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Steve

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Everything posted by Steve

  1. It's clear the U. of Oklahoma football player was doing the instigating. The 'winner' and his brother know MMA and have done some cage fighting. He let his size and thinking he's a major division 1 school athlete think he was going to win and intimidate. On another note, I have always wanted to learn enough self defense be it boxing, MMA, whatever, to at least have a chance of defending myself to some extent. I'm too old to be good at it but I would like to learn anyway. If I had a child, one of the things among many he/she would learn is some sort of self defense starting at age 7 or 8 for at least a couple years or attain some sort of level. Your child will only bully my child once. https://www.yahoo.com/sports/man-mma-training-beat-oklahoma-211025997.html
  2. ...and the Democrats make it easy to maintain that mindset because the Democrats themselves are broken. They are broken in the usual way that beseeches most political parties. Corrupt, but having a line. There are some things the Dems wont' do. There is literally nothing the far right won't do. The cognitive dissonance of the far right fringe will point to the Dems and say 'See?' and feel emboldened. It's proof they are on the right side when the Dems do it, its ignored when ever a prominent member of their side does it and does it worse past any line of decency. There is literally a tweet for everything Trump accused Obama of from 2008 to 2016 that he did himself often worse. Innocuous things such as tweeting about Obama's golf trips and Trump has taken more golf trips on record than any president ever. Their support will then, in gaslighting, circular argument say "No one said anything when Obama did it". The government infrastructure has many of these far right fringe members. Especially the military and law enforcement and with the Republican senate of the last 4 years, now they are scores of judges as well. We are looking at the reincarnation of a broken Roman empire towards the end of its collapse.
  3. The near religious worship of Trump has nothing to do with ideology. The right has lost the ideological battle. They haven't won a popular vote in their first election they have won for President since 1988. Gen X and Gen Y are overwhelmingly progressive. Those generations embrace the term 'socialist'. The establishment Republicans still want to work within a system they are the minority in numbers wise. The election told us and more importantly them one thing. It doesn't matter how many of them vote, the Dems have more people and if the Dems are motivated to vote they will lose every time. What Trump represents to them is that they want to take their ball and go home. Since they can't win they want to destroy the system and either control it illegally, breaking any constitutional law in the process or carve out their own area within, where they have autonomy under the umbrella of the U.S. Sort of like the Kurds in northern Iraq. Technically part of Iraq but in reality an autonomous state. To the hard core Trump they are America. So breaking the constitution, the law, ethics and morals are okay because they are saving the country or themselves. I don't assume I know the inner workings of their mindset. I can only observe and make assumptions based on that. I do know this. Biden and the Dems are stupid as f*ck if they think they can reason, negotiate, or compromise with them. They are not honest actors. They will negotiate in bad faith. The Chinese could take lessons from them. And they know they are too many of them with the mindset that everyone else will have no choice but to deal with them. They have the cognitive dissonance to be great friends, family members, coworkers, neighbors and at the very same time cheer on the destruction of institutions. Nazis, Bolsheviks, militants, and child molesters were often described as great neighbors.
  4. McConnell said Trump was responsible for instigating the Jan 6th Capital building domestic terrorist attack. And now he says he will back Trump if he runs again. He will back a person who instigates violence. Piece of shit. This is beyond party, ideology. It's right or wrong. https://www.yahoo.com/news/mcconnell-says-hed-support-trump-022045401.html Republicans lie to their base in order to get votes. Saying Biden will bring in a far left agenda is laughable to anyone who knows his history. One of the rare things I agreed with Trump on is that America should remove itself from foreign military entanglements. The Dems were wrong to criticize and politicize Trump's wanting to move our troops out of Syria in my humble opinion. It never turns out well. This is Biden: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2021/02/25/united-states-bombs-facilities-syria-used-iran-backed-militia/6826992002/ Biden is infinitely better to have in office than Trump taking everything into consideration. Any one is better. Its a low bar. However, lets not be deceived. Biden is going to be pretty much Obama 2.0 when it comes to foreign policy more or less. Some things I hope he continues that Obama did (being friendly with Cuba), other things I hope he ends like Guantanamo, and keeping troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.
  5. The big question is what will Trump's taxes reveal? If it contains what many think it does he will be very, very embarrassed. His net worth will be in question for sure I think. That said, he is still the presumptive favorite for any run for office. He can still run for president in 2024 and most say as of now, no big event, he would win the Republican nomination fairly easy. I think he could beat Biden IF the economy tanks or the Republicans obstruct so much as they did under Obama, nothing gets done. And the Dems have no idea how to make a narrative based on that. They are politically incompetent.
  6. C'mon Cav, lets have complete disclosure in context. When did Bill take those trips? As president? While in office? Anything he does legally after he leaves office is his business. Cruz is a current serving Senator. His state is in a state of emergency. There are a myriad of things he could do as Senator. Help get federal resources for a start for all manner of things. He fucked up. Pure and simple. Bad optics and it shows a certain amount of insensitivity. Its protocol in state of emergencies for the elected officials to at least look like they are giving a shit. He didn't. Take the L and lets move on. As for Trump running for Senator, we'll see if he is even in jail or not or tied up in a trial first. If he runs and wins, so be it. There are a lot of 'ifs' in there. If my aunt had a cock...yadda, yadda. It would be very, very hard to manufacture grounds for impeachment. Anyway, wishful thinking I suppose. And again, (and again). I'm no fan of Biden. He is no where close to the choice I would have wanted for the Dems. Same for Kamala ideologically although I think she is smart as a whip and would have a very organized, thought out presidency had she won. Biden is too "old school Dem" for me. A bit too centrist. A bit too part of the establishment, but the people have spoken. The only people in Congress who are pure ideologically are anyone on the right or left who didn't take money from the lobbyists or big business or rich individuals. I may not agree with their politics some or most of the time but I can respect that they are honest actors. How many of them are there?
  7. That's what I thought as well. Must be the new math the other way. 🙄
  8. The War on Drugs is really a war on the poor and underprivileged it seems.
  9. For the non Americans or those that don't know the system. Do the Democrats control the government? Yes. But not totally. Democrats obviously have the White House and still hold a majority (greatly reduced last November) in the House of Representatives and gain in the Senate that was formerly Republican controlled but the Senate is split 50/50 and Kamala Harris is the tie breaker. Many things require 67 of the 100 Senators. Dems only have 50 plus a VP/President Pro Temp tie breaker for legislation that requires a simple majority. This stimulus check requires 2/3 of the Senate. The Republicans have leverage to demand to certain things. And they have and their demands, a reduction of the 2000 that Biden proposed is the compromise. Not sure where our good friend Cav is getting his information. My guess is the Black Patriot, but I'd love to have some proof otherwise. I could be wrong, admittedly but as you can see above, I'm just repeating the news.
  10. Yeah, social engineering. https://www.cnet.com/personal-finance/stimulus-update-1400-dollar-checks-income-limits-and-all-the-nitty-gritty-details/ Stimulus update: $1,400 checks, income limits and all the nitty-gritty details "... Democrats are using a legislative tool called budget reconciliation that would remove barriers that Republicans could use to slow down a vote. " " A group of moderate Senate Republicans in January lobbied Biden to reduce the check amount and significantly lower the income cap required to qualify for a payment. While Biden rejected the proposal -- saying "Congress must respond boldly and urgently" -- the Republican pitch kicked off a discussion on "targeting" the next round of payments to exclude higher earners from receiving money. After some back and forth in Congress on whether to lower the income limits to target payments, House Democrats settled on a plan that would follow the income-requirement outlines used for the first two checks but set an upper cap to cut off payments to higher earners. Under the current House Democrats' plan (PDF), individuals with an AGI (or adjusted gross income) of $100,000 a year would be excluded from receiving a payment. Heads of household earning $150,000 a year and couples earning $200,000 would also be above the upper limit to qualify for any money. "
  11. This is a gift for Cav's next birthday.
  12. Cav, I think its a viable party. My guess is though, it will be viable statewide but not nationally..yet. I can definitely see some House of Rep members from such a party. Not too many Senators. A handful maybe. A lot of Mayors. Maybe a governor or two or three.
  13. Wasn't it the Republicans that were limited the amount both times? Credit to Trump for wanting to pay out more. Biden wanted to as well. Can't fault Biden for this. The Republicans didn't want to. They played politics with your money, not Biden. The same Republicans who had no problem giving trillions to businesses and many that didn't need it.
  14. I think the total for the spanish flu for America was over 600k
  15. ...and as usual, I'll be fair. With a possible few exceptions I don't expect Biden to be transformative. He may enact a few policies that are a big change: student loan reform, minimum wage increase, or whatever but he'll do so reluctantly. He'll reward a few niches that he feels are important to the party: LBGTQ, Asians. They are one of the fastest growing groups and by and large have not participated in the political process and the Dems would see them as a big coup to get them out in numbers. Women will get some things as well. Dems see women, specifically suburban women as a needed voting bloc. You won't see Medicare for all. I don't think the minimum wage increase to 15 dollars an hour will get passed. Speaking of which, I disagree on a blanket across the board $15/hour. My main reason (among a few) is that America is a very, very big country with very diverse regions and very diverse economies, cost and standards of living. $15 dollars an hour is probably needed in NY and LA with their cost of living. However, that same amount in Pine Bluff, Arkansas is damn upper working class, bordering on lower middle class. Vastly different rents, costs of living. My proposal? Make the minimum wage county by county if not state by state. Or use some sort of formula that takes into account the cost of living, rental prices for a standard 2 bedroom apartment and average home cost, etc. Some states have a high state tax, some don't. All this has to be taken into consideration. I would also exclude HS age workers from it. And provide an incentive to pay that to workers 25 and above. A 30 year old single mom is in much more need of a $15 minimum wage job than a HS kid in the same job looking to buy his first car or have money for dates. Maybe its me, but it seems insane to have a 1 size fits all minimum wage for a country as vast and diverse and big as America. The minimum wage argument is being made with the working Adult poor, over college age, in mind. So, work on a way to make sure that's who will get it.
  16. The current Republican strategy is "look at these big Dem cities: LA, NYC, Chicago", See, Dems are bad. Mississippi, Alabama, and several other CONSERVATIVE states in the south and midwest have been broke for CENTURIES. There have been poor in West Virginia, Tennessee, Kentucky, Alabama, Mississippi, Lousiana, Oklahoma, etc. literally for hundreds of years. Tennesee, Kentucky and West Virginia specifically have had people who have NEVER seen middle class. Generational poverty going back to the 1700s And decades of Republican control has done jack schitt to reverse it. Economies change. One of the BIG reasons why Chicago, Detroit, NY, Phiilly have regressed is in large part to Republicans helping to send the industrial base overseas. The Dems are as culpable and in some ways worse because its their own constituents. The Republicans have also killed unions. Unions built the big northern cities. If you go to Chicago, Philadelphia, NY, you will see miles and miles of terraced housing. These were built on union wages. These union wages was the primary reason the European poor were able to leave absolute poverty. Republicans don't tell you that. Both parties are culpable but the narrative that the Dems fucked up the cities is blatantly untrue. Finally, parts of the south are doing well BECAUSE of the influx of skilled people from Democratic areas. They couldn't do it on their own. Atlanta for example has had a huge influx of educated, skilled workforce from the north. Which is in large party why Georgia flipped. Georgia has vast areas of poor rural areas still. The state has been doing well because of skilled LIBERALS from outside the south and to a lesser extent...wait for it....IMMIGRANTS. Atlanta has a thriving latino sector which was virtually non existent a generation ago. Both parties have fucked America. Dems claiming its the Republicans fault are just as wrong.
  17. Biden told Europe 'America is back', Europe looked on skeptically because America is back for the next 4 years but we could easily go back to a fascist/authoritarian state that were from from 2016 to 2020. America is no longer trusted by its allies (thanks Donald). They are now ceding to China. From what I have read Europe isn't as gung ho to fight China (economically, politically) as America wants. Can't blame them. Neither country can be trusted. But China can't be trusted at all. Not saying they should side with America who has not been a good ally the last 4 years but the choice doesn't have to be America or China.
  18. 😁 https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/people-boycotting-publix-because-heir-225039791.html
  19. It's fairly evident that the right wing knows it has lost the ideological debate. The majority of the country are left of center and it will only grow because Gen X, Y and Zers are the most progressive generation ever in America since possibly the hippie generation and I'd contend more than them. So, what is the right wing to do? Well, the fringe right and a large part of the traditional right simply want to end the 'system'. They can't win so no one wins. They want to disrupt, end, break, whatever they can do to guarantee a win and that "win" is embodied in either a new country broken away from America or balkanize America where they are like the Kurds in northern Iraq: technically part of the country but in reality act as an independent nation.
  20. Texas is a red state, Republican run for a while. The recalcitrant Republican governor of Texas found a way to blame "the Libs" for the Texas energy, citing wind turbines freezing. A couple things. Wind accounts for about 7%, second and this is the big lie. Several states in the north, New Hampshire, Vermont, etc that experience winter, more severe than Texas have wind turbines and you never hear the same issue? Pray tell why? Texas bought the cheapest ones available. They didn't anticipate for winter and didn't buy turbines that could withstand cold. This is a surprise since Dallas and other cities in the northern part of the state gets very, very cold annually. Head scratcher that one. New Hampshire for example got turbines made to withstand severely cold weather. Anyway, these states have turbines but no where near the issues Texas is currently having. As usual, the GOP politicians lie, gaslight and are pieces of shit. It takes a lot to out-corrupt Dems but they find a way. https://windexchange.energy.gov/states/nh
  21. So Coss, you are a smart guy so maybe you can explain this to me. California has natural disasters and its their own fault because they are Libs. Texas has unseasonably cold weather, their electrical grid collapses in part their own fault, red state, Republican run and its still the Libs fault? I'm trying to make 1 and 1 equal 2 here instead of 3. This new ideological math is hard to add up.
  22. I love history and especially military history. The criteria for this list is kinda iffy to me but its interesting none the less.
  23. Fucker Carlson....er....ah....Tucker Carlson has gone full blown asinine https://www.yahoo.com/news/tucker-carlson-says-joe-jill-151733906.html I haven't seen a love story like this since Nancy and Ron
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