Politics Thread v5.0

[TT-SEA]

8 minutes ago, SnarkyGoblin said:

what's funny is that it was a gaffe - she meant South Korea; she didn't actually think the US/she had a good relationship with NK.

Harris is completely clueless.   

[OmahaSnowFan]

15 hours ago, snow_wizard said:

Speaking of North Korea....did you hear that VP Harris said we have a long standing great relationship with that country?  Yikes!  I'm sure people were giving each other some interesting looks when she said that.

[OmahaSnowFan]

15 hours ago, snow_wizard said:

Republicans are all on board for disaster aid.  Lame attempt here.

Just keep it away from the blue states ammirite?

https://www.lawfareblog.com/trump-cant-play-politics-aid-states

[OmahaSnowFan]

On 9/29/2022 at 11:06 AM, Mr Marine Layer said:

It's the blue states you love so much, they have the highest gas prices. People are driving into Mexico to get cheaper gas.

About that $28 million, hmm, I guess I don't agree with everything they do, but it would have probably just caused more inflation.

Domestic terrorism, in your eyes, is parents protesting against school mask mandates (not very common in any of those great European countries you talk about) or parents complaining when schools teach that America was an evil nation founded in 1619 to preserve slavery.

Domestic terrorism (v) - disputing anything that the left believes in.

Nah, this is what we call domestic terrorism. Also assaulting airline employees, medical personnel, Charlottesville, etc.

https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/usa-education-threats/
 

They should be cleared out with tear gas so then the former president can autograph bibles and pose for pictures in front of a church.

Protest away otherwise. 

[Phil]

12 hours ago, SilverFallsAndrew said:

It was definitely not the worst gaffe of the day by the current regime. 

It was barely a gaffe at all. Just said “north” instead of “south”. Oh the horror.

[OmahaSnowFan]

13 hours ago, Phil said:

Anyone uttering the phrase “price gouging” with respect to energy prices is a clueless dunderhead not worth paying attention to. There are a multitude of reasons why energy prices are high, some driven by external/market forces, others driven by bad domestic policy.

You’re right. It’s actually just good ol’ capitalism.

[Phil]

Just now, OmahaSnowFan said:

You’re right. It’s actually just good ol’ capitalism.

It’s called supply and demand.

On the domestic front it is our insufficient refining capacity that’s driving gas prices higher relative to the price of oil.

[Mr Marine Layer]

21 hours ago, OmahaSnowFan said:

It’s funny cuz it’s true

Nope, socialism is an economic system where the government fully owns the means of production. No entrepreneurs or private businesses allowed in any industry. Your job choices are strictly limited by the government.

Let's say a doctor makes $140,000 a year, a gardener makes $10,000 a year and another guy refuses to get a job and makes $0 a year under capitalism. Socialism would redistribute the wealth so that all 3 people make $50,000 a year. Couch potatoes are the kinds of people that want this system, but it wouldn't be too bad for the gardener either.

The government decides what the common good is and any who disagrees with their views is persecuted. You are compelled to give rather than give out of generosity. People don't want to work if their salary is not dependent on their worth or if they can get freebies for not working at all. This causes the economy to crash and government to run out of other people's money, beside the money they use to keep themselves rich and powerful. Eventually the whole population becomes equally poor and miserable lining up for their free food handouts.

The Nordic countries have social democracy, where there is a free market with lots of welfare benefits. That's not the same thing as socialism. Bernie may have said he'll make us like the Nordic countries, but he's honeymooned in the USSR and praised Cuba.

 

[OmahaSnowFan]

7 minutes ago, Phil said:

It’s called supply and demand.

On the domestic front it is our insufficient refining capacity that’s driving gas prices higher relative to the price of oil.

https://ycharts.com/indicators/us_operable_crude_oil_distillation_capacity

Refining capacity seems to be doing okay. Oil prices/futures continue to decrease too. Demand post Labor Day always goes down.
 

Here gas has gone up $.45/gallon (14%) since Labor Day. 
 

I get it, there’s a ton of factors that determine gas prices. Unfortunately, speculation seems to control it too often though. It seems like they’re always trying to predict what future supplies, etc will be like vs what actually happens. In the end priced end up higher than they needed to be vs the reality of how inventory, refinement etc was actually affected. POSSIBLE conflicts. POSSIBLE hurricanes, etc.

[SilverFallsAndrew]

59 minutes ago, Phil said:

It was barely a gaffe at all. Just said “north” instead of “south”. Oh the horror.

You missed Joe asking for the dead woman?

[SnarkyGoblin]

https://www.kiro7.com/news/local/olympia-woman-facing-fines-over-sign-inside-her-home/WKN2BOW4G5HUZF2U6ZKXOMA4KI/

Alright...which one of you live in this HOA?

[SilverFallsAndrew]

20 minutes ago, SnarkyGoblin said:

https://www.kiro7.com/news/local/olympia-woman-facing-fines-over-sign-inside-her-home/WKN2BOW4G5HUZF2U6ZKXOMA4KI/

Alright...which one of you live in this HOA?

I feel as if there has to be more to this story. Though HOA are awful, I would never want to live in a place that had one. 

[SilverFallsAndrew]

1 minute ago, SilverFallsAndrew said:

I feel as if there has to be more to this story. Though HOA are awful, I would never want to live in a place that had one. 

Okay, I watched it. That's insane. 

[roadtonowhere08]

Yeah, they are going to lose that case if it goes to court. 

"Mommy, somebody posted a sign I don't agree with! Waaa!"

[Rubus Leucodermis]

21 hours ago, snow_wizard said:

This country is pretty D**n diverse though.  It is called a melting pot after all.

“America is a melting pot, the people at the bottom get burned while all the scum floats to the top.” — Charlie King

[Iceresistance]

1 hour ago, roadtonowhere08 said:

Yeah, they are going to lose that case if it goes to court. 

"Mommy, somebody posted a sign I don't agree with! Waaa!"

THE ENTITLED PEOPLE AUDACITY!

 

(Sorry for the caps, the entitled people thinking they can make a cheap profit by stupid stuff such as this make me mad!)

[Iceresistance]

21 hours ago, Chewbacca Defense said:

To your point though, it is sad that most Americans only know one language.  But its pretty hard when you can literally drive for several days and never leave the country.  I took 5 years of Spanish in high school and actually went to Spain as part of a school trip, but I sure as heck can't speak it now because I never used it.

I talked to someone about Luxembourg being a bilingual/trilingual country, and she said that forcing us to have a different language than English is basically the end of our nation since our main language has been English for over 300 years, and a sudden (and intentional) interference of it would cause the nation to lose our identity and collapse. 

[Rubus Leucodermis]

5 hours ago, Mr Marine Layer said:

Nope, socialism is an economic system where the government fully owns the means of production. No entrepreneurs or private businesses allowed in any industry. Your job choices are strictly limited by the government.

Let's say a doctor makes $140,000 a year, a gardener makes $10,000 a year and another guy refuses to get a job and makes $0 a year under capitalism. Socialism would redistribute the wealth so that all 3 people make $50,000 a year. Couch potatoes are the kinds of people that want this system, but it wouldn't be too bad for the gardener either.

The government decides what the common good is and any who disagrees with their views is persecuted. You are compelled to give rather than give out of generosity. People don't want to work if their salary is not dependent on their worth or if they can get freebies for not working at all. This causes the economy to crash and government to run out of other people's money, beside the money they use to keep themselves rich and powerful. Eventually the whole population becomes equally poor and miserable lining up for their free food handouts.

The Nordic countries have social democracy, where there is a free market with lots of welfare benefits. That's not the same thing as socialism. Bernie may have said he'll make us like the Nordic countries, but he's honeymooned in the USSR and praised Cuba.

If socialism is defined by what you say in your first paragraph*, then Bernie is not a socialist, because he has never advocated bringing all economic enterprises under state ownership. And Democrats like Barack Obama are certainly not socialists for doing something like trying to implement universal health care largely through mandates to carry private insurance policies.

So you've just shown that by your own chosen definition all the screeching about Democrats being "socialist" is just that: mindless screeching. Congratulations!

[snow_wizard]

6 hours ago, OmahaSnowFan said:

Just keep it away from the blue states ammirite?

https://www.lawfareblog.com/trump-cant-play-politics-aid-states

We seriously can't agree that most Republicans AND Democrats want to help people who are suffering from a major disaster?  We need to do some soul searching if things have really gotten to that point.

[Rubus Leucodermis]

2 minutes ago, Iceresistance said:

I talked to someone about Luxembourg being a bilingual/trilingual country, and she said that forcing us to have a different language than English is basically the end of our nation since our main language has been English for over 300 years, and a sudden (and intentional) interference of it would cause the nation to lose our identity and collapse. 

I don't think anyone here is proposing forcing Americans to speak any language, are they?

Or are people just getting antsy because some of their neighbours speak a different language than they do?

[Iceresistance]

1 minute ago, Rubus Leucodermis said:

I don't think anyone here is proposing forcing Americans to speak any language, are they?

Or are people just getting antsy because some of their neighbours speak a different language than they do?

There are woke democrats trying to force kids to speak Spanish instead of English because they think that English is 'Racist'.

[Rubus Leucodermis]

1 minute ago, Iceresistance said:

There are woke democrats trying to force kids to speak Spanish instead of English because they think that English is 'Racist'.

LOL, link?

[snow_wizard]

5 hours ago, OmahaSnowFan said:

https://ycharts.com/indicators/us_operable_crude_oil_distillation_capacity

Refining capacity seems to be doing okay. Oil prices/futures continue to decrease too. Demand post Labor Day always goes down.
 

Here gas has gone up $.45/gallon (14%) since Labor Day. 
 

I get it, there’s a ton of factors that determine gas prices. Unfortunately, speculation seems to control it too often though. It seems like they’re always trying to predict what future supplies, etc will be like vs what actually happens. In the end priced end up higher than they needed to be vs the reality of how inventory, refinement etc was actually affected. POSSIBLE conflicts. POSSIBLE hurricanes, etc.

 

 

It's ridiculous for gas to be this high when oil is well below $100 a barrel.  I've been watching this market for decades and gas has never been so high with oil even well above these levels.  As for the refining capacity...It's no different now than it was a few years ago and there aren't that many more drivers now than there were then.  

[snow_wizard]

6 minutes ago, Iceresistance said:

There are woke democrats trying to force kids to speak Spanish instead of English because they think that English is 'Racist'.

Do you mean to actually use Spanish as their main language instead of English?  That would be way over the line to say the least.

[Iceresistance]

2 minutes ago, Rubus Leucodermis said:

LOL, link?

There is a hint from a very biased site named 'The Tempest'. Anti-English racism

(WARNING: This contains racism, wokism and could offend you (like me!), my intent is to show you the link, please don't say I did not warn you!)

Your privilege is showing when you're forcing kids to speak English only - The Tempest

[snow_wizard]

1 minute ago, Iceresistance said:

There is a hint from a very biased site named 'The Tempest'. Anti-English racism

(WARNING: This contains racism, wokism and could offend you (like me!), my intent is to show you the link, please don't say I did not warn you!)

Your privilege is showing when you're forcing kids to speak English only - The Tempest

It's pretty obvious why all people in the US should speak English.  Pretty dumb to have everyone going around not understanding each other.

[Iceresistance]

1 minute ago, snow_wizard said:

It's pretty obvious why all people in the US should speak English.  Pretty dumb to have everyone going around not understanding each other.

The USA has known mostly just English for nearly 250 years!

[Rubus Leucodermis]

10 minutes ago, Iceresistance said:

There is a hint from a very biased site named 'The Tempest'. Anti-English racism

(WARNING: This contains racism, wokism and could offend you (like me!), my intent is to show you the link, please don't say I did not warn you!)

Your privilege is showing when you're forcing kids to speak English only - The Tempest

That is the precise opposite of what you are saying!

It is an opinion piece arguing against compelling children to speak only English. Opposition to that, can only mean that you advocate compelling children to speak a particular language (English in this case).

There is a side here arguing people should be compelled, apparently by organized coercion from the State, to speak or not speak certain languages — and it is the political right.

Why is it that virtually every time the right accuses the left of something, the right is projecting?

[snow_wizard]

5 minutes ago, Iceresistance said:

The USA has known mostly just English for nearly 250 years!

Yup.  People coming here should understand why English is the standard language and respect it.  If 80% to 90% speak one language it's probably best to learn it when you arrive.

[snow_wizard]

1 minute ago, Rubus Leucodermis said:

That is the precise opposite of what you are saying!

It is an opinion piece arguing against compelling children to speak only English.

There is a side here arguing people should be compelled, apparently by organized coercion from the State, to speak or not speak certain languages — and it is the political right.

Why is it that virtually every time the right accuses the left of something, the right is projecting?

That's what we ask about you too.

[Rubus Leucodermis]

Just now, snow_wizard said:

That's what we ask about you too.

Yeah, but it actually makes sense when I ask it.

[snow_wizard]

BTW...if I went to live in Germany, for example, I would learn the language and speak it in public.  It's common courtesy and essential IMO.

[snow_wizard]

1 minute ago, Rubus Leucodermis said:

Yeah, but it actually makes sense when I ask it.

It actually does when I do. 

[Rubus Leucodermis]

2 minutes ago, snow_wizard said:

Yup.  People coming here should understand why English is the standard language and respect it.  If 80% to 90% speak one language it's probably best to learn it when you arrive.

Oh, no disagreement there, if you move to the USA, you should plan on learning English if you don't know how to read and write it already. News flash: virtually all immigrants do. To not speak English in the USA is to be at a huge disadvantage.

Likewise, I hung around on a group for Americans considering moving to Portugal, and every so often "Do I really have to learn Portuguese if I move?" type questions would pop up. I would typically chime in with a curt answer that if you're asking a question like that, you probably shouldn't be considering moving there. I would certainly plan on learning the language if I was.

[snow_wizard]

11 hours ago, OmahaSnowFan said:

I have to admit this puzzles me.  Even Kim Jong Un looks bewildered.  Maybe he did it to throw them off.

[snow_wizard]

Just now, Rubus Leucodermis said:

Oh, no disagreement there, if you move to the USA, you should plan on learning English if you don't know how to read and write it already. News flash: virtually all immigrants do. To not speak English in the USA is to be at a huge disadvantage.

Likewise, I hung around on a group for Americans considering moving to Portugal, and every so often "Do I really have to learn Portuguese if I move?" type questions would pop up. I would typically chime in with a curt answer that if you're asking a question like that, you probably shouldn't be considering moving there. I would certainly plan on learning the language if I was.

We totally agree!  Holy shit!

[Iceresistance]

7 minutes ago, Rubus Leucodermis said:

That is the precise opposite of what you are saying!

It is an opinion piece arguing against compelling children to speak only English. Opposition to that, can only mean that you advocate compelling children to speak a particular language (English in this case).

There is a side here arguing people should be compelled, apparently by organized coercion from the State, to speak or not speak certain languages — and it is the political right.

Why is it that virtually every time the right accuses the left of something, the right is projecting?

I know, I was about to post another link when I spotted that the link was racist!

 

And I may have gotten ahead of myself on this. 

[snow_wizard]

1 minute ago, Iceresistance said:

I know, I was about to post another link when I spotted that the link was racist!

 

And I may have gotten ahead of myself on this. 

I hate it when something like that happens.  Kind of takes the wind out of your sails so to speak.

[roadtonowhere08]

1 hour ago, Iceresistance said:

THE ENTITLED PEOPLE AUDACITY!

 

(Sorry for the caps, the entitled people thinking they can make a cheap profit by stupid stuff such as this make me mad!)

Did you watch the video?  I'm kinda lost with your comment.

[OmahaSnowFan]

Makes sense.

 

[Mr Marine Layer]

2 hours ago, Rubus Leucodermis said:

If socialism is defined by what you say in your first paragraph*, then Bernie is not a socialist, because he has never advocated bringing all economic enterprises under state ownership. And Democrats like Barack Obama are certainly not socialists for doing something like trying to implement universal health care largely through mandates to carry private insurance policies.

So you've just shown that by your own chosen definition all the screeching about Democrats being "socialist" is just that: mindless screeching. Congratulations!

Many economists have argued that the Green New Deal proposed by AOC and supported by Bernie has all the hallmarks of socialism.

First let's get to the good part

All that free stuff and someone has to pay for it. It was originally estimated to cost $93 trillion. How? By a massive redistribution of wealth with inflation, inflation and more inflation. Who will enforce that? BIG GOVERNMENT!

That's the good news. Here's the bad news.

Banning cars and planes? That's government taking control over the transportation industry. Lots of jobs will be lost. Lots of businesses will be destroyed. They have already taken control of the energy industry by shutting down the Keystone Pipeline. All that outsourcing of jobs was one reason Trump ran.

100% control of the healthcare system? Not even Canada and the Nordic Countries do that. They're already trying control what our doctors can do in response to COVID and trying to ban supplements and alternative medicine.

Destroying the cattle industry and forcing us all to become vegan? That sounds like a hallmark of liberty and democracy to me. Enjoy your last steak.

Then there's the good old socialist dogma of providing a living income for people "unwilling" to work. Couch potatoes, your day has come.

But at least the GND was designed to save the world from climate change, right? Wrong?

One last note.

Traditional definition of socialism. The government controls what you eat, what you are allowed to do for work and nearly every aspect of your life because they're so much smarter than you are.

https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2019/03/25/green_new_deal_is_same_old_socialist_con_game__139837.html#!

https://aclj.org/radical-left/the-truth-about-socialism-and-the-green-new-deal

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/green-new-deal-socialism-united-states

Schools need to start teaching civics again or the World Economic Forum will continue to achieve its dilusional goal "Nobody will own anything, but everyone will be happy".

 

[Mr Marine Layer]

People are getting stupider, it’s a scientific fact

[Rubus Leucodermis]

58 minutes ago, Mr Marine Layer said:

Many economists have argued that the Green New Deal proposed by AOC and supported by Bernie has all the hallmarks of socialism.

First let's get to the good part

All that free stuff and someone has to pay for it. It was originally estimated to cost $93 trillion. How? By a massive redistribution of wealth with inflation, inflation and more inflation. Who will enforce that? BIG GOVERNMENT!

That's the good news. Here's the bad news.

Banning cars and planes? That's government taking control over the transportation industry. Lots of jobs will be lost. Lots of businesses will be destroyed. They have already taken control of the energy industry by shutting down the Keystone Pipeline. All that outsourcing of jobs was one reason Trump ran.

100% control of the healthcare system? Not even Canada and the Nordic Countries do that. They're already trying control what our doctors can do in response to COVID and trying to ban supplements and alternative medicine.

Destroying the cattle industry and forcing us all to become vegan? That sounds like a hallmark of liberty and democracy to me. Enjoy your last steak.

Then there's the good old socialist dogma of providing a living income for people "unwilling" to work. Couch potatoes, your day has come.

But at least the GND was designed to save the world from climate change, right? Wrong?

One last note.

Traditional definition of socialism. The government controls what you eat, what you are allowed to do for work and nearly every aspect of your life because they're so much smarter than you are.

https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2019/03/25/green_new_deal_is_same_old_socialist_con_game__139837.html#!

https://aclj.org/radical-left/the-truth-about-socialism-and-the-green-new-deal

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/green-new-deal-socialism-united-states

Schools need to start teaching civics again or the World Economic Forum will continue to achieve its dilusional goal "Nobody will own anything, but everyone will be happy".

 

 

Arguing with the earlier (as in only a few hours earlier) you!

Hilarious!

[Phil]

9 hours ago, OmahaSnowFan said:

https://ycharts.com/indicators/us_operable_crude_oil_distillation_capacity

Refining capacity seems to be doing okay. Oil prices/futures continue to decrease too. Demand post Labor Day always goes down.
 

Here gas has gone up $.45/gallon (14%) since Labor Day. 
 

I get it, there’s a ton of factors that determine gas prices. Unfortunately, speculation seems to control it too often though. It seems like they’re always trying to predict what future supplies, etc will be like vs what actually happens. In the end priced end up higher than they needed to be vs the reality of how inventory, refinement etc was actually affected. POSSIBLE conflicts. POSSIBLE hurricanes, etc.

On what planet is 90.6% RC sufficient for meet demand? Especially as our refineries continue to age/become more expensive to maintain?

And then you have to account for the fact we’re exporting a lot more refined petroleum (particularly since Putin decided to invade Ukraine and trigger an energy crisis in Europe).

Point is, it’s not the “oil companies” or gas station owners driving up prices. It’s demand relative to supply, domestically. 

[Phil]

4 hours ago, Rubus Leucodermis said:

If socialism is defined by what you say in your first paragraph*, then Bernie is not a socialist, because he has never advocated bringing all economic enterprises under state ownership. And Democrats like Barack Obama are certainly not socialists for doing something like trying to implement universal health care largely through mandates to carry private insurance policies.

So you've just shown that by your own chosen definition all the screeching about Democrats being "socialist" is just that: mindless screeching. Congratulations!

That’s precisely why the phrase “democratic socialist” was coined. 

[Phil]

I thought dems had moved past their slavery fetish, but apparently not. Yikes.

 

[snow_wizard]

26 minutes ago, Phil said:

I thought dems had moved past their slavery fetish, but apparently not. Yikes.

 

They don't realize how they discriminate against the people they claim to love so much.  It's called the soft bigotry of low expectations.

[snow_wizard]

Looks like polling data is showing a big momentum shift toward Republicans again.  Nice to see in the home stretch!

[Mr Marine Layer]

2 hours ago, Rubus Leucodermis said:

 

Arguing with the earlier (as in only a few hours earlier) you!

Hilarious!

So you don't think the Green New Deal, which is meant to be a complete overhaul of our economy, is socialism?

When the government decides what treatments doctors are allowed to give, what kinds of cars are allowed to be driven or manufactured or not manufactured, what kind of food we are allowed to eat or not eat, what kinds of jobs are allowed and prohibited, and having full power to shut down Aetna and BlueSheild and put an end to all private insurance options, that is not a control of the means of production?

Ibram X. Kendi teaching that capitalism is racist, merit is racist and equality of opportunity is racist. Requiring lower SAT scores for black people than white people. Banning failing grades because minorities are more likely to get them and it makes them feel offended. That's not based upon the socialist policy of equity or equality of outcome?

Why even go to school when you can make a living by sitting at home not working, as the Green New Deal promises?

[Rubus Leucodermis]

8 minutes ago, Mr Marine Layer said:

So you don't think the Green New Deal, which is meant to be a complete overhaul of our economy, is socialism?

When the government decides what treatments doctors are allowed to give, what kinds of cars are allowed to be driven or manufactured or not manufactured, what kind of food we are allowed to eat or not eat, what kinds of jobs are allowed and prohibited, and having full power to shut down Aetna and BlueSheild and put an end to all private insurance, that is not a control of the means of production?

Ibram X. Kendi teaching that capitalism is racist, merit is racist and equality of opportunity is racist. Requiring lower SAT scores for black people than white people. Banning failing grades because minorities are more likely to get them and it makes them feel offended. That's not based upon the socialist policy of equity or equality of outcome?

Why even go to school when you can make a living by sitting at home not working, as the Green New Deal promises?

The GND is not socialism per your earlier definition.

It may have more government regulation, or differing public policies, than you personally happen to prefer, but it does not entail the government owning 100% of all businesses. Sorry.