Gas Bandit's Political Thread V: The Vampire Likes Bats
- Thread starter GasBandit
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But he's still a greedy bastard whose wife's family makes a ton of money off the worldwide shipping trade, sooo...
--Patrick
My doctoral dissertation examined a privateering voyage where the shipowners and investors pocketed two-thirds of the net profits after selling off the plunder. That was considered pretty high for the time (1708-1711) and led to lawsuits.
To sum up, American executives are worse than pirates.
Once a retail giant, Kmart nears extinction after closure
Kmart’s decline has been slow but steady, brought about by years of falling sales, changes in shopping habits and the looming shadow of Walmart.
www.wndu.com
figmentPez
Staff member
Conseratives are now trying to blame trans people for inflation:
"when you believe that men can become women, why wouldn't you also believe that you could print wealth?"
Says a man who invested in Bitcoin.
"when you believe that men can become women, why wouldn't you also believe that you could print wealth?"
Says a man who invested in Bitcoin.
Man, gays cause storms, trans cause inflation, why can't we straight men get a cool superpower?
..What do you mean, we got "war"? Peh.
I still can’t believe people fall for this stuff. I am 100% willing to believe a statement like “Faith can move mountains” because I believe it to be a 100% accurate (if not 100% demonstrably literal) statement. I am also 100% convinced that the Butterfly Effect is real, and that small, seemingly inconsequential influences can (and frequently do!) set in motion events which have disproportionate results that cannot easily be followed back to their source. But what I cannot fathom are these assertions that attempt to show/draw causality links between realms that are so disparate that it should be immediately obvious that there is no overlap, or that could be disproven with the most trivial of tests.
I am reminded of a (Pratchett? Adams?) story where a society was toying with creating a (farcical) form of faster-than-light communication based on the fact that the transmission of royalty from regent to heir is instantaneous upon death, but that setting it up and testing it might require the torture of some minor king or queen, a thing which satisfies the requirements as stated but which is OBVIOUSLY IMPLAUSIBLE.
—Patrick
I am reminded of a (Pratchett? Adams?) story where a society was toying with creating a (farcical) form of faster-than-light communication based on the fact that the transmission of royalty from regent to heir is instantaneous upon death, but that setting it up and testing it might require the torture of some minor king or queen, a thing which satisfies the requirements as stated but which is OBVIOUSLY IMPLAUSIBLE.
—Patrick
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GasBandit
Staff member
Tennessee lawmaker references Hitler during statement supporting homeless bill's passage
A Tennessee lawmaker who voted in favor of a bill to cut down on homeless camps spoke on the Senate floor Wednesday, referencing Adolph Hitler as an example of how there is still hope for the homeless. On Wednesday, the Senate passed a bill making it a Class “C” Misdemeanor for soliciting or...
fox17.com
This is what happens when the only biographies you've ever read were all about HitlerTennessee lawmaker references Hitler during statement supporting homeless bill's passage
A Tennessee lawmaker who voted in favor of a bill to cut down on homeless camps spoke on the Senate floor Wednesday, referencing Adolph Hitler as an example of how there is still hope for the homeless. On Wednesday, the Senate passed a bill making it a Class “C” Misdemeanor for soliciting or...
figmentPez
Staff member
Florida is rejecting math textbooks for teaching Critical Race Theory.
Conservatives are responding to this by saying it's bad reporting because most of the books on the list have been rejected for teaching Common Core or Social Emotional Learning, but that still means that some of the math textbooks are somehow considered to be teaching CRT. Zero examples have been given, and details of what each book was rejected for might be released to the public after the textbook makers are given a chance to appeal.
Conservatives are responding to this by saying it's bad reporting because most of the books on the list have been rejected for teaching Common Core or Social Emotional Learning, but that still means that some of the math textbooks are somehow considered to be teaching CRT. Zero examples have been given, and details of what each book was rejected for might be released to the public after the textbook makers are given a chance to appeal.
One of the things that made me give up Christianity was how much Christians often hate other Christians. There are still people in my family that don't believe Catholics are Christian, and don't even get them started on all those "new age" churches with female pastors.
I laugh, because otherwise I would cry.
I'd look at 2022 before 2024. Dems are looking to gain a few seats in the long term, which may be enough to offset some of their problems between now and the Presidental election... they've also had gains in redistricting map challenges, which is the bigger battle going forward.
Mind you, that might not be enough. Biden's polling almost as low as Trump is with 18-35 year old's and it's almost entirely on his unwillingness to do anything about on-going anti-LGBTQA legislation at a national level and his... mysterious unwillingness to cancel student debt, a can he keeps kicking down the road every few months. That's a situation entirely of his own making and he ether needs to give a good reason why he won't (national defense recruiting goals are NOT a good reason) or issue the executive order to do it. That's on top of his administration's unwillingness to beat Sinema and Manchin in line the Republicans would.
No amount of economic improvement can hide the fact that Joe Biden and his administration are a bunch of craven cowards unwilling to do ANYTHING to improve the lives of the people they've sworn to protect in fear of scaring the oligarchs. Stop making the mistakes Obama did, Biden, you should know better. You have all the tools, you just need to use them.
Mind you, that might not be enough. Biden's polling almost as low as Trump is with 18-35 year old's and it's almost entirely on his unwillingness to do anything about on-going anti-LGBTQA legislation at a national level and his... mysterious unwillingness to cancel student debt, a can he keeps kicking down the road every few months. That's a situation entirely of his own making and he ether needs to give a good reason why he won't (national defense recruiting goals are NOT a good reason) or issue the executive order to do it. That's on top of his administration's unwillingness to beat Sinema and Manchin in line the Republicans would.
No amount of economic improvement can hide the fact that Joe Biden and his administration are a bunch of craven cowards unwilling to do ANYTHING to improve the lives of the people they've sworn to protect in fear of scaring the oligarchs. Stop making the mistakes Obama did, Biden, you should know better. You have all the tools, you just need to use them.
And there's this, too.
Fuuuuuuuuuuck Joe Biden.
Fuuuuuuuuuuck Joe Biden.
Nope. Because I don't need to use dumb, juvenile coded language to say what I really want to say in some made-up fear that I'll be "cancelled" for saying it.
The democratic leadership is too scared to lose the "moderates" they don't dare go anything the left wants or needs. Unlike Trumpist/tea party/theocrats, the youth and left DO stay at home in the end.
Trump is likely to be reelected, it'll be blamed on the left, and it'll all be because the "moderates" (who are far, far from actually moderate) are too scared.
I'm not saying Biden needs to implement Bernie's agenda in everything, but... A few big tentpole topics that would really matter?
Trump is likely to be reelected, it'll be blamed on the left, and it'll all be because the "moderates" (who are far, far from actually moderate) are too scared.
I'm not saying Biden needs to implement Bernie's agenda in everything, but... A few big tentpole topics that would really matter?
Or how about just one of the ones Biden already promised, like student loan forgiveness? Yes, he's already done a bit of it and pushing back deadlines is great... but when we see he's able to just DO it and he's choosing not to, it really shows how much of a priority it is for them to attract the youth vote. -Fuck- the "I had to pay, so you should too" people. Most of them paid pennies on the dollar compared to what we're paying right not.
If that's really too untenable, how about just making federal student loans always be 0%? You're already going to tax me on the increased income a degree grants, why the fuck should you make money on the loan?
I’m not usually one to defend Biden, because I think he’s done a poor job. But he can’t just wave his hand and forgive student debt. It takes an act of Congress, and there’s no way in hell it would get the approval of Manchin and Sinema. Any attempt to erase debt via executive order would immediately be challenged in court, put on hold by a circuit judge, and tossed out of the Supreme Court by a 6-3 vote.
Also, I don’t think having that much power given to the executive branch is a good idea. Congress is in charge of finance, and they should be the ones to decide.
Now, you could argue that Biden should be making deals and/or brow-beating his “moderates” in the Senate to go along with legislation to wipe out the debt. That is an indisputable (IMO) sign of a lack of leadership.
Also, I don’t think having that much power given to the executive branch is a good idea. Congress is in charge of finance, and they should be the ones to decide.
Now, you could argue that Biden should be making deals and/or brow-beating his “moderates” in the Senate to go along with legislation to wipe out the debt. That is an indisputable (IMO) sign of a lack of leadership.
Is it really a lack of leadership when neither he nor any of the Democrats outside of a handful actually want to do that?