Xann Posted May 8, 2018 Share Posted May 8, 2018 14 minutes ago, chrisp65 said: probably make him jizz his pants Then a lawyer shows up with a cheque. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OutByEaster? Posted May 8, 2018 Moderator Share Posted May 8, 2018 I guess this is what $200m gets you Mr Adelson? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LondonLax Posted May 9, 2018 Share Posted May 9, 2018 Well this seems interesting: Quote Stormy Daniels' lawyer: Michael Cohen given $500,000 by firm tied to Russian oligarch Michael Avenatti makes extraordinary allegation that Cohen received cash from company affiliated with billionaire linked to Vladimir Putin Jon Swaine in New York Donald Trump’s attorney and legal fixer, Michael Cohen, was paid half a million dollars by a company affiliated with a Russian oligarch closely linked to Vladimir Putin, according to extraordinary allegations published on Tuesday. The claim was made in a research document drafted and posted online by Michael Avenatti, a lawyer for Stephanie Clifford, the pornographic film actor known as Stormy Daniels, who alleged she was paid in 2016 in return for agreeing not to disclose that she had sex with Trump. Cohen was said by Avenatti to have received $500,000 through a US affiliate of the Renova investment group owned by Viktor Vekselberg, a Russian billionaire closely associated with Putin who was placed under sanction by the US government last month. The payments were allegedly made between January and August 2017. An attorney for the Renova affiliate, Columbus Nova, said it hired Cohen as a business consultant and that Vekselberg had no involvement in the payments. Cohen, his attorney, and the Republican National Committee – for which Cohen is a deputy finance chairman – did not respond to requests for comment. Avenatti’s document said the money was paid to Essential Consultants, the same company Cohen used to pay a $130,000 settlement to buy Clifford’s silence in October 2016. The document said Essential also received funds from other major companies, some of which had business before the federal government. AT&T, the telecoms corporation, confirmed it had made payments to Cohen’s firm during 2017 for “insights into understanding the new administration”. Novartis, a Swiss-based pharmaceuticals firm, did not dispute that it paid Cohen. Vekselberg has reportedly been interviewed by investigators working for Robert Mueller, the special counsel looking into alleged collusion between Russia and Trump’s team during the 2016 election campaign. Vekselberg has not been accused of any wrongdoing. CNN subsequently reported on Tuesdaythat he was specifically asked by Mueller’s investigators about the alleged payments to Cohen. The 61-year-old oligarch amassed a fortune through his Renova conglomerate, which spans energy, heavy industry and finance, probably making him Russia’s ninth-richest person. He has remained in the Kremlin’s favour and was last year given a state honour by Putin. Vekselberg was also a guest at a now notorious December 2015 dinner in Moscow celebrating the RT television channel, which was attended by Putin and Michael Flynn, Trump’s former national security adviser. Columbus Nova is described on its website as “the US investment vehicle for the Renova Group”. The company’s chief executive, Andrew Intrater, contributed $250,000 to Trump’s presidential inauguration fund in January last year and a further $35,000 to Trump’s re-election fund in June last year. It was not clear from Avenatti’s document whether these contributions were connected to the new allegations. Intrater did not respond to an email asking whether the allegations were accurate. An attorney for Columbus Nova, Richard Owens, said in an email that the company was owned by Americans and that Vekselberg had no involvement in the payments to Cohen. “After the inauguration, the firm hired Michael Cohen as a business consultant regarding potential sources of capital and potential investments in real estate and other ventures,” said Owens. Avenatti asserted that Cohen also collected hundreds of thousands of dollars in fees from corporate clients. AT&T was said to have paid Cohen’s firm $200,000 in four monthly installments from October 2017. Trump’s administration was at the time considering whether to allow an $85bn merger of AT&T and Time Warner, which it has since rejected. In an emailed statement, AT&T said: “Essential Consultants was one of several firms we engaged in early 2017 to provide insights into understanding the new administration. They did no legal or lobbying work for us, and the contract ended in December 2017.” Avenatti said that a subsidiary of Novartis paid Cohen’s company almost $400,000 “in late 2017 and early 2018”. Novartis’s incoming chief executive, Vas Narasimhan, was one of several businesspeople invited to dinner with Trump at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on 25 January. A spokesman for Novartis said in an email: “Any agreements with Essential Consultants were entered before our current CEO taking office in February of this year and have expired.” Avenatti has become one of the most publicly visible foes of Trump and Cohen since being recruited to represent Clifford in the fallout of the payoff and secrecy agreement arranged by Cohen being publicly revealed. Clifford has filed civil lawsuits against Trump and Cohen. Avenatti told the Guardian last weekend, without offering any new evidence, that he believed Trump would have to resign from the presidency: “I firmly believe there is going to be too much evidence of wrongdoing by him and those around him for him to be able to survive the balance of his term.” Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HanoiVillan Posted May 11, 2018 Share Posted May 11, 2018 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maqroll Posted May 14, 2018 Author Share Posted May 14, 2018 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villakram Posted May 14, 2018 Share Posted May 14, 2018 (edited) The Supreme court has just struck down the federal sports betting prohibition. So you'll be delighted to see all US towns and cities blighted by endless streams of bookies on your next visit. We already have the pharmacy thing nailed down https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-court-gambling/u-s-high-court-paves-way-for-states-to-legalize-sports-betting-idUSKCN1IF1WN "The ruling, which sent shares in gaming companies and casinos higher in brisk trading, takes the United States a step closer to legal sports betting in numerous states, perhaps nationwide, rather than just in select places such as Nevada, home to the gambling capital Las Vegas. The current illegal sports betting market is worth billions of dollars annually." Edited May 14, 2018 by villakram Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HanoiVillan Posted May 14, 2018 Share Posted May 14, 2018 I can't wait for Trump's diplomatic touch to really hit home in North Korea! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
choffer Posted May 15, 2018 VT Supporter Share Posted May 15, 2018 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post TheAuthority Posted May 17, 2018 VT Supporter Popular Post Share Posted May 17, 2018 (edited) Not sure if any of you caught this story, but yesterday this guy was filmed threatening restaurant employees with deportation because they spoke Spanish. He threatened to call "ICE" on them - in midtown Manhattan. It enraged me as New Yorkers proud ourselves on being the most diverse city in the country. As the video went viral online he's been outed and it is quite funny what happened to him this morning. There is now a GoFundMe to send a mariachi band to his office. He wasn't quite so vocal this morning Edited May 17, 2018 by TheAuthority 3 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bickster Posted May 19, 2018 Moderator Share Posted May 19, 2018 All Israel / Palestine / Iran discussion now has its own topic. All content from this topic has been moved into the new topic 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post maqroll Posted May 19, 2018 Author Popular Post Share Posted May 19, 2018 6 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheAuthority Posted May 19, 2018 VT Supporter Share Posted May 19, 2018 2 hours ago, maqroll said: Haha - wasn't far from my pad. I was busy unfortunately Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bickster Posted May 20, 2018 Moderator Share Posted May 20, 2018 Could have posted this in the US Gun Violence topic but I think it has wider implications than just that Quote WASHINGTON — The pace of new voter registrations among young people in crucial states is accelerating, a signal that school shootings this year — and the anger and political organizing in their wake — may prove to be more than ephemeral displays of activism. They could even help shape the outcome of the midterm elections. If voters in their teens and 20s vote in greater numbers than usual, as many promised during nationwide marches for gun control this spring, the groundswell could affect close races in key states like Arizona and Florida, where there will be competitive races for governor, the Senate and a number of House districts in November. The deadly shooting on Friday at Santa Fe High School in Texas will probably add urgency to the efforts. Hours after the carnage, young organizers mobilized by the February mass shooting in Parkland, Fla., were vowing a political response. More on link NY Times Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post HanoiVillan Posted May 20, 2018 Popular Post Share Posted May 20, 2018 6 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chindie Posted May 20, 2018 VT Supporter Share Posted May 20, 2018 On that note Dan Carlin did an interesting podcast last year on how the US if nothing else should be pissed off at how bad value for money their healthcare system is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HanoiVillan Posted May 20, 2018 Share Posted May 20, 2018 21 minutes ago, Chindie said: On that note Dan Carlin did an interesting podcast last year on how the US if nothing else should be pissed off at how bad value for money their healthcare system is. Their healthcare system is just unbelievably terrible. You'd have a hard time designing something worse if you were trying. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post TheAuthority Posted May 21, 2018 VT Supporter Popular Post Share Posted May 21, 2018 1 hour ago, HanoiVillan said: Their healthcare system is just unbelievably terrible. You'd have a hard time designing something worse if you were trying. Depends what your goals are. If you want to enrich the shareholders and boards of Pharmaceutical Companies, Insurance Companies in addition to the politicians who vote for those companies legislation, I would say that the system is working absolutely brilliantly. 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HanoiVillan Posted May 22, 2018 Share Posted May 22, 2018 So easy to forget all the good stuff these days: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snowychap Posted May 23, 2018 Share Posted May 23, 2018 NFL clubs to be fined if players kneel Quote NFL teams will be fined if players kneel for the US national anthem under a new policy. The American football league said players who do not stand for the Star-Spangled Banner can stay in the locker room until it has been performed. The NFL also vowed to "impose appropriate discipline on league personnel who do not stand and show respect for the flag and the Anthem." Players said the protests were against policy brutality of African Americans. "It was unfortunate that on-field protests created a false perception among many that thousands of NFL players were unpatriotic," said NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell in a statement accompanying the policy change. "This is not and was never the case. This season, all league and team personnel shall stand and show respect for the flag and the Anthem. "Personnel who choose not to stand for the Anthem may stay in the locker room until after the Anthem has been performed." That's a bloody disgraceful stance from the NFL. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El Zen Posted May 23, 2018 Share Posted May 23, 2018 Disgusting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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