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sundin13 on 28 February 2024
Machiavellian said:
sundin13 said:

Given that many courts are overwhelmingly Republican, the checks and balances of the Judicial System are less encouraging...

True, there are a lot of Republican judges but we have seen many of them shoot down on multiple occasions GOP and Trump BS stuff so I have a little faith that the rule of law will still prevail.  Yes, you will have judges like the ones in Alabama or that one judge in Florida doing the documents case but we also have to remember all the court cases after the election that were shot down by republican judges who were not buying the BS.  I just believe the magnitude of Trump stupidity will raise up to a degree that most will not put their integrity on the line for it. 

Some of the BS gets shot down, but plenty of other BS gets through. The Supreme Court and other Federal Courts have not been shy about just inventing things to get what they want. The recent case in Alabama regarding IVF is one example of the courts just making things up to give themselves what they want. In Alabama there is a recent law which made it a homicide to kill an unborn child in utero in any stage of development, regardless of viability. The Judge decided to just take the "regardless of viability" part of that law, attach it arbitrarily to a completely separate civil law, but remove the "in utero" wording. 

This should clearly be Judicial malpractice, as it is pure nonsense, and this type of nonsense ruling has been extremely common recently. There are times when some Republican judges show restraint and decide not to destroy major portions of our government, but I wouldn't bet on their capricious whims. 



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Shtinamin_ on 28 February 2024
SvennoJ said:
Shtinamin_ said:

This is what's in the Foreign Aid Bill, from giving it a quick glance.

  • ~$60B to support Ukraine
    • ~$14B to allow Ukraine to rearm itself purchasing weapons and munitions (goes back to US)
    • ~$15B to military training and intelligence sharing
    • ~$8B to help Ukraine have basic government operation prohibiting pensions
    • ~$1.6B to help Ukraine’s private sector
    • ~$480M to help Ukrainian’s displaced by war
  • ~$14.1B to support Israel & US military operations in the region
    • ~$4B to boost Israel’s air defenses
    • ~$1.2B for Iron Beam
    • ~$2.5B to support US military operations in the region
    • ~$9.2B Humanitarian Assistance to provide food, water, shelter, and medical care to Palestinians, Ukrainian and other civilians caught in war zones.
  • >$8B to support key partners in the Info-Pacific and deter Chinese government aggression
    • ~$1.9B to replenish US weapons for Taiwan
    • ~$3.3B to build more US-made subs to support Australia and UK
  • ~$400M for a grant program to help nonprofits and places of worship make security enhancements and protect them from hate crimes. Target sanctions on criminal organizations involved with the production of fentanyl.

That doesn't add up, or rather comes to 16.9B for Israel and US operations

The 9.2B is separate from the 14.1B for Israel
https://www.cnn.com/2024/02/12/politics/senate-foreign-aid-bill-ukraine/index.html

The Senate plan directs $14.1bn to Israel. Around $5.2bn of this funding is allocated to missile defense systems.

However the bill also strips US funding for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) which serves over 5.6 million Palestinian refugees in Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Gaza, The Westbank and East Jerusalem, employing over 30,000 people.

The bill needs to be passed to help Ukraine, yet for Palestinians it's just more misery.

I can't find any details on the Humanitarian assistance, lumped all together for all war zones with no details how or how much aid would even be allocated for Gaza.

Awesome, thanks! I just did a quick glance so thanks for helping. I also added the left over amounts, and can't find any info on where they go.

The $5.2B for missile defense systems goes to Israel air defense and the Iron Beam.

Oh I didn't see that it strips US funding to UNRWA. Thanks again.

I can't find any info on the Humanitarian Assistance too.



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Machiavellian on 28 February 2024
sundin13 said:
Machiavellian said:

True, there are a lot of Republican judges but we have seen many of them shoot down on multiple occasions GOP and Trump BS stuff so I have a little faith that the rule of law will still prevail.  Yes, you will have judges like the ones in Alabama or that one judge in Florida doing the documents case but we also have to remember all the court cases after the election that were shot down by republican judges who were not buying the BS.  I just believe the magnitude of Trump stupidity will raise up to a degree that most will not put their integrity on the line for it. 

Some of the BS gets shot down, but plenty of other BS gets through. The Supreme Court and other Federal Courts have not been shy about just inventing things to get what they want. The recent case in Alabama regarding IVF is one example of the courts just making things up to give themselves what they want. In Alabama there is a recent law which made it a homicide to kill an unborn child in utero in any stage of development, regardless of viability. The Judge decided to just take the "regardless of viability" part of that law, attach it arbitrarily to a completely separate civil law, but remove the "in utero" wording. 

This should clearly be Judicial malpractice, as it is pure nonsense, and this type of nonsense ruling has been extremely common recently. There are times when some Republican judges show restraint and decide not to destroy major portions of our government, but I wouldn't bet on their capricious whims. 

I do not doubt this, but I still believe on a whole outside of some crazy religious BS, there is still only so much damage even Trump can do that is long term or permanent.  The thing is it still stands that it takes way more than just the one federal office to make any real permanent change to the US and while Trump will be a cancer if he gets in the seat again, I still feel that it would also spell the doom for the Republican party.  Anyway he still have a lot of court cases to muddle through so lets see how things continue to develop.



sundin13 on 28 February 2024
SvennoJ said:
Shtinamin_ said:

This is what's in the Foreign Aid Bill, from giving it a quick glance.

  • ~$60B to support Ukraine
    • ~$14B to allow Ukraine to rearm itself purchasing weapons and munitions (goes back to US)
    • ~$15B to military training and intelligence sharing
    • ~$8B to help Ukraine have basic government operation prohibiting pensions
    • ~$1.6B to help Ukraine’s private sector
    • ~$480M to help Ukrainian’s displaced by war
  • ~$14.1B to support Israel & US military operations in the region
    • ~$4B to boost Israel’s air defenses
    • ~$1.2B for Iron Beam
    • ~$2.5B to support US military operations in the region
    • ~$9.2B Humanitarian Assistance to provide food, water, shelter, and medical care to Palestinians, Ukrainian and other civilians caught in war zones.
  • >$8B to support key partners in the Info-Pacific and deter Chinese government aggression
    • ~$1.9B to replenish US weapons for Taiwan
    • ~$3.3B to build more US-made subs to support Australia and UK
  • ~$400M for a grant program to help nonprofits and places of worship make security enhancements and protect them from hate crimes. Target sanctions on criminal organizations involved with the production of fentanyl.

That doesn't add up, or rather comes to 16.9B for Israel and US operations

The 9.2B is separate from the 14.1B for Israel
https://www.cnn.com/2024/02/12/politics/senate-foreign-aid-bill-ukraine/index.html

The Senate plan directs $14.1bn to Israel. Around $5.2bn of this funding is allocated to missile defense systems.

However the bill also strips US funding for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) which serves over 5.6 million Palestinian refugees in Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Gaza, The Westbank and East Jerusalem, employing over 30,000 people.

The bill needs to be passed to help Ukraine, yet for Palestinians it's just more misery.

I can't find any details on the Humanitarian assistance, lumped all together for all war zones with no details how or how much aid would even be allocated for Gaza.

Here is the bill text from the Senate Appropriations Committee:

national_security_act_bill_text.pdf (senate.gov)

In regards to the Humanitarian assistance, it looks like it would primarily go to two places:

1) "International Disaster Assistance" - $5.6bn

From what I could tell, currently only $1.6bn has been allocated to the Internation Disaster Assistance fund for 2024, so that would make the new total about $7.2bn. Assuming all of this money was spent in 2024, that would be an increase in outlays over the historical average of around $4-5bn, but a decrease from the $9.3bn spent in 2023. This money appears to be allocated by USAID's Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance (following the specifications listed in the bill). 

Here is a link to BHA: Humanitarian Assistance | What We Do | U.S. Agency for International Development (usaid.gov)
A summary of the program: International Disaster Assistance - InterAction
And a link to the spending page for International Disaster Assistance: International Disaster Assistance, Funds Appropriated to the President, US Agency for International Development | Spending Profile | USAspending

2) "Migration and Refugee Assistance" - $3.5bn

This program seems to have $1.3bn allocated for 2024, for a total of $4.8bn. Historical average outlays appear to be around $3.5bn with a high of $4.9bn in 2023. This money goes to the Department of State to be allocated (following the specifications listed in the bill).

Here is a link to the Department of State's Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration: Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration - United States Department of State
A summary of the program: Migration and Refugee Assistance - InterAction
And a link to the spending page for Migration and Refugee Assistance: Migration and Refugee Assistance, State | Spending Profile | USAspending



Ryuu96 on 28 February 2024

The Supreme Court on Wednesday agreed to decide whether former President Donald Trump can claim presidential immunity over criminal election interference charges, adding a new hurdle to a trial taking place.

The court in a brief order said it would hear arguments and issue a ruling on the immunity claim. In the meantime, the case is on hold, meaning no trial can take place.

The order said the court would hear the case, which could take months to resolve, the week of April 22. That timeline allows for a ruling by the end of the court's regular term in June, which is faster than is typical when the court hears arguments, but not as fast as prosecutors wanted it to be.

Supreme Court to decide Trump’s immunity claim in election interference case (nbcnews.com)

Last edited by Ryuu96 - on 28 February 2024

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Ryuu96 on 28 February 2024

GOP Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith blocks legislation protecting IVF access | CNN Politics



TallSilhouette on 29 February 2024

The fix is in:

What a disgrace the Supreme Court has become.



Ryuu96 on 29 February 2024

Thanks America.

Johnson is just doing Trump/Putin's bidding at this point, screwing over America's allies.

I've no belief that Johnson will put the bill to a vote, it's always an excuse to delay it further, first it was the border bill being attached, then suddenly he didn't want it attached, then he felt the need to go on a 2 week break, poor fella must find it so stressful, what with him doing fuck all on his job, at least the poor baby got a little rest in his warm cosy bed whilst Ukrainians get slaughtered.

Now the next excuse, lets see if he comes up with another one after that.

Fuck Johnson. Literally all he has achieved as House Leader is getting Ukrainians killed and a stupid sham impeachment.

One man, one man stopping America from assisting its allies, and I don't mean just Ukraine but the whole of Europe who wants America's help too, not wants, needs America's help, and despite the President being in favour, despite Senate voting in favour, despite the fact that House would vote in favour, there's one single man in House blocking it all, blocking America from being an ally.

What did Europe do after 9/11 when America asked for our help? We helped America. We came to America's aid, America is still the ONLY country to invoke Article 5 of NATO and now when Europe needs Americas help, not even to invoke Article 5, not to ask for American troops but some of your horrifically large military supplies, there's one man blocking America from helping their allies and America is crippled by this one man.

Johnson is just going to make large swathes of Europe despise America at this rate.

Last edited by Ryuu96 - on 01 March 2024

SvennoJ on 02 March 2024

Michael Moore warns Biden’s stance on Gaza could cost him election

American filmmaker Michael Moore has warned that Biden’s stance on the war in Gaza could cost him the presidential election in November. In an interview with MSNBC aired on Saturday, Moore said he was sounding the alarm to “save Biden from himself”.

“He is essentially guaranteeing that thousands and thousands of Americans are going to stay home and not vote on election day, because they are not going to vote for Trump. But this is how Trump can win because that 150,000 he won by in 2020, Hilary lost Michigan by just 11,000 votes,” Moore said.

More than 100,000 voters in Michigan, which has one of the biggest Muslim populations in the US, cast a vote for “uncommitted” in Tuesday’s Democratic primary in protest against Biden’s stance on Gaza. Biden’s prospects in Michigan in November have become a growing concern for Democrats as the state is among a handful of battlegrounds likely to determine the outcome of the election.


It should cost him his freedom.



Ryuu96 on 03 March 2024

Party of Law and Order.