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Heck Yes! Loam!
Nov 15, 2004

a rich, friable soil containing a relatively equal mixture of sand and silt and a somewhat smaller proportion of clay.

LorneReams posted:

Incandescent bulbs handle power fluctuations a lot better then LEDs so bad/old circuits and dirty power sources can kill them fairly quickly.

Yeah, voltage tolerances are very poor on cheap models and dirty power will kill them much faster than incandescents. CFLs had this issue with the ballasts as well.

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Ups_rail
Dec 8, 2006

by Fluffdaddy
Regarding the student debt issue.

First thing would be to make all debts dischargeable in bankruptcy period.

The next is the fact that endless money as created perverted incentives IMO. Putting bodys in seats gives the institution money. So I do question the quality of some graduates.

Also there are people especially those from hard background that cant shoulder the opportunity cost of 4-5 years and alot of jobs should not really require a degree.

I would like to see student debt is discharchable

2. Labor protections/incentives for groups to hire/train people who dont have a degree.

3. Reforming higher education so we dont create a group of young people with such a high burdern

Also the average 1 million a year number is because they take someone who has a un marketable degree and throw it in with someone who has a loving MD so it throws the numbers.

Also in a online world knowedgle/information is basically free.

Granted most people I know would rather just look deviant art then listen to lectures about roman politics.

Harold Fjord
Jan 3, 2004

Main Paineframe posted:

In general, it doesn't make much sense to try to hurt cities by disestablishing other jurisdictions in the same county. In fact, it's just the opposite - during the era of white flight, many new towns were incorporated to ensure that they stayed free of the cities' governments and keep their taxes out of the hands of the cities.

If it hurts the Democratic party in these counties, the ones who just had to raise taxes to cover these bonds, it probably makes a lot of sense to Desantis.

One of the biggest corporation's in the world personal fiefdom bond debt is far from the typical situation. I dare say this exceptional situation may constitute an exception from the way things are normally done and thus may not be entirely above board.

Harold Fjord fucked around with this message at 03:52 on Apr 29, 2022

Bugsy
Jul 15, 2004

I'm thumpin'. That's
why they call me
'Thumper'.


Slippery Tilde

Fritz the Horse posted:

those "suggestive" messages read to me like really stupid edgelord bro "humor"

e: also they're from 2018

Seems like they're desperate to smear Cawthorn, I assume his lingerie pics at da club

I saw somebody on twitter claiming that a gop source leaked those pics and I believe it. They are sick of him, and want him gone.


MF'ing Thom Tillis also from North Carolina want him investigated for a crypto pump and dump scheme, after the Washington Examiner first reported on it a couple days ago.

https://www.businessinsider.com/gop-senator-calls-for-madison-cawthorns-crypto-purchases-investigated-2022-4

rscott
Dec 10, 2009

Ups_rail posted:

Regarding the student debt issue.

First thing would be to make all debts dischargeable in bankruptcy period.

The next is the fact that endless money as created perverted incentives IMO. Putting bodys in seats gives the institution money. So I do question the quality of some graduates.

Also there are people especially those from hard background that cant shoulder the opportunity cost of 4-5 years and alot of jobs should not really require a degree.

I would like to see student debt is discharchable

2. Labor protections/incentives for groups to hire/train people who dont have a degree.

3. Reforming higher education so we dont create a group of young people with such a high burdern

Also the average 1 million a year number is because they take someone who has a un marketable degree and throw it in with someone who has a loving MD so it throws the numbers.

Also in a online world knowedgle/information is basically free.

Granted most people I know would rather just look deviant art then listen to lectures about roman politics.

I think the $1 million in lifetime earnings number is specifically comparing bachelor degree holders so MDs won't factor into that particular calculation so it's more like you have to have a bachelor's degree to get a decent paying job in a large majority of cases

Killer robot
Sep 6, 2010

I was having the most wonderful dream. I think you were in it!
Pillbug

PhazonLink posted:

if it was a normal hetro cheating they would be fine with it right?

In any other situation, sure. In a contested primary, anything that isn't openly celebrated by the party is fair game to attack if someone with donor money wants to take you down.


rscott posted:

I think the $1 million in lifetime earnings number is specifically comparing bachelor degree holders so MDs won't factor into that particular calculation so it's more like you have to have a bachelor's degree to get a decent paying job in a large majority of cases

This too. An "unmarketable degree" just means there aren't many good-paying job opportunities in its field of study. But any bachelor's degree will dramatically increase the number and quality of jobs where HR will even open up your resume, even if they don't require any kind of specialized degree to perform.

Killer robot fucked around with this message at 04:15 on Apr 29, 2022

PeterCat
Apr 8, 2020

Believe women.

RBA Starblade posted:

Well that's true

Protip: if it involves your fusebox, it's always

If you still have a fusebox, it's time to call an electrician and upgrade.

nine-gear crow
Aug 10, 2013

Bugsy posted:

I saw somebody on twitter claiming that a gop source leaked those pics and I believe it. They are sick of him, and want him gone.


MF'ing Thom Tillis also from North Carolina want him investigated for a crypto pump and dump scheme, after the Washington Examiner first reported on it a couple days ago.

https://www.businessinsider.com/gop-senator-calls-for-madison-cawthorns-crypto-purchases-investigated-2022-4

It's a bold strategy. Let's see how it works out for them, because the GOP has a long and deep recent history of trying to smother embarrassments to the party only to wind up seeing them emerge as leading lights, see: Trump, Palin, Rand Paul, Kevin McCarthy, MTG, Matt Gaetz, and of course Cawthorne.

nine-gear crow fucked around with this message at 04:46 on Apr 29, 2022

TheIncredulousHulk
Sep 3, 2012

Fritz the Horse posted:

those "suggestive" messages read to me like really stupid edgelord bro "humor"

e: also they're from 2018

Seems like they're desperate to smear Cawthorn, I assume his comments about coke-fueled parties and lingerie pics at da club are undermining their culture war bullshit.

That's absolutely what is going on there

punk rebel ecks
Dec 11, 2010

A shitty post? This calls for a dance of deduction.

Willa Rogers posted:

Some crosstabs/results from this week's polling that I found to be notable.

Quinnipac:




YouGov:



YouGov also polled a bunch of conspiracy theories like "vaccines cause autism" and "democrats run child sex rings" that are kind of funny. You can find them here.

The red wave later this year is going to be closer to a red tsunami.

Willa Rogers
Mar 11, 2005

punk rebel ecks posted:

The red wave later this year is going to be closer to a red tsunami.

Politico Playbook got to sit in on a focus group led by Celinda Lake among "high-info" Dem voters:

quote:

The enormous gap between the excitement in Washington about the return of the WHCA weekend and the ongoing anxiety of voters hit us hard this week as we watched focus groups of voters conducted by longtime Democratic pollster CELINDA LAKE.

On Tuesday night, Lake talked to a group of “high-information” Democrats scattered around the country over a Zoom call while we watched on mute. This appeared to be one of the more financially well-off focus groups we’ve seen this year, but like the others, these voters were defined by their disgust.

When asked the first word that popped into their mind about how things are going in the country, here’s what they said: “frustrated,” “disbelief,” “aggravated,” “discouraged,” “unsure,” “worrying,” “resigned,” “frightened.” The only positive words offered were “better” and “OK.”

One Biden voter who thought things would improve after DONALD TRUMP said he now knew that may never happen. “There’s just gonna be sucky things out there all the time,” he said. “So I’m resigned to the fact that that’s going to be life.”

When asked if they personally have experienced sticker shock when going out to buy something, every single participant raised their hands.

Their views of Biden were lukewarm. On the positive side, they viewed him as “decent,” “unifying” and one said that they “personally like him.” On the negative side, they said he was “unrealistic,” “hasn’t really delivered on his promises,” “needs to be stronger,” “gives in too easily” and is “old, slow, and misspeaks a lot.”

Lake asked the group a revealing question: What animal do they think of when they think of Democrats and Republicans?

The Democrats were described as sheep, cats, weasels, “skittish mice,” chickens and bears (because they are “a little bit more slow moving”). “The Democrats tend to get characterized by weak animals,” Lake said. “And the Republicans tend to get characterized by aggressive predators.”

The project’s overall goal is to find issues that could motivate Democrats and independents to vote in a year when turnout for Biden’s party is likely to drop. Lake says the level of despondency she’s seeing in the ongoing focus groups has actually reduced some. Last year there was little that would motivate frustrated Democrats; now, there’s some life in issues like Jan. 6, health care, abortion and, most of all, anything that might alleviate inflation.

Her advice is that Biden should do something — anything — to show he’s trying to solve the country’s big problems. She’s bullish on executive actions, even if they get overturned in the courts, because they show that Biden is at least trying. And she said voters in her research consistently respond better to passing smaller, more easily understandable pieces of legislation rather than the kind of mega-bill alphabet soup that defined 2021 (ARP, BIF, BBB).

“People can’t figure out what’s in it,” she said of those bills. And the hodgepodge of policies has come at the expense of a clear Democratic economic vision.

“I don’t think we’re getting defeated by the culture wars,” she said. “I think we’re getting defeated by the lack of a resonant economic message.”

We asked Lake how she would advise a Democratic candidate who wanted to go to the WHCA dinner this weekend.

“I would tell them you can go,” she said, “but don’t get press on it.”

Main Paineframe
Oct 27, 2010

Harold Fjord posted:

If it hurts the Democratic party in these counties, the ones who just had to raise taxes to cover these bonds, it probably makes a lot of sense to Desantis.

One of the biggest corporation's in the world personal fiefdom bond debt is far from the typical situation. I dare say this exceptional situation may constitute an exception from the way things are normally done and thus may not be entirely above board.

It doesn't hurt the Democratic party, it hurts Democratic voters. The counties in question are going to be real loud about the fact that this is DeSantis' fault, and Disney is such a local titan that for the most part the locals are gonna know about that.

Legally, Reedy Creek isn't really any different from any other special district. Special districts being run for the benefit of private companies or even being run by private companies is legal (Disney is hardly the only beneficiary of this), and that doesn't change just because Disney is big and makes a lot of money. I don't really see the legal grounds for the debt transfer being ruled unconstitutional simply because Disney is big.

Now, that's not to say that there's no grounds at all for a challenge. I said earlier that Reedy Creek wasn't any different from other special districts, but there actually is one major difference, a rather unique clause in the Reedy Creek Improvement Act:

quote:

Section 56. Pledge by the State of Florida to the Bond Hold- ers of the District and to the Federal Government.-The State of Florida pledges to the holders of any bonds issued under this Act that it will not limit or alter the rights of the District to own, acquire, construct, reconstruct, improve, maintain, operate or furnish the projects or to levy and collect the taxes, assessments, rentals, rates, fees, tolls, fares and other charges provided for herein and to fulfill the terms of any agreement made with the holders of such bonds or other obligations, that it will not in any way impair the rights or remedies of the holders, and that it will not modify in any way the exemption from taxation provided in the Act, until all such bonds together with interest thereon, and all costs and expenses in connection with any action or proceeding by or on behalf of such holders, are fully met and discharged.

Put simply, this means that the state promised potential bondholders that it wouldn't meaningfully alter Reedy Creek's powers or rights until all the district's debts were paid off. And previous Supreme Court jurisprudence suggests that this pledge would be considered a contract with bondholders, and that (per the Contracts clause of the Constitution) it would be unconstitutional to break such a pledge. That seems to be the main avenue that legal challenges are going to take. But it doesn't really have anything to do with how big or rich Disney is, it has to do with legally binding promises the state made when creating the district in the first place.

punk rebel ecks
Dec 11, 2010

A shitty post? This calls for a dance of deduction.

Willa Rogers posted:

Politico Playbook got to sit in on a focus group led by Celinda Lake among "high-info" Dem voters:

Looking forward to the Democrats losing the House and obviously the Senate this year. Trump will probably have a supermajority come 2024.

LegendaryFrog
Oct 8, 2006

The Mastered Mind

punk rebel ecks posted:

Looking forward to the Democrats losing the House and obviously the Senate this year. Trump will probably have a supermajority come 2024.

The chances of the Senate majority turning republican (+1 republican seat) is quite a bit better than even, though far from a certain thing.

A super majority would require 17 senate seats flipping.

Even in massive red wave year like 2010, only 6 senate seats changed.

Dems have 14 seats total up in 2022 and 21 seats in 2024.

Unless half of all democratic races flip to republican, a super majority isn't happening. That would take "republican senator upsets a NY state senate race" and "conservatives sweep Washington" levels of upset.

LegendaryFrog fucked around with this message at 07:47 on Apr 29, 2022

Harold Fjord
Jan 3, 2004

Main Paineframe posted:

Legally, Reedy Creek isn't really any different from any other special district. Special districts being run for the benefit of private companies or even being run by private companies is legal (Disney is hardly the only beneficiary of this), and that doesn't change just because Disney is big and makes a lot of money. I don't really see the legal grounds for the debt transfer being ruled unconstitutional simply because Disney is big.

Now, that's not to say that there's no grounds at all for a challenge. I said earlier that Reedy Creek wasn't any different from other special districts, but there actually is one major difference, a rather unique clause in the Reedy Creek Improvement Act:

Put simply, this means that the state promised potential bondholders that it wouldn't meaningfully alter Reedy Creek's powers or rights until all the district's debts were paid off. And previous Supreme Court jurisprudence suggests that this pledge would be considered a contract with bondholders, and that (per the Contracts clause of the Constitution) it would be unconstitutional to break such a pledge. That seems to be the main avenue that legal challenges are going to take. But it doesn't really have anything to do with how big or rich Disney is, it has to do with legally binding promises the state made when creating the district in the first place.

So this was already structured anticipating that it would not be okay to allow a corporation to grow an unlimited debt Bond and then spontaneously drop it back onto the voters. Glad they already figured that part out.

As far as messaging, wasn't Desantis who raised property taxes. And now it sounded like they might not have needed to I sure hope they reverse that self inflicted injury.

Harold Fjord fucked around with this message at 12:37 on Apr 29, 2022

Sir Lemming
Jan 27, 2009

It's a piece of JUNK!

Fritz the Horse posted:

those "suggestive" messages read to me like really stupid edgelord bro "humor"

e: also they're from 2018

Seems like they're desperate to smear Cawthorn, I assume his comments about coke-fueled parties and lingerie pics at da club are undermining their culture war bullshit.

Yeah, this:

https://twitter.com/TylerHuckabee/status/1519895352790368256

I mean it's still debatable if they actually could've stopped Trump, but they definitely didn't try ⅒th as hard as they're trying to bury this kid. Ultimately, Trump's "grab em by the p****" comments were something that they knew, politically, was out of bounds -- but deep down it didn't really offend them the way it should have. On some level they knew that it was actually pretty consistent with their ideology.

Data Graham
Dec 28, 2009

📈📊🍪😋



Sir Lemming posted:

I mean it's still debatable if they actually could've stopped Trump, but they definitely didn't try ⅒th as hard as they're trying to bury this kid. Ultimately, Trump's "grab em by the p****" comments were something that they knew, politically, was out of bounds -- but deep down it didn't really offend them the way it should have. On some level they knew that it was actually pretty consistent with their ideology.

They gambled that his voters would assume the offensive part of it was "he said a bad word" rather than "he's a loving rapist"

And they were right

BiggerBoat
Sep 26, 2007
Probation
Can't post for 2 hours!

Sir Lemming posted:


I mean it's still debatable if they actually could've stopped Trump, but they definitely didn't try ⅒th as hard as they're trying to bury this kid. Ultimately, Trump's "grab em by the p****" comments were something that they knew, politically, was out of bounds -- but deep down it didn't really offend them the way it should have. On some level they knew that it was actually pretty consistent with their ideology.

I don't know about that. I think most of the GOP was just as shocked as the rest of us that Trump kept winning primary after primary, destroying anointed ones like Jeb and Romney along with risers like Cruz and Rubio, and only began the backtracking and rationalization after he won the nomination and, later, the presidency of course. Nobody in the party itself really wanted to Trump to win anything. They tried everything they could to stop him but, like the democrats, were utterly unprepared to deal with someone so completely willing to act like a wild pig in the mud.

You could see them getting caught flat footed in real time.

Even a bunch of RWM assholes were ripping into Donald and calling him a terrible, embarrassing choice for the nomination that would lead to them getting crushed in the general election. The retroactive turd polishing started once it became pretty clear he had crushed the GOP primary field and as people began to realize that your typical Trump VOTER doesn't give a poo poo about any pussy grabbing, racism or blatant lying.

And in fact they like it.

The whole cliche where the GOP establishment had no choice but to deal with the golem once it had achieved life. In this case, the torch bearing villagers actually embraced and sided with the monster.

I think that deep down most traditional republicans don't like Trump at all but their base does, is fanatical and, more than anything, really hates government and politicians. Voters saw in DJT what basically amounted to a viable third party candidate - an outsider - and one that would finally make good on the prophecies of not only Limbaugh but also tap into the significant % of the base that was unapologetically racist, misogynist, fascist, and they'd landed on a person who would dismantle the government from within.

"Drain the Swamp", and that included a poo poo load of Republicans in the mind of your typical Trump voter. RINO's and members of congress who weren't big enough assholes.

The GOP has been fascist for a long time but in most cases during my lifetime have fielded candidates that considered things like "manners", "appearance" and "tradition", while openly ghoulish vampires like Jesse Helms, David Duke, Alan Keyes and Orin Hatch were largely seen as amusing outliers but now poo poo like that is the norm and I don't think it's gonna change before I die.

FlamingLiberal
Jan 18, 2009

Would you like to play a game?



I remember Mitch ripping Trump right up until he won the nomination

They clearly didn’t like him, but once he took charge they fully jumped on board

Leon Trotsky 2012
Aug 27, 2009

YOU CAN TRUST ME!*


*Israeli Government-affiliated poster
The hilarious thing that they didn't do anything about Trump at first because nobody thought he could win and they didn't want to upset a bunch of their base by trashing him when he was going to lose anyway.

Then, when they finally did start to organize against him, he had already built up a pretty solid lead. They could have easily taken him out by uniting around one candidate, but all of the other candidates saw this as their golden opportunity to be that one candidate if they just stayed in, so nobody ended up quitting until it was too late and they tried to rally around - of all people - Ted Cruz as the last man standing.

Trump basically won with the Bernie Sanders strategy of only getting 30-35% of the vote, but because Republican primaries are winner take all and every other candidate was getting 20% to 25% of the vote, Trump kept scooping up 100% of the delegates with 30% of the vote.

When they finally did try to take him down in an organized way, they went all in on family values, abortion, and infidelity to try and sink him with evangelicals. But, they apparently didn't know their base well enough to realize that evangelicals really cared a lot more about the racism and "saying what we're all thinking" than they cared about family values, religion, and infidelity. And once Jerry Falwell endorsed Trump and Trump swore up and down he was as pro-life as they come, the abortion single-issue voters ended up on his side.

Remember, the access Hollywood tape was after he had already won the nomination and a bunch of Republicans said publicly that they wished it came out earlier and had braced themselves for a crushing loss.

Data Graham
Dec 28, 2009

📈📊🍪😋



"We just want someone we trust implicitly to tell us it's OK to vote for Trump. Then we're all-in no matter what"

Cranappleberry
Jan 27, 2009

Ups_rail posted:

Also in a online world knowedgle/information is basically free.

Granted most people I know would rather just look deviant art then listen to lectures about roman politics.

It's not. Disregarding internet access being a requirement, access to a lot of useful and necessary information is gated behind services that require payment. A lot is also gated behind access to certain physical libraries or archives, which may not require direct payment to access but requires putting in legwork (plus also maybe paying for copies to be made/sent and the person making/sending them). Furthermore, if you don't understand the information you're getting, what use is it to you?

Discerning what information is useful, factual and etc in that context requires knowledge and training. It's a lot easier to learn a specific topic if knowledge is properly collated, presented and tested. Not-to-mention much of the hands-on stuff can be extremely difficult or unsafe to do on your own even with proper background reading and video showing technique, if not outright impossible for an individual.

Oracle
Oct 9, 2004

Herstory Begins Now posted:

on the other hand you can save hella money by skipping the engineer and the architect 99% of the time

Grover parachute acct spotted

FlamingLiberal
Jan 18, 2009

Would you like to play a game?



The Saudis have spent the better part of 20 years trying to suppress this information, but I believe this had previously been suspected

https://twitter.com/seth_hettena/status/1519831372344414208?s=21&t=_PaqpWhZbD5GfighsOJnYQ

Oracle
Oct 9, 2004

FlamingLiberal posted:

The Saudis have spent the better part of 20 years trying to suppress this information, but I believe this had previously been suspected

https://twitter.com/seth_hettena/status/1519831372344414208?s=21&t=_PaqpWhZbD5GfighsOJnYQ

So what does this mean exactly in the grand scheme of things? Brutally torturing and murdering one of our own civilians didn't do poo poo to their relationship with the U.S., and with Russian oil under embargo its not going to do anything now. If Biden were smart he'd streamline building nuke plants like, yesterday given every place with significant amounts of oil is under control of unstable fascist psychopaths at best.

How are u
May 19, 2005

by Azathoth

FlamingLiberal posted:

The Saudis have spent the better part of 20 years trying to suppress this information, but I believe this had previously been suspected

https://twitter.com/seth_hettena/status/1519831372344414208?s=21&t=_PaqpWhZbD5GfighsOJnYQ

One of the huge upsides to transitioning to a clean energy economy is going to be being able to sever ties with that accursed kingdom.

BiggerBoat
Sep 26, 2007
Probation
Can't post for 2 hours!

Leon Trotsky 2012 posted:

they tried to rally around - of all people - Ted Cruz as the last man standing.



Right, and the fact that it was the two biggest assholes left standing is telling here to my eyes.

The GOP establishment was faced the results of decades of RWM advertising poisoning the minds of their voters and their base directed back at them. You can't keep stirring up the outrage machine and raging about foreign born socialist liberal Muslim Big Government boogie men taking over the country, feeding that to your constituents and then act surprised when we see it manifested and writ large. But somehow they were.

We see it continue to happen now with the Election Fraud! candidates, Qanon and the CRT hysteria. The base they've built for themselves backfired somewhat, took over and now has them hemmed in; along with the unintended consequences of these psychos now actually running for and winning office. The smarter ones and more establishment minded types knew that well over half of that Limbaugh/Hannity stuff was complete bullshit but their voters didn't. The party used to save that stuff for the back rooms and the golf course and put it out there publicly with shiny coats of Reagan's gloss, Bush Sr. pragmatism, Romney's businessman salesmanship and GWB's folksy cowboy bullshit.

So now you've got a political party largely made up of voters who HATE politicians as a rule and on general principal which gets us Sheriff Joe, Trump, MTG, Gaetz, Cawthorn and so forth. DeSantis to some degree. There's the cyclical element of perpetual rage to it that amplifies the crazy and forces it back on its creators. We got a big taste of it with McCain/Palin and how uncomfortable John often was communicating with his own voters, to where he had to shift to the anti intellectual right (hence: Palin), but still lost to the scary black Muslim socialist who forged his birth certificate and was going to take our guns.

Any Day Now.

That town hall where McCain had to explain to the woman that called Obama an "Arab" that his opponent was, in fact, a decent man or that time when the RNC booed a gay veteran. Purple Heart band aids and Swift Boats. "YOU LIE!" at the SOTU address. Rand Paul saying "should we let them die in the streets" to enthusiastic yells. I think the establisment RNC could have largely done without any of that but I can't understand why they're so shocked it happened.

This dish has been simmering a long time and now it's a fully well done cooked Trump steak.

FlamingLiberal posted:

The Saudis have spent the better part of 20 years trying to suppress this information, but I believe this had previously been suspected

https://twitter.com/seth_hettena/status/1519831372344414208?s=21&t=_PaqpWhZbD5GfighsOJnYQ

Good thing we punished Saddam and Iraq for that horrible transgression.

BiggerBoat fucked around with this message at 16:45 on Apr 29, 2022

Leon Trotsky 2012
Aug 27, 2009

YOU CAN TRUST ME!*


*Israeli Government-affiliated poster

FlamingLiberal posted:

The Saudis have spent the better part of 20 years trying to suppress this information, but I believe this had previously been suspected

https://twitter.com/seth_hettena/status/1519831372344414208?s=21&t=_PaqpWhZbD5GfighsOJnYQ

I can't see the full memo, but is the tweet author saying the significance of the memo that they say he definitely was a spy?

Because they mention him in the 9/11 report and they declassified files in the Obama administration 7 or 8 years ago that laid out everything he did and how they suspected he was a spy. I'm assuming the difference is that this memo is from 2017 and says he definitely was instead of "we think he was"?

bird food bathtub
Aug 9, 2003

College Slice

BiggerBoat posted:

This dish has been simmering a long time and now it's a fully well done cooked Trump steak.

Right wing media is symbiotic with the other half of this problem. They've been banging the culture war drums for decades as a method of distraction from nobody, anywhere at the top giving half a sideways flying gently caress about actually fixing anything in this country. They have to distract their rubes from how lovely leadership is making things and they did it for decades by stoking hatred and bigotry, then pointing all that at whatever chosen minority population works best in the moment.

Generally speaking, nobody except billionaires or the military industrial complex have gotten any significant and on-going positive changes from government in decades. So when Trump comes along and offers them scapegoats for their hatred in exchange for their support and votes, well, gently caress it, that's a better deal than any other politician is offering them. If nobody's gonna fix anything at least they get to punch down on someone and feel better. What else were they going to get in return for their support from all the other clowns in the 2016 primary car?

Sephyr
Aug 28, 2012

FlamingLiberal posted:

The Saudis have spent the better part of 20 years trying to suppress this information, but I believe this had previously been suspected

https://twitter.com/seth_hettena/status/1519831372344414208?s=21&t=_PaqpWhZbD5GfighsOJnYQ

Even Lawrence Wright's book on Al quaeda and modern jihadism already pretty much stated that the guy was a Saudi agent, over a decade ago.

It also floats the possibility that two of the hijackers were left alone by a very much aware CIA because they hoped to recruit them as double agents, or at the very least use them to glean info on Al Quaeda, which they had entirely failed to penetrate, even though basically any muslim guy could show up at the training camps and have a foot in the door.

haveblue
Aug 15, 2005



Toilet Rascal
16 states, along with climate activists, have sued USPS to block the purchase of a new fleet of ICE mail trucks

quote:

The suits brought by the state attorneys general, Earthjustice and the Natural Resources Defense Council contend that the mail service relied on faulty assumptions and miscalculations to justify spending as much as $11.3 billion on gas-powered vehicles that get 8.6 mpg, which is only incrementally better than the 30-year-old vehicles now in use.

Postal officials hoped the truck procurement would go smoothly and signal that the mail agency was evolving to meet new business opportunities and joust with its private-sector rivals. But the agency’s purchase plan would have only 10 percent of the new fleet dedicated to electric power, well below benchmarks set by FedEx, UPS and Amazon.

When's the next chance to ditch DeJoy, and is it finally going to happen this time?

LorneReams
Jun 27, 2003
I'm bizarre
A fleet of vehicles that will always have a predefined range and a final docking location....why are they just not electric?

Leon Trotsky 2012
Aug 27, 2009

YOU CAN TRUST ME!*


*Israeli Government-affiliated poster

haveblue posted:

16 states, along with climate activists, have sued USPS to block the purchase of a new fleet of ICE mail trucks

When's the next chance to ditch DeJoy, and is it finally going to happen this time?

There's 2 empty seats on the board of Governors that came open recently. Biden let the two Trump appointees' terms end and didn't reappoint them; which kicked them off the board.

He nominated Daniel Tangherlini and Derek Kan 4 months ago, but their nominations still haven't been voted on in the Senate.

One of them just had their confirmation hearing 2 weeks ago.

Both of them have said they opposed the new fleet buying deal, but they haven't said anything specifically about removing DeJoy. They also said USPS needs more money for infrastructure for EVs before converting to a 100% EV fleet.

If both of them are appointed, both of them support removing DeJoy, and all of the previous anti-Dejoy Governors are willing to hold a vote to oust him, then they would have enough to do so by one vote.

Edit: According to the Senate executive calendar, they are both part of a list of 217 different nominations they are going to try and start voting on beginning on May 2nd. No clue how long it could take. A lot of those nominations could be done by unanimous consent, but not sure how many/if any of them will get objected to by at least one Republican.

Leon Trotsky 2012 fucked around with this message at 18:09 on Apr 29, 2022

How are u
May 19, 2005

by Azathoth
We don't get a lot of pure feel-good stories itt, so here's one :3:

US army replaces cake it stole from Italian girl 77 years ago
Meri Mion, 90, was 13 when soldiers took her birthday cake as it cooled on windowsill in San Pietro

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/apr/29/us-army-replaces-cake-stole-italian-girl

quote:

Repentant American soldiers have presented an Italian woman with a birthday cake to make up for the one their predecessors stole from her as it cooled on a windowsill 77 years ago.

It was the eve of Meri Mion’s 13th birthday when US troops arrived in her village of San Pietro, near Vicenza in northern Italy, to fight against German soldiers.

During the battle, her family spent the night in the attic, emerging the next day after German soldiers, who had fired shots near her home, retreated.

Mion’s mother then set about baking a birthday cake, leaving it to cool by an open window, only for it to be stolen by presumably hungry American soldiers.

An emotional Mion, who turns 90 on Friday, was presented with a replacement cake by soldiers from the US Army garrison in Italy during a ceremony at Giardini Salvi in Vicenza on Thursday.

She said she had not been expecting the cake, although clearly remembered the moment the one baked for her 13th birthday “disappeared”.

“I was surprised,” she told the local newspaper Il Giornale di Vicenza. “But then I realised the American soldiers had taken it and it made me happy. It was a good end given everything they had done.”

The large cream cake with strawberries, garnished with a basket of mini Easter eggs, was presented by Sgt Peter Wallis and Col Matthew Gomlak, the garrison’s commander, during a ceremony attended by Italian and American soldiers, local officials and residents.

Gomlak recalled the fighting between the US military and German forces in the Vicenza area in 1945, during which 19 American soldiers were killed, and how local residents offered the troops bread and wine.

“That warm welcome by the people of Vicenza continues to this day,” he said.

Mion said she would share the cake with her loved ones to mark her 90th birthday. “I will eat the cake with my entire family, remembering a wonderful day that I will never forget.”

A sweet video at the link.

Main Paineframe
Oct 27, 2010

Harold Fjord posted:

So this was already structured anticipating that it would not be okay to allow a corporation to grow an unlimited debt Bond and then spontaneously drop it back onto the voters. Glad they already figured that part out.

As far as messaging, wasn't Desantis who raised property taxes. And now it sounded like they might not have needed to I sure hope they reverse that self inflicted injury.

I suspect it was added at Disney's behest as an insurance policy, since that promise doesn't just prevent dissolving the district, it prevents almost any modification to the district's powers until the debt has been paid off. Rather than a measure of civic guardianship, it feels more like a measure to protect Reedy Creek from political battles by attaching a big price tag to any legislative attack on it.

selec
Sep 6, 2003

Likelihood of Trump Indictment in Manhattan Fades as Grand Jury Wraps Up

The Manhattan district attorney is continuing to investigate Mr. Trump, but knowledgeable people say charges are unlikely to occur in the foreseeable future, if ever.

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/29/nyregion/trump-investigation-alvin-bragg-grand-jury.html


Same as it ever was. The master’s tools etc etc.

Again, takes me back to the argument against defund then police: what’s your idea? You can’t reform a system with the same people who make up the system as it exists, period. The justice system is thoroughly broken and unable to contend with the wealthy and powerful. So why bother believing the cops can meaningfully impact crime? Why bother supporting law and order when it’s obviously just voting for someone who will gently caress with me, but never the people who are loving up the country writ large?

BiggerBoat
Sep 26, 2007
Probation
Can't post for 2 hours!

bird food bathtub posted:

Right wing media is symbiotic with the other half of this problem. They've been banging the culture war drums for decades as a method of distraction from nobody, anywhere at the top giving half a sideways flying gently caress about actually fixing anything in this country. They have to distract their rubes from how lovely leadership is making things and they did it for decades by stoking hatred and bigotry, then pointing all that at whatever chosen minority population works best in the moment.

Generally speaking, nobody except billionaires or the military industrial complex have gotten any significant and on-going positive changes from government in decades. So when Trump comes along and offers them scapegoats for their hatred in exchange for their support and votes, well, gently caress it, that's a better deal than any other politician is offering them. If nobody's gonna fix anything at least they get to punch down on someone and feel better. What else were they going to get in return for their support from all the other clowns in the 2016 primary car?

I agree with this post but this poo poo didn't start with Trump is my point. It culminated with him.

To my mind, he's the end result and what happens when decades of RWM messaging culminates into a living breathing avatar/symbol of decades of liberal hating propaganda. If you view Trump as the quintessential ugly American, everything makes perfect sense and he's the result of all that poo poo coming full circle. The GOP establishment and...I dunno..."old school" types who know how the meat gets cut are rightfully horrified by his rise but have now put themselves in a situation where they NEED him, all the monstrous voters who worship him and, worse, have to deal with his copy cat candidates.

And it's their fault but it's too late. Genie/bottle and so forth.

Is there another more apt living embodiment of the modern American than Donald Trump? Maybe Vince McMahon and, to some extent, Don King. I'd argue Dick Cheney, who's been my boogie man for decades, but he seems like old hat now and what little I've heard from him since he did his best to gently caress this country right proper before he crawled back into his crypt seems to suggest that even he's not real high on the Trump aspect of the party.

So now we have the Evil Empire Party and the Ineffectual Coward Party. And I vote for the cowards.

I never again want to receive a call or an email from any democrat telling me how this is the another Most Important Election of my Lifetime and asking me for time and money they loving well know I don't have.

ReidRansom
Oct 25, 2004


LorneReams posted:

A fleet of vehicles that will always have a predefined range and a final docking location....why are they just not electric?

Probably sadly real answer? Some convoluted reason bought and paid for by the fossil fuel lobby.

DeeplyConcerned
Apr 29, 2008

I can fit 3 whole bud light cans now, ask me how!

selec posted:

Likelihood of Trump Indictment in Manhattan Fades as Grand Jury Wraps Up

The Manhattan district attorney is continuing to investigate Mr. Trump, but knowledgeable people say charges are unlikely to occur in the foreseeable future, if ever.

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/29/nyregion/trump-investigation-alvin-bragg-grand-jury.html


Same as it ever was. The master’s tools etc etc.

Again, takes me back to the argument against defund then police: what’s your idea? You can’t reform a system with the same people who make up the system as it exists, period. The justice system is thoroughly broken and unable to contend with the wealthy and powerful. So why bother believing the cops can meaningfully impact crime? Why bother supporting law and order when it’s obviously just voting for someone who will gently caress with me, but never the people who are loving up the country writ large?

don't forget the Fulton County DA is looking into pressing charges as well. any day now!

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BiggerBoat
Sep 26, 2007
Probation
Can't post for 2 hours!
Nothing is going to happen to Trump.

Besides winning the presidency in 2024 and ranting about all these witch hunts I mean.

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