first place.
Which is why I'm assuming he's going with the agreed-upon means of exiting the treaty with has us fully withdrawing after 4 years? Smiley: dubious

gbaji wrote:
Like the Kyoto Accords, this agreement was yet another feel good piece of paper that had no actual value except for people to pat themselves on the backs and claim it did.
Which, more or less, is why I'm a bit mystified by his actions. There's very little to be gained by withdrawing from it. This picture does a good amount to put it in perspective, the projected difference is minimal. The agreement has always been rather lackluster, and pretty far from the pie-in-the-sky goal of 1.5C. Also worth pointing out that the U.S.'s contribution is assuming "business as usual" if we don't sign up, which is unlikely to be the case. Given our recent natural gas bonanza we'll do decently well in reducing emissions anyway, which makes me wonder why not just stay in and play nice with the other 98% of the world?


Edited, Jun 5th 2017 8:51am by someproteinguy
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#85 Jun 05 2017 at 10:08 AM Rating: Excellent
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someproteinguy wrote:
which makes me wonder why not just stay in and play nice with the other 98% of the world?

Either because the Trump administration is desperate for a win and this plays towards the Fortress America base or because Trump legitimately believes that pretty much any prior agreement is "bad for America". I'd lay equal odds on each (or a combination of both). Trump had voices on both sides of the issue in his circle trying to sway him but he went with the "Jobs before silly treaties" rhetoric.
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#86 Jun 05 2017 at 10:37 AM Rating: Good
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Jophiel wrote:
had voices on both sides of the issue in his circle trying to sway him but he went with the "Jobs before silly treaties" rhetoric.
Someone had to save the asbestos market and the Model T.
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#87 Jun 05 2017 at 11:31 AM Rating: Excellent
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Jophiel wrote:
someproteinguy wrote:
which makes me wonder why not just stay in and play nice with the other 98% of the world?

Either because the Trump administration is desperate for a win and this plays towards the Fortress America base or because Trump legitimately believes that pretty much any prior agreement is "bad for America". I'd lay equal odds on each (or a combination of both). Trump had voices on both sides of the issue in his circle trying to sway him but he went with the "Jobs before silly treaties" rhetoric.
Yeah, that was more-or-less how I read it as well. The treaty was basically a way to secure political points without much effort. For other 1st world nations that means signing up and tossing a few bucks towards some minor feel-good things; for us that means withdrawing with little consequence so we can toot our "you're not my mom so you don't get to tell me what to do" horn. Smiley: rolleyes

Edited, Jun 5th 2017 10:34am by someproteinguy
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#88 Jun 05 2017 at 3:28 PM Rating: Excellent
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Jophiel wrote:
someproteinguy wrote:
which makes me wonder why not just stay in and play nice with the other 98% of the world?

Either because the Trump administration is desperate for a win and this plays towards the Fortress America base or because Trump legitimately believes that pretty much any prior agreement is "bad for America". I'd lay equal odds on each (or a combination of both). Trump had voices on both sides of the issue in his circle trying to sway him but he went with the "Jobs before silly treaties" rhetoric.


Or because he's doing everything he can to dismantle anything that might be construed as Obama's legacy.
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#89 Jun 06 2017 at 7:57 AM Rating: Good
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Come on, people. You have to understand that as a businessman running this country as a business the best course of action is to completely isolate us from the world and insult as many world leaders as possible.
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#90 Jun 06 2017 at 9:45 AM Rating: Decent
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International diplomacy is totally just like a business negotiation.
#91 Jun 06 2017 at 10:01 AM Rating: Excellent
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Ideally yes, but only if you have enough conflicts of interest. Smiley: thumbsup

Edited, Jun 6th 2017 9:10am by someproteinguy
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#92 Jun 06 2017 at 1:42 PM Rating: Excellent
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Comey's upcoming testimony has the Trump administration shitting their pants. Trump is planning to live-Tweet retorts during the testimony and an allied group is running ads on CNN and Fox News trying to discredit Comey.

Edited, Jun 6th 2017 2:44pm by Jophiel
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#93 Jun 06 2017 at 3:07 PM Rating: Excellent
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Jophiel wrote:
Trump is planning to live-Tweet retorts during the testimony
Smiley: popcorn

I mean, seriously I'm not sure there's better popcorn material than that. Twitter + major potential scandal + Trump? It's like a made-for-internet movie. Odds that he says something that'll come back to bite him later? Smiley: rolleyes

Edited, Jun 6th 2017 2:19pm by someproteinguy
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#94 Jun 06 2017 at 7:26 PM Rating: Decent
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Jophiel wrote:
Comey's upcoming testimony has the Trump administration shitting their pants. Trump is planning to live-Tweet retorts during the testimony and an allied group is running ads on CNN and Fox News trying to discredit Comey.

I'm kinda surprised Comey hasn't fallen victim to an ill-conceived assassination attempt yet. dropped dead of a totally unexpected but not in any way suspicious heart attack.
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#95 Jun 06 2017 at 9:16 PM Rating: Decent
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someproteinguy wrote:
Jophiel wrote:
Trump is planning to live-Tweet retorts during the testimony
Smiley: popcorn

I mean, seriously I'm not sure there's better popcorn material than that. Twitter + major potential scandal + Trump? It's like a made-for-internet movie. Odds that he says something that'll come back to bite him later? Smiley: rolleyes

Edited, Jun 6th 2017 2:19pm by someproteinguy


I swear to Allah, may he sow discord for many millennia, Trump is the only thing that keeps Twitter alive. How the **** they stay afloat is beyond me.

But yeah, bring out the popcorn.

Edited, Jun 6th 2017 11:20pm by angrymnk
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#96 Jun 07 2017 at 7:22 AM Rating: Good
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Jophiel wrote:
an allied group is running ads on CNN and Fox News trying to discredit Comey.
I'd like to say I feel bad for everyone that spent so much energy praising Comey during the election now having to demonize him but I really don't.
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#97 Jun 08 2017 at 10:49 AM Rating: Excellent
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The biggest thing I learned from the hours of Comey testimony is that Senator McCain is off his fuckin' meds.
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#98 Jun 08 2017 at 11:30 AM Rating: Good
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He's been off them since Palin.
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#99 Jun 08 2017 at 1:03 PM Rating: Good
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He's ancient. Dude belongs in a museum.
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#100 Jun 08 2017 at 1:28 PM Rating: Excellent
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Jophiel wrote:
Senator McCain is off his fuckin' meds.
lolgaxe wrote:
He's been off them since Palin.

There's a Viagra joke in these somewhere.
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#101 Jun 08 2017 at 5:53 PM Rating: Good
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Jophiel wrote:
Jophiel wrote:
Senator McCain is off his fuckin' meds.
lolgaxe wrote:
He's been off them since Palin.

There's a Viagra joke in these somewhere.


That's what she said! [:boom:]
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