Trump Calls on Saudi Arabia to End Yemen Blockade, Bipartisan Majority in House Rejects Trump Impeachment Effort, August Ames Dead: P.M. Links

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  President Trump called on Saudi Arabia to immediately end a blockade of Yemen and permit humanitarian aid to reach the country.

• The House voted down, by an overwhelming bipartisan majority, an effort to impeach Trump.
• Trump announced the U.S. would now recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.
• Senate Democrats call on Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) to resign after yet another woman accused him of sexual harassment.
• Six women are suing Harvey Weinstein, arguing that his efforts to prevent accusations of sexual misconduct from being made amounted to racketeering.
• The mayor's race in Atlanta is too close to call and will likely lead to a recount.
• A judge in Indiana issued a preliminary injunction preventing Starbucks from closing its Teavana locations at Simon malls as the company initially intended.
• 23-year-old porn star August Ames is dead.

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Comments

[Fist of Etiquette]

Trump announced the U.S. would now recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.

How Nazi of him.

[Bacon-Magic glib reasonoid]

That's exactly what he wants you to think.

[Rufus The Monocled]

Hello.

[Citizen X - #6]

Byeeeeeee

[Citizen X - #6]

The House voted down, by an overwhelming bipartisan majority, an effort to impeach Trump.

Thus settling, once and for all, any possible question of his fitness for office.

[Rich]

Ah, but was it the *long-form* vote?

[Citizen X - #6]

23-year-old porn star August Ames is dead.

She's a little young for BUCS, but somebody should still make sure he's okay.

[BestUsedCarSales]

Never heard of her. I'm sure she was a nice lady though, and we should all hold a moment of silence for her.

[Citizen X - #6]

Denial is the first stage of grief.

[BestUsedCarSales]

Truly it is surprising that I know very few pornstars.

[Citizen X - #6]

I guess you would view them more as the orifices they present.

[BestUsedCarSales]

You have such a debased image of me.

[Citizen X - #6]

I calls 'em as i sees 'em.

[BestUsedCarSales]

I'm naught but a good Christian boy who has some poor impulse control.

[Chipper Morning Truthjammer]

Well, byeeeeeee, sweet angel.

[Bubba Jones]

Good thing she turned down those dangerous gigs with gay men.

[Fuck you, Shikha (Nunya)]

She deserved to die and society isn't responsible. Think of how many gay mean had their feelings hurt because she didn't want to have sex with them.

[Conchfritters]

Lower the flags to half mast.

[Greg Loves His Woodchipper]

First Shyla and now her. Why do the ones that I like(d) have to die? And who is gonna be the 3rd one? At least we still have Lou Reed.

[Unlabelable MJGreen]

So, what does she know about the Clinton Foundation, and when did she know it?

And, uh, RIP.

[Entropy Drehmaschine Void]

She knows which way the Presidential Member bends ...

[Bacon-Magic glib reasonoid]

Would have.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Senate Democrats call on Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) to resign after yet another woman accused him of sexual harassment.

Before he gives the seat away next election?

[Conchfritters]

Great - - now governor gibberish will nominate some horrible replacement that can't even draw a map of the 50 States on a cocktail napkin.

[creech]

Yeah, and you can bet that if the Governor was a Republican there would be zero calls from the Democrats for Franken to resign.

[The Last American Hero]

Hey, you try drawing the map big enough to get Rhode Island and Delaware on the thing. It ain't easy.

[MarkLastname]

...bein' cheesy.

[Ecoli]

Shouldn't his seat rightly bequeath to his son?

[JoeBlow123]

Haha good use of bequeath.

[Rich]

Mr Trump described the move as "a long overdue step" to advance the Middle East peace process.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas called Mr Trump's announcement "deplorable", saying the US could no longer be a peace broker.

Hey, where's that Google algorithm to determine the truth?

[Mithrandir]

"A judge in Indiana issued a preliminary injunction preventing Starbucks from closing its Teavana locations at Simon malls as the company initially intended."

I like Teavana and hate what Starbucks is doing to them but can you really force a business to keep a subsidiary open? The only thing I can think of is maybe some long-standing contract hasn't been fulfilled yet.

[BestUsedCarSales]

I don't know why you'd suddenly start doubting the power of government now. They can do whatever the fuck they want.

[Mithrandir]

You're right, how exceptionally silly of me.

[Citizen X - #6]

"Fine, we'll leave the locations open. But we're not gonna staff them, stock them, or pay any rent."

[Chipper Morning Truthjammer]

This is not the time to make fun of GayJay's campaign strategy.

[mad.casual]

or pay any rent

I suspect Simon doesn't much care if they stay open and staffed. They, likely, just see a payday over leases/rent negotiated with a 3rd tier beverage chain that are now being voided/violated by the first tier one that bought them. Which, isn't exactly wrong or anti-libertarian.

[Jerryskids]

The only thing I can think of is maybe some long-standing contract hasn't been fulfilled yet.

You sneaked a peek at the linked article, didn't you? That's exactly the reason - Starbucks signed contracts that included continuous operation for the length of the contract. Starbucks is losing money on the stores and wants to close them, the mall operator points out that they don't want empty stores in the mall because that loses them money and that's exactly why they put the clause in the contract. Starbucks is the asshole here, not the mall operator or the courts. (Although Indiana courts are otherwise assholes, just not this specific case.)

[Rhywun]

Ah. Another story I saw didn't say anything about a requirement to operate the store being in the contract. That does change everything.

[Mithrandir]

Reading the links? I thought that was forbidden.

[Citizen X - #6]

No, you can read the links. You're not allowed to read the articles, however, until you've gotten into at least one argument in the comments about what you think the article says.

[BestUsedCarSales]

We'd hate to have our beautiful philosophy tainted by any information.

[Mithrandir]

Thanks for showing me the ropes Citizen!

[Red Tony]

+1 Dead Goon

[Pro Libertate]

That's because Starbucks is evil. The hint that it was so is selling milkshakes as coffee.

[Mitsima]

Welch's decision was based on her finding that Simon would suffer greater harm if the Teavana locations closed than Starbucks would if they remained open.

Proof that even in this case Indiana courts are assholes. Why not just simply state, "breach of contract"? Because when you get to pick winners and losers you get more friends w/ benefits, IYKWIM.

[MarkLastname]

"I find that I would suffer more if you lived than you would if you died, so please send us your head in the mail."

[Kivlor]

I like Teavana and hate what Starbucks is doing to them but can you really force a business to keep a subsidiary open? The only thing I can think of is maybe some long-standing contract hasn't been fulfilled yet.

Continuous operation clause in your lease says yes.

Also, I knew Herb and Mel Simon--cool dudes.

[Brandybuck]

It's a crazy ruling. Sure, it's breach of contract, but contracts are not [gasp] absolute. They should be able to close, but at the same time they can get sued for breach of contract. With damages not to exceed their agreed upon lease payments.

I mean, shit happens in business, sometimes you have to close. Judges forcing a business to stay open is just plain nuts.

[Entropy Drehmaschine Void]

Mebbe the judge could force them to make Gay Wedding Frappachinos too ...

[Stormy Dragon]

From the article:

All of the leases contain a "continuous operation covenant," requiring Teavana to operate with a full staff and full stock of merchandise for the duration of the lease.

Seems the judge is just enforcing the contract Starbucks agreed to.

[Rich]

Trump announced the U.S. would now recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.

Oops, sorry! He meant to say the U.S. recognizes same-sex marriage as the law of the Middle East.

[Just Say'n]

"Senate Democrats call on Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) to resign after yet another woman accused him of sexual harassment."

See and you guys said that Reason was focusing only on Roy Moore. They have a blurb about Franken in the links

[Bacon-Magic glib reasonoid]

It deserves no moore.

[Rufus The Monocled]

/spanks Bacon-Magic glib.

[Bacon-Magic glib reasonoid]

I can't friggin' log in on my phone now Rufus...going through withdrawals. Send all my undying love and immature jokes.

[Bacon-Magic glib reasonoid]

Oh and thanks eh?
*waggles buttocks*

[Rhywun]

And contrary to what a certain troll would have you believe, the fact that I think Franken should tell them to either take me to court or pound sand is no more a "defense" of him than my same opinion about Moore.

[Bacon-Magic glib reasonoid]

You tell em Rhywun.

[Fist of Etiquette]

All of the leases contain a "continuous operation covenant," requiring Teavana to operate with a full staff and full stock of merchandise for the duration of the lease.

Sweet lease deal.

[Mithrandir]

Ah, I suppose that answers my question above.

[BestUsedCarSales]

Though I still believe they can do it. They can maybe charge Starbucks with breach of contract, but that does not then lead to them being forced to employ this shit.

[mad.casual]

Keep in mind, these leases were negotiated with Teavana and are being voided by Starbucks. Looks like someone at Starbucks either failed to do their due diligence or thought they could get away with something that it doesn't look like they're going to pull off.

[BestUsedCarSales]

I have no issue with them being forced to do something. Reading up on it, it sounds as if Starbucks is entirely in the wrong. They can still break contract though, I just don't know what the consequence of that would be. Let's say the mall gets majority ownership of Starbucks LLC. Then everyone is happy.

[Pro Libertate]

Damages for breach in that case could be pretty high. Simon ain't small.

[Brandybuck]

Damages cannot exceed the contractual obligations. Now way are 75 ten year leases worth majority ownership in Starbuck. Not even progressive math can make that one add up.

[BestUsedCarSales]

Well,that last part was just a joke. My main point was one can still break contract, just that there is consequence to doing so.

[mad.casual]

Damages cannot exceed the contractual obligations. Now way are 75 ten year leases worth majority ownership in Starbuck. Not even progressive math can make that one add up.

That's debatable. Teavana negotiating contracts in good faith is one thing, Starbucks buying up competitors in bad faith and attempting to weasel out of the obligations, compelling the employment of legal counsel/representation is a different proposition.

I took the majority share in the company to be hyperbole though.

[Mitsima]

Can, too. And as soon as I get my crayons out of my safe space I'll prove it tweet about it.

[Careless]

Starbucks bought them 5 years ago. I doubt they had any 16 year leases.

[Pinky]

If they close the stores they will do more than breach their contract. Now that a court has ordered them to remain open, by closing they are in breach of a court order. Is that criminal?

[BestUsedCarSales]

Makes sense in a mall I guess. Can't let anyone just squat on a place to prevent others from moving in.

[Pro Libertate]

That's not unusual. Malls want their share of the sales, which they wouldn't get if they let the stores go dark.

[mad.casual]

Yeah, I don't see what's so unusual here. This is true of all kinds of lease agreements. % occupancy or use is a pretty standard rule of thumb or metric.

[Pro Libertate]

[Pro Libertate]

Okay, up here, no italics.

[Brandybuck]

Still does not mean they can't close, only that they have to pay to get out of the deal. Contrary to the Rothbardians, contracts are not absolutes.

[Pro Libertate]

No, but Simon's leases could be expensive to avoid.

[mad.casual]

Still does not mean they can't close, only that they have to pay to get out of the deal. Contrary to the Rothbardians, contracts are not absolutes.

Right. Which is why the damages exceeding contractual obligations (or not) is up for debate. Starbucks isn't closing the stores piecemeal with as much advance notice as possible out of hardship. Starbucks and Simon can afford to keep a few stores open for a couple of months until the case is more clearly decided (or remunerate each other for the cost of keeping the stores open).

[Fist of Etiquette]

The House voted down, by an overwhelming bipartisan majority, an effort to impeach Trump.

Would be interesting if the GOP lost Congress at the midterms.

[Juice]

How am I homophobic if I myself am attracted to women? Not wanting to have sex with gay men is not homophobic; they don't want to have sex with me either

[Juice]

wtf?

I said: Is it ironic that she looks like a tranny in the pic?

[Juice]

Uh oh. Everything below this will be in italics now I guess.

I closed the tags, I promise.

[Unlabelable MJGreen]

You son of a bitch.

[Citizen X - #6]

Christ, what a fuckup.

[Juice]

I closed the tags.

I think it had something to do with the hand emoji. I didn't remove it when I copied and pasted.

[Citizen X - #6]

You animal! Look what you've done.

[Unlabelable MJGreen]

"I CLOSED THE TAGS! I CLOSED THE TAGS!"

[BestUsedCarSales]

Well, looking at the page source I learned a few things. One, is your closing tag isn't in the page source. Second, the reason that 'reply to this' is not italic is because it is a different object than the 'report spam' symbol.

[Pro Libertate]

Fist appears to be responsible.

[Brandybuck]

Doing his job to make sure Reason IT never gets to nap.

[Unlabelable MJGreen]

I'll admit, I thought all male porn stars did gay porn.

[Juice]

How is "reply to this not" in italics while "report spam" is?

[Juice]

fuck

[BestUsedCarSales]

Don't question the net code. It comes suspiciously close to calling the Reason website incompetent.

[Unlabelable MJGreen]

The mysteries of life.

Whatever happened to that transition over to wordpress? Did they hire their wordpress guru, and is he just jacking off on something else?

[BestUsedCarSales]

He discovered the SF wordpress.

[Citizen X - #6]

This implies that he will, in fact, never jack off again.

[Rhywun]

The mystery of life is why is Reason the only site in the world still running on the owner's nephew's hand-coded middle school project.

[Careless]

Gawker.

[mad.casual]

I don't have a "reply to this not" button I assume it serves the same function as the "report spam" button?

[Citizen X - #6]

Clicking "reply to this not" deletes your comment and logs you out of the Reason website.

[Jerryskids]

Is this an internal monologue that escaped or is this apropos of something I missed?

[Red Tony]

Internal monologue.

[Diane Reynolds (Paul.)]

they don't want to have sex with me either

That's not true.

[BestUsedCarSales]

[Bacon-Magic glib reasonoid]

Italics monster.

[Red Tony]

I know, right?

[Jerryskids]

[Fist of Etiquette]

You people who fuck up the formatting, are you using italicize or emphasize?

[Aloysious]

ha ha

You GILMORE'd

[Diane Reynolds (Paul.)]

Trump announced the U.S. would now recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.

Jews...

[Diane Reynolds (Paul.)]

#ItalicsMeToo

[MarkLastname]

Who's Ita? And how do I get her number so she'll lick me too?

[BestUsedCarSales]

[Citizen X - #6]

[Rhywun]

[Rhywun]

Didn't work.

[BestUsedCarSales]

Why did you ruin our sacred silence?

[Rhywun]

[Pro Libertate]

[Pro Libertate]

Ye gods.

[BestUsedCarSales]

[Pro Libertate]

I wonder if we can now run inline GIFs?

[Zeb]

Blink tags and multicolored text!

[Diane Reynolds (Paul.)]

The mayor's race in Atlanta is too close to call and will likely lead to a recount.

It may also lead to sexual assault allegations.

[Diane Reynolds (Paul.)]

A judge in Indiana issued a preliminary injunction preventing Starbucks from closing its Teavana locations at Simon malls as the company initially intended.

the fuck?

[Rhywun]

Apparently, they signed a contract requiring them to keep the stores open and fully operational for the duration of the lease. This is a nothingburger.

[Diane Reynolds (Paul.)]

Yeah, I'm reading the article now. Why doesn't Starbucks just pay out the lease? I presume they're closing the stores because... you know, no one's going to them?

I see the terms of the lease, but it seems like the mall operator would rather get the full lease payment, then fill the store with another tenant who'd also pay the lease and has things like customers and revenue. What am I missing here?

[Pro Libertate]

Might have minimum sales requirements. Doubt the Teavanas aren't doing decent business, just not enough.

[Diane Reynolds (Paul.)]

Right... i'm not arguing the judge's decision, I'm more curious about how the Mall does business.

[Pro Libertate]

With an iron fist. Especially given all of the store closings.

[Diane Reynolds (Paul.)]

Fun fact, I was in Seattle's PREMIER downtown, high end shopping mall a week ago. I estimate 60% of the stores were empty. If one were trying to be bullish on the economy, it would give you serious pause.

It was like being there after hours, and it was a weekend evening during what should be high Christmas shopping time.

[BestUsedCarSales]

Yeah, it's very depressing. I'm glad I don't work there as I believe it would make me want to kill myself.

[Pro Libertate]

Wow. $15/hour to blame? Our malls seem to be fine.

[Diane Reynolds (Paul.)]

Dunno, could be. I was in Southcenter mall a week later which is in the suburbs (outside Seattle proper) and it was booming.

[Pro Libertate]

Send in the bots.

[The Last American Hero]

Stocking up on skinny jeans at Pacific Place?

[Diane Reynolds (Paul.)]

Stocking up on skinny jeans at Pacific Place?

My daughter was buying gifts. I don't do much brick and mortar shopping any more. But I have to admit, I used to enjoy the environment of Pacific Place, especially during Christmas. I left depressed.

[BestUsedCarSales]

I wouldn't be surprised if it's too high end to do well now. The Bravern here in Bellevue is often quiet as well.

I believe that the richer people are the more likely they are to shop online these days. A lot of tech stuff tends to trend with socioeconomic level. So I bet the surburban malls have more poor people than Pike St. Seattle. Because I don't know which mall you went to that was booming. But I went to that one in Everett and it was crazy.

[Diane Reynolds (Paul.)]

o I bet the surburban malls have more poor people than Pike St. Seattle. Because I don't know which mall you went to that was booming.

Southcenter. I like Southcenter-- erh, sorry, Westfield Mall (I still call it the West Seattle Freeway), the female customers are... scenic.

[mad.casual]

Fun fact, I was in Seattle's PREMIER downtown, high end shopping mall a week ago. I estimate 60% of the stores were empty. If one were trying to be bullish on the economy, it would give you serious pause.

If you want to be bullish on the economy and really believe in America First, don't walk into your local Sears, esp. at the mall. All the empty store shelves and open floor space reminds me of the demise of K-mart except I don't ever remember K-mart being the centerpiece of an entire indoor mall culture.

[mad.casual]

I see the terms of the lease, but it seems like the mall operator would rather get the full lease payment, then fill the store with another tenant who'd also pay the lease and has things like customers and revenue. What am I missing here?

See above, the lease was agreed to by Teavana probably entirely in good faith of fulfilling or nearly fulfilling the contract and is being voided by Starbucks who has no intention of fulfilling the contract/lease in any sort of faith and is more than capable of covering the cost of the agreements and then some.

[Pro Libertate]

Due diligence was due.

[Jerryskids]

Malls as a whole are dying, there's no guarantee Simon can find a tenant that's not a title pawn place, a tattoo parlor or a dollar store and empty stores are the kiss of death for malls. They're fighting a losing battle trying to keep the mall fully occupied in the hopes the customers will keep coming, but what else can they do?

[Diane Reynolds (Paul.)]

"That harm included difficulty replacing the vacated stores with appropriate tenants, diminished image of Simon's malls as well as its reputation with other tenants and consumers."

Interesting, so if I'm... renting a house, and the renter can't stay there but is willing to buy out the lease, I'd rather have the renter living there than take the money and then go find another renter?

[mad.casual]

I'd rather have the renter living there than take the money and then go find another renter?

If you're relying on the renter to keep the property in good standing or report its condition otherwise, nothing stops you from putting a clause in the contract penalizing the renter for failing or refusing to do so for the length of the contract. The worst thing that happens is the renter refuses to sign the contract unless you remove the clause. Otherwise, the renter lets your property go to shit and skips out early leaving you on the hook for wear and tear they, at least in part, induced as well as the remainder of the lease.

Again, for multi-unit development and renting, this is nothing new.

[Stormy Dragon]

There's a network effect in malls. If most of the stores are empty, even if you're still getting paid rent by the former tenants, people are less likely to come to the stores that are still open. This can lead to a snowball effect that bankrupts the entire mall.

[Diane Reynolds (Paul.)]

There's a network effect in malls.

Yeah, that would be the only reason I could see the mall demanding a store remain in operation. They must really be concerned that they can't refill that space. I keep hearing retail is in the shitter, and this stuff keeps confirming it.

[Pro Libertate]

Freedom of contract for the win.

[mad.casual]

Sigh. Contractually purchasing a company doesn't intrinsically void that company's previous contracts. A judge has to decide whether the purchase was legal and/or whether the previous contracts are null/void. "We didn't know about these contracts!" is no excuse. This is nothing new to libertarianism or contract law.

[Diane Reynolds (Paul.)]

NOT homophobic. Most girls don't shoot with guys who have shot gay porn, for safety. That's just how it is with me. I'm not putting my body at risk, i don't know what they do in their private lives.

her body, her choice.

[mad.casual]

Has somebody got a new copy of the SJW heirarchy? The one with the professional sexual harassment matrix? Did or would they have sexually harassed her simply by showing up at the shoot or did she sexually harass them by refusing to showing up?

I expected my assertions about the stripper refusing to jump out of the public accommodation cake to come true, just not this quickly.

[Diane Reynolds (Paul.)]

stripper refusing to jump out of the public accommodation cake

That's not a bad turn of phrase.

[Pro Libertate]

[Diane Reynolds (Paul.)]

QUIT HELPING!

[Pro Libertate]

I'm done.

[Bacon-Magic glib reasonoid]

Italics for everyone! / Ed as Oprah

[Diane Reynolds (Paul.)]

If everyone has italics, no one has italics.

[Incomprehensible Bitching]

Say a little prayer for Franken 2020.

[The Last American Hero]

There was some serious talk about him making a run about 5 months ago.

[Pro Libertate]

Man, the Democrats' bench is thin.

[Diane Reynolds (Paul.)]

And they don't have very many viable candidates, either.

[Entropy Drehmaschine Void]

One more for Sen. FrankenProg

AMF

[Diane Reynolds (Paul.)]

"It's my right as an entertainer!"

Nice one Al, nice one.

[Mitsima]

Just 759 votes separated the candidates early Wednesday morning ...

I know of a mayoral race that was won by one vote. You could say that the mayor literally voted himself into office.

[Sevo]

"The House voted down, by an overwhelming bipartisan majority, an effort to impeach Trump."

Tom Steyer needs to be involved in failures.

[Eric Bana]

I think the italics are off now.

[Telcontar the Wanderer]

I DON'T KNOW WHAT WE'RE ITALIC-ING ABOUT!

[Telcontar the Wanderer]

(you were supposed to respond "ITALIC NOISES!")

(you failed)

[MarkLastname]

(Snickering)

BULLY!

[Telcontar the Wanderer]

AGGRESSION

-solid page of profanity, absurd strawmanning, tangential pedantry and over-the-top condescension, all riddled with grammatical errors-

QUIT STALKING ME SNOWFLAKE
(lol)

[Bra Ket]

"Senate Democrats call on Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) to resign after yet another woman accused him of sexual harassment."

Jesus that was an annoying article to read. Nonstop subject changes and flashbacks all over the map. Who/what/when/where/why people. Do they only teach how to do narratives in journalism school now?

[widget]

Senate Democrats call on Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) to resign after yet another woman accused him of sexual harassment.

This is all to pave the way for Kamala Harris to be our next president. Remember this like its buying Bitcoins for 5 cents.

[Jerryskids]

[Rich]

*** hacker-cracks knuckles ***

They're off.

[Rich]

My knuckles, that is! OUCH!