Politics Thread

[-Jrabbit]

It was clearly an attempt to keep Trump in office. Call it what you will.

[Ming]

For the Maga crowd, it was just a peaceful walk in the park. And it was the FBI, democrats and who ever which made it violent.
But then again, we know how they view reality since they still think Trump won.

[Broken_Erika]

Saudi Arabia to get first alcohol shop in more than 70 years

​Saudi Arabia has said it will open a shop in Riyadh selling alcohol to a select band of non-Muslim expats, the first to open in more than 70 years.​

The clientele will be limited to diplomatic staff, who have for years imported booze in sealed official packages known as diplomatic pouches.​

Saudi officials said the shop would counter "the illicit trade of alcohol".​

Prohibition has been law since 1952, after one of King Abdulaziz's sons drunkenly shot dead a British diplomat.​

The new store will be located in Riyadh's Diplomatic Quarter west of the city centre, according to a document seen by the AFP and Reuters news agencies.​

A source familiar with the plans told Reuters the shop was expected to open within weeks. There will be limitations, however:​

• Thirsty envoys would need to register beforehand and receive clearance by the government
• No one under 21 will be allowed in the store and "proper attire is required" at all times inside
• Drinkers will not be able to send a proxy, such as a driver
• Monthly limitations would be enforced, the statement said.

​ However - according to the document seen by AFP - these will not be particularly stringent.​
Patrons will be limited to 240 "points" of alcohol per month. One litre of spirits will be worth six points, one litre of wine three points and one litre of beer one point.​

There are also no suggestions that the clientele will be widened to "ordinary" foreigners in the kingdom without diplomatic privileges, who officially have no access to alcohol.​

While alcohol will become part of Riyadh life, drinkers would be wise to be mindful of where they drink and how they behave afterwards.​

Under current Saudi law, penalties for consumption or possession of alcohol can include fines, jail time, public flogging and deportation for unauthorised foreigners.​

The document also said authorities are planning a "new regulatory framework" that would also allow "specific quantities" of alcohol to be brought in by diplomats to "put an end to... an uncontrolled exchange of such goods", it added.​

For years diplomatic staff have had to use their "pouches", which cannot be tampered with by authorities in their host country, to bring in limited amounts of alcohol.​

The moves are the latest in a series of initiatives known as "Vision 2030" to liberalise Saudi society under the crown prince and de facto ruler of the country, Mohammed bin Salman.​

Other Gulf states operate similar alcohol regimes.​

However, the UAE and Qatar also allow the sale of alcohol to non-Muslims over 21 in hotels, clubs and bars.​

There is no suggestion from the Saudi document that the government there is considering doing the same.​

While alcohol is forbidden under Islam, Saudi Arabia had until 1952 held a conciliatory attitude to its presence inside the kingdom.​

That changed after Mishari bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud, a prince, shot dead Cyril Ousman, the British vice-consul in Jeddah, in 1951 for refusing to pour him another drink at a function.​

A year later, King Abdulaziz imposed a total ban on alcohol. Mishari was convicted of murder.​

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-68085190

[Berzerker]

Prohibition has been law since 1952, after one of King Abdulaziz's sons drunkenly shot dead a British diplomat.​

huh, I would have thought it was a religious ban

[Broken_Erika]

Governor Abbott Issues Statement On Texas’ Constitutional Right To Self-Defense

Governor Greg Abbott today issued a statement on Texas’ constitutional right to defend and protect itself as President Joe Biden continues to attack Texas and refuse to perform his duties to secure the border.

"The Executive Branch of the United States has a constitutional duty to enforce federal laws protecting States, including immigration laws on the books right now," reads the statement. "President Biden has instructed his agencies to ignore federal statutes that mandate the detention of illegal immigrants. The failure of the Biden Administration to fulfill the duties imposed by Article IV, § 4 has triggered Article I, § 10, Clause 3, which reserves to this State the right of self-defense. For these reasons, I have already declared an invasion under Article I, § 10, Clause 3 to invoke Texas’s constitutional authority to defend and protect itself. That authority is the supreme law of the land and supersedes any federal statutes to the contrary."
​

https://gov.texas.gov/news/post/governor-abbott-issues-statement-on-texas-constitutional-right-to-self-defense

[Broken_Erika]

Does everything in his power to interfere with the Border Patrol doing their jobs then turns around and says that the Border Patrol aren't doing their jobs and it's all Biden's fault.

[-Jrabbit]

It's all theater with Abbott.

Nationally, the interesting balancing act to watch will be the GOP's "invasion of immigrants" panic attacks being balanced against their determination to avoid passing any legislation to address the issue until after November.

[Broken_Erika]

I guess it shows how much credibility Abbott has considering that many news networks seems to have not picked this up yet.
Are they just slow, or do they think that Abboott being stupid isn't considered "newsworthy".

[Geronimo]

Governor Abbott Issues Statement On Texas’ Constitutional Right To Self-Defense

Governor Greg Abbott today issued a statement on Texas’ constitutional right to defend and protect itself as President Joe Biden continues to attack Texas and refuse to perform his duties to secure the border.

"The Executive Branch of the United States has a constitutional duty to enforce federal laws protecting States, including immigration laws on the books right now," reads the statement. "President Biden has instructed his agencies to ignore federal statutes that mandate the detention of illegal immigrants. The failure of the Biden Administration to fulfill the duties imposed by Article IV, § 4 has triggered Article I, § 10, Clause 3, which reserves to this State the right of self-defense. For these reasons, I have already declared an invasion under Article I, § 10, Clause 3 to invoke Texas’s constitutional authority to defend and protect itself. That authority is the supreme law of the land and supersedes any federal statutes to the contrary."
​
https://gov.texas.gov/news/post/gove...o-self-defense

Does everything in his power to interfere with the Border Patrol doing their jobs then turns around and says that the Border Patrol aren't doing their jobs and it's all Biden's fault.

That's a bold claim. Tell me about how you view governor Abbott as doing a lot under his power to interfere with the border patrol doing their job, let alone doing everything under his power to do so.

[Broken_Erika]

Probably a bit of hyperbole since i was drinking when i wrote that.

[Broken_Erika]

S**t like this

Last year, Texas sued the federal government after Border Patrol agents cut through portions of the fencing, arguing that they were unable to reach the border they police.
.............

Earlier this month, Texas officials seized a park along the border and declared that federal agents were banned from accessing it.

Last week, Texas ignored a demand from the Department of Homeland Security to resume federal access to the park, which is used by agents to patrol the border.

The Department of Homeland Security said two children and one woman drowned in the Rio Grande River this month after Border Patrol agents were "were physically barred by Texas officials from entering the area".

The Texas Military Department disputed the statement, and said it had found no evidence of migrants in distress.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-68064246

[Broken_Erika]

U.K. walks away from trade talks with Canada

​ Sticking point is how much access U.K. producers should have to the Canadian cheese market

​British negotiators walked away from trade talks with Canada Thursday — a dramatic development that taps the brakes on a bilateral trade deal between the two Commonwealth nations that has been years in the making.

A major sticking point between the two sides remains how much tariff-free access U.K. producers should have to the Canadian cheese market.

After Brexit, an interim agreement kept tariff-free British cheese on Canadian shelves for three years. That more permissive regime expired at the end of last year.

Negotiators had been working on a longer-term bilateral trade deal to replace the liberalized trade the U.K. enjoyed under the terms of Canada's Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) with the European Union.

• Like British cheddar? Enjoy it while you can still find it

• Canada-India trade talks won't resume until India co-operates with Nijjar investigation, minister suggests

In the aftermath of the renegotiation of the former North American Free Trade Agreement, which saw changes to supply-managed sectors, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau promised dairy farmers that no more slices of Canada's domestic market would be served up to exporters in future negotiations.

"We have always said we will only negotiate trade deals that deliver for the British people. And we reserve the right to pause negotiations with any country if progress is not being made," a U.K. government spokesperson said in a statement to CBC News.

"We remain open to restarting talks with Canada in the future to build a stronger trading relationship that benefits businesses and consumers on both sides of the Atlantic."

Trade Minister Mary Ng told reporters in Ottawa Thursday afternoon that she had reached out to her British counterpart, Kemi Badenoch, to express Canada's disappointment at their decision to pause the talks.

"We are at the table. Frankly, I would say that we continue to be at the table," she said. "We're always going to look for the best deal for Canadians. It's what we have always done. And this time is no different."

Ng insisted Canada wouldn't agree to a deal that wasn't good for Canadian farmers.

"I'm very confident that we will be able to get back to the table and I would encourage my colleagues in the United Kingdom to get back to the table, because negotiating is how we get a deal," she said, adding that she would rather Canadian officials be talking at the bargaining table than in the media.

The Dairy Farmers of Canada has said consistently that expanded access to the Canadian dairy sector should remain off the table in trade talks. Automotive negotiations also stalled


Talks are also faltering on drafting new rules for automotive trade between the two countries.

European and Canadian-assembled automobiles enjoy preferential access to each other's consumer markets under the CETA that's been in place with the European Union since 2017. The EU deal lays out "rules of origin" that determine what constitutes a European automotive export for the purposes of lowering tariffs into Canada.
​
Since the United Kingdom is no longer part of the European Union, those rules expire on March 1. Exports from the now-independent British automotive industry are set to lose their preferential access to the Canadian market.

Automotive trade in and out of Canada is subject to a tangled web of trade agreements, each with different rules: CETA for the EU, the revised North American trade agreement for the U.S. and Mexico (known as CUSMA), the Comprehensive and Progressive agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership that liberalized automotive trade with Japan, and Canada's bilateral trade agreement with South Korea.

British vehicles risk landing outside these competitive, tariff-free supply chains if the two sides can't find a way forward. Riskier for U.K. than for Canada?


Failure to reach a deal with Canada before these cheese and automotive deadlines pass could hurt British exports. From Canada's strategic perspective, there's less immediate economic urgency to reach a deal.

In fact, holding out responds to a key demand from Canadian livestock producers, who have urged the Canadian government not to agree to any new trade deal with the United Kingdom until food inspection standards are harmonized to recognize Canadian food safety rules as equivalent to British rules.

A specific quantity of Canadian beef and pork exports was supposed to gain access to the European and British markets when CETA took effect, but imports have been held to practically zero because Canadian standards aren't recognized as compliant.

Ng told reporters that this friction in the bilateral talks with the U.K. is a issue separate from Canada's ratification process for the British to join the CPTPP. The final terms and text for that accession were agreed to in the summer, but each current party to that trade agreement must undergo its own ratification process. In Canada, that will require a parliamentary consultation process at committee and the passage of implementation legislation before cabinet ratifies the expanded treaty.

Ng said that at the moment, the government is focused on ratification of the revised Canada-Ukraine trade agreement — that bill has yet to clear Parliament.

In the absence of the bespoke bilateral agreement these negotiations were trying to land, Canada's current trade continuity agreement with the United Kingdom will stand indefinitely to keep tariffs off other products shipping between the two countries. But this "CETA rollover" deal was intended to be only a transitional arrangement until something more comprehensive could be worked out.

Negotiators have completed eight rounds of talks since 2022 and were scheduled to meet next month in the U.K. Those meetings now will not proceed.

The United Kingdom is Canada's third-largest trading partner, worth over $46 billion in two-way goods and services trade in 2022.
​https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/can...eese-1.7094817

Increased UK Cheese access would anger the Dairy Cartel/Cheese Mafia/Canadian Dairy Commission

[BeBMan]

Blessed are the cheese makers

[Berzerker]

IDF soldier taken hostage on Oct 7 died in a poison gas attack on the tunnel system. Using poison gas to kill people... hmm. I suppose it dont matter how people die in a war, bullet, drone, 2000 lb bomb, or cruise missile, dead is dead.

[Berzerker]

US-Iraq to begin talks for withdrawing troops. Translation, Iraqis are tired of our little war with Iran in their country. And Joe Biden started a war with the Houthis. Lets go, Brandon

[Ming]

You've been watching videos on the internet again...

[Berzerker]

its been all over the news...or were you talking about the Iraqis asking us to leave

[Ming]

I was talking about your normal anti Biden crap. You know, the childish go Brandon.
Your maga underwear is showing again.

[Berzerker]

Joe didn't start a war with the Houthis? He's bombing them for interfering with Israel's slaughter in Gaza. Imagine that. We sure dont like other people getting in the way of our wars.

[Geronimo]

For the Maga crowd, it was just a peaceful walk in the park. And it was the FBI, democrats and who ever which made it violent.
But then again, we know how they view reality since they still think Trump won.

Overall as a 'coup' it was incredibly cowardly and half-arsed. I think the outrageous impeachable offence is that the president literally did *nothing* to end the open conflict between a group he had just asked to go to the capitol and capitol security. I do not think he was willing to lead an actual insurrection in any meaningful sense, he just hoped to trigger a violent conflict that would scare people into making concessions to him. Rather than meaningful insurrection his plan was passive aggressive riot stoking behavior with plausible deniability. He should have been immediately impeached for waiting several hours to even speak publicly to stop it, but let's not kid ourselves that Trump organized this thing as a plan to overthrow the government.

At this point the focus should be on his cowardice and willingness to sell loyal supporters down the river for cheap political capital, rather than on claims that this was an organized insurrection. "loosely organized" and "nudged" in the modern political sense of "nudge" is a far more accurate description.

[Berzerker]

I agree he should have been more active telling people to leave sooner but whoever was in charge of security let it happen.

[Ming]

Gee... if Trump hadn't called his mob to Washington and filled them with lies, it would never have happened.
But keep trying to find ANYBODY ELSE to blame.

[Berzerker]

The person in charge of security is to blame... And Ray Epps and his crew who led the charge at the breach site

[Geronimo]

S**t like this

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-68064246

I agree that open lack of cooperation between governor Abbott and Biden along with his federal appointees is frequently making it more difficult for border patrol to do parts of their jobs. However, Border Patrol itself is surprisingly mute in it's criticism of Abbott in this regard. That is surprising given they are much freer to criticize Abbott than Biden. It's definitely notable that Border Patrol Council president Brandon Judd is so openly and repeatedly totally supportive of Abbott and that he is also possibly the most immune to presidential retaliation of anyone in Border Patrol. It's most plausible that most of the Border Patrol criticism of Abbott is designed to curry favor with the administration and its appointees while most of the expressions of support for Abbott are likely to be genuine.

Having said all that, I don't think much of Abbott with respect to border control and illegal immigration (immigrants may not be illegal but immigration certainly can be) especially since he apportions such a large fraction of the resources Texas spends in this regard is spent (wasted really) on zero sum solutions. Overwhelmingly this is spent on bribing migrants who arrive illegally to accept transportation to distant areas of the US. There are also an alarming number of people in his party who want to decrease *legal* immigration and are pushing hard in negotiations for laws and policy changes that would do just that and Greg has said very little to criticize that stupidity and only occasionally speaks in favor of increasing legal immigration for skilled workers which is especially desperately needed now.

Make no mistake, both conservatives and Progressives are approaching immigration from pure Machiavellian political scheming and calculations that grossly ignores public interest.

Biden ended Remain in Mexico. this was incredibly stupid and harmful if we want to help immigrants and monitor immigration across the border. Ending it demonstrated he did not care about border control and monitoring. The accusation that he cynically believed the immigrants fleeing from economic ruin and exploitation by areas that had in recent memory been better off under their leftist governments would eventually vote to support his party is difficult to refute as that actually makes a great deal more sense than the official explanation that it was inconsistent with our values. It didn't help either than when illegal border crossings were sky rocketing he pressed to have title 42 lifted and battled it out in court to ensure that would occur.

Many conservatives have been opposed to increasing legal immigration. This is completely inexplicable economically. Currently the US has a desperate need for more legal immigration especially of skilled workers but it has even become necessary at the totally unskilled labor end of the job market. It's not possible to hide from this fact. Currently in negotiations with the administration on border changes in exchange for spending concessions conservatives are actually demanding changes that would decrease legal immigration, even of skilled workers. That's outrageous and that's stupid. Conservatives have also been wasting resources bribing illegally residing migrants to places they find more politically convenient. While, they may have been inspired by the similar activities by the federal government in the Obama administration (which those conservatives tended to find much less politically convenient), they seem to have forgotten that first Clinton and then Bush did something similar and they didn't seem to complain much at that time. What I find especially loathsome is that while they are willing to do that, they balk at spending public money on social welfare for these desperate impoverished people even though such spending is not zero sum and will at least provide direct benefit.

Both parties are bad guys on border security and immigration.

[Berzerker]

Trump bragged about his sanctions on Venezuela, not long afterward thousands of Venezuelans began showing up at our border. Our sanctions and drug and cold wars turned Latin America into thugocracies run by cartels, gangs, and dictators. Thats why people are knocking at the door, to get out of the shooting gallery we created.