KildarX posted:

So is the NRA trying to whip idiots into a frenzy because now there's no scary brown man to take the guns, and so their donations might plummet?

quote:

WASHINGTON — A congressman who served in Afghanistan is championing an idea to request departing servicemembers sign an oath not to harm themselves, as a method to deter veteran suicides.

But some suicide prevention experts contend the plan is likely to do the opposite.

Rep. Brian Mast, R-Fla., who took office this January, is an Army veteran who lost both of his legs in 2010 from a roadside bomb explosion in Kandahar. When promoting the “Oath of Exit” on the House floor last month, Mast said servicemembers are known for honoring their commitments – and if they commit to contacting fellow veterans before harming themselves, they’d do it.

Though it’s well-intentioned, the oath – essentially a no-suicide contract – is an outdated notion proven not to work, and it could even backfire, some experts said.

“It won’t work, to put it bluntly,” said Craig Bryan, a psychologist and executive director of the National Center for Veterans Studies at the University of Utah. “At best, it would be a neutral effect, but it could make things worse.”

psydude posted:

This is one of the original symbols of the Iron Front, which was widely used by Anti-Fascist movements before, during, and after WWII.

Radical 90s Wizard posted:

Here y'all this is p much antifa 101

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EfDbTgb6uyc

Probs what you're in for, just with way more obesity and worse music.

Wasabi the J posted:

Jesus loving Christ. Impeach, you spineless loving cowards. This is literally Watergate 2.0.

How do we even begin to combat this?

quote:

MOSCOW/ST. PETERSBURG -- Russian volunteer Andrei Kamayev arrived in war-torn eastern Ukraine in late September 2014, bursting with patriotic bravado and convinced that he was following in the footsteps of his grandfather -- a Soviet intelligence officer in World War II -- by fighting against "fascists and Nazis."

Using terms propagated by the Kremlin to describe Ukrainian government forces fighting Russia-backed separatists, the 49-year-old Kamayev admits to other motives for joining up: he also wanted to help restore the "Russky Mir," or Russian World, and stave off the perceived encroachment of NATO.

But his dream of military glory came to a quick and devastating end on February 1, 2015. As Kamayev followed a convoy of tanks during an assault near the strategic town of Debaltseve -- then Ukrainian-controlled -- a mortar shell exploded beside him, shredding part of his left leg. He was evacuated to a nearby hospital, but without the proper medicine to treat him, gangrene set in and doctors were forced to amputate the rest of his leg up to his hip.

He was lucky to survive, unlike many fellow Russians who volunteered to fight in Ukraine. But back in his new home, St. Petersburg, Kamayev hobbles around the former imperial capital on crutches and struggles to get by.
...

He was surprised by the "chaos" he encountered, but was happy to be there and fought undeterred from the trenches for months. For his efforts he says he received only a onetime payment of 15,000 rubles, about $250, for fighting in October 2014. (Other fighters said they received nothing, or amounts far less than that.) He recalls there being no proper command structure, and the way he describes the infantry's role it sounds like volunteers were merely used as artillery fodder. Their sole purpose, he explains, was to grind down their enemy, hold their ground at all costs, and, if possible, to gain some. His unit of 10 men fought in two-hour shifts, allowing them some time to rest.

"You learn to find happiness in the little things," he says of his time at the front. "You're happy that you survived, you're happy that you ate...and got some sleep."

But happiness was a passing feeling. Three out of the 10 men he fought alongside returned home in coffins, while another five, including him, suffered serious injuries. Only two came home physically unscathed. Kamayev and Shchinkorenko say those grim casualty figures are generally in line with the thousands of volunteers who fought in eastern Ukraine.

Third World Reggin posted:

part of what I've read up on bannon is he realized that there was an untapped market of people in lovely lives who stay home and probably play video games all day that are not well educated and maybe a bit racist

/pol/ was at first ironic but like all things irony based it attracted the non ironic people

irony is a poison

bannon was there to bring in this under class of people while kellyanne was there to bring in the rest of the gop base

it worked because once you are past the primaries it matters way less what kind of flavor of gop you are

Duzzy Funlop posted:

What was it?

redgubbinz posted:

*Bannon leans in close to trump, his breath causing trumps hair to shrink away in fear*

"Donnie.... *urp*.... You can't fire the liquor."

*a loud pop is heard, SS runs in only to find a horrified trump and a large vomit stain on the carpet*

quote:

Two people were killed and several more were injured in a knife attack on Friday afternoon in Turku. Police shot and apprehended a suspect shortly after the attack began. Investigators say it is not yet clear whether or not the attack was terror-related.

A knife-wielding man attacked eight people in downtown Turku on Friday afternoon, killing two and wounding at least six.

At a press conference on Friday evening, police said that eight people were stabbed in the incident, which began at 16:02, and two of them had died. The suspect was shot in the leg and apprehended by police by 16:05, and as of Friday evening was being treated in hospital.

The hospital director director said on Friday evening that all of the victims were adults.

Police said that the incident was not being investigated as a terror attack, but that could change as new information comes to light. The National Bureau of Investigation had taken over the probe from the Turku police department, and the security intelligence police Supo are also involved in the investigation.

quote:

The main suspect, an 18-year-old Moroccan man, remains hospitalised in critical condition after being shot in the hip by police. Police took four other individuals into custody overnight.

Finland's National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) confirmed on Saturday that the previous day's knife attack in Turku is being investigated as murder and attempted murder with a terrorist intent.

The main suspect is an 18-year-old Moroccan man. He remains hospitalised in critical condition after being shot in the hip by police.

Police have also released more information about the victims. The two were killed were Finnish citizens. The eight injured include two Swedes and one Italian citizen. One of the wounded is under age 18.

Three people are in intensive care, including the suspected assailant.

Police took four other individuals into custody overnight. They are being interviewed on Saturday.

The NBI is to provide more details at a press conference beginning at 2 pm Saturday.

shyduck posted:

https://twitter.com/stefanmymind/status/899704177437421568

Wasabi the J posted:

quote:

Republican Texas Sens. John Cornyn and Ted Cruz pressed President Trump in a letter on Friday to grant Gov. Greg Abbott's (R) request for a major disaster declaration for the state as Hurricane Harvey nears its coast.

“Given the potential catastrophic impact that the Hurricane may have on Texas communities, we strongly support this request and urge you to provide any and all emergency protective measures available by a major disaster declaration,” the senators said.

Harvey is expected to be the first Category 3 hurricane to make landfall in the United States since 2005 and the first to hit Texas since 1999.

The pair voted against a disaster relief package after Hurricane Sandy slammed the U.S. east coast in 2013, causing severe damage to the region.

Cruz said at the time he voted against the package because it was filled with spending that was unrelated to storm relief.

"Emergency relief for the families who are suffering from this natural disaster should not be used as a Christmas tree for billions in unrelated spending, including projects such as Smithsonian repairs, upgrades to National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration airplanes, and more funding for Head Start," he said at the time.

Cornyn did not vote for the Sandy aid package at the time, citing unrelated spending, but has voted for Sandy aid.

Cruz was supportive of federal funding after damaging floods left 15 people dead in Texas in 2015.

Handsome Ralph posted:

The Finnish President's face during Trump's tirade was priceless.

quote:

HELSINKI (Reuters) - President Sauli Niinisto on Tuesday denied that Finland was buying new fighter jets from American planemaker Boeing (BA.N), following remarks by U.S. President Donald Trump.

Finland is looking to replace its ageing fleet of 62 F/A-18 Hornet jets with multirole fighter aircraft in a procurement estimated at 7-10 billion euros by 2025.

“One of the things that is happening is you’re purchasing large amounts of our great F-18 aircraft from Boeing and it’s one of the great planes, the great fighter jets,” Trump said on Monday at a news conference with his Finnish counterpart in the White House.

Niinisto, who was standing next to Trump, looked surprised but did not follow up on the comment. He later denied the deal with Boeing on his Twitter account and on Tuesday in Washington.

“It seems that on the sale side, past decisions and hopes about future decisions have mixed ... The purchase is just starting, and that is very clear here,” Niinisto told Finnish reporters.

quote:

A leadership vacuum in the world’s biggest economy has driven the largest private-sector pension fund in Finland to cut the weight of U.S. stocks in its 45 billion-euro ($53 billion) portfolio.

“It seems as if there is no president in the U.S.,” Risto Murto, chief executive officer of Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co., said in an interview in Helsinki on Wednesday. “If I look at what is the moral and practical power, there is no longer a traditional president.”

The unorthodox start to Donald Trump’s presidency -- dominated by Twitter outbursts that have included nuclear saber rattling with North Korea and a defense of white nationalist protesters -- has turned the U.S. into a source of global political risk. The legislative program that many investors had hoped would support economic growth looks to have stalled, and Murto says Trump’s apparent inability to work with Congress is particularly worrying, given the global ramifications of decisions made in Washington.

“The lesson from 2008 is that if we have a problem in the U.S., then we all have a problem,” Murto said. He described Trump’s response to demonstrations in Charlottesville as a “breaking point if you look at how business leaders reacted,” retreating from association with the president.