New York state has been probing into the NRA and just announced a lawsuit against the organization. They've cited that the NRA has diveted tens of millions of funds, mismanaged funds, and that they've overall violated their nonprofit status. They've alleged that they've broken a multitude of both state and federal laws. Here are some quotes from the artcle, link will be below. Among the allegations against the 70-year-old Mr. LaPierre, a national figure who has run the NRA for three decades: That he spent $3.6 million of NRA funds over the last two years on unwarranted travel consultants, flew family members on NRA-paid private jets when he wasn’t aboard and secured a $17 million post-employment contract for himself without board approval.
He also allegedly took eight trips to the Bahamas by private air charter, costing the NRA more than $500,000, according to the press release. Once there, he allegedly often was given the use of a 107-foot yacht owned by an NRA vendor, the release said. In the lawsuit, the attorney general’s office is seeking restitution from the individual defendants, removal of Mr. LaPierre and the group’s general counsel from their positions, and to have the defendants barred from ever serving again as directors of a New York-registered charity. The response by the NRA is as follows: The NRA has strongly defended its governance practices in previous interviews with The Wall Street Journal. NRA attorney William A. Brewer III, at the time the attorney general’s investigation became public in April 2019, said the group “has full confidence in its accounting practices and commitment to good governance.”] Many know that due to the NRA's influence and partisanship (obviously), this is going to cause a partisan uproar. The President had already chimed in when it was announced and said that it was a terrible thing to hear that this was happening. Some have warned (from the article linked above) that due to the NY AG doing this other states may end up doing the same thing to liberal charities. Obviously this is politically motivated and the AG cares more about taking down someone as big as the NRA for their own ambition, but I do think that rooting out this sort of bullshit in charities is a good idea. I'd just like to see it done for ALL charities, not just political ones as attacks on the other side. |
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The lockdowns are not designed to improve general health, but to stop the spread of immunity, and to give "them" time to release an inadequately tested vaccine. This will enable more people to be placed under the artificial health control of the money Pharmas. It is also being used to destroy small businesses and food producers, and force people to buy ultra-processed foods from the global producers.
......... Any sources on any of those outlandish claims? Like I don't understand big conspiracy theories like this because it would require SO MANY PEOPLE to be on board and no one leaking. Like as of right now science is showing that the only way to get the 'herd immunity' (without a vaccine) is by having 70-80% of the population get COVID. That seems OKAY at first glance, but allowing the number to get that high means that we're going to experience a HUGE amount of deaths and hospitalizations. Mass amounts of people are going to die from both COVID and hospitals being too crowded to be able to effectively handle the pandemic and regular hospital needs. Imagine having a heart attack or something horrible like that in a time when the hospital is full? You're doomed to die b/c of it. Plz sources JETTY. The lockdowns are not designed to improve general health, but to stop the spread of immunity, and to give "them" time to release an inadequately tested vaccine.
How do you know that? AFAIK, immunity is not spreading but acquired. Immune response depends on the kind of virus. Unfortunately COVID survivors have short-term response. Or you have other scientifically proved data. The desirable most often does not coincide with the reality. P sure Jet Cash doesn't care about all of that. He just likes spreading a lot of bullshit conspiracy theories. |
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Though I assume that wearing something over your face is better then nothing, even if it's just a bandana.
It doesn't do any good, and it provides a nice place for the virus to hide in the hope that it can infect somebody else. It can also cause hypoxia and facial sores. Another problem is that the wearer is breathing any infections back into his lungs after his body has expelled them. It also makes people look like a bunch of monkeys.  Not true. No face mask will cause hypoxia. Facial sores is totally possible, but that can be treated through a usage of better quality masks and through some easy at home treatments. I'd much rather have a facial sore for a bit rather then spreading COVID around my family. On April 30, the team used capital letters on its website to emphasize the fact-check: “NO KIND OF FACE MASK WILL CAUSE HYPOXIA.” And added: “Although it is true that face masks can generate unpleasant sensations, don’t worry, it is normal. Using face masks will not cause any kind of oxygen deficiency. In reality, hypoxia can only be caused by smoking, inhaling gases, or exposing yourself to high elevations — not by using mouthguards, masks, or filters.” Doesn't do any good? Well that's just not true. I was asking if other facial coverings do anything compared to a mask. |
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Double posting on this from my last post to bring up the conversation about who everyone thinks Joe Bidens running mate is going to be. I'm personally someone who thinks that the VP doesn't really do much anyway in regards to votes and voting turnout, though I am curious of who people think are going to be the VP.
In order for myself:
Kamala Harris
Karen Bass
Susan Rice
I know Kamala has a VERY shady past when it comes to law and order, even with that I think that Harris is a great choice when it comes to knowing that your VP is ready for the national stage.
I thought Harris had this all wrapped up but I saw some stories that Kamala Harris and Joe Biden do not get along and that Susan Rice is a favorite. I don't get why Joe Biden feels so restricted to pick a black woman. Intersectionality is a hallmark of leftist politics but the fact that Biden's so restricted to a woman who is also black means he's going to pick someone inexperienced. No one has ever heard of Karen Bass and Susan Rice was involved in Michael Flynn's partisan investigation. She hasn't been elected to public office either. Whoever Joe picks in 2020 will be running in 2024 on Biden's behalf if Biden's ticket wins. Joe is not running for a 2nd term. Pretty sure they don't get along that well because Harris competently lit up Biden on the debate stage, and was one of the reasons that his campaign almost failed. She's seen (inside some circles) as too ambitious and is going to be gunning for her own Presidential bid in 2024 instead of caring about being a loyal advisor to Biden. Biden is asking for the same amount of loyalty from his VP pick as he had for Obama. I know that most of us (and most of the media) have said that Biden is only going to be a one term President if he wins in November, but he still could run for reelection even if he's older. He just has to still have his sanity and keep himself under control. |
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Double posting on this from my last post to bring up the conversation about who everyone thinks Joe Bidens running mate is going to be. I'm personally someone who thinks that the VP doesn't really do much anyway in regards to votes and voting turnout, though I am curious of who people think are going to be the VP.
In order for myself:
Kamala Harris
Karen Bass
Susan Rice
I know Kamala has a VERY shady past when it comes to law and order, even with that I think that Harris is a great choice when it comes to knowing that your VP is ready for the national stage.
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This is one of the big reasons that I favor a direct cash payment. Put the hands into people and let them use it, they're going to use it on things that they need (or even save it), and if they use it on things that they need (or want) they're going to stimulate the economy.
In the US, the savings rate has spiked, to the point that the stimulus money is not being spent, aka is not stimulating the economy. Credit card debt is down ~10% from prior to the start of the lockdowns, which is great for those who are paying down debt, but this is not really the purpose of the stimulus payments. The industries that are subsidized can be the hardest hit, so it would not be so much as picking winners and losers, but rather helping some of the losers become winners, who are only losers because of bad government policy (lockdowns). I would also note that this type of stimulus will not only help industries being subsidized, it will help get people to go out of their houses, which will lead to people patrionizing businesses that are not being subsizied. This will also make the lockdowns less popular. If people are being paid enough to cover rent, necessities plus some to save, they will of course favor the lockdowns, even without a pandemic, but if they are being encouraged to go out, they will not favor the lockdowns, and will be more willing to return to work. I mean the savings rate spiking does make sense though given that this is an incident like no other in American history. This isn't like 2008 when people lost their jobs, investments and so on and had an issue of not having the funds. Now people are saving money because they were scared of leaving their homes and potentially getting a virus. That's the reason that the savings rate balloned. Not sure I'd call lockdowns bad government policy, as I do think it does truly help in making sure an area can just reopen at some point -- instead of just waiting around for the next surge and then doing rolling lockdowns. |
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I clicked on this thread thinking it would be about an entirely different kind of stimulus program. 
I am not sure about the UK and Europe, but in the US, most of the GDP decline was due to consumer spending tanking. An efficient stimulas program will need to get consumers to actually spend their stimulus money instead of using it to pay down debt, or put it in the bank. It would probably be better if this program had limits to prevent people from abusing it, and to prevent subsidizing spending that would have happened regardless of the stimulus program. I assume that it is hard to separate those two. As you'd have an issue saying what sales (for this particular program) were going to happen regardless, and what sales are happening b/c of the additional money. This is one of the big reasons that I favor a direct cash payment. Put the hands into people and let them use it, they're going to use it on things that they need (or even save it), and if they use it on things that they need (or want) they're going to stimulate the economy. This plan doesn't pick a particular industry and elevate it to getting more money from the government coffers. And it isn't susceptible to a large amount of lobbying from interest groups trying to get money for their particular industry. Plain and simple, give the group money and give them the freedom to use it as they see fit. That's it. |
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Just as my own personal update on this.
Surprised that Maxwell hasn't 'suicided' herself yet (been murdered, y'all know what I mean) as it seemed like they were slowly laying the groundwork for her to just die. As she was placed on suicide watch, then maybe experiencing covid symptoms, and then nothing.
Not too big a fan of Trump saying I wish her well. Even if I've seen that past times Trump has said this he has not meant it in the traditonal "I wish Grandma well in the Hospital" he meant it more in the sense of "I wish (x) person well in prison) But then again, why even give people the chance to think that you're supporting her or that you like her, or anything like that.
Just come out and say that you hope she goes to jail for a long time.
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I know it is China,but it seems that the ruling elite in China have joined with the dynasties controlling the western world, so maybe this callous destruction will be another political export to our countries.
It seems that they are opening the flood gates to drown villages and farms near the overloaded dams. This is causing an increase in death, and a considerable loss of food. The CCP praises the villagers for sacrificing their lives and homes to save the cities. They don't have much choice, as they are not given much notice, and it is often done at night.
The ruling dynasties have no regard for life and health, and we can see this from the way a minor virus was elevated to the status of invasion by aliens.
@Jet Cash these days I’m not at all surprised about what China’s does, because they gave all the power to XI and now no one can challenge his authority. Also in my personal opinion XI has no sympathy for his citizens, and further it’s really sad that because of his attitude so many villagers have lost their lands and their life’s.
It is now hard to see Xi Jinping being challenged in any way whatsoever.
He has amassed power the likes of which has not been seen since Chairman Mao Zedong.
There has been no national debate as to whether a leader should be allowed to stay on for as long as they choose. Quietly but surely Xi Jinping has changed the way his country is governed, with himself well and truly at the core.
Sources: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-43361276https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2020-07-28/china-floods-three-gorges-climate-change-damsI appreciate the sources here, was going to ask for it from JetCash. I don't think anyone, at this point, is surprised by anything that China does these days. China is a plague onto the world, and everyone knows it. China is a nation which exploits their own people, has a dictatorship, literally has people in concentration camps, and so on and so forth. China is a horrible nation, none of us should be surprised by the horrible things that they do every single day while politicians across the globe let them get away with it. |
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There's nothing wrong with the national government paying 20% more if a patient is Covid positive, because of the massive extra c cost the hospital has in dealing with covid-positive patient.
+1 to that. Not sure on why there are so many conspiracy theories on the matter. Everything can be quickly resolved by saying the following. Is it true that Hospitals get paid more to treat people for COVID? Yes. Is it true that Hospitals get paid more for listing a death as COVID? No.... The isolation wards, the protective gear, the cleanups, as required for every single COVID positive patient, that's not a minor expense. Neither is finding people to work in such wards. +1 Imagine the amount of gear that they had to go out and buy to ensure that all of their employees are safe while working with COVID patients? Plus I've heard from medical professionals that the doctors are actually undressed (from their protective gear) by nurses, who are also paid, and I assume are only undressing doctors as there is probably a lot to do regarding that. Plus sick pay and stuff for sick employees -- as they're going to have the highest chance of getting the Coronavirus. Not good PR for someone to get COVID from working at a hospital, and then not getting paid or getting fired. ....
Is it true that Hospitals get paid more to treat people for COVID? Yes.
Is it true that Hospitals get paid more for listing a death as COVID? No.
Are hospitals telling everyone they have COVID and making a shit ton of money from it? I mean, probably not. ....
I can check with people I know who every day handle death certificates and forms in hospitals, but just knowing what kind of people they are, it's impossible there is a bunch of lying and misrepresentation going on. But this is a huge enough issue that I'm sure anybody that went poking through the deaths looking for oddities could find them among the COVID-related deaths. Then again that's really always been true, if you went poking through that stuff you could find oddities. Yeah I mean I can't see this being this crazy for people to understand. Why hasn't anyone picked up on all of this? Maybe because all the conspiracies aren't true. |
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its boris's way of 'passing down' the benefits its giving to businesses by having customers benefit from it rather than businesses just reaping the benefits
also as jetcash just revealed instead of just ordering a coffee now and again he is now actually tempted to buy coffee more, and is even tempted to add a poached egg and avocado to his order.
which also stimulates restaurants to buy more produce from farms which stimulates farms to get going again
i think this is better than just paying mcdonalds/morrisons cafe to just stay open by subsidising 50% of the restaurants costs with no secondary benefits for customers/farmers
Oh yeah, I know that Jet Cash is saying that it is working in tempting him to go buy more. I'm more curious on if research on the topic will be able to show the same results. As one persons anecdotal evidence isn't true evidence that can be supported. Would much rather see consumers directly receiving benefit. Though some critics of this may say - Why are you only helping a particular industry instead of giving people the choice on what to spend money on? That's why I support direct cash payments to Americans instead of just propping up particular industries. I'm sure if you were to look at the amount of funds that Boris' party has received from restaurant lobbying groups, it'll probably be a good amount compared to other orgs. |
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Microsoft totally has the ability to work with the regulatory issues around TikTok, and they're a trusted name in the space.
Yeah they can share the knowledge how they get away with pretty much the same shit in Windows 10 Missed this in my reply before. But yeah, I'm totally not saying that Microsoft then ByteDance (parent company of TikTok). But in regards to US national policy, they would much rather have an American company have control of American data, rather then a Chinese company that could be beholdent to the Chinese government and COULD collect more data then usual. Trump is now saying that he will ban TikTok if they're not bought by 'some company' by September 15th. People are speculating that the only company that could pass antitrust disputes over this particular issue is Microsoft. As the others of Facebook,Google, and Twitter are expected to not be able to pass through this same antitrust dispute. |
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Yeah right, youtubing a nuke from that distance. Kids these days. OP, rename the thread and at least make some effort to explain how this relates to Economics. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-53656220A large blast has hit the Lebanese capital, Beirut, ahead of the verdict in a trial for the killing of ex-PM Rafik Hariri in 2005.
Reports say the explosion was in the port area of the city, with unconfirmed reports of a second blast.
Video showed a large mushroom cloud and extensive damage.
A UN tribunal is due to issue its verdict in the trial in absentia of four suspects in the murder by car bomb of Rafik Hariri.
All four are members of the Iranian-backed Hezbollah group, which has consistently denied any role in Hariri's death.
The possible second explosion was reported to be at the Hariri residence in the city.
Dozens have been injured, AFP news agency reports, quoting a security source.
The latest reports come amid political tension in Lebanon, with street demonstrations against the government's handling the worst economic crisis since the 1975-1990 civil war. Sigh, I really cant with the state of the board at this point. Sad to see this sort of flood of posts everywhere. Like if OP just thought about this for a moment, they would've noticed that the person filming would ALSO be dead if this was a nuclear blast. Plus the fact that it would be confirmed from like every single news outlet as a confirmed nuclear blast. The explosion was caused by a fire in a warehouse which held explosive materials. Confirmed by WSJ and tons of other outlets ( https://www.wsj.com/articles/lebanon-struck-by-blast-at-beirut-port-11596556605) Horrible what happened. Dozens were killed and thousands were left injured. Highly doubt OP is even going to read our pleas for him to improve the post quality. |
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Eh I think we've all seen a LOT of this in the P&S section. Even for a moment -- if you disregard if the person is obviously one sided or even has used self moderated -- you can see that a lot of the threads in here (and responses to said threads) are slowly turning into spam threads from sig campaigns. Nothing wrong with being in a signature campaign and making money from something that you love doing on here, but watching people make posts like the one in this thread, which I will link, is really showing a true lack of contribution to the discussion. But back to the topic: What have we (l)earned: A large amount of money has to be devoted to researching pandemics of the future to make sure something like this doesn't happen again, or is stopped before it spirals out of control. If we had heeded the warnings of Bill Gates during the Ebola time, we most likely wouldn't have had this as an issue (or at least, we would have had a better chance) Politics shouldn't get in the way off a pandemic. We've seen fighting on the right and on the left. Issues over wearing masks. Hyper partianship has really killed a lot of unity and working together in this country. We have to fix this somehow. Quotes from non-contribution posts to this very thread: For a fact, this epidemic beats the worlds expectation. No one nation was virtually prepared for this and didn't expect it to persist as it has. Though, we continue to battle it, the world now sees the need to prepare for moments like this with quarantine centers across all countries of the world.
what have we earned from handling epidemicsMy earnings are going up. Not in money, but locally, in respect... since people are starting to see that the things I have been telling them about fake Coronavirus statistics are true... 'cause CV stats really are fake.  Heard so many talking about the fake statistics and corona virus, I needing more proof to be convinced that this is truly fake. Laugh out loud, in a very rare sense, I have earned from the palliative program shared among people in my territory and that's all. I don't think there's any. |
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Microsoft totally has the ability to work with the regulatory issues around TikTok, and they're a trusted name in the space.
Yeah they can share the knowledge how they get away with pretty much the same shit in Windows 10 And Tiktok will notbe banned anymore after the sale because its not owned by MS. Right? As if Microsoft hasn't have tons of issue regarding privacy. Tiktok had been around for years like facebook who blatantly collects data from its users, it seem pretty normal to get KYC today. Whether for tax or advertising purpose that they collect browsing habits, it had become a norm already by these companies. That would be the case, though Americans would be much happier with knowing that their data isn't leaving their own country of the US. As Microsoft servers would be hosted in America, and not sending info to China (as it is currently done by TikTok as of right now) Privacy analysis of TikTok from someone online - https://rufposten.de/blog/2019/12/05/privacy-analysis-of-tiktoks-app-and-website/ Plain English Reddit Summary - TikTok is sending data to both Facebook and Appsflyer, personal data and data about your device and content habits. Once it gets to Appsflyer, it could go to over 4500 affiliated companies that we don't know about.
On top of that, all this data (including fingerprints and audio, I think) is sent to TikTok headquarters in Beijing, in a non European country with less privacy laws.
While I do feel better with my data being in America, it would be very stupid of me to think that American companies have my best interest at heart when collecting my data. As we all know they're most likely just going to sell it to tons of others. |
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What does this mean? The government will fix the pandemic with socialism? Lol. Not sure I agree with this way of providing stimulus to people (the plan that Boris is using) though I think we all know that just the usage of a plan that is out of the box, is going to lead to research into if this was an effective way on how to stimulate a particular industry. I still think that the best and easiest way of stimulating the economy, is direct cash payments. While the price tag may be high at first glance, you cut out all of the bureaucracy of the other plans (as I assume Boris plan is going to require lots of paperwork, oversight, etc) and you just get hands into people at certain income limits. They'll use that money to keep the economy moving along. Plus you're giving it to the most vulnerable group of people (given that you pick their income group) |
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Hm, this is just a stimulus package of sorts but it is more direct and people understand how it works.
The US has some stimulus packages as well for businesses such as PPP (Paycheck Protection Loan) - Which directly pays for the employees of your company for (I think) 6 weeks, or a bit longer if you're a seasonal business.
Makes sense to be done though. But I doubt it's going to bring more people out to eat, or even bring costs down (though you'd know more into that) I'm guessing this is just going to end up with restaurants becoming reliant on government money for sometime and then trying to lobby for it to be extended when this is all done (The Pandemic)
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I wear a face mask when I am walking round the supermarket because that is the law - h....
The mask is a mass produced basic one, and it was given to me by one of the supermarkets. Obviously my breath is escaping around the edges, so it provides no protection for the environment.
I've been wearing and using masks and gas/particulate masks for decades in industrial work, and likely have a better understanding of them than anyone on this forum (all of whom seem to be parroting the latest mask talking points). For example, long long ago I rejected the N95 as totally inadequate, and went to better systems. Now COVID comes along and I see people with junk like bandanas around their face. This is more "mask theater" than any realistic effort to combat the virus. There is no way around this conclusion. You know what I've never really looked into the science of mask wearing (N95) or whatever people are wearing to try to cover their face (Bandana, Shirt, Etc) and I'm not even sure how many particles are blocked by using all of these different types of face coverings. Though I assume that wearing something over your face is better then nothing, even if it's just a bandana. |
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Heh, this is the funny part. We can compile your data because we're American companies, but TikTok can't because they're from a different country -- and with that, a bad bad red country. In all honesty though, I do think that China is a plague on the world. But Trump has now signaled that he will support the sale of TikTok to Microsoft, and the two companies have continued negotiating right now. As they had stopped negotiating when it seemed like the admin would block the sale of the company. Microsoft totally has the ability to work with the regulatory issues around TikTok, and they're a trusted name in the space. |
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There's nothing wrong with the national government paying 20% more if a patient is Covid positive, because of the massive extra c cost the hospital has in dealing with covid-positive patient.
+1 to that. Not sure on why there are so many conspiracy theories on the matter. Everything can be quickly resolved by saying the following. Is it true that Hospitals get paid more to treat people for COVID? Yes. Is it true that Hospitals get paid more for listing a death as COVID? No. Are hospitals telling everyone they have COVID and making a shit ton of money from it? I mean, probably not. This may happen with a few people who have symptoms, but I assume there are other people who are told they don't have COVID (and are turned away from the hospitals) who the Hospitals are 'losing' out on. Not sure on why people think there's this crazy conspiracy going on here. Wouldn't someone blow the whistle? So many hospitals, so many people on the staff, highly doubt that this could be kept under wraps. |
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