Lol...no. Svetlanta has been a continuous problem going back to I'd say roughly 2018. Her and her friend Mira, from Hungary. There's also Darja from Belarus, but she's more of a third wheel. Everyone knows Svetlana is the ring leader, though. Anyways, me and my boys have been spending a lot of time with all three.
Blue ostriches on crack float on milkshakes between the sidewalk titans of gurglefitz. --YTown
He's serious, he thinks Hunter is a good guy and the media is just out to get him -- strangely, they're doing it with Hunter's own material. Poor Hunter.
Weird, because she's only really in the news when there's an election taking place.
She's like the 'baby daddy' who always shows up in mid-February to make amends. No one really understands until they stop and give it some thought. They all think it's just Valentine's Day.
Weird, because she's only really in the news when there's an election taking place.
She's like the 'baby daddy' who always shows up in mid-February to make amends. No one really understands until they stop and give it some thought. They all think it's just Valentine's Day.
Maybe it's me, but I haven't gotten that impression. It may take a back burner to other things that the news seizes to be more important on the day-to-day, but the one very consistent thing, going back years now into the last administration, is the rhetoric concerning Russia (and Ukraine) from the previous admin and all those who are tied to him is very concerning. Whether that's siding with Russia over the NSA, Carlson (as we've talked about ad nauseum), Vance's misinformation, comments on NATO, digging dirt on Hillary, defending Putin to Bill O'Reilly, those with concerning ties who were closely affiliated with the administration (Manafort, Flynn, et al), Trump Jr. going out of his way to disparage Zelensky (which seems completely insane to me), etc etc etc.
On top of all that, I fall back to my original comment, which ties into Trump defending Putin in front of O'Reilly...watch him when he talks about Putin. It's baffling to me. This is a guy who has gone to great lengths to personally disparage those who are closely tied to him (Rubio, Cruz, DeSantis, etc) but when it comes to Putin, never once have I seen Trump walk on egg shells the way he does when Putin is the subject. It's not just during election years, it is literally every time the subject comes up at any point going back to the start of his own administration. The cronies seem to follow suit.
Blue ostriches on crack float on milkshakes between the sidewalk titans of gurglefitz. --YTown
Yeah, what exactly makes him a scumbag? Just asking.
I doubt you're just asking, but I also don't want to distract too much from the discussion at hand. We can get into it more in another thread, but hell, dude, just read his Wikipedia page or Google him.
That being said, I think if there's an effort to tie him to Biden - as there has been, seemingly failed in the House as of late - then - drawing this thread back to the original topic - it would also be fair to look at the chart of potential Russian ties to the previous administration that Rep Eric Swalwell has on his website.
Well, if he was selling his daddy's influence, remember, his daddy is president? But we all know that's not true because no #DNA.
And how did he "sell daddy's influence"? Do you mean relatives of powerful people often times get jobs they're not qualified for? Yes that often times happens. Sometimes even their daddy gives them such jobs. Just ask Ivanka and Jared. Sometimes you people really crack me up. No actual evidence but you keep beating that same broken drum. Meanwhile......
Intoducing for The Cleveland Browns, Quarterback Deshawn "The Predator" Watson. He will also be the one to choose your next head coach.
Yeah, what exactly makes him a scumbag? Just asking.
The GOP caricatures Hunter as a bubbling crack-head living off of daddy's namesake.
The truth is his is a Yale Lawyer, and is able to put some sentences together.
The real truth is that even if daddy was assisting him, there would never be a bank paper trail. Let's just say he would take the Fani Willis approach, and not the Don and Stormy/Karen approach.
There will be no playoffs. Can’t play with who we have out there and compounding it with garbage playcalling and worse execution. We don’t have good skill players on offense period. Browns 20 - Bears 17.
Yeah, what exactly makes him a scumbag? Just asking.
Much has been made of his habitual drug use and its effects (ex. he was in the Navy for a cup of coffee, got discharged due to failed drug test).
Yes, he's a lawyer... and as a lawyer, he should know better and have his affairs in order. Dude has had tax issues resulting in charges. Then there's the gun charge he picked up. By themselves, these are nothing-burgers, but together they begin to paint a picture.
I'll pause here to make a quick statement. The GOP dogging Hunter has failed largely because their ultimate goal was to tie Hunter's douchebaggery to Joe in a legal/criminal manner. They haven't been able to make that last connection due to lack of hard evidence which has (IMO) kinda started the feeling that Hunter is being unjustly targeted. Hunter deserves all the smoke.
Hunter had an affair with his dead brother's widow. Yuck.
Then there's all the smoke related to Burisma, the laptop, and other foreign business relationships. Much has been made of this, but I think the main reason those weren't successful is that the main intention was to tie all this back to Joe Biden vs just pinning Hunter to the wall.
Some of what I said above is my interpretation/opinion, but some isn't. I think I've made it clear which is which. Even if you ignore my opinion there is still plenty there to establish that Hunter is a grade A dbag.
There is no level of sucking we haven't seen; in fact, I'm pretty sure we hold the patents on a few levels of sucking NOBODY had seen until the past few years.
He has done things dug addicts do. None of it good. I do find it odd however that people who can seem to forgive trump as well as support him considering all of his nastiness and indictments point their fingers at Hunter as if he is the reincarnation of Satan. Someone who has never been elected or even ran for public office. Things that make you go hmmmm for $500 Alex.
Intoducing for The Cleveland Browns, Quarterback Deshawn "The Predator" Watson. He will also be the one to choose your next head coach.
Agreed with everything. Facts are Facts. The fact that he is not the first to use his family linkage for personal benefit goes way back when, even before Billy Beer.
Tale as old as time.
There will be no playoffs. Can’t play with who we have out there and compounding it with garbage playcalling and worse execution. We don’t have good skill players on offense period. Browns 20 - Bears 17.
Ex-World Leader Cringes At 'Really Creepy' Thing Trump Has For Putin Lee Moran Thu, February 29, 2024 at 3:56 AM CST·1 min read
Former Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has described former U.S. President Donald Trump’s fascination with Russian President Vladimir Putin as “really creepy.”
“The Republican Party under Donald Trump, and particularly the right wing of the Republican Party, are very sympathetic to Vladimir Putin,” Turnbull, who led Australia from 2015 to 2018, said on Australia ABC’s “Q+A” town hall show.
“I mean, I’ve been with Trump and Putin. Trump is in awe of Putin,” Turnbull continued. “When you see Trump with Putin, as I have on a few occasions, he’s like the 12-year-old boy that goes to high school and meets the captain of the football team. ‘My hero!’ It is really creepy. It’s really creepy.”
During the same broadcast, Turnbull slammed Trump as a “bully” who is “attracted to dictators and tyrants” and warned of the effect a second Trump term may have on Australia’s national security.
Trump has repeatedly sided with Putin over U.S. government intelligence agencies. Earlier this month, Trump said he’d encourage Russia to do “whatever the hell they want” to NATO members who don’t spend the promised amount of 2% of their gross domestic product on defense.
House Freedom Caucus mocks McConnell as ‘(D-Ukraine)’ after retirement news Lauren Sforza Wed, February 28, 2024 at 4:52 PM CST·2 min read
The House Freedom Caucus mocked Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) after he announced his retirement from his leadership position Wednesday, suggesting that his stance on Ukraine aligns with his Democrat colleagues.
“Our thoughts are with our Democrat colleagues in the Senate on the retirement of their Co-Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (D-Ukraine). No need to wait till November… Senate Republicans should IMMEDIATELY elect a *Republican* Minority Leader,” the House Freedom Caucus wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
McConnell, who turned 82 this month, announced Wednesday that he will step down from his leadership post in November. He said he plans to serve the remainder of his term, which ends in 2027.
“I’m not going anywhere any time soon. However, I will complete my job my colleagues have given me until we select a new leader in November and they take the helm next January,” he said.
McConnell has supported approving more aid for Ukraine, which marked its second anniversary of fighting Russia earlier this month. He faced a difficult challenge earlier this month after mustering up enough Republican support to back a package approving more aid to Ukraine and Israel — a measure that lacks movement in the House.
McConnell urged Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) to take up the Ukraine funding bill after the upper chamber had passed the legislation in a predawn vote earlier this month.
“We’ve heard all kinds of rumors about whether the House supports Ukraine or doesn’t. It seems to me that the easy way to solve that would be to vote,” McConnell told Politico at the time. “And I hope the Speaker will find a way to allow the House to work its will on the issue of Ukraine aid and the other parts of the bill, as well.”
Far-right members of the House and the Freedom Caucus have largely grown skeptical of approving more funding for Ukraine, prompting GOP infighting over the issue.
Some Republicans seemed to celebrate the news that McConnell was retiring from the leadership position, suggesting they can vote a more conservative Republican into the position. Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) said “better days are ahead for the Republican Party” after McConnell’s announcement.
Rep. Bob Good (R-Va.), chair of the House Freedom Caucus, suggested that Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) should be the next leader of the Republican conference in the upper chamber. Scott had challenged McConnell for the leadership role in 2022.
“Mitch McConnell stepping down provides a great opportunity for true conservative leadership in the Senate. @SenRickScott would make a great Republican leader,” Good wrote on X.
In a statement on X, Scott said McConnell’s retirement “is an opportunity to refocus our efforts on solving the significant challenges facing our country and actually reflect the aspirations of voters.”
Blue ostriches on crack float on milkshakes between the sidewalk titans of gurglefitz. --YTown
My wife seemed quite excited hearing McConnell was retiring and stepping down. Immediately I explained to her that while I disagreed with McConnell on several policy issues, he wasn't nearly as extreme as what I felt his replacement would be. That I believed his stepping down may make the Senate just as, if not more dysfunctional than the House and this wouldn't end well.
Intoducing for The Cleveland Browns, Quarterback Deshawn "The Predator" Watson. He will also be the one to choose your next head coach.
Here is how the Freedumb Caucus have shown their respect to McConnell for his time in office supporting the Republican agenda.....
House Freedom Caucus mocks McConnell as ‘(D-Ukraine)’ after retirement news
The House Freedom Caucus mocked Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) after he announced his retirement from his leadership position Wednesday, suggesting that his stance on Ukraine aligns with his Democrat colleagues.
“Our thoughts are with our Democrat colleagues in the Senate on the retirement of their Co-Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (D-Ukraine). No need to wait till November… Senate Republicans should IMMEDIATELY elect a *Republican* Minority Leader,” the House Freedom Caucus wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
McConnell, who turned 82 this month, announced Wednesday that he will step down from his leadership post in November. He said he plans to serve the remainder of his term, which ends in 2027.
“I’m not going anywhere any time soon. However, I will complete my job my colleagues have given me until we select a new leader in November and they take the helm next January,” he said.
McConnell has supported approving more aid for Ukraine, which marked its second anniversary of fighting Russia earlier this month. He faced a difficult challenge earlier this month after mustering up enough Republican support to back a package approving more aid to Ukraine and Israel — a measure that lacks movement in the House.
McConnell urged Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) to take up the Ukraine funding bill after the upper chamber had passed the legislation in a predawn vote earlier this month.
“We’ve heard all kinds of rumors about whether the House supports Ukraine or doesn’t. It seems to me that the easy way to solve that would be to vote,” McConnell told Politico at the time. “And I hope the Speaker will find a way to allow the House to work its will on the issue of Ukraine aid and the other parts of the bill, as well.”
Far-right members of the House and the Freedom Caucus have largely grown skeptical of approving more funding for Ukraine, prompting GOP infighting over the issue.
Some Republicans seemed to celebrate the news that McConnell was retiring from the leadership position, suggesting they can vote a more conservative Republican into the position. Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) said “better days are ahead for the Republican Party” after McConnell’s announcement.
Rep. Bob Good (R-Va.), chair of the House Freedom Caucus, suggested that Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) should be the next leader of the Republican conference in the upper chamber. Scott had challenged McConnell for the leadership role in 2022.
“Mitch McConnell stepping down provides a great opportunity for true conservative leadership in the Senate. @SenRickScott would make a great Republican leader,” Good wrote on X.
In a statement on X, Scott said McConnell’s retirement “is an opportunity to refocus our efforts on solving the significant challenges facing our country and actually reflect the aspirations of voters.”
This is how they are willing to treat anyone, even in their own party, who is willing to stand up to Putin by supporting Ukraine. It seems Putin has a party in America who willingly support his goal of taking over Ukraine.
Intoducing for The Cleveland Browns, Quarterback Deshawn "The Predator" Watson. He will also be the one to choose your next head coach.
At this point, we should just assume all GOPers are on Putin’s payroll, at least until we prove otherwise. IMO, the entire party should be shown the door and chucked into the muddy waters they created..
It mentions the border in the headline, but the real discussion has more to do with the disinformation across the board. It seems readily apparent that it appears to be working in wide swaths, given how the rhetoric has changed amongst both politicians and constituents.
Russian disinformation is about immigration. The real aim is to undercut Ukraine aid DAVID KLEPPER Fri, March 1, 2024 at 7:00 AM CST·6 min read 64
FILE - Phill Cady holds a sign during a "Take Our Border Back" rally on Feb. 3, 2024, in Quemado, Texas. Online actors tied to the Kremlin have begun pushing misleading and incendiary claims about U.S. immigration in an apparent bid to target American voters ahead of the 2024 election. (AP Photo/Eric Gay) (ASSOCIATED PRESS) WASHINGTON (AP) — For Vladimir Putin, victory in Ukraine may run through Texas' Rio Grande Valley.
In recent weeks, Russian state media and online accounts tied to the Kremlin have spread and amplified misleading and incendiary content about U.S. immigration and border security. The campaign seems crafted to stoke outrage and polarization before the 2024 election for the White House, and experts who study Russian disinformation say Americans can expect more to come as Putin looks to weaken support for Ukraine and cut off a vital supply of aid.
In social media posts, online videos and stories on websites, these accounts misstate the impact of immigration, highlight stories about crimes committed by immigrants, and warn of dire consequences if the U.S. doesn't crack down at its border with Mexico. Many are misleading, filled with cherry-picked data or debunked rumors.
The pivot toward the United States comes after two years in which Russia's vast disinformation apparatus was busy pushing propaganda and disinformation about its invasion of Ukraine. Experts who study how authoritarian states use the internet to spread disinformation say eroding support for Ukraine remains Russia's top priority — and that the Kremlin is just finding new ways to do it.
“Things have shifted, even in the last few days," said Kyle Walter, head of research at Logically, a tech company that tracks disinformation campaigns. While experts and government officials have long warned of Russia's intentions, Walter said the content spotted so far this year "is the first indication that I’ve seen that Russia is actually going to focus on U.S. elections.”
This month Logically identified dozens of pro-Russian accounts posting about immigration in the U.S., with a particular interest in promoting recent anti-immigration rallies in Texas. A recent Logically assessment concluded that after two years spent largely dedicated to the war in Ukraine, Russia’s disinformation apparatus has “started 2024 with a focus on the U.S.”
Many posts highlight crimes allegedly committed by recent immigrants or suggest migrants are a burden on local communities. Some claims were posted by accounts with tiny audiences; others were made by state media sites with millions of followers.
This week the accounts seized on the recent death of a Georgia nursing student and the arrest of a Venezuelan man who had entered the U.S. illegally and was allowed to stay to pursue his immigration case. The killing that quickly became a rallying cry for former President Donald Trump and other Republicans who suggest that migrants commit crimes more often than do U.S. citizens. The evidence does not support those claims.
The content, crafted in English, has quickly found its way to websites and platforms popular with American voters. Footage of a recent anti-immigration protest broadcast by Russian outlet RT, for example, was racking up thousands of views this week on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, and prompting angry replies from other users.
The Russian outlet Sputnik ran a story this week about growing calls to build a U.S.-Mexico border wall, a priority for Trump, who failed to complete the job as president. An analysis of other sites that later linked to the Sputnik piece shows than half were in the U.S., according to data from the online analytics firm Semrush.com. Overall, Americans make up the English-language Sputnik's largest audience.
U.S. officials have warned that Russia could seek to meddle in the elections of dozens of countries in 2024, when more than 50 nations accounting for half of the world's population are scheduled to hold national votes. While Russia has a strategic interest in the outcome of many of them — the European Parliament, for one — few offer the opportunity and the prize that America does.
For Russia's bid to conquer Ukraine, this year's U.S. election stakes couldn't be higher. President Joe Biden has pledged to fully back Ukraine. Republicans have been far less supportive. Trump has openly praised Putin and the former president has suggested he would encourage Russia to attack America's NATO allies if they don't pay their fair share for the military alliance.
More than half of Republicans believe the U.S. is spending too much on Ukraine, according to a recent poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research that found Democrats to be much more supportive of additional aid.
Soon after the war started, Russia mounted a disinformation campaign designed to cut into support for Ukraine. Claims included wild stories about secret U.S. germ warfare labs or Nazi conspiracies or that Ukrainian refugees were committing crimes and taking jobs from people who had welcomed them.
That effort continues, but Russia also has shifted its attention to issues with no obvious tie to Moscow that are more likely to create cracks in the unity of its adversaries — for example immigration, or inflation, high-profile topics in the U.S. and Europe.
“They're very savvy and understand the right buttons to push," said Bret Schafer, senior fellow and head of the information manipulation team at the Alliance for Securing Democracy, a Washington-based nonprofit. "If your ultimate objective is to reduce support for Ukraine, your inroad might be talking about how bad things are on the southern border. Their path to win this thing is to get the U.S. and the E.U. to stop sending weapons and aid to Ukraine.”
A message left with the Russian Embassy in Washington wasn't immediately returned.
America’s election may also be a tempting target for other authoritarian nations such as China and Iran that, like Russia, have shown a willingness to use online propaganda and disinformation to further their objectives.
The online landscape has dramatically shifted since Russia sought to meddle in America's 2016 presidential race won by Trump. Platforms such as Facebook and Instagram have banned many Russian state accounts and built new safeguards aimed at preventing anyone from exploiting their sites. In one recent example, Meta, the owner of Facebook, announced last fall that it had identified and stopped a network of thousands of fake accounts created in China in an apparent effort to fool American voters.
Other platforms, including X, have taken a different approach, rolling back or even eliminating content moderation and rules designed to stop disinformation. Then there is TikTok, whose ties to China and popularity with young people have set off alarms in several state capitals and Washington.
Artificial intelligence is another concern. The technology now makes it easier than ever to create audio or video that is lifelike enough to fool voters.
Social media is no longer the only battleground either. Increasingly, Russia and other disinformation spreaders use encrypted messaging sites or websites that masquerade as legitimate news outlets.
“A lot of their activity has moved off the major platforms to places were they can operate more freely,” said John Hultquist, chief analyst at Mandiant Intelligence, a cybersecurity firm monitoring Russian disinformation.
Walter, Logically's research director, said he is most concerned about disinformaton on X and TikTok this year, given their lack of controls and their popularity, especially with young voters. TikTok's ties to China have raised national security concerns.
He said that while election years tend to highlight the dangers of disinformation, the most effective information operations are launched years in advance. America's adversaries have spent a long time studying its politics, building online networks and cultivating domestic divisions.
The Trump Family just grifted an entire political party to Russia with Putin as the new leader of the GOP.
GOPers still don't get it, Trump and his family never cared about your political party and saw you gopers as nothing more than fools that he and his family could con and milk dry of funds to further his personal and family style of life.
You GOPers need to keep sending those donation...Putin is going need them.
OCD..Trump is more than "a traitor" ..! Just to mention a few of Trumps
Trump is an "adulterer"...poking around a porn star while his wife sat at home taking care of his/her "newborn". " ...is a "rapist according to the judge overseeing the E. Jean Carroll case ... " ...is a habitual "liar"...if his mouth is moving, he's lying..! "... is a thief, stealing money from anyone he can con..such as college students, the American taxpayers. " ...is a "criminal" charged with obstructing justice... " ...is a "tax fraud"... " ...is a "coward"...who threatens others with his thumbs and mouth. " ...is a "CON-man" who uses others to carry out his dirty work... **(For example, the Jan 6 fools who got conned by "the coward" and now sit in jail after believing Trumps words.. (we're going to walk down to the Capitol, — and I'll be there with you... )
Trump is all this and so much more..!
The worst part is, some GOP voters believe Trump is setting a good example and they are raising their children to be like Trump. Talk about destroying the moral fiber of this great nation..the damage being done to Generations Z and A by the self-proclaimed moralistic GOP radical right can only divide our country for years and decades to come...
I see you have no idea how things worked then. College deferments were perfectly legal exemptions for serving in the military........
Changes From Vietnam to Now
Before Congress reformed the draft in 1971, a man could qualify for a student deferment if he could show he was a full-time student making satisfactory progress in virtually any field of study. He could continue to go to school and be deferred from service until he was too old to be drafted.
Claiming you have bone spurs while being able to complete 18 rounds of golf on a regular basis isn't the same thing.
Intoducing for The Cleveland Browns, Quarterback Deshawn "The Predator" Watson. He will also be the one to choose your next head coach.
With Biden - it doesn't matter. His school exemptions seem fine. His asthma exemption is fine. Hmmm............
You seemed to miss that the asthma accusation was just that. An accusation. The fact finding part said it was student deferments. The draft was over long before Obama was of age to serve. The issue has never been about "serving". It's been about fabricating a story to dodge the draft. It'd odd how his bone spurs never got in the way of 18 holes of golf.
Intoducing for The Cleveland Browns, Quarterback Deshawn "The Predator" Watson. He will also be the one to choose your next head coach.
You seemed to miss that the asthma accusation was just that. An accusation.
It was an accusation only?
Perhaps you should read the article I quoted?
I mean, a grown man such as yourself can read, correct?
"Biden received five student draft deferments, first as an undergraduate at the University of Delaware and later as a law student at Syracuse University.
And after a medical exam in April 1968, he received the "1-Y" classification, which meant he could only be drafted in a national emergency.
Biden released his Selective Service records to the Associated Press in 2008. At the time, a spokesperson said he was "disqualified from service because of asthma as a teenager," per The News Journal."
Trump: (from the same article mind you. USA Today) "Trump received four student draft deferments and a medical exemption
Born in June 1946, Trump was also a member of the generation called up to serve in the Vietnam War. Like Biden, he never did.
He received four student draft deferments while an undergraduate at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
And in the spring of 1968, he, too, received the "1-Y" classification — for bone spurs in his heels, per The New York Times."
And before you keep getting carried away with yourself, let me remind you that not only did trump go to military school, he also played tennis and squash in his first two years at Fordham where he went to college.
Intoducing for The Cleveland Browns, Quarterback Deshawn "The Predator" Watson. He will also be the one to choose your next head coach.
![[Linked Image from media3.giphy.com]](https://media3.giphy.com/media/BjD7keq3qEFZm/200w.gif?cid=6c09b952xo1wfov3qud6u57iraqm65vjub4t53aqjonxbk9k&ep=v1_gifs_search&rid=200w.gif)
