US Politics VII

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He is so obsessed with the perception of his wealth it’s embarrassing. And very nouveau riche.
 
he's probably not the greatest of all time, and definitely not "by far". this guy is at worst a pretty close second:

General Gregor MacGregor (24 December 1786 – 4 December 1845) was a Scottish soldier, adventurer and confidence trickster who attempted from 1821 to 1837 to draw British and French investors and settlers to "Poyais", a fictional Central American territory that he claimed to rule as "Cazique". Hundreds invested their savings in supposed Poyaisian government bonds and land certificates, while about 250 emigrated to MacGregor's invented country in 1822–23 to find only an untouched jungle; more than half of them died. MacGregor's Poyais scheme has been called one of the most brazen confidence tricks in history.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gregor_MacGregor

his story is crazy, and worth a read of his wikipedia page actually listen to this 40 minute podcast instead, from one of my favourite history presenters mike duncan. he tells the story way better than wikipedia ever could: http://hwcdn.libsyn.com/p/8/5/1/851...77298517&hwt=039c6847ec71f5eb1b7044ad23ede786 (apologies for the weird link)
 
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he's probably not the greatest of all time, and definitely not "by far". this guy is at worst a pretty close second:



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gregor_MacGregor

his story is crazy, and worth a read of his wikipedia page.
I counter with a man who's parlayed a minor inheritance into billions of dollars in bank loans, of which he lost all of it, and still managed to convince people a) to give him more, and b) that he was actually successful in what he did... and was so successful at conning people into thinking he was a competent, successful billionaire businessman that he got elected the leader of the free world, in control of the world's best military and a huge nuclear arsenal.

He did this largely by making prank phone calls, using a horrible accent that is not convincing at all, to get reporters to say he was wealthy beyond belief.
 
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i don't think it's a trap per se but i suspect kim is going along the lines of his father's tactics from 20 years ago, and hoping to make a few concessions that won't really make all that much difference in exchange for aid and lifting some of the sanctions. it'll give him some propaganda that he can spin to make it look to his people like dear leader outfoxed the americans. some of the more optimistic promises probably aren't gonna happen, like denuclearization or a formal peace treaty to end the korean war.

that, or when kim went to beijing on that weird train and met with xi in secret a little while back, xi told him to tone it the fuck down or they won't protect his regime any longer, and now kim's bugging the fuck out realizing that china doesn't necessarily have his back anymore.

either way, despite all the credit he's going to claim for it, it's not trump's doing.
 
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i don't think it's a trap per se but i suspect kim is going along the lines of his father's tactics from 20 years ago, and hoping to make a few concessions that won't really make all that much difference in exchange for aid and lifting some of the sanctions. it'll give him some propaganda that he can spin to make it look to his people like dear leader outfoxed the americans. some of the more optimistic promises probably aren't gonna happen, like denuclearization or a formal peace treaty to end the korean war.

that, or when kim went to beijing on that weird train and met with xi in secret a little while back, xi told him to tone it the fuck down or they won't protect his regime any longer, and now kim's bugging the fuck out realizing that china doesn't necessarily have his back anymore.

either way, despite all the credit he's going to claim for it, it's not trump's doing.
So Admiral, what do you think of the potential North Korea deal?

12-14-15-its-a-trap.jpg
 
Trump skipping out on Barbara Bush funeral, knowing he isn’t wanted there, instead going to Mar a Lago. Will he get a full 18 holes?
 
he's probably not the greatest of all time, and definitely not "by far". this guy is at worst a pretty close second:



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gregor_MacGregor

his story is crazy, and worth a read of his wikipedia page actually listen to this 40 minute podcast instead, from one of my favourite history presenters mike duncan. he tells the story way better than wikipedia ever could: http://hwcdn.libsyn.com/p/8/5/1/851...77298517&hwt=039c6847ec71f5eb1b7044ad23ede786 (apologies for the weird link)

Mike Duncan is awesome! His History of Rome is flat out one of the best podcasts ever.
 
Trump skipping out on Barbara Bush funeral, knowing he isn’t wanted there, instead going to Mar a Lago. Will he get a full 18 holes?

Well, I think it's customary that a sitting president does not attend a funeral of a former First Lady. So I give Trump a pass on that one.
 
Mike Duncan is awesome! His History of Rome is flat out one of the best podcasts ever.

i could never quite get in to the history of rome although i really would love to try again at some point. it was his first podcast, and before he found his style he could be really dry at times. he also started recording it on some really crappy equipment and those things just bugged me enough that i could never get too far into it. but he clearly found his rhythm and upgraded his gear some time during history of rome because his current podcast revolutions is incredible. i finally caught up just a couple weeks ago after about six straight months of binging. it's pretty amazing the amount of content he's created completely for free. he has a fundraiser coming up next week though and i think i'll try to buy a t-shirt to support him.
 
Yeah, the early ones are definitely a little dry. Partly because, as you said, he hadn't found his voice/style yet, and partly because the material itself is a little dry (we just don't know as much about the early days). But once he hits his stride and gets to the good stuff it's eminently listenable.

That sad, Revolutions is even better, and incredibly compelling.
 
:|
People struck by rental van in Toronto. 10 dead, 15 injured. What I heard last was they yet weren't sure if it was a terrorist attack or a medical issue. From some of description might be deliberate.
Either way :sad: terrible shock for Toronto and Canada.
Hope none of our Torontoites, or near by folks knew any one ( let alone be one of the victims! :yikes:). Roll call please!
 
it wasn't a terrorist attack. it was a guy trying really hard to commit suicide by cop. it's fantastic that he wasn't successful. now he has to live with himself and answer for this shit.
 
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