I don't want to live detached from civilisation but I do like the idea of living in a rural community.

Seriously fuck cities.

A bird, I think. A pigeon.

that day is not today

Wasn't the entire opposition to the Iraq war all about the WMDs not existing?

Iraq had no active chemical weapons programmes, but there were multiple caches of chemical weapons left over, and numerous Coalition troops wounded by them.

Gotta go with old reliable. Morgan Freeman.

CNN:

President-elect Donald Trump said for the first time he believes Russia was behind hacking ahead of the election.

"I think it was Russia," Trump said during his first news conference as President-elect.

He added that Russia is not the only nation that hacks US targets and accused Democrats of not having sufficient cybersecurity programs.

The news conference opened with his spokesman, Sean Spicer, slamming a "political witch hunt" following reports that Russian operatives claim to have compromising personal and financial information about Trump.

Vice President-elect Mike Pence also criticized the media before introducing Trump, who kept up his criticism of US intelligence.

"I do have to say and I must say that I want to thank a lot of the news organizations here today because they looked at that nonsense that was released by maybe the intelligence agencies," Trump said. "But maybe the intelligence agencies which would be a tremendous blot on their record if they did that. A thing like that should never have been written, it should never have been had and it certainly should have never been released."

He reiterated that he doesn't plan to release his tax returns, saying they are under audit and don't include relevant information

The news conference follows exclusive reporting by CNN on Tuesday that classified documents presented last week to President Barack Obama and Trump included the allegations about Russia. The allegations were presented in a two-page synopsis that was appended to a report on Russian interference in the 2016 election and drew in part from memos compiled by a former British intelligence operative, whose past work US intelligence officials consider credible.

The FBI is investigating the credibility and accuracy of these allegations, which are based primarily on information from Russian sources, but has not confirmed many essential details in the memos about Mr. Trump.

Independent

The European Union is at greater risk than the UK if the two parties are unable to agree a financial transition phase for the City of London after Brexit in 2019, the Governor of the Bank of England, Mark Carney, has warned.

Giving evidence to the Treasury Select Committee, Mr Carney stressed again that it would be "welcome" and "highly advisable" for UK-based financial firms that do business with Continental Europe to receive transition arrangements so they do not lose access abruptly in two years' time.

But he stressed that if this did not happen the greater financial stability risk lay with European states, rather than the UK.

“I'm not saying there are not financial stability risks to the UK - and there are economic risks to the UK - but there are greater financial stability risks on the continent in the short term for the transition than there are for the UK,” he said.

The Governor stressed the reliance of European households, governments, corporations and banks on the City.

“If you rely on a jurisdiction for half of your lending [and] half of your securities transactions you should think very carefully about transition from where you are today to where you will be tomorrow,” he said.

The fear in the City is that the UK will leave the single market, meaning UK-based financial firms will no longer be able to sell services to Continental customers.

The UK-based derivative clearing operations are also thought likely to be required to move to mainland Europe after Brexit.

The chief executive of the London Stock Exchange warned yesterday that the UK's vote to leave the EU poses a risk to the global financial system and could cost the City of London up to 230,000 jobs if the Government fails to provide a clear plan for post-Brexit operations.

Asked about the possibility of a regulatory "equivalence" regime for the City of London in the wake of Brexit, which could allow financial business to continue uninterrupted, Mr Carney stressed that "we don't want to be a rule taker as an authority" and for the Bank of England to be required to merely "cut and paste" financial rules made in Brussels and Frankfurt.

”If the EU and the UK starting from the position we are in today when we have the same rules, the regulators are known to each other, it's a tightly wound ecosystem, we're talking about wholesale finance - if we can come to some arrangement roughly along the lines for this - that is an arrangement that can be replicated by both sides for other major financial centres around the world to the betterment of the global financial system," he said.

Related BBC article.

20, but I literally just slammed "doesn't follow" for all of seven because I couldn't be arsed to think it through.

Can we get back to discussing the white supremacist mass shooter now?

fuck off my personal internet dramas are more important

but i maintain that you have been overreacting to a minor sleight.

I'm not angry, just strident.

Apologies if I was overly-aggressive.

i have truly been hornswoggled

i humored you

Why should I offer you anything given how you've been nothing but a condescending twat since you first replied?

You made a point about him being a martyr, I then challenged it and instead of saying "I don't disagree, I just don't think it's worth killing him" you gave me a non-response trying to feign some kind of disagreement. Challenger pointed out how you utterly ignored my argument, then you were like LOL GUYS META FUCKING IGNORED HALF OF MY POST TOO despite the fact that your point about the 13th Amendment was an explicit follow on from the point about martyrdom. . .

I mean, what the fuck conversation are you reading? Because it's not the one I'm reading.

Quote from: i cum in peace on January 10, 2017, 07:13:46 PM

Quote from: Azumarill on January 10, 2017, 07:03:35 PM

worth noting: meta only responded to 1/2 of my OP so him liking chally's post is v funny/10. i love you guys

Because my issue was with you claiming he was a martyr, which was the focal point of your post.

You ignored the focal point of my post to answer a rhetorical question, the entire purpose of which was to lead on to the next point.

The two aren't comparable.

oh no its the end of the world

Me explaining to you why you're an idiot does not mean I think it's a big deal.

You're making something of a habit of stupidity. I'd advise against it.

Mother Jones in October:

Mother Jones has reviewed that report and other memos this former spy wrote. The first memo, based on the former intelligence officer's conversations with Russian sources, noted, "Russian regime has been cultivating, supporting and assisting TRUMP for at least 5 years. Aim, endorsed by PUTIN, has been to encourage splits and divisions in western alliance." It maintained that Trump "and his inner circle have accepted a regular flow of intelligence from the Kremlin, including on his Democratic and other political rivals." It claimed that Russian intelligence had "compromised" Trump during his visits to Moscow and could "blackmail him." It also reported that Russian intelligence had compiled a dossier on Hillary Clinton based on "bugged conversations she had on various visits to Russia and intercepted phone calls."

The former intelligence officer says the response from the FBI was "shock and horror." The FBI, after receiving the first memo, did not immediately request additional material, according to the former intelligence officer and his American associates. Yet in August, they say, the FBI asked him for all information in his possession and for him to explain how the material had been gathered and to identify his sources. The former spy forwarded to the bureau several memos—some of which referred to members of Trump's inner circle.