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[Max™]

Always feels like it should be russkies, but yeah, Iran was a being set up in an attempt to make a US puppet state long before the USSR started poking around in that particular sandbox.

[Lord Shonus]

That isn't quite accurate. The Shah already reigned, and AJAX was primarily about giving him more power, not putting him there in the first place. It also wasn't a pure US thing, as UK intelligence was almost as heavily involved. The entire thing was largely fallout from previous British meddling in Iran - the previous Shah had essentially been put on the throne in 1925 by Britain, who later jailed him during WWII after he got to be a bit too effective at playing Germany and Britain against each other to increase Persia's autonomy.

[MetalSlimeHunt]

Not to downplay US involvement in Ajax, but it was done largely for sake of the UK, specifically securing Iranian oil for British Petroleum.

[smjjames]

I find it amusing all the kerfuffle over Qatar. people like having opinions on it but I doubt 99.99 percent of them can oven point it out on a map.

Hope I got it

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

I don't get it.

[Pancakes]

I find it amusing all the kerfuffle over Qatar. people like having opinions on it but I doubt 99.99 percent of them can oven point it out on a map.

Hope I got it

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

I don't get it.

Just a little typo, and the image popped right into my head, couldn't resist

[Max™]

That isn't quite accurate. The Shah already reigned, and AJAX was primarily about giving him more power, not putting him there in the first place. It also wasn't a pure US thing, as UK intelligence was almost as heavily involved. The entire thing was largely fallout from previous British meddling in Iran - the previous Shah had essentially been put on the throne in 1925 by Britain, who later jailed him during WWII after he got to be a bit too effective at playing Germany and Britain against each other to increase Persia's autonomy.

I blame pain medication for my neck or something, but yeah, it wasn't like Iran just popped up going "RAWR FUCK AMERICA" suddenly, they've got a pretty good reason to dislike us after all.

[Culise]

EDIT: Actually, on second thought, I don't want to get involved in this.  My apologies, and sorry I can't delete posts.

[smjjames]

edit: removed due to culise's own removal of their post.

It didn't seem like a too controversial thing to talk about it, but if you don't want to get involved, okay. Though people are now going to wonder what you said, heh.

[Playergamer]

WHAT'S IN THE BOX?

[smjjames]

WHAT'S IN THE BOX?

It was just about how we might make up for the whole AJAX thing, if it was possible to, and I replied that apologizing would be a good step towards reconcillation. Certainly won't be possible in the current political climate on both sides anyway.

I didn't see it as being controversial at all, but if Culise wants to stay out of it, okay.

[Reelya]

https://www.forbes.com/sites/danalexander/2017/06/06/how-donald-trump-shifted-kids-cancer-charity-money-into-his-business/#3fac2a906b4a

Eric Trump, the president's second son and now the co-head of the Trump Organization, who has hosted this event for ten years on behalf of the St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis. He's done a ton of good: To date, he's directed more than $11 million there, the vast majority of it via this annual golf event. He has also helped raise another $5 million through events with other organizations.

The best part about all this, according to Eric Trump, is the charity's efficiency: Because he can get his family's golf course for free and have most of the other costs donated, virtually all the money contributed will go toward helping kids with cancer. "We get to use our assets 100% free of charge," Trump tells Forbes.

That's not the case. In reviewing filings from the Eric Trump Foundation and other charities, it's clear that the course wasn't free--that the Trump Organization received payments for its use, part of more than $1.2 million that has no documented recipients past the Trump Organization. Golf charity experts say the listed expenses defy any reasonable cost justification for a one-day golf tournament.

Additionally, the Donald J. Trump Foundation, which has come under previous scrutiny for self-dealing and advancing the interests of its namesake rather than those of charity, apparently used the Eric Trump Foundation to funnel $100,000 in donations into revenue for the Trump Organization.

And while donors to the Eric Trump Foundation were told their money was going to help sick kids, more than $500,000 was re-donated to other charities, many of which were connected to Trump family members or interests, including at least four groups that subsequently paid to hold golf tournaments at Trump courses.

All of this seems to defy federal tax rules and state laws that ban self-dealing and misleading donors. It also raises larger questions about the Trump family dynamics and whether Eric and his brother, Don Jr., can be truly independent of their father.

Especially since the person who specifically commanded that the for-profit Trump Organization start billing hundreds of thousands of dollars to the nonprofit Eric Trump Foundation, according to two people directly involved, was none other than the current president of the United States, Donald Trump.

The Donald J. Trump Foundation famously acted like an arm of the overall business, using the charity's money to settle a Trump business lawsuit, make a political donation and even purchase expensive portraits of its namesake. Meanwhile, Trump businesses billed the Trump campaign, fueled by small outside donors, more than $11 million to use his properties, chefs and private aircraft.

[alway]

More of the same that was known in October: https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-boasts-of-his-philanthropy-but-his-giving-falls-short-of-his-words/2016/10/29/b3c03106-9ac7-11e6-a0ed-ab0774c1eaa5_story.html

It's all about appearing charitable without substance for him.

[alway]

Some articles on the ongoing, highly organized right-wing misinfo campaigns: https://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2017/06/how-the-trump-russia-data-machine-games-google-to.html
Related, and also linked within:
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/may/07/the-great-british-brexit-robbery-hijacked-democracy

In summary: The true dangers of unregulated corporate surveillance, machine learning, and ad-tech are here, and are being exploited by the wealthy to flip governments in their favor.

[Puzzlemaker]

Man, I do not want a cyberpunk run-by-corporations dystopian future.  But that seems to be where we are heading.  I hope people get their shit together in time to change course

[Sheb]

Good news. Trump actually didn't sell any weapons to the Saudis, apart from 1 billion worth of ammo to keep bombing Yemen.


Also, apparently Trump as chosen Christopher A. Wray as FBI director.