I dunno… seems like he’s having fun, actually. I mean, he really seemed to dislike Obama, despite his not generally swerving from US policy on Israel very much at all. He seems to be happy about Trump, though.
1 Like
They certainly have enough in common.
3 Likes
Nothing to see here…
http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/05/21/529417148/saudis-and-the-uae-will-donate-100-million-to-a-fund-inspired-by-ivanka-trump
<img src="//cdck-file-uploads-global.s3.dualstack.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/boingboing/original/3X/6/6/66093afdb81ee3fb17c191dbf278c531bdb977a7.gif" width=500" height=“252”>
Update:
6 Likes
It decided not to visit the US after seeing the way foreigners were being treated.
4 Likes
Ok, I am no mathematician but, this double vision can’t be good:
"The White House budget released on Tuesday appears to have double-counted more than $2 trillion in estimated tax revenue. "
“Trump budget director Mick Mulvaney was asked about the double-count today during a press briefing, and didn’t directly address the issue. First he blamed the Obama Administration for its own faulty economic projections ― namely because former Obama Treasury Sec. Larry Summers raised the double-count in the Washington Post ― and then said that the budget numbers also did not assume any shrinkage the so-called “tax gap,” or the number of people who should pay taxes but don’t (something he expects personal tax simplification to help achieve).” -Axios
“We did [the double count] on purpose… I’m aware of the criticisms and would simply come back and say there’s other places where we were probably overly conservative in our accounting. We stand by the numbers.” -M. Mulvaney
11 Likes
Re: the Mideast trip.
I think Trump/Bannon/Putin are attempting to start a Sunni/Shia war, probably with the intent of swooping in and conquering the rubble once it’s over.
Massively boosting the Saudi military, attempting to deflect responsibility for Daesh etc from the Wahhabists to the Iranians, loudly hinting at US backing for Saudi aggression. They’re trying to get the Saudis to attack Iran.
5 Likes
3 Likes
So much creepy. Ivanka and Mom look like they are going to burst into flames at any moment while horns grow out of Trumps head. And the Pope is thinking “The evil is strong with these.”
If you could could choose, who best to paint this very odd meeting?
- Salvador Dali
- Francisco Goya
- Hieronymus Bosch
- Carravaggio
0 voters
14 Likes
18 Likes
Whenever Trump smiles, he looks like a walking priaprism of avarice.
8 Likes
From the article:
“Russia was engaged in aggressive and wide-ranging efforts to interfere in one of the key pillars of our democracy.”
I think it’s important to root out foreign influence into elections, but why is it so much worse/scarier/investigation worthy than when our own leaders are actively fucking with this pillar? What about when the election-fuckery is coming, literally, from inside the house. It’s like deporting immigrants with DUIs, but letting native born “good guy whose made mistakes” drunk drivers take a class, and praying that they will find strength in their families…
5 Likes
So much going on here I can’t look away.
7 Likes
8 Likes
Nothing to see here:
8 Likes
Can I say, as a historian, it really irritates me when people don’t get that there is not “something is coming” in history. Events happen because of choices people make, not because they were “destined” to happen. If there is a third world war brewing, then it’s not because of some cycles we can’t break out of, it’s because people BELIEVE those cycles exist, and then they do everything they can to make that happen. But we can always make different choices that lead to different outcomes. People like Bannon just want to go to war, because it confirms their view of humanity and human history, and makes them feel like they are big and important, because they were somehow involved in something so epic like a war. Bannon needs to go read some Christopher Browning, Tim Snyder, or Iris Chang (preferable, all 3) and maybe think about how horrific a world war actually is and how wrenching the aftermath of such things are.
It’s like people claiming that Star Trek “predicted” the future with their form factors of those pads… Well, no, Steve Jobs was born in an era where Star Trek existed, and the show either consciously or unconsciously influence his design ideas…
15 Likes
I have never seen Pope Francis look so sad to be near another human being. I’ve seen him giving speeches, shaking hands with people, meeting with heads of state and other major religious people, and he ALWAYS seems pleased to be there and happy to be connecting with another human being. All the pictures I saw from Trumps visit, except for a few, he looks so put out. That should tell you something. Also, whenever Trump holds a baby, they scream and cry.
17 Likes
Does anyone actually believe that things happen cyclically, as in karmic retribution, or do they mean that the conditions that cause these events happen cyclically, as in some kind of sociological or anthropological phenomenon?
3 Likes
I can’t find the tweet, but someone posted the Francis is trying to blend into that chair like Comey. So thanks, random twitter person.
4 Likes
Well, people believe both, obviously, because there are a hell of a lot of practicing Hindus, Buddhists, and Neo-pagans in the world who are down with the concept of the karmic wheel! 
But the latter is really referring to Strauss and Howe:
It seems like Bannon believes that this explains history, at least modern history. It’s fundamentally a rejection of Marx’s ideas about history, which was progressive and men-centered, rather than something that happens outside of men’s control.
2 Likes
