Polite Politics

[roadtonowhere08]

1 hour ago, Rubus Leucodermis said:

It’s more like “do not stir up trouble in my backyard.”

My guess is China lets Russia know via a back channel that nuclear proliferation amongst former Soviet republics (many of whom border China) will not be appreciated, and at that point the plan gets quietly shelved and not spoken of again.

Yeah, it'll probably play out like that.

[Anti Marine Layer]

29 minutes ago, roadtonowhere08 said:

That's it?

 

You're not a mod.

[roadtonowhere08]

42 minutes ago, Anti Marine Layer said:

You're not a mod.

Lucky you 

[Anti Marine Layer]

2 hours ago, Iceresistance said:

Welcome to the El Niño

El Nino summers are usually hot and humid. But just like Seattle summer doesn't start until after 4th of July in SoCal sometimes. 

[Rubus Leucodermis]

2 hours ago, Iceresistance said:

It's never a marine layer in Oklahoma, it's called an inversion, and it's constantly mentioned during severe weather potential.

Yes, but MML is in SoCal and summertime inversions there are almost always the result of a marine layer.

[Rubus Leucodermis]

Groomers? Woke leftists? Cultural Marxists? Time for a boycott? Enlighten me, Trumpers!

[Anti Marine Layer]

6 minutes ago, Rubus Leucodermis said:

Groomers? Woke leftists? Cultural Marxists? Time for a boycott? Enlighten me, Trumpers!

They picked the wrong month for Pride Month as gray is the most common color in California in June. Hardly rainbow-like, and the sun is required for a rainbow anyway.

[Rubus Leucodermis]

3 minutes ago, Anti Marine Layer said:

They picked the wrong month for Pride Month as gray is the most common color in California in June.

It has to do with something that happened on the opposite coast.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stonewall_riots

[Iceresistance]

1 hour ago, roadtonowhere08 said:

Lucky you 

This is why people like you never become moderator.

[GHweatherChris]

MAGA, Trump 2024!!  He is out there just killing it right now.  And until someone can provide an adequate alternative, Trump is our best option at this current time IMO.

[Iceresistance]

Russia issues an arrest warrant on Lindsey Graham?? It's just happened recently!

[roadtonowhere08]

43 minutes ago, Iceresistance said:

This is why people like you never become moderator.

Iceresistance, I try to be nice to you, but the amount of things that fly over your head here is staggering.  Chill.

[roadtonowhere08]

50 minutes ago, GHweatherChris said:

MAGA, Trump 2024!!  He is out there just killing it right now.  And until someone can provide an adequate alternative, Trump is our best option at this current time IMO.

[GHweatherChris]

3 hours ago, roadtonowhere08 said:

What is your current better alternative?  Everything under Trump was better than what we have now and better than what we had for many decades before.  Facts are tough.

[roadtonowhere08]

5 minutes ago, GHweatherChris said:

What is your current better alternative?  Everything under Trump was better than what we have now and better than what we had for many decades before.  Facts are tough.

Is that why you are such a stranger to them?

[GHweatherChris]

2 minutes ago, roadtonowhere08 said:

Is that why you are such a stranger to them?

Prove me wrong.  Most of you are against Trump, but never can really explain why...  

[roadtonowhere08]

7 minutes ago, GHweatherChris said:

Prove me wrong.  Most of you are against Trump, but never can really explain why...  

But you are the one with the bold claim, not me.

"Everything under Trump was better than what we have now and better than what we had for many decades before."

Prove it.

[Stormy]

On 5/28/2023 at 9:40 PM, Anti Marine Layer said:

The thing about the daughter who is not a virgin refers to a situation where she gets engaged to someone and then secretly has sex with someone else before the marriage ceremony. It involves both lying and adultery. It's a bit harsh, but it's part of the old Mosaic law and no longer applies to Christians today (although adultery is still considered to be sinful)

Mark 9:43 is not to be taken literally, of course

People cannot sin intentionally and keep asking for forgiveness because there has to be regret for what they have done and a change of heart. Consider John Newton, for example, who was a slave trader and realized what he was doing was wrong and completely changed his life. He wrote the famous song, "Amazing grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me, I once was lost but now am found, was blind but now I see"

What differentiates Christianity from other religions is that you cannot be saved by keeping the law or doing more good than bad. First it's impossible for anyone to keep the law perfectly. Also being saved by doing more good than bad is like if you get caught for robbery and you tell the police or the jury not to punish you because you've done lots of good things in your life to outweigh the bad thing you just did.

So the only way you can be saved is by believing in Jesus and that He lived a perfect life in your place and died for you to pay for your sins. You are not saved by works, but it also says "faith without works is dead", so a truly converted person will not keep on repeating the same sin intentionally and asking for forgiveness.

Finally, tolerance means accepting people regardless of they behave, not accepting any behavior. You must actually disapprove of something somebody does in order to be tolerant of it. You cannot "tolerate" something you approve of. Saying you believe something is immoral and you don't approve of it, is not intolerant. Loving parents discipline their children because they love them and want to make them better people. Also I do believe some Christians are overly judgmental and it does not give them a good reputation.

 

Thanks for this very good explanation! I didn't have much time then nor do I have the gift of explaining things properly. 

[Andie]

Everyone in DC is patting themselves on the back and congratulating over this recent Bill.  

The agreement would suspend the nation's $31.4 trillion debt limit through January 1, 2025. This removes it as a potential issue in the 2024 presidential election.

Dont you wish you could just suspend your obligations?   
This juggling is why our nation’s debt clock is pegging!  

When does this EVER get under control?

www.inthahole.gov

2000 we had a surplus.  
War is expensive, unemployment is expensive. We’ve got to get our $hi+ together. 

[SnarkyGoblin]

7 hours ago, GHweatherChris said:

Prove me wrong.  Most of you are against Trump, but never can really explain why...  

This could be a troll or you could actually want to engage....

Outside of the obvious conservative vs. Liberal differences in the classical pre-newt world (big govt vs. small govt), here's some big ones that are specific not so much to an ideology than specific about the person.

1.) People who worked close to him, particularly those with military experience, thought he was unfit and chose to quit instead. I put a lot of trust in those opinions.  Kinda how I used to feel about the SCOTUS.

2.) He has an affinity to world dictators and that weirds me out big time.

3.) He has and certainly would again use the presidency to his own personal advantage, such as exacting revenge on people he feels slighted him.  That's another big nono that in a previous life was considered to be very wrong.

The unfortunate thing is that trump has now created a way for other wannabes to behave the same way and be successful in politics. Why can't we just have boring politicians looking at the facts and trends and make decisions and create laws based on those things?

If single payer gets passed and it doesn't work well, then we make changes to it.

If our kids are dying in schools from guns, maybe we try something and see if the problem goes away

There's still not a serious plan to address climate change.

The debt ceiling bill STILL hasn't passed.

The bickering is the worst and, not to sound cliché, but the people who are going to suffer will be our kids.  Climate change, automation basically taking over entire sectors of jobs, debt ballooning due to healthcare inflation and giving constant tax cuts the last 70 years with zero tolerance for *increasing* taxes.

COVID days ain't seen nothing compared to what's to come.  And that makes me sad when I think about my 2 yo son.

[GHweatherChris]

13 hours ago, roadtonowhere08 said:

But you are the one with the bold claim, not me.

"Everything under Trump was better than what we have now and better than what we had for many decades before."

Prove it.

Trumps proving it with every speech recently.  Facts are hard I guess.

[GHweatherChris]

4 hours ago, SnarkyGoblin said:

This could be a troll or you could actually want to engage....

Outside of the obvious conservative vs. Liberal differences in the classical pre-newt world (big govt vs. small govt), here's some big ones that are specific not so much to an ideology than specific about the person.

1.) People who worked close to him, particularly those with military experience, thought he was unfit and chose to quit instead. I put a lot of trust in those opinions.  Kinda how I used to feel about the SCOTUS.

2.) He has an affinity to world dictators and that weirds me out big time.

3.) He has and certainly would again use the presidency to his own personal advantage, such as exacting revenge on people he feels slighted him.  That's another big nono that in a previous life was considered to be very wrong.

The unfortunate thing is that trump has now created a way for other wannabes to behave the same way and be successful in politics. Why can't we just have boring politicians looking at the facts and trends and make decisions and create laws based on those things?

If single payer gets passed and it doesn't work well, then we make changes to it.

If our kids are dying in schools from guns, maybe we try something and see if the problem goes away

There's still not a serious plan to address climate change.

The debt ceiling bill STILL hasn't passed.

The bickering is the worst and, not to sound cliché, but the people who are going to suffer will be our kids.  Climate change, automation basically taking over entire sectors of jobs, debt ballooning due to healthcare inflation and giving constant tax cuts the last 70 years with zero tolerance for *increasing* taxes.

COVID days ain't seen nothing compared to what's to come.  And that makes me sad when I think about my 2 yo son.

My original comment was nothing more than stating a fact which is true.  The Trump presidency was better than the current situation and better than many years before.  Under Trump you didn't need to make six figures to feel somewhat comfortable and make ends meet sometimes, now you must make a ton more than then just to make ends meet.

More families than not were in a good situation with Trump in office, COVID not withstanding.  Families now are struggling worse than they ever have before.  

So again, Trump was better than current administration and many prior.

[roadtonowhere08]

13 minutes ago, GHweatherChris said:

Trumps proving it with every speech recently.  Facts are hard I guess.

 

7 minutes ago, GHweatherChris said:

My original comment was nothing more than stating a fact which is true.  The Trump presidency was better than the current situation and better than many years before.  Under Trump you didn't need to make six figures to feel somewhat comfortable and make ends meet sometimes, now you must make a ton more than then just to make ends meet.

More families than not were in a good situation with Trump in office, COVID not withstanding.  Families now are struggling worse than they ever have before.  

So again, Trump was better than current administration and many prior.

So no effort to prove your case and certainly no real knowledge of macroeconomics and globalism.  Got it.  Enjoy your Kool Aid.

[Andie]

I’ll leave the numbers to you guys to ferret out. All I know is as a retiree my money went further under Trump. Currently groceries, fuel, and medication are significantly higher.   

Most Americans want a quality life, good food, and medical.  
I had it under Trump. It was pretty good under Obama.  

Today is flat kicking my a**!  
That is the bottom line at my address. 
You can draw whatever conclusions you desire.  Money’s just D**n tight. 

[MossMan]

You Nissan drivers really stick together! 

Edited May 31, 2023 by MossMan

[Rubus Leucodermis]

At its core, insurance is a simple business. Companies figure out how much they will likely have to pay out, and then set their rates to ensure they make a profit. Success is dependent upon the ability to accurately assess risk. There is a huge financial incentive to have the most clear-eyed possible understanding of reality. Wishful thinking or misguided ideology will do nothing except lose an insurance company money.

Because of this, insurance can tell you things about reality. It resembles global investment firms in this: The people running them may be greedy, and the clients may be evil, but the business is all about understanding the true and unvarnished state of the world in order to manage risk in order to protect wealth, and therefore these firms do their very best to operate according to what is true, whereas politicians, for example, often do their very best to lie. This is why every leftist and revolutionary should read the Wall Street Journal. There are far fewer lies when money is involved.

Continued: https://www.hamiltonnolan.com/p/insurance-politics-at-the-end-of

[roadtonowhere08]

1 hour ago, Rubus Leucodermis said:

At its core, insurance is a simple business. Companies figure out how much they will likely have to pay out, and then set their rates to ensure they make a profit. Success is dependent upon the ability to accurately assess risk. There is a huge financial incentive to have the most clear-eyed possible understanding of reality. Wishful thinking or misguided ideology will do nothing except lose an insurance company money.

Because of this, insurance can tell you things about reality. It resembles global investment firms in this: The people running them may be greedy, and the clients may be evil, but the business is all about understanding the true and unvarnished state of the world in order to manage risk in order to protect wealth, and therefore these firms do their very best to operate according to what is true, whereas politicians, for example, often do their very best to lie. This is why every leftist and revolutionary should read the Wall Street Journal. There are far fewer lies when money is involved.

Continued: https://www.hamiltonnolan.com/p/insurance-politics-at-the-end-of

"One small consolation as this panic-inducing process plays out will be seeing all the bullshit pretenses of the people who were happy to deny climate change for their own gain blow away with their roof tiles. Unfortunately, good and bad people alike will be fooked, but at least you will get to watch your neighbor’s Ford F-150 with the “LIBERAL TEARS” flag float away too."

Pure gold.  Pure truth.

[Chewbacca Defense]

4 hours ago, Andie said:

I’ll leave the numbers to you guys to ferret out. All I know is as a retiree my money went further under Trump. Currently groceries, fuel, and medication are significantly higher.   

Most Americans want a quality life, good food, and medical.  
I had it under Trump. It was pretty good under Obama.  

Today is flat kicking my a**!  
That is the bottom line at my address. 
You can draw whatever conclusions you desire.  Money’s just D**n tight. 

I think Covid took everything we knew about how the economy works and turned it on its head.  My plant got closed down and sold off.  400-500 people lost their jobs.  We make interiors for commercial airplanes, and as of August 2020, commercial air travel was not expected to recover before 2024, but more realistically, 2025.  This was the industry understanding at that time.  I was on a development program for a brand new jet, it got cancelled for the same reason.  Billions had already been invested in it, so it was already struggling, but the prospect of a multi-year recovery killed it.

I think that was also operating under the assumption that the Covid unemployment payments would be short lived.  In fact they continued, and since people couldn't go anywhere, they saved it, paid off debts...built up this stack of "discretionary funds"  Also, since they could not travel there was this massive pent up demand.

I do have to give the Trump administration credit for the unemployment payouts and stimulus payments.  He royally BOTCHED everything else about the response, but I would have lost everything if it wasn't for the unemployment plans.

As we all know, restrictions eased, the D**n broke, and airlines got absolutely crushed by the onslaught of travelers.

I got laid off, but eventually hired back to work remotely in support of another site within the company, and guess what, we are getting crushed, we cannot keep up with the demand.

So there is one blown call on the impact of Covid, but there were so many more.  The chip shortage is causing havoc through multiple industries....computers, cars, etc.  We can probably thank Trump's trade war for that.  I'm working on a big quote campaign right now for a major aircraft manufacturer, and we got a reminder to NOT get quotes from China due to the 200% tariff.

That said, he also royally f*cked over the farmers of this country with his trade war with China.  Farm bankruptcies rose 24% from Sept 2018 to 2019, which in turn drives food prices up.  His big business mentality also killed off small/medium farms as the mega agribusinesses and meat packing conglomerates seized control.  They are f*cking us both ways...they are slashing the price paid to farmers & ranchers for their goods, and they are raising the prices on us the consumer.

And yes, we enjoyed a strong economy and stock market under Obama, and that carried over for a little bit into Trump, but at the end of the day, what goes up, must come down.

 

[roadtonowhere08]

5 hours ago, Andie said:

I’ll leave the numbers to you guys to ferret out. All I know is as a retiree my money went further under Trump. Currently groceries, fuel, and medication are significantly higher.   

Most Americans want a quality life, good food, and medical.  
I had it under Trump. It was pretty good under Obama.  

Today is flat kicking my a**!  
That is the bottom line at my address. 
You can draw whatever conclusions you desire.  Money’s just D**n tight. 

We are seeing the results of a few major factors at play:

1. The supply chain havoc caused by COVID shutdowns.

2. The introduction of an astronomical amount of new currency in such a little time to assist in said COVID shutdowns.

3. Fuel price fluctuations caused by geopolitics and macroeconomics.

4. An artificial suppression of normal interest rates dating back to 2008 to add liquidity to the economy.  This creates a hot market and economy but will lead to overheated growth and eventual dilution of currency value (inflation).  Everyone likes a hot market but does not want to deal with the fallout that follows.  Classic kicking the can down the road.

The interest rate hikes are to cool off the economy and fight inflation.  We seem to be getting there.  If the FED can just take it's hand off the wheel now and let the economy sort itself out, then things will improve.  A 4-5% interest rate and 3-4% inflation target is just about ideal for yearly stability.

Whoever is/was president is/was irrelevant to these forces that are/were much more than their given power.  The president is given too much praise when things go well and too much blame when things go bad.  Much of the big stuff is out of their control.  As much as Trump likes to beat his chest, he can not do jack squat about any of the listed factors.

 

[Andie]

I have a good overview on the topic without edification.  

I’m just saying that no matter who or what is responsible, it’s D**n tight right now.  And should not have to be. I get the big picture without help.   

I’ve built and operated a chemical plant…Done well, contributed to my family, community and church and yet I (and millions of other Americans) are unable to retire, relax the reigns a little as the Washington Spending Horse is racing headlong, ‘Pell-Mell’.  
People like me, retired, (not rich) but doing ok, are having to watch their back economically like never before.  
That’s all I’m saying. Others are far worse. 

Screw the political debate and postulations.
Leadership on all levels is failing. I believe it will be manufacturing, and R&D that will ultimately propel us out of this   Government is the problem, not the solution and all the rhetoric and spending bills in the world won’t fix it   

 

[SnarkyGoblin]

Not really related to politics, but this does have an impact to a lot of us due to the proximity of the nuclear site:

A Poisonous Cold War Legacy

My grandfather worked at the Hanford site during the cold war and my mom was born in Richland during that same time.  

Both died from cancer - it was my mom's third bout that took her down.  DoE agreed that the death of my grandfather was probably related to his work.

Quote

The cleanup at Hanford is now at an inflection point. The Energy Department has been in closed-door negotiations with state officials and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, trying to revamp the plan. But many fear the most likely compromises, which could be announced in the coming months, will put the speed and quality of the cleanup at risk.

The government now appears to be seriously evaluating the need to leave thousands of gallons of leftover waste buried forever in Hanford’s shallow underground tanks, according to some of those familiar with the negotiations, and protect some of the waste not in impenetrable glass, but in a concrete grout casing that would almost certainly decay thousands of years before the toxic materials that it is designed to hold at bay.

 

[roadtonowhere08]

2 hours ago, Andie said:

I have a good overview on the topic without edification.  

I’m just saying that no matter who or what is responsible, it’s D**n tight right now.  And should not have to be. I get the big picture without help.   

I’ve built and operated a chemical plant…Done well, contributed to my family, community and church and yet I (and millions of other Americans) are unable to retire, relax the reigns a little as the Washington Spending Horse is racing headlong, ‘Pell-Mell’.  
People like me, retired, (not rich) but doing ok, are having to watch their back economically like never before.  
That’s all I’m saying. Others are far worse. 

Screw the political debate and postulations.
Leadership on all levels is failing. I believe it will be manufacturing, and R&D that will ultimately propel us out of this   Government is the problem, not the solution and all the rhetoric and spending bills in the world won’t fix it   

 

Understood, but you cannot say "All I know is as a retiree my money went further under Trump" and then not expect some "edification".  Trump had nothing to do with it.

Also, government is not the problem.  Greedy and/or inept people are the problem.  They exist in all sectors.  Get rid of government and the private sector will be more than happy to bend you over.  Six of one, half dozen of the other.

[SnarkyGoblin]

I hope they end up doing something like this lol:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trillion-dollar_coin#:~:text=The trillion-dollar coi is,very high-value platinum coins.

[Andie]

29 minutes ago, roadtonowhere08 said:

Understood, but you cannot say "All I know is as a retiree my money went further under Trump" and then not expect some "edification".  Trump had nothing to do with it.

Also, government is not the problem.  Greedy and/or inept people are the problem.  They exist in all sectors.  Get rid of government and the private sector will be more than happy to bend you over.  Six of one, half dozen of the other.

Can’t disagree but the economy under every President belongs to them.  
Granted previous Admins and Congress are a sizable part of that, but every Head of State gets to wear the crown or the pie in the face.  

Just like business. Disasters may be due to a Dept Head making a bad decision down the line but the Pres of the co gets the blame no matter the size of the company when he faces the Board of Dirs.  
There’s no easy answer to failure or success, but the top guy(s) get the blame or credit.  

[roadtonowhere08]

Just now, Andie said:

Can’t disagree but the economy under every President belongs to them.  
Granted previous Admins and Congress are a sizable part of that, but every Head of State gets to wear the crown or the pie in the face.  

Just like business. Disasters may be due to a Dept Head making a bad decision down the line but the Pres of the co gets the blame no matter the size of the company when he faces the Board of Dirs.  
There’s no easy answer to failure or success, but the top guy(s) get the blame or credit.  

Agree 100%.  I think taking the fall for someone else's mistake is silly, but it goes with the territory.

[Chewbacca Defense]

1 hour ago, SnarkyGoblin said:

Not really related to politics, but this does have an impact to a lot of us due to the proximity of the nuclear site:

A Poisonous Cold War Legacy

My grandfather worked at the Hanford site during the cold war and my mom was born in Richland during that same time.  

Both died from cancer - it was my mom's third bout that took her down.  DoE agreed that the death of my grandfather was probably related to his work.

 

My mother in law grew up a few hundred miles down wind of Hanford in Western Montana.  She is an incredibly fit and active woman yet ended up with cancer (which was successfully treated).  There are a lot of people with cancer in the valley she grew up in, and I can't help but wonder if Hanford played a role in that.

Not related to Hanford specifically, but my wife is a cancer registrar, meaning she enters all cancer diagnoses into a database that is used to support research.   She said it is pretty scary to see the average age of people getting cancer get younger, and the number of "very active healthy individuals who do all the right things" get cancer.

[Andie]

3 minutes ago, Chewbacca Defense said:

My mother in law grew up a few hundred miles down wind of Hanford in Western Montana.  She is an incredibly fit and active woman yet ended up with cancer (which was successfully treated).  There are a lot of people with cancer in the valley she grew up in, and I can't help but wonder if Hanford played a role in that.

Not related to Hanford specifically, but my wife is a cancer registrar, meaning she enters all cancer diagnoses into a database that is used to support research.   She said it is pretty scary to see the average age of people getting cancer get younger, and the number of "very active healthy individuals who do all the right things" get cancer.

I’m so very sorry Snarky and Chewie.  To lose a close loved one through no fault of their own is so painful. I’ve been there through other circumstances.  
I grew up a downwinder and near a base that handled nukes -ages ago.  
Due to the proximity I had to have surgery that rendered me incapable of having children.  
I think there are many citizens that have endured these fates.  Far more than any deaths from dropping the bomb.  Ironic, and unforgivable.  

[roadtonowhere08]

That's really unfortunate for all three of you.  Sorry to hear that.  Andie, you are right, it is unforgivable.  Certain people knew.  They just did not care.  Same thing is happening now with the global quality of our soil and food.

[Rubus Leucodermis]

3 hours ago, SnarkyGoblin said:

Not really related to politics, but this does have an impact to a lot of us due to the proximity of the nuclear site:

A Poisonous Cold War Legacy

My grandfather worked at the Hanford site during the cold war and my mom was born in Richland during that same time.  

Both died from cancer - it was my mom's third bout that took her down.  DoE agreed that the death of my grandfather was probably related to his work.

So much that happened at Hanford was just plain inexcusable.

During World War II, they used carbon steel tanks for storing liquid waste, even though they knew such tanks would rust and leak. The stated reason was that stainless steel was in short supply due to the war. Engineers wrote that this was only defensible as a short-term, wartime measure and that as soon as the war was over they had to install stainless steel tanks and pump the carbon steel ones out.

Instead, they chose to classify those engineer reports as a national security matter and left the waste in the carbon steel tanks. Not surprisingly, they leaked.

Then there was the Green Run. The logic behind it was that the USSR was obviously not using any emissions controls on its nuclear production, because it was a secretive dictatorship that did not care about the lives of its citizens. So it would be possible to estimate how much weapons-grade material the USSR was producing by measuring the radioactivity plumes exiting Soviet borders. But, this required knowing how such plumes dissipated, and the intelligence community had no such knowledge. The solution was to remove the emissions controls from the PUREX plant, run it full bore, and measure the resulting plumes as they tracked across the USA and over the Atlantic. Which they proceeded to do, and of course they classified it all as a national security matter and hushed it up. This was the source of so many of the cancers in the so-called downwinders.

[Andie]

18 hours ago, roadtonowhere08 said:

That's really unfortunate for all three of you.  Sorry to hear that.  Andie, you are right, it is unforgivable.  Certain people knew.  They just did not care.  Same thing is happening now with the global quality of our soil and food.

You’re so right on our soil and food.  
I’ve been thinking lately that it doesn’t  even taste the same. Even organic isn’t like it was when I was a child.