The Random Politics Thread

[China]

On 3/1/2023 at 2:36 PM, China said:

 

Republican Bill That Gives Biden Power to Completely Ban TikTok Passes House Committee Super Fast

 

A fast-tracked, vague Republican bill granting the Biden administration the ability to impose a nationwide TikTok ban moved a step closer toward legality on Tuesday after passing a vote in the House Foreign Affairs Committee. The sweeping new legislation, if passed into law, would grant the Biden administration the ability to totally ban TikTok or other foreign software companies believed to be involved in the transfer of “sensitive data.” Critics, including the American Civil Liberties Union, say the slipshod bill, introduced just five days ago, was haphazardly written and could potentially open scores of other benign apps up to potential bans.

 

Click on the link for the full article

 

Montana bans TikTok for all residents

 

Gov. Greg Gianforte signed a bill banning TikTok in Montana, making it the first state to fully ban the app in the U.S.

 

The Republican governor signed legislation into law Wednesday, saying the ban is aimed at protecting citizens from foreign influence since TikTok is owned by Beijing-based ByteDance.

 

“The Chinese Communist Party using TikTok to spy on Americans, violate their privacy, and collect their personal, private, and sensitive information is well-documented,” Gianforte said in a statement. “Today, Montana takes the most decisive action of any state to protect Montanans’ private data and sensitive personal information from being harvested by the Chinese Communist Party.”

 

The state’s action follows efforts in Congress, including a bipartisan bill in the Senate targeting TikTok and other apps from foreign adversaries. But momentum has stalled in recent weeks after libertarian members like Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and progressive Democrats like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) came out against a ban.

 

The ban will go into effect on Jan. 1, 2024, if courts don’t act first, and any app stores offering TikTok to the state’s 1.1 million residents risk facing penalties enforced by the Montana Department of Justice. That penalty starts at an initial $10,000 fine per violation, and then $10,000 a day that a violation continues.

 

TikTok says the law violates the First Amendment and the company is assessing its next legal steps. “We want to reassure Montanans that they can continue using TikTok to express themselves, earn a living, and find community as we continue working to defend the rights of our users inside and outside of Montana,” Brooke Oberwetter, a TikTok spokesperson, said in a statement.

 

Click on the link for the full article

Edited May 18, 2023 by China

[China]

‘More than 90% of the complaint was devoted to irrelevant posturing’: Trump-appointed judge clearly not impressed with the way Indiana AG’s office sued TikTok

 

Judging by the opening lines of the opinion and order issued Tuesday by a Donald Trump-appointed lifetime member of the federal judiciary, the way the Indiana Attorney General’s Office and a team of high-powered private lawyers went about suing TikTok was not impressive.

 

U.S. District Judge Holly Brady began by comparing the length of the complaint — and how many footnotes were in it — to how little of the complaint was dedicated to “actual” legal arguments relevant to the claims therein.

 

The judge set the stage by suggesting that TikTok filed to remove the state case to federal court because the complaint was poorly constructed. The complaint included a line about the “Chinese Government and Communist Party” using TikTok to “help develop artificial intelligence technologies and assist China in its espionage efforts.” The lawsuit also used the term “Chinese Communist Party” dozens of times.

 

Judge Brady said such language was actually irrelevant to the legal claim raised.

 

“This case was initiated by a fifty-one page, two hundred thirty-four paragraph, one hundred forty-one footnote complaint. Only fifteen paragraphs and two pages address Indiana’s actual legal claim,” the judge wrote, before seemingly expressing displeasure that this was something she had to rule on. “Had Indiana filed short and plain statement of its claim, this case would have stayed in the Allen County, Indiana, Superior Court where it was filed. But since more than 90% of the complaint was devoted to irrelevant posturing, Defendants removed the case under 28 U.S.C. §§ 1441(a) and 1331, arguing federal question jurisdiction under Grable & Sons Metal Prods., Inc. v. Darue Eng’g & Mfg., 545 U.S. 308 (2005), or that the case is governed by federal common law.”

 

Judge Brady did not stop there. She said the plaintiffs, represented by lawyers in the AG’s office and the Washington, D.C., law firm Cooper & Kirk, PLLC, had managed to stretch the theory of their case into “a work longer than” something Franz Kafka would have dared to write.

 

“The thrust of Indiana’s complaint is that Defendants, in their disclosures to Indiana consumers, fail to disclose ‘the truth that [users’] data may be shared with individuals and entities subject to Chinese laws,’” the judge wrote. “That one sentence thesis statement is then stretched into a work longer than Kafka’s The Metamorphosis.”

 

The judge appeared annoyed that it took 47 pages of reading to find out what the lawsuit was all about.

 

Click on the link for the full article

[China]

Dem ‘Apologizes’ to ‘Grand Appliance Party’ for Protecting Kids From Gun Violence Rather Than Protecting Gas Stoves

 

U.S. Rep. Jared Moskowitz of Florida, one of the more prolific Democrats in the House of Representatives, mocked the GOP and his Republican colleagues during the Oversight Committee’s hearing on gas stoves.

 

“I want to apologize on behalf of the Democratic Party that we have decided to put kids’ safety, in their neighborhoods from getting gunned down, in movie theaters, or grocery stores, or school churches, or synagogues – we as Democrats have clearly lost our way that we are not focused on appliances,” Congressman Moskowitz said sarcastically in the viral video below.

 

 

Click on the link for the full article

[Cooked Crack]

 

 

[Cooked Crack]

Our evangelicals must be jealous

 

[China]

On 3/29/2023 at 11:05 AM, China said:

Bank seeking to have governor's wages garnished to settle debt

 

A bank has taken legal action to garnish the wages of Gov. Jim Justice to pay off an $850,000 civil judgment against one of his coal interests.

 

On March 21, Citizens Bank of West Virginia Inc. filed a suggestee execution against Justice, which would garnish his wages and salary, to pay a debt that, with interest and fees, totals more than $861,000.

 

The document was filed in Randolph County Circuit Court.

 

On Oct. 18, 2022, Citizens Bank received a judgment in the amount of $850,434.28 at an annual interest rate of 4%, plus costs, according to court records. The judgment was filed Nov. 10, 2022, in Randolph Circuit Court, after a court case in which the bank alleged Justice’s company, Bluestone Resources Inc., defaulted on loans taken out to purchase equipment.

 

The document orders the state auditor to withhold 20% of Justice’s wages, after state and federal taxes, or the amount of Justice’s wages that, after state and federal taxes, each week exceeds 50 times the federal minimum hourly wage, whichever is less.

 

According to the affidavit filed with the suggestee execution, Justice’s wages from the state are believed to exceed 50 times the federal minimum hourly wage.

 

Click on the link for the full article

 

Like father, like son:

 

DOJ sues son of West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice and his coal empire over millions in unpaid fines

 

The Department of Justice on Wednesday accused the son of West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice and 13 coal companies the younger Justice owns or operates of failing to pay millions of dollars in penalties for environmental violations.

 

Jay Justice, the governor’s son, and those companies under his control, have been cited for over 130 violations and owe more than $5 million in civil penalties, among other unpaid fees, the DOJ alleged in a civil complaint.

 

“Our environmental laws serve to protect communities against adverse effects of industrial activities including surface coal mining operations,” Assistant Attorney General Todd Kim of the DOJ’s Environment and Natural Resources Division said in a press release.

 

“Through this suit, the Justice Department seeks to deliver accountability for defendants’ repeated violations of the law and to recover the penalties they owe as a result of those violations,” Kim said.

 

The elder Justice, who is reportedly the richest person in West Virginia, has been accused of meddling in his family business empire as governor even after vowing to separate himself from the companies upon taking office. Those businesses have also faced accusations of not paying their bills.

 

The Republican governor last month launched his campaign for the Senate seat held by Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin. Justice’s campaign insists the governor does not run the family companies.

 

Click on the link for the full article

[China]

West Virginia governor's lawyers say his coal businesses are unable to pay millions in bills

 

West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice, long described as the only billionaire in his state and the owner of a huge network of coal businesses, is facing multiple lawsuits over his companies' unpaid bills and fines — but his lawyers say his business empire is out of money and unable to pay the millions of dollars being sought, reported POLITICO on Thursday.

 

"A flurry of court filings in cases against Justice and his family indicates that his sprawling enterprises are short on cash, with his own lawyers calling them 'disorganized,'" reported Scott Waldman. "The court documents show that Justice is facing a series of extraordinary actions for a sitting governor — including the potential garnishment of part of his $150,000 state salary to repay loans for coal equipment, the Charleston Gazette-Mail reported earlier this year. Another plaintiff has asked U.S. marshals to seize millions of dollars from his accounts."

 

"The latest legal challenge came Wednesday when the Justice Department sued Justice’s business enterprise and his son, James C. Justice III, over $7.6 million in unpaid penalties and fees for federal mine and safety violations as well as mine land reclamation costs," said the report. "'Our environmental laws serve to protect communities against adverse effects of industrial activities including surface coal mining operations,' Assistant Attorney General Todd Kim said in a statement. 'Through this suit, the Justice Department seeks to deliver accountability for defendants’ repeated violations of the law and to recover the penalties they owe as a result of those violations.'"

 

Click on the link for the full article

[TradeTheBeal!]

I know we have at least one forum member who was a huge fan of this dude, so condolences.

 

 

[China]

 

[@DCGoldPants]

 

Good, Todd wasn't doing a great job at this. Get that it's a hard job.

 

I recognize Kristen Welker but don't know much about here. I remember she moderated a POTUS debate in 2020.

 

MTP should go back to a format from a long time ago where it was maybe one politician and a few journalists asking them questions. The 1:1 format where the politician talks about whatever they want and either ignores the question or lies with only one person to challenge them, doesn't work anymore. You have a format where a Kevin McCarthy is there with Welker and say, 3 other reporters who will follow up and push back that what is being said isn't true, or "here are the numbers to say otherwise", that would be more interesting. Though could imagine it hard to book guests.

[TradeTheBeal!]

Old girl spreading herself a little thin now that she’s single.

 

 

[China]

 

[TradeTheBeal!]

 

[CousinsCowgirl84]

17 minutes ago, TradeTheBeal! said:

 

Wasn’t it up a lot in 21 and 22? People settled all their COVID lock down beefs and now thins are returning to normal…

[skinsmarydu]

Yeah, unless they're mass murders.  

[Cooked Crack]

 

 

[The 12th Commandment]

8 minutes ago, Cooked Crack said:

 

 

How can anyone look at that and see anything but spoiled rotten, entitled, petulant children behaving badly?  And stupidly.

[Riggo-toni]

 

[Cooked Crack]

 

 

 

[Captain Wiggles]

Remember in the end they're not coming after Nicola Sturgeon. They're coming after you and she's just standing in their way, 🤪

[Cooked Crack]

 

[ixcuincle]

 

 

 

[Cooked Crack]

 

 

[Cooked Crack]

 

[China]

Woman sentenced for threatening Michigan governor

 

A woman has been sentenced for making threats of violence against Governor Gretchen Whitmer, the Michigan Attorney General’s Office said.

 

Tabitha Davis, 33, of Marshall, was sentenced last week to four months probation and a suspended sentence of 20 days in jail for threatening violence against Whitmer, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel said in a news release Monday.

 

This case was heard in the 54-A District Court in Lansing. The court additionally ordered Davis to complete recommended mental health treatment and a substance abuse evaluation. Davis pleaded guilty to malicious use of telecommunications services, Nessel said.

 

Davis was charged for sending a message that threatened the governor through Whitmer’s constituent services website. Davis admitted to sending the message and initially claimed that it was protected speech, Nessel said.

 

“Threatening public officials with violence for doing their jobs cannot stand,” Nessel said. “This conduct constitutes terrorism and my Hate Crimes and Domestic Terrorism Unit is uniquely qualified to prosecute these crimes and hold accountable those who commit them.”

 

Click on the link for the full article