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texastough

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Everything posted by texastough

  1. https://www.needtoimpeach.com has this been posted/discussed?
  2. I'm sure thats true but they don't need to understand the process to support getting rid of the fucker
  3. I think what's holding them back is polling that says only 39% of Americans support impeachment. I find that hard to believe, but then again I thought there was no way in hell we would elect him. When did we enter the Upside Down?
  4. . The opposition had lost the trust of most Venezuelans, 80 percent of whom want Maduro gone https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2019/01/24/venezuelas-mafia-state-under-nicolas-maduro-collapsing-column/2668693002/
  5. "Military coup attempt"-- say what? What military? "there weren't even mass-killings or military lockdowns" -- He's a despot, not a retard. As soon as he starts mass killing his people is when foreign militaries show up big time. Why can't you think a little bit and realize that 1) opposing meddling by the U.S. and 2) acknowledging that Maduro has ruined his country and is only holding on to power because the military is in his pocket, are not inconsistent
  6. Not at all what I said. They are there to make a profit, just like in any other location anywhere in the world. And the mineral owners/nonoperating participants get their royalties, just like everywhere else. Whats hard to understand about that?
  7. I've already posted a source of those figures above and I've seen that 80% number in a lot of places. In addition to reports of millions of Venezuelans taking to the streets to protest Maduro. "a series of protest marches drawing crowds which were reported by The Economist, The Wall Street Journal editorial board, and Yeshiva World News from hundreds of thousands to millions of Venezuelans" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2019_Venezuelan_protests So, written reporting (from Time mag, Economist, etc) explaining the situation in great detail = bad, but "videos and photographs" (again, no actual source) = good. IIRC, upthread you asserted photos of protests were supporters of Maduro when they were reported as protests of Maduro. Whatever man. Believe whatever you want.
  8. If this were true, then every oil and gas lease ever signed would be "stealing the oil revenue" from the mineral owners. GTFO with that shit. Multinational oil companies were operating in Venezuela because those companies are the ones with the resources and expertise to produce o&g. They paid royalties just like in any other case anywhere else in the world. They are actually allowing the o&g to be monetized because Venezuelans have demonstrated they can't produce it on their own.
  9. Are in in Venezuela? What are you trusting with your eyes?
  10. Are you saying that the 80% figure must be wrong because the military didn't overthrown Maduro? Did you see the Time magazine link I posted above explaining how the military is in on the klepto schemes?
  11. Here's one example: Polls suggest that 80% of them are sick of him. https://www.economist.com/leaders/2019/02/02/the-battle-for-venezuelas-future If thats true, its kind of a red herring to say the people don't want Guaido as president, since Guaido is promising free elections as soon as Maduro is out.
  12. What are you basing that on? The most reliable estimates I've seen say 80% want to oust Maduro.
  13. I mean, I could go on and on and cite a gazillion articles but I don't want to longcat the thread responding to BT. I'm really here looking for fresh news about what's happening down there now.
  14. Its not me saying it dude. There are articles all over the place saying this. You keep minimizing it but don't point to anything, which is why I think you just believe what you want to believe because you don't like the U.S. meddling. And to me, what puts him on the level of the worst dictators is not just that he stole a shitton of money, its that at the same time he has completely ignored what he is doing to his people. Three million Venezuelans have fled the country. Gangs of children killing each other over rights to "quality trash." Its not that different than genocide in my book.
  15. Thats pretty rich my man. InSight Crime states that state funds "have been pillaged on an industrial scale by the Bolivarian elite" and that "kleptocracy has certainly been one of the main factors that has brought Venezuela to the edge of economic collapse and bankruptcy".[124] Price controls introduced by President Chávez in 2003 helped establish kleptocratic practices that still occur in Venezuela today, allowing officials to buy dollars for cheap and then exchange them bolívares at a higher black market rate so they could exchange for more dollars.[124] It has been estimated that between the mid-2000s and the mid-2010s, over $300 billion dollars were misused by the Bolivarian government.[32] The opposition-led National Assembly estimated that about $87 billion had been embezzled between multiple projects, including $27 billion by the Ministry of Food, $25 billion by the Ministry of Electricity, $22 billion for unfinished transportation works $11 billion by PDVSA and $1.5 billion by the Ministry of Health.[125] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corruption_in_Venezuela#Kleptocracy But not everyone is suffering. Determined to buy loyalty, Maduro has granted the 160,000-strong military unprecedented freedom to engage in illicit money-making schemes. Parliament estimates that friends of the government have stolen at least $350 billion from public bodies in recent years. Investigations show high-ranking members of the military are involved in drug-trafficking and fuel-smuggling. (Maduro denies any criminal wrongdoing.) “The levels of crime in Venezuela in the last few years have been unimaginable—higher than I can remember in any other case in recent history,” says Luis Almagro, secretary general of the Organization of American States. “There will be money laundered in every Latin American country.” http://time.com/longform/venezuela-guaido-maduro-crossroads/
  16. Here's what I know. Neither U.S. Sanctions nor "constant covert attack" crippled the Venezuelan economy. Chavez started the scheme of enriching himself and his cronies from oil money, and when Maduro took over he turned that up to 11. He has stolen more money from his country and people than any other leader in the history of the world. While he was getting unimaginably wealthy, his people were starving. This happened long before significant sanctions were placed on his regime - Venezuela's economy was already in ruins. Sanctions like not purchasing Venezuelan oil did not really affect the people of Venezuela, because they were not seeing any of that $ anyway. The sanctions are affect Maduro and the individuals operating this breathtaking kleptocracy. Not only that, but in 2017 Maduro appointed a terrorist/drug trafficker of Syrian/Lebanese descent as VP. They have a strong link with terrorist groups from Iran. Horrific despot? I didn't use that term, so I don't know, I guess it depends on your definition of horrific despot. Is he genocidal? Not that I'm aware. But the above is enough for me. I was responding to your assertion that "the idea that he's more corrupt than our own national leadership is completely laughable." If we are comparing Trump to Maduro then I might agree with you -- their corruption is on the same level and if Trump could steal billions he would do it in a heartbeat. But I don't consider Trump national leadership. Maduro is such a huge piece of shit and needs to go. Take a stand against meddling, but don't make shit up like we caused Venezuela's problems and Maduro is "a pretty mid-level corrupt president."
  17. Dude, you are so badly misinformed about this. I respect your not wanting the U.S. to meddle in other countries, but it seems to me that your views about meddling in general are leading you to believe what you want to believe about Maduro and Venezuela.
  18. Exactly. I still suspect/hope the dems are waiting for the right timing. Not to actually remove him from office but to have max effect on the election. Also, during the hearings, don't just focus on Russia and obstruction, but all of his lies about everything, his hate speeches/inciting violence, etc etc.
  19. Since it sounds like you spend a lot of time in that kind of water, you should know this. Game wardens on the coast are aware of the problem of airboat guides herding reds, but need fishermen's help to stop them. If you see them, try to take video and then pictures from close enough to identify the culprit, then report to the game wardens.
  20. This is tangentially related, but if anybody fishes with airboat guides who burn around the back lakes herding the reds to the middle, which is illegal, they need to be doxxed too. And please, nobody patronize airboats for fishing (duck hunting is different)
  21. I take issue with that. Other than a failed business man, he was a compulsive liar, fraud, racist, misogynist, narcissist, and dumbass, in addition to being really rude.
  22. Biden is so far ahead right now simply because of name recognition. In other words, most of the country knows who he is because he was Vice President, while most of the other candidates are only known to people who follow politics, and in their own home states. Once the primaries heat up and Biden shows his senility at the same time the others get their names out there to the masses, his lead will shrink. Will it disappear? I hope so. My question is, does anyone know where to find historical polling data from this far ahead of the primaries? I'd be curious to see where other candidates were polling the year before the election vs where they ended up.
  23. Babayaga, the most effective control method I have seen is to switch from stock tanks to guzzlers that livestock and other wildlife can drink from, but not pigs. I know this doesn't work where surface water is naturally present, but there are lots of ranches that don't have water without providing it. I grew up hunting a ranch in Edwards/Kinney counties that was absolutely filthy with pigs, but when they switched to guzzlers the pigs left/died. A few come back during wet periods, but it was amazing to go from thousands and thousands of pigs to almost none at all.
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