Mmm! Massage!

[boxerbilly]

Seriously fellows. About a decade back. TimeWarner wanted to cap downloads to 2 gb and charge you for each gb use over. Well someone found out just going on to TW homepage with all their stupid ads and crap. Hit that limit in under a month of daily doing just that. EVERYONE called and screamed. Our State rep or whatever was on TV the next **** day saying we are not going to allow this to happen.

It could work for you and your cause. How many MT are in Cali ? It works better at local. Almost as good at county. Less so at state but if you have enough numbers and elections have been close. It will work at state.

Now Trump and business. First way to make a profit in a failing business is ? Cut overhead. Get rid of the employees. Dead weight. That's what the illegals are to the US. $113 billion a year dead weight. And it only goes up. Our last Government assert that there are only 11 million illegals in country. Yet Mexico assert that from their country alone their are 30 million illegal Mexicans inside the US. Okay maybe some are legit and I have zero issues with that. But again, 30 million from one local. Now add all the other places. Yeah. 11 million my butt.

Send them home and not that it will be this exactly but one can hope. That's 2.26 billion a state to well you guys need new ****s. LOL. More like we don't have to spend it so less taxes on the fed and state level. But maybe that does mean 20-50 million more in Fed money per state which may not need it if they legalize pot. Be more of an emergency fund.

[GeneChing]

Not really sure where you're going with that, boxerbilly, like you you went from bite massage to Trump biz, but here's more fodder for you.

China gives green light for Trump branded massage parlours, bars and concierge services


President Donald Trump gestures as he walks down the stairs of the Air Force One upon his arrival at Palm Beach International Airport, Florida CREDIT: AP

Our Foreign Staff, associated press
8 MARCH 2017 • 12:49PM

China has granted preliminary approval for 38 new Trump trademarks, paving the way for President Donald Trump and his family to develop a host of branded businesses from hotels to insurance to bodyguard and concierge services, public documents show.

Trump's lawyers in China applied for the marks in April 2016, as Trump railed against China at campaign rallies, accusing it of currency manipulation and stealing US jobs. Critics maintain that Trump's swelling portfolio of China trademarks raises serious conflict of interest questions.


A worker removes letters from a Trump logo in Atlantic City CREDIT: AP

If no one objects, they will be formally registered after 90 days. All but three are in the president's own name. China already registered one trademark to the president, for Trump-branded construction services, on 14 February.

If President Trump receives any special treatment in securing trademark rights, it would violate the U.S. Constitution, which bans public servants from accepting anything of value from foreign governments unless approved by Congress, ethics lawyers from across the political spectrum say. Concerns about potential conflicts of interest are particularly sharp in China, where the courts and bureaucracy are designed to reflect the will of the ruling Communist Party.

Dan Plane, a director at Simone IP Services, a Hong Kong intellectual property consultancy, said he had never seen so many applications approved so quickly. "For all these marks to sail through so quickly and cleanly, with no similar marks, no identical marks, no issues with specifications - boy, it's weird," he said.


Workers walk on an overpass past commercial buildings at dusk in the Pudong area of Shanghai CREDIT: BLOOMBERG

The trademarks are for businesses including branded spas, massage parlors, golf clubs, hotels, insurance, finance and real estate companies, retail shops, restaurants, bars, and private bodyguard and escort services.

Spring Chang, a founding partner at Chang Tsi & Partners, a Beijing law firm that has represented the Trump Organization, declined to comment specifically on Trump's trademarks. But she did say that she advises clients to take out marks defensively, even in categories or subcategories of goods and services they may not aim to develop.

"I don't see any special treatment to the cases of my clients so far," she added. "I think they're very fair and the examination standard is very equal for every applicant."


A view of Trump Tower in New York CREDIT: EPA

Richard Painter, who served as chief ethics lawyer for President George W. Bush, said the volume of new approvals raised red flags.

"A routine trademark, patent or copyright from a foreign government is likely not an unconstitutional emolument, but with so many trademarks being granted over such a short time period, the question arises as to whether there is an accommodation in at least some of them," he said.

Painter is involved in a lawsuit alleging that Trump's foreign business ties violate the U.S. Constitution. Trump has dismissed the lawsuit as "totally without merit."

China's State Administration for Industry and Commerce, which oversees the Trademark Office, and Trump Organization general counsel Alan Garten did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

[boxerbilly]

Sorry Gene. I need to focus. Last 2 days no power up here and it was getting really cold, lol. Rochester was shut down. Still like 80 thousand no power. But I was driving and saw one of those other type parlors open sign on. To keep this on topic.

[David Jamieson]

Had to put this somewhere.



WTH?

I do this with my wife. She loves it!

Back Biting that is...

No, not that kind!

[GeneChing]

More on this above.

China approves Donald Trump-branded spas, escort services, hotels and massage parlours without US Congress permission
Preliminary approval has been granted for 38 trademarks which raises further questions about conflicts of interest
Rachael Revesz New York @RachaelRevesz
Wednesday 8 March 2017 17:56


Congress has not been consulted about the dozens of China trademarks ( EPA )

Chinese authorities have granted preliminary approval for dozens of Trump-branded businesses, expanding his commercial empire and raising further conflicts of interest, say lawyers.

The 38 trademarks include new hotels, spas, escort and concierge services, massage parlors, personal security services and insurance, according to public documents.

The President’s lawyers applied for the trademarks in April last year, at the same time the then Presidential candidate Trump was accusing China of "ripping off" the US and deliberately manipulating its currency to its own advantage.

If there is no objection, the trademarks will be formally registered after 90 days.

Ethics lawyers argue that if the Trump trademarks receive any special treatment due to their association with the President, it would violate the US Constitution, which prohibits those in public office from accepting anything of value from foreign governments, unless they are approved by Congress.

Congress has not approved the China trademarks.

Norm Eisen, who served as chief ethics lawyer for former President Barack Obama, told The Independent that the initial registration of a long-denied Trump trademark "certainly seems to run afoul of the foreign emoluments clause" of the US Constitution.

"I anticipate that these issues will enter into our litigation," he said.

"When Trump is profiting from these valuable Chinese benefits [...], how can we be sure he will advance US interests in his engagements with that country, for example by staunching the flow of American jobs out from the US to China?"

Richard Painter, who served as chief ethics lawyer for George W Bush, said a trademark in itself was not likely to be a violation of the constitutional emoluments clause, but he questioned why so many were granted over such a short period, and whether there was "an accommodation in at least some of them."

They have already filed a lawsuit to challenge the President’s alleged conflicts of interest.

China's State Administration for Industry and Commerce, which oversees the Trademark Office, and Trump Organization general counsel Alan Garten did not immediately respond to requests for comment from The Independent.

Spring Chang, a founding partner at Chang Tsi & Partners, a Beijing law firm that has represented the Trump Organization, declined to comment specifically on Trump's trademarks. But she did say that she advises clients to take out marks defensively, even in categories or subcategories of goods and services they may not aim to develop.

"I don't see any special treatment to the cases of my clients so far," she added. "I think they're very fair and the examination standard is very equal for every applicant."

The Trump Organisation is being run by Mr Trump’s two oldest sons, Donald Jr and Eric Trump, whilst he is in the White House. He was urged to divest from his businesses and place assets in a blind trust but has not done so. The trust, of which he is the sole beneficiary, is being run by Donald Jr and longtime associate Allen Weisselberg. The President can revoke the trust at any time and stands to benefit financially from it after his term is over.

His sons have continued to expand the Trump brand since Inauguration; in Canada and Dubai. Taxpayers have reportedly spent millions on security costs for the sons on their business trips around the world.

Agencies contributed to this report.

[GeneChing]

...but this is just too China-oriented. Srsly. wth?

FLORIDA MASSAGE PARLOR OWNER MAY HAVE SOLD CHINESE EXECUTIVES ACCESS TO TRUMP
Not only was the alleged rubdown tycoon snapping selfies with the Trump clan, she reportedly founded an investment firm promising photo-ops with the President.
BY KEVIN FITZPATRICK
MARCH 9, 2019 1:18 PM


Thomas Peter-Pool/Getty Images.

Somehow, the already-incredible tale of New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft’s arrest and the woman who founded the massage parlor he allegedly patronized has gotten even stranger. After it was reported that Chinese entrepreneur Li “Cindy” Yang had palled around with the Trump family and donated thousands of dollars to the president, a new investigation has uncovered possible evidence of Yang selling access to Trump to Chinese officials.

Yang sold her massage parlor in 2013, years before Kraft was arrested for soliciting prostitution. (He denies the charge.) In 2017, she founded a firm called GY US Investments LLC. An exposé from Mother Jones published Saturday reports that Yang’s company advertises itself as an “international business consulting firm that provides public relations services to assist businesses in America to establish and expand their brand image in the modern Chinese marketplace,” and also promises “the opportunity to interact with the president, the [American] Minister of Commerce and other political figures.”

The firm’s website evidently stopped functioning sometime after Yang spoke with the Miami Herald, but reportedly featured photos of Yang and alleged clients at Mar-a-Lago, Trump’s club in Palm Beach. As previously reported, Yang’s now-defunct Facebook page also featured shots of her with Donald Trump Jr., Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz, RNC chair Ronna McDaniel, Sarah Palin, and other influential conservative figures. Yang is said to have donated $42,000 to a Trump political action committee, as well as upwards of $16,000 to Trump’s campaign.

The GY US Investments website also allegedly featured a number of upcoming Mar-a-Lago events, presumably advertising access to various members of the Trump circle. According to Mother Jones, one section showed photos of Chinese executives and a Chinese movie star with Donald Trump Jr. Even stranger: while GY is said to have offices in Miami, Washington, D.C., and Wuhan, China, the Washington address apparently matches that of a UPS store.

No one involved—Yang, her business partners listed on the website, or press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders—has responded with any comment on the matter.