They've also been around for quite a while. Alibaba started in 99.

There's no comparison. The middle eastern airlines are state supported, have been getting money directly from the coffers of the country to operate. As a result, they have eroded European and US carriers market shares.

There is no government subsidy that comes to US airlines. Those carriers have been supported an average of 4bln per year, before all the attention came. That's above bar money. If the government gave any of the US carriers that much we'd be able to fly around half empty, on unprofitable routes too.

Each country has different tracking and security measures (in addition to the US), so the reasoning may be that they are more comfortable with one area over another for screening and passenger information. Additionally, the number of flights from that part of the world to the US is fairly small. It's not like we're talking Rochester NY instead of Buffalo with all the flight opportunities. Only direct flights.

There aren't any US carriers that operate directs from those countries to the US anyway. There's a lot of tracking of passengers that goes on behind the scenes. If someone had a ticket, changed a ticket to avoid the rules, I'm guessing that would be flagged somewhere in the system. You're talking about only direct flights to the US from these countries. So maybe 15-20 flights a day total? If you figure 2 flights per day from each (total guess), but it illustrates that it's a little easier to find people when you're looking at a few flights vs. hundreds that we have domestically in the US.

The GOP House Intel members spent all day Monday demanding the FBI prosecute leakers and today the GOP chair told Trump and the press about the secret targets of FISA warrants.

This was a surprised to me, not sure if its some sort of gamesmanship/bluff but actually okay with it. Easy to see Trump moving on, hard to see Ryan and other GOP letting it go though ...

If it loses the vote tomorrow, my vote is move on to other things. I'm more interested in changing up tax reform, immigration etc.

Live updates: Freedom Caucus members still oppose repeal bill - POLITICO

I think the bill will be pulled if they don't have the votes. They seem to be 7-8 votes short based on reports I've seen. The freedom caucus doesn't really have any incentive to support it. They won't be primaried from the right. I hope it fails and they move on. Tax reform would get bipartisan support.

Regardless of the house, it is dead in the senate. Not sure why they would want to vote on something that will fail the senate.

My guess is so they can blame it on the Senate during election time.

The same GOP chair that doesn't seem to understand the difference between incidental and targeted collection.

They passed a bill a couple of years ago that repealed Obamacare only and it was never getting past the Senate. If they bothered then....

Well, considering the last twelve months, I've learned to say "Never say never", but if Trump has pulled a rabbit out of a hat before, this may be pulling a hat out of a rabbit. Much messier.

You just grab the rabbit by the pussy. He can do it, he has tiny hands.

Still nothing to see:

US officials: Info suggests Trump associates may have coordinated with Russians

So the House is expected to vote on a healthcare bill today.

A bill which no one has a clear idea of what's included
Will have no CBO score
Includes special deals for individual states
Is planned to be passed by reconciliation
Will only be passed(if at all) on a partisan vote
etc....

It's enough to make me think the process arguments against the ACA weren't sincere.

Well. I'm headed to New York in April for the office to meet the staff in NY. Via Etihad Airways, Manila to Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi to New York. This should be fun.

I guess you won't be playing the newest FOF on the plane.

Indeed. I hope the in-flight entertainment is good. :)

So you are just now concluding that America's plutocracy is corrupt? Or is it still a partisan thing where the GOP is corrupt and the Democrats are trying their darnedest to clean everything up?

We should have a poll to see how many of us think you will be detained when you reach America :)

No, I simply think he was simply highlighting the hypocrisy. And the irony.

No doubt. And yet the two parties will still pull 95%+ of the vote in the next election. Maybe the politicians aren't so dumb? Maybe it's the American people who not only vote for them but debate back and forth on message boards about them for four years and then still think they can only pull one of two levers so as not to "waste" their vote.

A billion different political parties aren't going to suddenly stop the corruption or oligarchy. Anarchy isn't the answer either.

No doubt. Just amused by the hoard of posters here who not only incorrectly think this just started in 2016 (though Trump's admin seems to not give a crap about hiding it) or that something is going to actually change in 2018/2020.

And I think that's the crux of the argument here. You can't have someone in power who so totally gives no fucks about what his actions are. The Republicans are trying really hard to let him have leeway, but at some point they can't allow this man to simply bandy about flaunting everything in their faces. He isn't larger than the office. His support will crumble if even 5% more of the public drops away from him. Congress will be forced to act "for the good of the counrty" or whatever that means to them, but it'll be to preserve the support at home that pushes them to do it.

I hope not. :) that would suck.

I hope not too

Let me be the dummy who raises his hand to admit that he does not think the supposed leaders of our government were working together with the Russians that much prior to around 2016.

Your posts in these threads are SO HELPFUL. Thank you for showing us all the light.

I apologize for interrupting the circle jerk of the same 5-6 posters saying over and over how awful Trump is and thinking that the corrupt Congress is actually going to do anything about it. Back to your regular complaining about Russia and how "We got him dead to rights this time guys!"

I'm sure you fit a profile somewhere. Remember, don't act up or throw a fit, just go with it.

Better than a 1 man Libertarian circle jerk. Apology accepted.

Sorry, I mean "Libertarian".

What's the point in complaining about posts because they aren't the right thing to complain about? Be a libertarian, that's fine, but most people don't want to be libertarians, not because they are too dumb, but because they genuinely think there are better alternatives.

For all the, IMO, overblown talk of Dems being condescending, there's really no equivalent to the common complaints of two party voters are sheeple!

Co-signed +1

https://fivethirtyeight.com/features.../?ex_cid=538fb

Very cool numbers and Math and science enclosed.

No vote today, and no Ryan press conference either. Sounds like they couldn't get the HFC to bend.

edit: I do feel bad for Sean Spicer, who has roughly the same job that the Iraqi Information Minister had.. to stand there with a straight face and pretty much try to convince everyone that things are fine, that there was no iceberg, the ship isn't sinking... Reminds me of "Man" in this bit from the Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy

Now it is such a bizarrely improbable coincidence that anything so mind-bogglingly useful could have evolved purely by chance that some thinkers have chosen to see it as the final and clinching proof of the non-existence of God. The argument goes something like this: "I refuse to prove that I exist,'" says God, "for proof denies faith, and without faith I am nothing." "But," says Man, "The Babel fish is a dead giveaway, isn't it? It could not have evolved by chance. It proves you exist, and so therefore, by your own arguments, you don't. QED." "Oh dear," says God, "I hadn't thought of that," and promptly vanishes in a puff of logic. "Oh, that was easy," says Man, and for an encore goes on to prove that black is white and gets himself killed on the next zebra crossing.”

the_Donald - politics results are so incredibly telling, and also completely unsurprising.

Delayed till Fri. Seems to me they need more time than that but we'll see ...

The difference is Baghdad Bob actually believed what he said till the very end.

The difference is Baghdad Bob actually believed what he said till the very end.

They want the bill to fail in the Senate so they can use it against all the Dems running in the Senate in 2018. Isn't it 20-22ish?

Then if they can get 60 senate Seats, they'll pass a real motherfucker of a bill in 2019.

Right?

The bill is polling at 17-56. Democrats aren't the ones that need to fear their vote.

And that poll was before whatever changes happen tonight.

They've run on repealing Obamacare for 3 elections now. If they can't when they have both houses and the presidency, there is no way Republicans go into the next election looking good.

I'm not too concerned about Immigration, I've got proper documents and I've been to and fro the US the last half-decade or so. Just a little bit inconvenienced. It's an 8 hour flight to Abu Dhabi, then a 14 hour flight to New York. Not having my PS Vita or Ipad will suck.

Is a Vita larger than a cell phone?

A little bit yeah, think 6-7 inch tablet size (not as wide but about as long).

Breitbart is now referring to it as Ryancare and attacking it. So Trump knows it's not going to pass and it's now a competition between Trump and Ryan as to who takes responsibility.

I have learned that with airline and TSA regulations, erring on the safer side of things saves much headache and hassle.

More like RyanDontCare amirite... huh...

Indiana Restaurant Owner To Be Deported Friday | News - Indiana Public Media


I think that this gets to something about President Trump's appeal. There's a simplicity to him (and Bernie for that matter) that I missed. Most politicians put out policies or outlines of policies that create winners and losers.

Trump just said "I'll help the good and hurt the bad" without any clarification. And, because most people assume that they are good, he won.

I mean, someone whose husband was here illegally voted for Trump because Trump said that the good people wouldn't have to worry. Her voting for Trump makes no sense if you think of the policies on which Trump campaigned. It makes perfect sense if she believed that Trump would, personally, help anyone who needed it.

For all of my attempts to try and make things about policy, this era of politics has nothing to do with policy. I'm still coming to grips with that.