Youtube comments of yankee2 yankee (@yankee2yankee216).
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I like how you talk to him continuously. They may not (or may) have words, but they are soothed by the human voice! I have a Maine Coon cat, who unlike my tabby, does not understand any words. But he LIVES to be talked to, and with, and he talks quite a bit, both starting and pursuing conversation. When I meow to him, making different noises, he may not understand what I’m saying (neither do I), but he knows I’m talking to him, and he talks back. He makes a very good companion!
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During a recent hospitalization at Mass General Hospital, I learned that that highly respected hospital tolerates cannabis use by their nurses, and probably other employees... I met one nurse who I learned uses cannabis, always after, never before work of course, with the hospital's full knowledge. It seems we are FINALLY emerging from a very dark period. The truth is, though an intoxicant, cannabis is the LEAST harmful, least compromising recreational drug (I hate that term, because many of us use it medicinally, even if we buy recreational pot) of all, by at least an order of magnitude. "KIND" is in fact a good word to use to describe cannabis, especially compared with both alcohol and tobacco.
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I was in Sturgis in 1983 (selling biker stuff), when the Hells Angels rode into town. Apparently they were 500 strong. They had previously been 1000, 500 approaching from 2 directions, but the other half had been stopped by police outside town. They rode in military formation, and stopped and parked their motorcycles simultaneously. Sonny Barger himself came up to our table, in full battle dress, flanked by his sergeant at arms and some other club officer, all armed to the teeth. They bought all our Sturgis rocker pins, with the name of the town (the site of the giant annual biker meet we were attending) and the year. They would wear them as an insult to the Jokers. See, Sturgis was Gypsy Joker territory, and the Hells Angels were are war with them. The Jokers thought it best not to stay around! They had all left the day before. The town was tense for a few hours, then they all returned to their bikes, started them all simultaneously, and rode back out of town.
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You still need to ask yourself "which came first, the chicken or the egg?" You might have had a propensity for psychosis, which cannabis precipitated, or you might have had some psychotic episodes even if you had never used cannabis. I won't suggest that you try it again, as you are apparently doing fine.
FYI, I was psychotic once in an ICU with kidney disease (which actually DID kill me, for 7 seconds). For a couple of weeks I lived in a total fantasy world, including being trapped by gravity rays in a Smith College attic, and taking off in part of the ICU which I thought was a spaceship! It was interesting, if scary, but one day I simply snapped out of it...
Been toking lightly ever since, without issues.
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My BMW, a 128i, is not only the fastest naturally aspirated 6-cylinder BMW ever built, but it is also the most reliable BMW motor ever built. It is used in the 1-series, 3-series and 5-series, which is to say, it is the most numerous BMW motor. The upshot is BMW doesn’t want a lot of warrantee repairs on its most numerous motors, so it makes sure they are reliable. My particular copy was special ordered with only 3 options, leather, metallic paint and 18” wheels, and the iDrive is deleted. It has the 6-speed. I’ve driven her from 11K to about 62K miles now, and she has been almost completely trouble-free! A couple of expected issues, the coils and the oil-filler housing gasket, and that’s it besides routine maintenance… I am very happy with my little bimmer.
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Mefepristone may or may not have completed clinical safety trials, but even if it didn’t, 20+ years of common usage have proven that it is safe. In the FDA approval of drugs, Mefepristone would not be the first that skipped some clinical trials. Some are skipped because of urgent need, to be completed later (as in this case, usage often provides the answer that a trial would have provided). Others are skipped because of desperate need, and a dearth of alternatives. Still others were never tested, because they were in common use before regulations were enacted. In all those cases, practice had demonstrated a high degree of safety, and in most cases, the use of those drugs has been permitted to stand, based upon that experience…
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The 14th Amendment to the US Constitution, Section 3, aka “the “disqualification clause” or the “insurrection clause,” says that no one who has taken an oath to uphold the Constitution and who “engaged in insurrection or rebellion” against the Constitution or who has “given aid or comfort” to its enemies can hold any federal or state office unless given a waiver by (a 2/3 vote by) Congress…” (Wikipedia) Note that that consequence is not qualified, i.e. it is not optional, nor is it dependent on anything else, i.e. Trump would not have to be convicted of a high crime to be disqualified. Donald Trump, as we all witnessed with our very own eyes, incited insurrection, and is therefore an insurrectionist, a traitor to his country and the Constitution. Furthermore, if Trump committed such crimes, according to the 14th Amendment, it is not optional. He MUST be barred from holding any public office. I should think that would apply perfectly to Trump and the presidency, the very office he so disasterously abused!
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That “bag moth” is actually a Caddis fly larva, which is aquatic insect, which is the model for a lot of dry fishing flies… Yes, they build little shelters for themselves, out of sticks, stones and other detritus, bound together with silk, species specific (each species builds a different shelter), which help protect them from predation. The larvae live underwater over winter (where they do all of their feeding), and emerge into the air (where they do all of their breeding) as flying adults in Spring. Everybody has seen them, even if they didn’t know what they were.
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I had a colleague, once, who was successful in her career, but far from rich. but she wanted to invest in a nice car, to take good care of and keep a long time. So she bought a brand new Rover, a Discovery I believe. Well, she had it about a year, when, while driving, she noticed smoke. She stopped the car, stepped aside, and watched the entire car burn to the ground! It turned out that the novel pneumatic leveling system had leaked fluid on the exhaust system, igniting a fire. The company was, after a little rangling. good for it I believe. She demanded a BRAND NEW Discovery, this time without that option, and, a believe, she got one.
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Can they afford it? Do they ask that question when purchasing steel, glass, rubber or plastic? They negotiate the best price they can get. They look for cheaper alternatives. But they don’t (usually? always?) demand that suppliers demand less! There are good reasons that tires and car parts cost more and more every year, and there are good reasons labor demands better pay, benefits and working conditions. Their very lives are at stake. If they are not paid well, families will suffer. Yes, sometimes Labor asks too much, but without unions, capital would have people working for peanuts, i.e. subsistence, perhaps SLAVE wages! Which is to say, if management refuses to negotiate honestly, and give workers what they need to live respectable lives, they will play hardball, and shoot for everything they can get. What management needs to learn is that workers are people, who need to be treated as people, not as commodities.
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Ramaswamy’s reference to Rep. Ayanna Pressley as “the modern KKK” is absurd! It’s a false equivalency! It’s like saying that because a Democrat takes a moral stand, that that stand is the equivalent to a Republican making an IMMORAL stand! In a certain sense, Ramaswamy is correct. Ayanna Pressley, i.e. the Democratic Party, IS in fact the product of 50 years of evolution, from the primitive, unsophisticated KKK to a much more modern, equitable understanding of human rights. She, and WE, i.e. the Democratic model, are what the KKK has evolved into, and THAT is an acceptable outcome, or will be, when the job is finally finished.
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Timbuck2 It's NOT too expensive to maintain long term, if you've got the moola... and more people than ever before do. That wouldn't include me, or him, either, by his own words (yet), but it's certainly not impossible. For me, the question must be, is it worth it? One could own and run, and maintain, half a dozen pretty nice sports cars for what this one costs to buy and keep... Which is why I don't even THINK about Ferraris, much.
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Correct. If we can’t be objective, i.e. make true, accurate statements, we should stay quiet… I do NOT approve what is happening to Griner, but I do think we should recognize that we have jailed Americans for decades for cannabis possession, a typical sentence being 2 years, enough to cause the loss of one’s job, home, friends and even family. Furthermore cannabis convictions may prevent holding many jobs, getting educational loans, owning firearms and even voting in many states. Victims should be compensated, generously.
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What this reviewer fails to mention is that being smaller than a 328i, the 128i, which has the same motor, is faster! anow I don’t care that much about speed, per se, but that’s nice. Another thing is this is a CLASSIC BMW, i.e. it has the most quintessential BMW motor ever made, that 3.0L 6. My own copy is a “stripper,” i.e. one without iDrive. It is also not a 135i, which has a twin turno and also a high-pressure fuel pump (HPFP) which is the 135i/335i Achilles heel, i.e. by breaking unpredictably and regularly (every few K to 30-40K miles). All those extra parts cause reliability issues, not horrible mind you, but my stripper doesn’t have them, so seems likely to be not only more reliable, but also much cheaper to own. Performance is, nevertheless, excellent, provided one does not need a supercar. So far, in normal driving, I have never come close to breaking it loose. It handles extremely well. I have no problem with the fact that my car is (or was, since it is OOP) the cheapest BMW... I have the pleasure of owning a REAL BMW, a REALLY REAL BMW (purchased 4 yo with 11K miles, i.e. practically brand new), for the price of a Toyota Corolla. It makes me feel smart! I got A LOT more car than a Toyota, for the same price! And she is VERY PRETTY! I guess you’d have to say I am pretty happy with my 128i.
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No force on earth can make a CEO give up HER bonus (while requiring everyone else to give up theirs)? I know a manufacturer, of fleece fabric, who, when his factory burned down, paid every last employee, about 200, his or her full salary, for two full years, while his factory was rebuilt! About halfway there, he ran out of insurance money, and was forced to use his personal funds. It cost him tens of millions of dollars, but one thing we can be sure of, his employees were as loyal to him as he was to them…
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Social Security and Medicare are our insurance policies against old age! We have BOUGHT AND PAID FOR THEM, and not only that, by paying for them, most of us have been PREVENTED from saving for retirement, in any other way! Cutting SS and Medicare is tantamount to throwing our retirees, who can no longer work, on the garbage heap!
The truth is, SS and Medicare are extremely well funded! If they are coming up short today, that is because OTHER programs have BORROWED from their fund (which was rich in the early years) for decades! If the government will simply restore those funds, with interest, SS and Medicare would be RICH! It is a matter of choice: make the government restore funds that rightly belong to SS and Medicare, and soak the rich (who can pay WITHOUT suffering*), if necessary, or let old people starve and go homeless in our old age. The choice is ours.
*The fact that the rich “can pay, without suffering,” while so many Americans can’t, confirms the fact that the rich get too much wealth from society, while the poor get too little, justifying redistribution (which is what SS and Medicare are).
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Drag shows are not necessarily sexual, any more than heterosexual shows are necessarily sexual. The prudes (who are those people?) are using the wrong criteria. Obviously, they should be opposed to SEXUAL content, not LGBTQ content! If it is the sex they are concerned about, which is their claim, the correct laws or regulations would ban sexual content, not LGBTQ content per se.
But we know that that is NOT their purpose, either, is it? Just as many of the same people want to ban discussion of racial issues and even history, they also want to ban making modern, progressive gender distinctions. It is not even the sex they object to so much (although they object vigorously to that too), it is the novelty. It is not what they were accustomed to, and that foundation of belief (the male/female gender distinction was among the first things they ever learned, and which belief was never challenged, until recently) was so strong that now, they cannot (easily) forsake it. That is of course something they will have to learn to do!
The world is changing, fast. Those who cannot change with it will become dinosaurs. People’s, i.e. society’s sensibilities change over time. Gay people, transgenders and other alternative gender categories are not going back in the closet! Adapt, or face a constant stream of successful opposition, and then sink into obscurity.
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Some people are saying that it was BETTER that the sirens were not sounded, because people, believing the warning to be of a tsunami, would have run the wrong way, however, that is wrong. Yes, they might have run the wrong way at first, but they would have been alerted. They would have become aware of the actual situation much more quickly than they in fact were, without the sirens. They might have run the wrong way at first, but they would have quickly changed direction. They would have been escaping, precious minutes sooner than was possible without the sirens.
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If Musk claimed that by cutting off Starlink, he “prevented a mini-Pearl Harbor,” that would be beyond his authority to do! In any case, it is a lie. Ukraine and Russia are at war, a war provoked by Vladimir Putin, i.e. Russia. The US has taken the Ukrainian side in this war, so now, an enemy of Ukraine is an enemy of the United States. Ukraine is fighting anti-democratic fascism, the enemy of democracy and so the enemy of America. Ukraine deserves American support, requires it and must continue to receive it until Russia is driven back across its borders. To try to undermine US foreign policy in Ukraine, as by turning off Starlink, should be a crime.
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There can be no question that Trump broke the law, and not only that, he did it feloniously, wantonly, repeatedly, and with callous disregard for national security. Quite a number of people have been prosecuted in recent years for the same crimes, and I believe that to a man (or woman), they all got substantial prison time! If we are to pretend that Trump is being treated equally under the law, he MUST go to prison. He SHOULD be stripped of his SS protection! He doesn’t deserve it, and it must NOT prevent his punishment. He is certainly the worst excuse for a POTUS, ever.
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I bought a BMW 5 years ago, with much trepidation, because of rumors of poor reliability and expensive repairs. Well, I have driven her (a 2013 128i) 50K miles, and haven’t spent $1000 on mechanical repairs (the coils once, and one coil one other time, plus the oil filler housing gasket. That’s it, besides routine maintenance). The 60K service is coming up, and that will cost a bit, but the car has been a joy. Worth every penny! And if their reputation is accurate, Porsches are even more reliable. Expensive sports/luxury cars tend to be very good quality. They cost a bit when they DO break, but they don’t break that often. I was afraid I would regret buying my Bimmer, but I don’t! Glad if you have a similar experience!
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I think she should maybe keep him out of school then. The state cannot force a parent to send her child to public school if the state cannot make it safe, nor can it require them to provide something else that the parent cannot afford. Home schooling is out for many parents, for a variety of reasons (they already work too much and too hard, or their own educations are not very good, either).
The state needs to do a better job, by providing universal, state-sponsored educations to all students of the appropriate ages. We already do that? Well, ONLY HALF WAY. The government needs to fund public education much better than it does today. I would like to suggest that in the future, public education should be universal, and funded centrally by the state, NOT by local town and city governments.
In other words, education needs to be provided SOCIALLY. We’ve got to get over the truly idiotic idea that whatever serves society is bad! THAT attitude is nothing but capitalist greed, which wants the wealth of society to be concentrated in the hands of the few.
Socialism, the system we are supposed (by the capitalists) to hate, distributes wealth much more evenly, so that EVERYBODY CAN BE RICH, if to a somewhat more limited degree…
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There MIGHT be peace if Israel would agree to a solution, a TWO-STATE solution. It HAS agreed to one in principal, years ago, but it has NEVER made a single significant move in that direction. Israel wants a Jewish state badly, and Palestine is the legitimate owner of that land. The only lasting solution has to be a Palestinian state. A VIABLE Palestinian state, with contiguous territory, free trade, free travel, free commerce, access to the sea and the ability to defend itself. When Israel is willing to make a REASONABLE compromise, and grant Palestine a VIABLE state, then and ONLY then will there ever be peace.
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I have had the same feeling, that Musk has multiple personalities. On one hand, he’s a hard driven businessman, extraordinaire, having built at least 2 extraordinarily forward thinking companies almost from scratch. On another hand, he is a powerful visionary, who has done things that will profoundly affect society. On still another hand, he is an insatiable showman, who likes to make a splash. Who, having accomplished what he has, and made so much money in the process, would not have a big ego? On a fourth hand, he is sweet. He speaks of grand visions, electric cars and space ships and traveling to Mars! He speaks freely of his own feelings and emotions. And then, ON A FIFTH HAND, he is INSANE! He buys a large, expensive company for twice its actual value, loses $20Bn instantly, and turns it into a vehicle for fascist propaganda! The fascist in him is the worst. That’s at least 5 distinctly different Elon Musks, and there are no doubt more.
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The instant a person becomes his political enemy, Trump suddenly “discovers” that they are deranged! The truth is, of course, that HE, Donald J. Trump, is the one who is deranged! It’s called “projection.” Trump, in attempting to deny crimes that he is quite reasonably accused of, tries to “project” those crimes onto his enemies. He does it every single time, and he is predictable. He has many other strategies, all dishonest, to gain advantages, but projection has to be the most important. To low-information voters, his claims seems as likely as ours. With his lies, Trump wins half the votes.
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Regarding FWD vs RWD, consider this: the Honda del Sol was similar, good quality and no doubt fun to drive, but it was FWD, not a real sports car, and it was gone within 3 years. The Miata, on the other hand, was/is RWD, like the classics, a REAL sports car, and the Miata is still with us, 33 years later, with sales over 1M, and GOING STRONG!
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If my kid was bullied, I’d sue the school for a million dollars, maybe 2, maybe 10, depending on all relevant factors. Lucky for them, my kids’ schools, determined by Boston and Forbes Magazines to be among the top 1% of public 1° and 2° schools in the country (actually, they were voted the TOP schools in the country, which is what we came here for), FORBID BULLYING, and several bullies have been suspended, and at least one expelled. There is (virtually) no bullying in those schools.
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Humans are, due to agricultural technology, well over the natural carrying capacity (k) of the Earth. Climate change will disrupt weather patterns all over the world. It is already happening. Wet areas will become dry, and dry areas wet. Hot areas will become hotter! Sea levels will rise, dramatically, flooding most of our best, low-lying farmland. K could be cut in half, or quarters or tenths, such that k would go from 8Bn to one 1Bn almost over night, when the shift comes…
What should we suppose will happen to the people the planet won’t support?
We don’t know whether that will be 1Bn or 5Bn or 0.1Bn, but we know that it will be bad, and the road to that will be very, very bad as well. We are absolutely on that road right now. It is happening, faster and faster. The end point of what society has so far refused to accept may be something approaching annihilation. Our last chance is to stop putting carbon in the atmosphere RIGHT NOW, but we’re not doing that, are we?
I’ve got an idea. To reverse the effect of climate change, we should seize all the corporate profits being made any where within our borders, and use THAT to fund the effort. It was corporations and capitalists that caused global warm, it is fitting that corporations and capitalists should pay to fix it.
Using machines to remove carbon from the atmosphere is impractical. If that ever happens, it will be an utterly futile boondoggle, which only purpose would be to make tax dollars flow into private bank accounts..😅
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Mefepristone may or may not have completed clinical safety trials, but even if it didn’t, 20+ years of common usage have proven that it is safe. In the FDA approval of drugs, Mefepristone would not be the first that skipped some clinical trials. Some are skipped because of urgent need, to be completed later (as in this case, usage often provides the answer that a trial would have provided). Others are skipped because of desperate need, and a dearth of alternatives. Still others were never tested, because they were in common use before regulations were enacted. In all those cases, practice had demonstrated a high degree of safety, and in most cases, the use of those drugs has been permitted to stand, based upon that experience.
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@OodieSoodie I have. Handguns are illegal in Australia, without a special permit. Long guns are, however, legal and plentiful, so Australia has gun violence problems similar to the US, but on a much smaller scale (about 2500 incidents and 225 deaths, compared with over 100K incidents and 45K deaths in the US annually). That is no doubt due to much stricter gun laws in Australia than in the US. Handguns, semi-automatic and pump action long guns are mostly or completely prohibited, and the largest gun buy-back in history (which bought back 650K weapons, an act which would be more difficult in the US, which has 400M firearms in private hands) was performed in 2022. Australia gun laws are not perfect, but they are INFINITELY better than US law.
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No, not at all. How about if one thinks they MIGHT need to use it, as when an unknown person appears at their door? In this case, the pigs, reportedly, didn’t identify themselves! The kid was TOTALLY WITHIN HIS RIGHTS to have a gun in his hand, in his own house (don’t blame me for Florida gun laws, or lack thereof)! Furthermore, he never threatened them (or anyone else) with it. The pig(s), on the other hand, broke every rule in the book, and absolutely committed some kind of murder. And you want to blame the victim? What is the matter with you?
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My 1999 4Runner, with 4WD and a 5-speed, has 190K miles on it, and everything works perfectly (which is not to say it has never had any work done. What I recall is 3 sets of tires (since I bought it at 89K), a starter, an EKC (?) valve, a steering rack ($2K), an antenna, and a new muffler, recently. Oh, yes, the rear wiring harness, for $1100). I also put on new Bilsteins all around, at 180K, thinking I'd get a better ride (the shocks were originals), but I didn't! The 20yo shocks were still good!
Still, not bad, given that it has no rust, the paint is good, and the interior is still very good. Lucky for me, my wife likes driving it! I plan to keep it as long as possible, probably until it gets rusty, then I don't know what I will do! I DEMAND a manual transmission. I will probably buy another one from the SW, and keep this one as a parts car. BTW, my other car is a 2013 BMW128i, also MT (EXC condition) and I also have a 1971 Saab 96, which runs (rust free, but needing TLC)!
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Ben V The thing is, destruction of property WORKS. It draws attention to the cause, and when the oppressor lashes out, i.e. when demonstrators are injured or killed by police, we WIN. When police hurt or kill civilians (who are not dangerous criminals), especially innocents, they lose the moral high ground, and then the hearts and minds of the people. The public turns against them, and their political support, and they LOSE. In other words, if enough people are willing to become cannon fodder, their side (always assuming that is the right side, i.e. the progressive side), will, eventually, WIN.
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@dilmeral In every other society, the older you are, the more respect you got! Efforts to move out the old and, no doubt, install themselves are self-serving. The new ideas are a crap-shoot, whereas tradition is time-proven to work, in most ways. Refinements can and should be made, but I predict that if Trump takes over, the present systems, i.e. government, will have been 10X better than the one that replaces it.
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Ozzstar A Prius will last 250K miles, never need anything and never break down... and a Yugo? There is some pride in having a car that will usually get you across town, if very little else! I used to drive 3-cylinder Saab strokers, which were much better engineered no doubt, but they also had only 40 hp! There was some satisfaction in driving a car that was no more than it absolutely had to be, yet which was totally adequate. They were totally reliable. Mine was, at least it was until the engine seized. When that happened, naturally, I got another, and recently, I got yet another... They are "tres cool."
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Does “the cost of manufacturing each dose” include the cost of research and development? That can easily come to hundreds of millions of dollars. There is that, but having worked for Novartis as a scientist for some time, I know that they produce PRODUCTS more than drugs, per se. They are MOST interested in turning a big profit! And they do! Profits are a good measure of where the money is going, i.e. if they are too high, redistribution is needed. Pharma profits are too high to justify huge (or even moderate) drug price increases. Furthermore, tax dollars make a huge contribution to covering R&D costs, and that contribution should be compensated, however, the main source of funding is investors. Still, pharmas have to benefit society as much as possible. They cannot expect to make astronomical profits, certainly not while some are still denied necessary medication.
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I’m not interested in splitting hairs, but I am interested in good value. I bought a 4yo BMW 128i Coupe stripper (only 3 options, 18” wheels, leather and metallic, and no iDrive) for $22K, in mint condition with 11K. I got her from an older couple (car enthusiasts) in San Diego (no rust). She has a MT. I’ve driven her 50K in 5 years, and I have replaced the Continentals once, the ignition coils once, one coil once, and the oil filler gasket. At 60K, that’s everything, plus an enhanced 60K service. This particular model, and this motor in particular (it being used in many BMWs, esp. 328i and 528i) is noted for being virtually trouble-free. I paid what a well equipped new Corolla would cost, for a much sportier, similar quality (but more refined, high-strung and complicated) BMW. So far I have no regrets! The BMW is, I believe, much more fun to drive than the Corolla (or much else at this price point) would ever be, and the car is stunningly beautiful.
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@rafaelferreirasantos7819 If candidates for POTUS were required to pass a battery of test on American and world history, American government and comparative government, political science, psychology, law, etc. If we had that test, testing basic literacy in American government, history etc., Donald Trump would NEVER have been POTUS, and we wouldn’t be where we are today, on the brink of fascist disaster.
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I'm 68, just got out of the hospital where I nearly died, and just bought my second NA Miata! And am I thrilled! I drove my first, a '94, 120K miles and for 11years, from 1998-2009, when I sold it. I lived in Southern California then, and dreamed of driving it in my native New England, a dream that was never fulfilled. I have have returned to Massachusetts now, having done without now for another 11years, but that is soon to change. I just purchased a '97 M-edition in British Racing Green, in mint condition. I should have it in a few days! I too am getting old, and intend to keep her until I don't need her any more...
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I am as worried about the nuclear threat as anybody, however, Ukraine cannot win this war with Russia if we hold her back! By not permitting Ukraine to strike inside of Russia, we are forcing Ukraine to fight with one arm tied behind her back! No one ever won a war by being passive! We will NOT win this war by holding back! We win wars by being AGGRESSIVE!
I for one think that we need to call Putin’s bluff. He doesn’t want to be vaporized any more than we do, and he knows that our weapons are superior to his! He KNOWS, absolutely, that if he pushes his big red button, within 20 minutes, RUSSIA WILL NO LONGER EXIST.
We need to send Zelensky all the weapons he needs, and we must permit him, if advantageous, to strike inside Russia. Only then will the cost of his war become fully apparent to Russian citizens. Only then will Russia fully appreciate the disaster it has created. Only then can the Russians be forced to withdraw from Ukraine - to defend their OWN territory.
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“Weaponizing the justice system?” It seems to me, the justice system is doing exactly what it is supposed to do, practically for the very first time (relative to crimes by elites)! What Trump is saying is that this is unprecedented, which is true, probably because the US has never before elected such an outrageous, up-front, Mafia Don-like criminal to the White House! Indicting previous POTUSes has, despite the possible commission of some, more minor crimes by former presidents, has never before been so necessary (in hindsight, it now seems that we might have had a much less corrupt government if those crimes HAD been prosecuted)!
Nobody is “weaponizing the justice system” to go after Trump. The justice system is DESIGNED for that purpose, to go after, prosecute and punish criminals, and that is what it is doing, nothing more, and nothing less.
If Trump insists upon being a criminal, and he DOES insist, he needs to be punished for his crimes (he needs to be punished for his crimes in any case), both for the sake of justice alone, and as a deterrence, to assure any possible future fascists, who think they can destroy democracy and seize dictatorial power by illegitimate means, that if they try, it will be THEY who will be destroyed.
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He “could shoot someone down on 5th Ave.,” and he “wouldn’t lose any voters?” That tells everything we need to know about his constituency, doesn’t it? We knew they were the least intellectual cohort in the US, probably because they are the least intelligent. Now (as of 7 years ago) we know they are also the most criminal! THOSE are the people who are locked on to “Orange Jesus,” the ones who don’t have much hope of competing in the world, who think that under Trump, they will be able to STEAL what they want! THAT’S WHAT TRUMP WANTS! They are, one might argue, members of a klepto-cult, intending to steal as much as they can grab, the moment society is destroyed (like Putin and his fellow kleptocrats did when the USSR failed). They are the vultures, who we MUST resist, in fact, who we must resist effectively - before it is too late.
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Purging the administrative state means firing all the career civil servants, the ones who know how things work, and how to get things done. They are the ones with the expertise needed to run giant government offices. Trump wants to replace them with loyal flunkies, who know nothing about those jobs, but who will say and do whatever Trump tells them to say and do, without regard for anything else. The federal government will become useless for providing services and benefits to the people. Government agencies, previously the most reliable sources of many kinds of information, would become nothing but propaganda tools. TV news programming will be compromised. The purge of the administrative state is certainly the most serious destruction Trump will likely do -in his first year, and probably the first step in cancelling Social Security, Medicare and the ACA. Electing Trump will, literally, be the end of progress in America. It will quite literally be the end of American civilization.
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Conway is correct… as I have been saying from the beginning, that the single most important thing about Donald Trump is his malignant narcissism, aka psychopathy. EVERYTHING about him can be explained by it. “Malignant narcissism is a psychological syndrome comprising an extreme mix of narcissism, antisocial behavior, aggression and sadism. Grandiose, and always ready to raise hostility levels, the malignant narcissist undermines families and organizations in which they are involved, and dehumanizes people with whom they associate.” (Wikipedia) Does that NOT sound exactly like Donald Trump? DOES THAT SOUND LIKE POTUS MATERIAL?
THAT DESCRIBES TRUMP PERFECTLY. He really, truly is a malignant narcissist. Do we really want a man like that to be the most powerful man in the world?
“The social psychologist Erich Fromm first coined the term “malignant narcissism” in 1964, describing it as “a severe mental sickness,” representing “the quintessence of evil.” He characterized the condition as “the most severe pathology and the root of the most vicious destructiveness and inhumanity.” (Wikipedia)
Is THAT what we might let have the levers of power? Is THAT what we might be letting ourselves in for?
I certainly hope not.
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EVERY Democrat would admit, or agree, that the debt ceiling bill “did nothing to improve the lives of average Americans.” As a matter of fact, it SCREWED average Americans! The debt ceiling was used BY REPUBLICANS in Congress to EXTORT concessions from Democrats that would REDUCE BENEFITS to the working and middle classes. Democrats never wanted that! THE REPUBLICANS THREATENED TO CRASH THE ENTIRE ECONOMY, COSTING TAXPAYERS TRILLIONS OF DOLLARS. REPUBLICANS HELD THE NATION HOSTAGE, UNDER THREAT OF DESTROYING MILLIONS OF JOBS. It was NECESSARY to pay them off, which we did, by making concessions, avoiding disaster. Make no mistake, THE WORKING CLASSES WERE SCREWED, BECAUSE REPUBLICANS INSISTED THAT THEY BE SCREWED!
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Dylan .M Actually, it is. If a lot of private property was not being destroyed, nobody would be paying attention. That is IS being destroyed means that EVERYBODY is watching. Nothing gets the attention of the rich and powerful like property destruction! It worked in the 1970s to get us out of Vietnam, it worked (to some degree, temporarily) in the Civil Rights Movement, and it will work now, in the 2020s, if demonstrators can keep it up, and if they can bear some losses. Those losses, and injuries, will sway public opinion against police, which will, eventually, turn the tide.
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@pete3882 Conveniently, you don’t mention what state you are in, but I doubt that “it’s the same in your state for decades,” whatever that means! MY state (MA in case I didn’t mention it) has relatively strict gun laws, and is about the safest state in the country (adjusting for population). Libs don’t “keep criminals on the street,” though we do try harder than MAGAs to make punishments proportionate and appropriate. There are many legitimate values that need to be served, all at once. “Libs” do a much better job of balancing punishment with trust and rehabilitation. In other words, Democrats see all the shades of gray, and work with them, i.e. we are more intelligent, and care more about justice than Republicans. MAGAs think only in black and white, and these days all they care about is beating down the “libs” (regardless of the harm they do in the process).
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At last! And let’s hope this is ONLY THE BEGINNING! His more serious charges are yet to be made, however, financial fraud, which is apparently what the 34 charges are all about, is a serious charge. There is still the hush money (Stormy Daniels) case, the classified documents case, the Georgia election fraud case, and most serious of all, the Jan. 6 2022 insurrection case, any and all of of which should get him a LOT of prison time. Even the least of his anticipated charges, having ordered the crimes which Michael Cohen was convicted of, and which got Cohen over 3 years of prison/home confinement time,SHOULD GET TRUMP AT LEAST AS MUCH PRISON! If Trump DOESN’T get prison/home confinement for at least 3 years JUST for the Stormy Daniels case, THAT will be a glaring injustice, and proof of favoritism by the courts. When we add the more severe penalties the other charges carry, Trump should be in prison for the rest of his worthless life. I for one hope he ROTS IN PRISON. LOCK - HIM - UP!!!
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The key bit of information seems to be that Neely was NOT threatening anybody. There should be security cameras, or private video, showing what Neely was doing if it was outrageous. I doubt any such video exists. Penny killed him unnecessarily. Manslaughter seems like the correct charge, but he shouldn’t get off lightly. Citizens cannot be permitted to police each other with deadly force! It seems to me that he is guilty of taking the law into his own hands, with deadly consequences. He should be guilty of manslaughter, and he should go to jail for at least a few years (if I was thinking punishment, I might say 10 years, plus. If I was thinking rehabilitation, maybe 4-5). Call it what we will, a man WAS murdered (or if we prefer, slaughtered). HIS life is GONE. HE will NEVER be rehabilitated.
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I’ve been watching human-built things like roads, stone walls, bridge abutments, stone foundations, etc., abandoned from a decade to as much as 350+ years ago. What I’ve found is that old constructions dissolve pretty fast! Without maintenance, after 10-50 years, things decay noticeably. After 50-100 years, there will be little left. After 200 years there will be barely a trace, and after 300, it becomes a job for an archaeologist. It can happen much faster than that!
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Citizens should have the right to use force, including deadly force, against police who abuse them. A cop who abuses a citizen is a criminal of the very worst kind, it was a violation of trust! Cops who abuse citizens are PIGS. These pigs should be behind bars! BTW, regarding the odor of pot (while temporarily forgetting the misuse of “smells”), it smells even when NOT smoked. As for “I want to make sure you don’t have a gun on you,” what right does she have to be sure he doesn’t have a LEGAL gun on him? I, as a citizen, want to know that HE or SHE doesn’t have a gun on her! Otherwise, I will feel that my life is threatened, and be tempted to use my gun! That IS a legitimate reason to shoot someone, according to many police…
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Whatever else can be said about conspiracies, and conspirators, one thing is certain, that a whole slew of federal judges, Supreme Court justices, and federal Congresspersons are engaged in a conspiracy to overthrow the American government, system and way of life, and replace it with a hideous, oppressive, fascist dictatorship! We need to understand that this is in fact a gigantic conspiracy, deliberately promoted by Donald J. Trump! This conspiracy is the most diabolical, insidious attack ever mounted against the United States of America. The crisis is existential. We need to do whatever is necessary to STOP IT.
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I saw that video, and believe me, as an acrophobe, it wasn’t any scarier than any of your other videos! Whenever I feel like I’m just a few feet from an edge, I get scared! It all stems, I think, from a fall I once took, when a scaffold collapsed, when I was 15. It was visceral! a few months after the accident, I couldn’t climb 4’ up a ladder without shaking uncontrollably! I have gotten better, go up in tall buildings, fly in airplanes, and even rappel over 150’ cliffs, but I am STILL afraid of heights…
Regarding that climb, the one that was “demonized,” it seemed to me to be safer, much safer, than walking just a foot or two away from oblivion… You were locked in. As long as you stuck to your program, falling was almost impossible.
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Trump refused to repair the water pipe he damaged, for over 5 years, leaving this aged couple without water, and he did it OUT OF SPITE. The man was able to repair the damage himself, relatively easily, so Trump can have no excuse whatsoever. What Trump did to these people, and many more like them, is CRIMINAL. TRUMP IS TRULY EVIL. HE MUST BE STOPPED, and he and his enablers should be prosecuted. Rather than prosecute Trump for just a token assortment of his numerous crimes, he should be prosecuted for EVERY LAST ONE OF THEM.
Trump, more than anyone else ever, is an UNSPEAKABLE THREAT to everything we hold dear!
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Regarding gender identity, and attempted prohibitions on teaching or even talking about it in school, all references to families, mothers, fathers and children, as well as talk about girlfriends and boyfriends, are ALL references to (heterosexual) gender identity, so those are also prohibited, along with references to gay relationships, transgender, etc. Everyone should be prepared to report any infractions, which should then be persecuted! IN FACT, what these backward hicks are demanding is that we must not discuss ALTERNATIVE gender identities, specifically. They don’t say that because whatever catchword or phrase they used to identify it accurately would reveal its evil. “Woke” is such a convenient, CATCHY catchword! But all woke means is “sensitive to race and other issues of minorities,” i.e. all it really means is caring about our fellow human beings. They think THAT is evil? It is THEY who are evil!
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Thanks Steve! THAT should about settle it for most American voters (and ALL sane American voters)! Do MAGA REPUBLICANS really believe that anywhere near a majority of voters will opt for TOTAL DESTRUCTION over sane government?
Do we really want to scrap 249 years of social evolution and development, and replace it with a USELESS, VIOLENT, OPPRESSIVE DICTATORSHIP, RUN BY A MADMAN? I don’t think so! Yes, it will be high anxiety until Election Day, until we know for certain that the fascists have lost, totally and irretrievably!
Trump will LOSE, again, as he almost always loses. His trials will proceed, he will be convicted of 50 more felonies, and he will go to prison, for the rest of his dishonest, corrupt, criminal life. He SHOULD be a lesson to all Americans, in the future, of what NOT to ever let in the door.
MAGA officeholders in particular must be prosecuted for contributing to the insurrection, and barred from holding elected office. The Republican Party must either be purged of all MAGAs, and all MAGA sympathizers, who MUST be barred from holding public office, or else the entire party, perhaps including registered voters, should be abolished and permanently banned.
Would Germany have permitted the NAZI Party to exist after WWII? Should the Union have permitted the South, the ENEMY, which had made war against its own government, to erect monuments to the leaders, who were traitors to their nation? I think not. Similarly, after this attempted fascist insurrection and attempted coup, led by Donald Trump, with its lies, chaos, threats and violence, the Republican Party should be ANATHEMA TO ALL AMERICANS.
Trumpism/MAGAism/Republicanism is, of course, the most hateful AND shameful thing this country has ever been forced to endure.
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True, but not without a lot of less-than-major, but not necessarily minor work. My recently acquired Mercedes GLK350 is reputed to be very reliable, regarding the drivetrain, and the suspension, brakes,etc. may be reliable enough, but what about the electronics? What about the sunroof? What about the mirrors? Most of these things are electric, with switches and motors.
I’m wondering how much it would cost to fix a misbehaving mirror! After everything has adjusted itself to my settings, I put the car in reverse, and the right outside mirror immediately goes OUT of adjustment! Right when I need it, it points itself at the ground! It sounds like it might be tricky to fix… Should I have gotten a Toyota? Stuff like this never happened on my 4Runner…
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One thing must be clear, criticism of Israel, no matter how harsh, is NOT anti-Semitism! Nations CANNOT be above criticism (and Israel is far from that)! Governments, political parties and politicians cannot be above criticism, simply because they belong to a particular, privileged religious faith! As a matter of fact I would say, entities which claim to be above criticism, especially by playing the anti-semitism card, are the very ones most likely to actually be most guilty of it, i.e. bigoted about somebody (group). In the case of Israel, Palestinians are their Jews (i.e. Palestinians are to Israelis (short of the “Final Solution”) what Jews were to Nazis)… and Israelis? They are the Palestinians’ National Socialist German Workers’ Party…
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I LOVE mine, which has a frame and a 5-speed manual transmission, and was built in 1999. It is, to me, the perfect utilitarian driver's car. It has 185K miles on it, still runs like new (at 165K, I replaced the original shocks with new Bilsteins, which I assumed would be an improvement; they weren't), is rust free and I hope to keep it at least another 5 years, by which time it will be 25 years old (I also drive a late model BMW, but my family prefers the 4Runner, because it is so much more spacious). I am seriously disappointed that they stopped making 4Runners with MTs (in 2000 I believe). I MIGHT buy a new one if they did. As it stands, when this one gets rusty, I will need to find another rust free, low-mileage example of the same thing to replace it, because I will NEVER buy ANYTHING without a manual transmission...
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How so? You don’t have a clue, do you? Biden and Buttigieg are only technically responsible, because they hold positions of responsibility, but they did not create the situation that led to this disaster, nor do we necessarily permit them to take executive action on anything, especially if it costs a lot of money. In other words, it is very difficult to reverse the many court rulings that freed this corporation from many safety measures, many of which were already in place, plus from responsibility for disasters they cause. That is what incorporation does. It frees the owners of these corporations from responsibility for disasters they cause. The laws regulating corporations must be updated, to ensure that corporations, and their owners (including stockholders) are held responsible for costs they incur to others, for damage to people’s health, and for damage to the environment, including harms to intrinsic values (e.g. beauty and species richness). That should mean spending every last available penny, as necessary, including removing every last trace of chemicals spilled into the environment. Corporations which have created large chemical spills should be denied the right to make profits, until the damage they did is undone. If they don’t clean up their messes promptly, the EPA should step in and do it for them, at triple the actual cost. I don’t care if a company is destroyed in the process. NS didn’t employ nearly enough people anyway! It will be sold to others, who we expect will be better corporate neighbors. If THAT doesn’t create better corporate neighbors, the companies involved should be nationalized, to ensure that in the future, they serve the public interest, first and foremost.
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Abortion is (may I state, as a man) one of the very most important things to both men and women. It permits women and couples to regulate the creation of children! It is the single most important factor that permits women to pursue careers! Or even to have jobs. Without abortion and birth control, women become slaves to childbearing, and so to men.
THAT IS IN FACT THE ENTIRE POINT! Radical right-wing men want to return to 1918, before women had the right to vote, or even 1860, before women had any rights whatsoever (JD Vance wants to go back to 1860)! Abortion is just among the first MAGA/Republican assaults on women’s and human rights. The MAGAs, i.e. Republicans, want to take away ALL OUR RIGHTS!
Hear what Trump has been saying recently (in the last day or two)? He’s been saying “if you vote for me in November, you’ll never have to vote again,” as if it were a chore to be eliminated ASAP (it is in fact a rare and precious RIGHT).
Trump is saying, if HE is elected in November, that will be THE END OF DEMOCRACY, i.e. that there will be no more elections in America. There will just be the MADMAN IN THE WH.
I for one can’t think of a worse nightmare.
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I don’t defend Trump, but sending Putin a few rare test kits would not be unusual, even in the face of domestic shortages, as a diplomatic courtesy. Furthermore, their loss did not make a significant difference to American kit availability. This gesture would probably not merit a mention, anywhere, if the Democrats did not need a good talking point! BUT THAT CHANGES NOTHING!
The MAGA Trumpublicans are still monstrous, and if they are elected, that will mark THE END of America, as we know and love it.
Trump is not only callous and thoughtless, he’s also ruthless and cruel. If elected, Trump will become the SCOURGE OF AMERICA.
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Why is there a taboo called anti-Semitism? Why are there NOT words for taboos against, say, anti-Palestinianism? Why are “anti-Palestinianism” or “anti-Islamism” not similarly words, and similarly anathema? Fortunately, there is a word for anti-Americanism! THAT word is one I heard before I heard “anti-Semitism.” This special word for opposing Semites is problematical. For one thing, there must be numerous other groups that deserve the same treatment, as much or more, but don’t get it, for another, ARABS ARE SEMITES! People think they are using a sophisticated, secular way to reference Jews. In fact, Arabs are Semites, too.
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“They” meaning the courts, well, one VERY BIG reason is that it is very expensive to prosecute billionaires. Going after a billionaire, especially a highly litigious one like Trump, who could way out-spend anyone who challenges him, could cost hundreds of millions of dollars. Most municipalities couldn’t afford it. Now is slightly different, as events have forced the various governments and agencies to respond to major, national crimes like the insurrection and the GA election tampering. The lesser crimes are just the beginning. The Daniels case won’t put him in prison, but most of the other charges will! Furthermore, even still, Trump is committing more tampering, perjury, fraud and other crimes, as he tries to worm his way out of the trouble he is in. At every turn, he only seems to dig himself in deeper!
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Don’t Republicans WANT to know if their candidate is a felon, under the law? NOOOO! They already know he’s a felon, of a large variety of kinds! They DO, IN FACT, WANT A FELON, because they, at least 3 and probably 5 of them are criminals themselves, willing to compromise the country, to promote their own wealth and power… and of course those of their criminal leader.
If Biden doesn’t use his power to stop the threat, he will go down in history as the man who let the boogie-man in… leading to the downfall of America. Trump is, or might as well be, the anti-Christ, sent by Satan to destroy us, if we let him.
The big question must be, will we let him in?
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The early days of home computing were fascinating, but they almost completely lacked the element of threat, of danger. Few people imagined that they might, some day, take over. Given that technology leaps forward already, AI might/will accelerate that, maybe exponentially. What we already can’t adjust rapidly enough to, will happen faster and faster. Regulation will lag further and further behind. That technology will find off-label uses, not all honest, or good.
Let me tell you how crazy it is already. It is ALREADY well within our means to build killer drones, for a couple of hundred bucks each, with facial recognition and a gun or a grenade that could hunt down all one’s enemies… and kill them. We also have a powerful cult leader AND cult threatening to take over, the leader of which has already threatened to hunt down his enemies and jail them. He might be convinced, as his insanity progresses (he might already be there) that killer drones would be neater…
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I had a CVCC Civic a long time ago, and I got the impression, at the time, that Hondas were not that much fun to drive. Furthermore, my copy, which I believe was abused by the former owner, had its engine fail at 80K, so I wasn’t very impressed. I’ll give them another chance, maybe, when I’m done with my BMW 128i coupe (6-speed, no iDrive, 18” wheels, leather and metallic paint, nothing else), which in 5 years and 50K miles, has been cheaper than any hot Honda would be… The Honda might be the better car, in the final analysis, but the BMW is without a doubt, beautiful.
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@TheBandit7613 German engineering… they got complicated, and expensive. In the 1970s, they were simple and LESS expensive. I always wanted a 2002, but guess I’ll have to settle for my 128i, which is an absolutely terrific car! This particular model is described as a spiritual successor to both the 2002 and also the first M-cars.
In fact, my car is very close to the first M specs, except for being better in most areas! It is even prettier, IMHO. Mine is a stripper (I can’t resist telling about her, one of my better purchases), i.e. special ordered with only 3 options, parchment leather, 18” wheels and metallic paint (deep blue). She is iDrive-delete, and she has the 6-speed manual transmission… Which is to say, she is pretty sweet! I got her 6 years ago now, with only 11K on her clock and out of Los Angeles, so there was no rust. The only owners were an older couple, a lady in particular, who didn’t drive her much.
The 128i with the naturally aspirated 6 is the most common and reliable BMW engine built, and mine has given me very little trouble, even though she is now fully 10 yo, with 62K. I DO take good care of her, keeping her garaged and changing the oil every 5k. She will probably be with me to the end!
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You know, I don’t think a single sane American ever doubted that Trump is guilty, of these crimes or of any of the others he’s been charged with. The division lies along the lines of a fascist cult, bent on destroying America!
On one side are those of us who love America the way it is, despite certain serious issues. Those issues, if valid, can be addressed. On the other side are the MAGA Republicans, who want to destroy that America, 249 years in the making, and replace it with one of their own, non-democratic, clearly fascistic making! The one side believes in law and order, the other side prefers violence!
The one side is led by a very old, but nevertheless intelligent, highly experienced and totally sane man. The other by a certifiable psychopath, who fashions himself after Vladimir Putin! The other who admires Kim Jong Un and Rodrigo Duterte! The one who wants to rebuild America, her institutions and infrastructure, the other who will neglect and destroy them! THAT is our choice, and it is INCONCEIVABLE that we might make the wrong choice…
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If one judge can effectively ban Mifepristone, could another judge not reverse that finding? The truth is, the “danger to expecting mothers,” aka pregnant women argument is a disingenuous. Mifepristone has proven, through 20 years and millions of usages, to be safe. Formal Clinical Safety Trials are unnecessary (trails can be conducted, still, if they are desired, without disrupting availability). Their true objective is, clearly enough, to stop women from having abortions.
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Mefepristone may or may not have completed clinical safety trials, but even if it didn’t, 20+ years of common usage have proven that it is safe. In the FDA approval of drugs, Mefepristone would not be the first that skipped some clinical trials. Some are skipped because of urgent need, to be completed later (as in this case, usage often provides the answer that a trial would have provided). Others are skipped because of desperate need, and a dearth of alternatives. Still others were never tested, because they were in common use before regulations were enacted. In all those cases, practice had demonstrated a high degree of safety, and in most cases, the use of those drugs has been permitted to stand, based upon that experience.
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I might as well mention that I was involved, as a teenager, in local archaeology. I worked as an excavator for 4 summers, on a site in MA, where we found numerous large, round house sites, a crematorium and numerous cremation graves. The truth is we were all collectors, mostly surface finds. I don’t know anybody who ever dug for anything, outside the auspices of the state archaeological society, but yes, we were collectors, but we were also scientists, who conducted scientifically valid excavations, some of the few ever done in our area. In addition to that, much of what was known about New England prehistory was gleaned by and from collections, and the knowledge of archaeological sites known from collecting. Given the contributions made by collectors, and the fact that archaeological sites are destroyed routinely, for construction. Rescue operations are usually pretty sketchy, if they are done at all. Most collectors, in the NE, collect from plowed fields, where artifacts plowed up are already out of context. Collectors bring them to light, and commonly, share with or donate them to science. Collecting shouldn’t be discounted, in the NE at least.
I do of course understand that the SW is particularly rich in cultural heritage (actually, the difference may not be great), and when it was first conquered, it was open season, stealing everything of value left behind when the inhabitants were driven out or destroyed. It must have been terrible! This site was probably littered with intact pots, textiles and other artifacts, now in collections, often out of context or lost…
In MA amateur archaeology was the main means by which local archaeology was done. Without it, we wouldn’t know 1/10 of what we know now.
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The thing is, regarding pot shards and other minor artifacts, no archeologist is ever going to study them… I do not advocate messing with 1000 yo remains of ancient cultures, absolutely not, but the truth is, very little will be gleaned from the specific location of a pot shard. In the east we find artifacts in plowed fields. That they came from that site would be valuable to know, but their specific context is already lost. That is what happens to items that end up on a “collector’s stone.” At least the collectors were nice enough to leave them behind, at the site they are associated with. It is also true that at one time, many of these sites, now stripped bare, had things like intact pots and other more unusual relics, which went to the antiquities market long ago…
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Mefepristone may or may not have completed clinical safety trials, but even if it didn’t, 20+ years of common usage have proven that it is safe. In the FDA approval of drugs, Mefepristone would not be the first that skipped some clinical trials. Some are skipped because of urgent need, to be completed later (as in this case, usage often provides the answer that a trial would have provided). Others are skipped because of desperate need, and a dearth of alternatives. Still others were never tested, because they were in common use before regulations were enacted. In all those cases, practice had demonstrated a high degree of safety, and in most cases, the use of those drugs has been permitted to stand, based upon that experience.
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I hope you live in dry country. My 4Runner was 10yo with 86K on her clock when I got her, and I do love her. She is a GREAT truck, which I drive like a sports car (not as fast, but with similar joy, she has the 5-speed). She came from Nevada, and I drove her for about 5 years in SoCal before moving to MA. THAT is where the trouble started. We use salt on the roads in MA. My 4Runner went about 5 years before the first rust showed up. By 8 years in MA, it was getting bad in the rockers and bumpers, so at about 10 years (in MA), 3 years ago, I had some stop-gap body work (the complete job would have been over $10K) done to forestall the inevitable, and replaced the bumpers. Today, everything but cruise control works perfectly, but the rust is already beginning to pop back out on the bumpers, and the rockers ate getting rusty again. She still looks pretty good, with only a little rust evident, but there is more lurking right beneath the surface. I love my truck, but I give her 5 more years.
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Yeah, isn’t that absurd? How could a bunch of random people, none of who are in a position to know anything about it, presume to know more than the professionals whose job it is and who ARE? None of these people, MAGAs, Trumpublicans, Republicans, etc., have more than a vague conception of reality!
I talk about Trumpublicans a lot these days, because 80% of Republicans ARE Trumpublicans (all others obey them), but regular Republicans have ALWAYS been anti-social and backward. We shouldn’t think THEY are liberals’ friends, either.
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This car has an automatic, MINE has a 6-speed MANUAL, which I much prefer, and which makes it MUCH sportier (manual transmissions being what make a man one with a machine). It's 0-60 time is 5.9 seconds, and although it doesn't have M suspension, it does have BMW suspension, which is pretty good. Mine's a stripper, special ordered with 18" wheels, oyster leather upholstery and deep blue metallic paint, AND NOTHING ELSE, including having no iDrive. I expected it to be less trouble than some BMWs can be, and it is. If there's anything I love and respect it's a product that delivers, and keeps on delivering for a long time without fuss, and this one delivers! I LOVE MY 128i!
But I gave it to my wife. Why would I do that? It's a long story, and it involves a private matter, so suffice to say I wanted an older Mazda Miata, another like the one I had for 11 years in CA, that and the fact that she had never driven it. She thought it was too precious, that it was my baby, and that she was afraid she might hurt it! Furthermore, she always preferred an automatic, and complained about my manual transmissions, but she just LOVES the one in this car! She thinks it is "buttery smooth," which it is. Also, she looks very good behind the wheel, with her red hair flowing against white leather in a very beautiful deep blue coupe... Furthermore, she deserves it. It was my 65th birthday present to myself, and now it belongs to my wife.
Now I drive a green, mint condition 1997 Mazda Miata M-edition, an upgrade from the 1994 I owned previously. Although I love the Bimmer, I'm glad my wife has it now, because I actually still have it, to drive, and now I also have a Miata...
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It should be clear that if animals are getting sick, people can’t be far behind. Like soldiers exposed to military burn pits, these people can expect serious health problems, probably their entire, unnaturally shortened lives. They should receive enough compensation to cover any and all medical expenses, and much more for lost of health, lost of quality of life, and the premature loss of life itself. That alone could be many millions of dollars, EACH. In addition, the companies responsible must cover damage and loss of property, lost income from jobs suspended or lost, lost work time, as well as sums for emotional cost. There are no doubt many losses I haven’t thought of, yet, but the companies which let this happen must expect to pay those bills, and the sooner the better. If victims have to sue for compensation, they should get triple damages. Giant corporations cannot be permitted to get away with failures like this.
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I can’t help thinking, this might be a nice place to live, if you could live there. It certainly is flat! It must have been nice, once. I’ve seen videos of spectacular real estate, in the midwest states, that is selling for a song compared with similar properties back east. Is the the whole region dying, or is it just a few isolated parts? I know what it is like. I live in New England which, due to water power, was once the powerhouse of the world, our manufacturing unsurpassed in scale and quality. Employment was almost 100%, and though work was long and dangerous, for most workers it was not too hard (mostly tending textile machines). They didn’t make much money, but it was better, in most workers’ minds, than the farm. Many New Englanders became rich, and then water power succumbed to steam, and then electric motors, etc. Labor was cheaper elsewhere. My area has declined, relative to what it once was, very much like these towns have. My area is still rich, in beauty and culture, and to some degree, it has recovered economically. We have found other industries. But the glory days are long gone…
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You can’t go more than 50mph on the highway? I always thought they were faster than that! They are, basically, souped up VWs. They have many of the same issues, especially handling, due to the rear-mounted engine. Although quicker than VWs, they weren’t fast, by modern standards. They did make some twin-cam models that were faster, but also hard to tune and fragile, according to my limited knowledge. Always wanted one, but now that I might finally afford one, they are way outside my price range!
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If my kid was bullied, I’d sue the school for a million dollars, maybe 2, maybe 10, depending on all relevant factors. Lucky for them, my kids’ schools, determined by Boston and Forbes Magazines to be among the top 1% of public 1° and 2° schools in the country (actually, they were voted the TOP schools in the country, which is what we came here for), FORBID BULLYING, and several bullies have been suspended, and at least one expelled. There is (virtually) no bullying in those schools.
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The Republican party has become DANGEROUS, to America and American society. Society is highly imperfect, but who thinks Don the Con Trump has a better idea? Asked, recently, what his plan for American healthcare was, he replied that “he has concepts!” “Concepts,” 9 years after he said he would have a “better” plan in 2 weeks? The truth is, Trump has NEVER cared about AMERICA! ALL he ever cared or cares about is, of course, himself.
He cares NOT ONE WHIT for ANYBODY ELSE! And therefore, neither does the Republicrap. ALL it cares about is power. When it has it, if it ever has it again, it WILL destroy us. It must be our first priority to stop Trump in his tracks.
It must come to pass, that in a few weeks, in the November election, that Americans rescue America from the fascists. We will have only ONE OPPORTUNITY. If we blow it, we will suffer for many years, and possibly for generations.
VOTE DEMOCRATIC, DOWN THE TICKET, OR LIVE TO REGRET IT FOREVER.
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I very much support freeing Brittany Griner, but we need to put her plight in perspective. Of course 9 years for a vape cartridge is outrageous! But then we should recall that not long ago, and in some US states to this day, perfectly innocent Americans have been and are going to prison, in some cases for decades to life, for possession of less THC* than Griner possessed… In other words, what Russia is doing to Brittany Griner is no different than what the US has done to millions of our own, within recent memory! Why should she be sprung from prison in Russia, when so many Americans rot or have rotted in AMERICAN prisons for years? Of course I want her out, ASAhumanlyP. I also want all the other victims of the War on Drugs to be released, and/or compensated for their abuse. May I suggest that they be paid $1M for each year spent in prison on ANY (non-violent) cannabis charge? When the American government has payed (or committed to pay) its debt to ALL the victims of the Drug War, THEN and only then should we consider making Brittany Griner a special case.
*THC is one of the safest substances known to man…
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That mug shot, which Trump no doubt practiced for hours, in front of a mirror, is intended to impress the viewer with its intensity, anger, hatred and contempt, for the very essence of America, our institutions, and the rule of law. Furthermore, they are an attempt to intimidate his enemies with those emotions! I say that with this portrait, Trump intends to intimidate EVERYBODY.
His release on personal recognizance, and/or his bail (whichever is in force) should be revoked. He should rot in prison, until his fate is determined by the courts.
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People are always suggesting that somehow, Miatas are "girlie cars," "which mostly girls would want to drive," I suppose that must be because they are pretty, rather than gnarly (or ugly)? But what do we see? All but a small handful (like 2-3) of Miata videos are put up by - men. Virtually all the interest in Miatas is, in fact, by MEN! How can that possibly be a girlie car? The truth is, besides being as pretty as most women (which should appeal to anybody), Miatas are, first and foremost, great drivers' cars, a fact which supersedes all others. NO MAN SHOULD BE ASHAMED TO DRIVE ONE!
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Castro was a dictator, that is true, but he was a LEFTIST dictator, whose programs included extensive benefits for his People. He was brutal with his political enemies, but those enemies were also brutal. Castro was KIND TO THE CUBAN PEOPLE (apart from capitalists, of course, who created a near-slave state before Castro, and whom Castro drove from the island). Castro provided many benefits to his people, including food, shelter, jobs, and universal, high-quality healthcare and education, through college. Cubans today are among the healthiest, best educated people in Central America (and all free of charge to end users).
Trump wants to take whatever benefits Americans get from our government away, and redirect the funds to himself and his cronies. Mark my words, life under Trump would be FAR WORSE than life under Castro ever was.
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As horrific and evil as Hamas’ attacks were, Israel has shown itself to be 10-15X as murderous! The Palestinian civilian population is JUST AS INNOCENT as the Israelis slaughtered by Hamas, yet Israel has slaughtered 15X as many innocents as Hamas! In the beginning, right after the initial atrocities, Israel might have been forgiven for striking back fiercely, but what it has done, and what it is still doing is BEYOND THE PALE! Israel has SQUANDERED any moral superiority it one enjoyed. Israel has shown itself to be as vicious, as murderous, and therefore in the same league of evil as the Nazis. They deserve no more “special status.” In fact after this we might want to blockade Israel until it achieves a balanced, equal TWO-STATE SOLUTION. I say Israel should not be forgiven until it has split Israel in two, and turned over AN EQUAL HALF to Palestine, and guaranteed its security.
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Even experienced drivers sometimes make simple mistakes that get them killed. I am a good example (except I was quite IN-experienced at the time)! I had spent my first winter with a driver’s license driving back and forth to ski areas, on the weekends, and had gotten quite good at controlling skids. The next winter, however, I was on my way to work. It had snowed just a little bit, maybe 1/4”. I wasn’t concerned. I just took off without giving it much thought. That was my first mistake. Coming around a bend, the car unexpectedly started to skid. I thought I knew how to handle it! For some reason, the car kept skidding, right into a big tree! I wasn’t badly hurt, but the car was totaled. I figured out later that in my surprise (I shouldn’t have been surprised), I had failed to take my foot off the gas, while trying to control the skid, making me unable to control it. Lesson learned. I have NOT done that again…
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Immigrants coming across the southern border are NOT increasing the amount of COVID in the US. WHY NOT? Because there is less COVID south of the border than there is in the US, that's why! The US CURRENTLY HAS 5,771,000 active cases. Mexico has 388,000 active cases, a ratio of 14.9:1, i.e. the US has almost 15X as much COVID as Mexico!
But you say the US has a bigger population than Mexico? True, but not that much bigger... The US population is about 332M, while that of Mexico is about 127M, and 127/332 = 0.38, and 0.38 X 14.9 = 5.7. Corrected for population, i.e. per unit of population, the US has approximately 5.7X as much COVID as Mexico! The US would absolutely benefit, in terms of COVID density, if we let as many Mexicans as possible enter the US...
THE STEREOTYPE IS TOTALLY WRONG, THE US HAS DONE THE WORST JOB OF CONTAINING THE COVID VIRUS ON THE PLANET, AND EVEN MEXICO IS WAY AHEAD OF US! Mexico is NOT a bad offender, in terms of runaway COVID infections, especially when compared to the United States!
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This is the stark truth. What would amaze me, if I didn't understand this little film, is that so few Americans seem to be interested... 15 views in 4 days, when this is what is actually happening. Could American not be better off knowing? It's no wonder that the PTB walk all over us. Society could be so much better.
If we cut out the advertisers, the actual, total cost of media would be smaller (we'd be better off buying it by the minute, than by handing it over to advertisers). Better yet, all else being equal, we'd be better off if we nationalized the media - it would be funded by the state, but must of course be totally independent, much like PBS or BBC, but even more independent of corporate influence. I'd opt for even less regulation (of the MSM), except perhaps to ensure veracity. Selling off the media to business (cheap!) has to be one of the stupidest things we ever did.
But I digress. This little film tells the grim, underlying yet most important truth about the media, not to mention society in general.
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"Rationing and waiting periods, and you can't get the healthcare you deserve???" Well, unless you are rich, or at least well-to-do enough to have health insurance, you can't get the healthcare you deserve NOW! Under a SINGLE-PAYER SYSTEM, the kind of system Obamacare wanted to be and tried to be, but was prevented from being by an obstructionist REPUBLICAN Congress, there would be no more "rationing" of healthcare than there is today, the difference being that that "rationing" would affect the rich as much as it dies the poor (as such, there would be very little of that! The rich would make sure of that). The difference would be that under a socialized, single-payer healthcare system, EVERY CITIZEN would get all the healthcare they/we need. Countries which have single payer systems, and that is almost ALL developed ones, pay much less than Americans pay, and enjoy BETTER RESULTS (in terms of results, the US comes in LAST among developed countries)!
We can do better.
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Insurance company profits have doubled? Would that not be a natural occurrence when 20M additional customers are added to those companies' customer lists? That IS in fact a problem with Obamacare, i.e. that the insurance companies benefitted way, way too much, but those added profits are NOT due to bad management on Obama's part, but rather are a natural consequence of the program's success. As for the costs of Obamacare rising, 1) the costs of healthcare are rising faster than any other area, and that has been the case for decades, and 2) that is the main issue with Obamacare, that it is NOT SINGE-PAYER! If it were, we could negotiate for lower prices, something every other country in the world does. This failure should not be attributed to Obama or Obamacare, per se. A HUGE portion of the blame goes to the obstructionist Republican Congress, which drove such a hard bargain, serving their business constituency at the expense of every American, that single-payer was rejected. THAT was the single aspect that would have set Obamacare apart, and made it successful, but of course, the Republicrap wouldn't have that...
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@retomarugg7471 It would be easy, if you came with a fat bank account! Actually, all those people are making a living. I think it is typical in Switzerland, you have to be established. Someone I know here in the US, a Swiss expat, says he could never go back. He says there are so many regulations regarding trades and professions, that you have, practically, to be born into them. He said he could never pass the requirements, the exams, get the permits, etc., to do just about anything in Switzerland.
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I have never had a problem with Hillary Clinton, or with her husband Bill, either, and I fully appreciate their failures. Yes, Bill was a philanderer, but he was also a brilliant scholar, orator and consequently, leader. And dislike of Clinton is driven by a MAGA-like cult of conservatives, whose real gripe is that she is female and liberal. Well, liberals have our own complaints about Hillary, but the disagreement has spilled over into hatred, hatred which I think is totally unjustified. BY AND LARGE, I HAVE NO PROBLEM WITH HC. She is an imperfect human being, but to a fairly high degree, compared with conservatives, she did what liberals would have her do.
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I become attached to my cars (a BMW 128i, a Miata and a 4Runner), in part because I always pick the best brands and models, and in part because most of them are no longer available with MTs…
I have almost committed to driving MTs and nothing else, though I MIGHT possibly get a BMW 3X X-drive 35i (the most reliable BMW engine), which is only available with an automatic. It does at least have the benefit of quite a bit of power and speed (0-60 in ~ 5.3 seconds). Alternatively, I might get an old, mint ‘99-‘00 4Runner with MT, and try to protect it from rust, which gets bad here in MA in about 10 years (the 4Runner is of course my winter car). Unfortunately, they are getting a little too precious to expose to salt and rust much… I have digressed!
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If the Russians are willing to ESCALATE the war, why are we restrained? If we don’t respond in kind, or better, with overwhelming force, Ukraine will be overrun, or driven back, off their own territory. If we don’t give Ukraine enough weapons to drive Putin back, and out of Ukraine, the killing will continue, indefinitely. We need to send Ukraine our best and most sophisticated weapons, as soon as humanly possible. Their war is our war, for if we don’t stop fascism there, we will be fighting it on our doorstep, next.
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Biden was much stronger in this case, a rally the day after a disastrous showing at the debate. Yes, it is age, but age is NOT such a impediment as to be a deal breaker! Age brings with it advantages, such as a depth of experience and knowledge that few others can match. Age brings perspective, both in time and scale. It IMPROVES judgement!
Other societies REVERE age, for its insights, and its judgement. It is well worth the risk that the leader may not survive a full term, but that is not a deal breaker either. If necessary, replacements are lined up! What is most important is a moral compass, to lead the country in a direction that will benefit Mankind and preserve the planetary climate, as much as that is still possible, to serve Mankind, and not exploit us.
The main thing is to know right from wrong. That is something only ONE of the current candidates for POTUS possesses. That is one thing only one of the candidates even cares about. If you think, observe and care, you will know who I mean, and vote for him.
Vote Job Biden and the Democrats, down the ticket. Preserve a woman’s right to choose, the ACA, Social Security and Medicare, freedom in the media, freedom of speech, freedom to petition the government, and to demonstrate to press for action, very likely privacy will be a thing of the past. The right to chose our leadership on a regular basis, by voting will be eliminated. Democracy will be nothing but an entry in Wikipedia.
It will be just Trump and his cronies, doing the most outrageous, corrupt, cruel, violent things, with nothing left to stop them. Mark my words. Under Trump, almost every freedom you ever knew, love and take for granted… will be gone, forever.
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Whatever else can be said about conspiracies, and conspirators, one thing is certain, that a whole slew of federal judges, Supreme Court justices, and federal Congress-persons are engaged in a conspiracy to overthrow the American government, system and way of life, and replace it with a hideous, oppressive, fascist dictatorship! We need to understand that this is in fact a gigantic conspiracy, deliberately promoted by Donald J. Trump! This conspiracy is the most diabolical, insidious attack ever mounted against the United States of America. The crisis is existential. We need to do whatever is necessary to STOP IT.
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@kenhightower897 It has been said that the Taliban could not be so powerful, or have moved so fast in the last week or so, without the support of the Afghan people. Of course there are some who desire a freer, more Western lifestyle, but it's also very likely that many want an AFGHAN lifestyle! And it would be no surprise if the government (US and Afghan) lied to us about that! It has always been my belief that the US has been there for other reasons than "to help the Afghan people," and that in al, likelihood, the ones that were willing to fight on and on, for decades, with the support of the native population, was more likely to be to rightful leadership... I think that it is very likely that the force the US has chosen to champion, the "Afghan government," was always a SECOND (or third) choice of the Afghan people, AFTER the Taliban! In other words, as usual, the US has been supporting the wrong side. We are, in fact, the enemy.
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Looking at what is left of this building, a few things seem apparent. One is that although the construction is of brick, the walls are thin, and high. When they decay, i.e. begin to crumble, they collapse! Another is that the interior construction appears to be wood! Now, that may not be unusual, but in a building this big, I say that is flimsy construction. It LOOKS flimsy! If it was decayed in certain places and ways, and it seems it was, no wonder it collapsed. There are probably MANY other buildings in Davenport (and everywhere) in just such a state of imminent collapse!
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Trump must have had an angiogram, which would be routine for a guy at risk of heart disease (and given all those cheeseburgers…), which COULD tell us that his heart is clean, without blockages… But that is NOT what it is telling you, Donald, is it? If it were, I think you would be the first to tell us all about it! The reason Trump is not sharing his health data must be because IT IS TERRIBLE!
Trump, by his lifestyle alone, is LIKELY to be in VERY BAD HEALTH. HE WILL LIKELY, IF ELECTED, NOT SURVIVE HIS TERM.
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If trump is genuinely favored by a majority of American voters, fine. A very bad decision, which most of us will recognize as such almost immediately. Republicans will impose this on us, we must not forget that. Life under Trump will be very much like life under Nazis, both for “Aryans” (e.g. Yankees, other northern Europeans) and for minorities. First it will be immigrants and a wall, soon it will be Social Security and Medicare. Somewhere in there all of our most precious freedoms will hang in the balance, or more likely simply be eliminated, by decree, by the King…
Vote for Trump, Vote for Disaster.
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Ford makes the manual transmission, on the full-size version of the Bronco, available only on the small engine?! They make it available only on the less desirable engine, which nobody (especially the sporting community, which wants the big engine) wants, and then they say, "see? Nobody wants the manual transmission! We're going to discontinue it!" This, when if it were offered on the big engine, the manual would have been ordered much more often! I for one will never buy one of these, unless it can be had with a good manual (I WILL be in the market for an SUV, when my beloved MT 4Runner rusts out in a few years), but I will also want the big engine...
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Perhaps, but I anticipate that argument being used to justify antisocial behavior, e.g. to justify possession of too many, too powerful guns. Personal freedom comes with personal responsibility, something that many gun owners in particular fail to fully accept.
A good example would be Ethan Crumbley, whose parents bought him a gun. Then they ignored clear indications that their son was dangerously disturbed, while giving him free access to this powerful, semi-automatic handgun (a 9 mm Sig Sauer - it uses a bullet about 1/3" in diameter, which is big) . Within hours, Nathan had slaughtered 4 classmates.
The parents are being charged with involuntary manslaughter, which seems entirely appropriate. Their son is (I would imagine) being charged with first-degree murder.
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One thing must be clear, FOX LIED about Dominion, and it also told the most outrageous lie possible, that the presidential election was illegitimate. If they don’t admit that, publicly, or if they continue to tell these lies, they should be subject to ADDITIONAL LAWSUITS. If they INSIST upon telling such hateful, destructive lies, they should be forced to pay ANOTHER $787M in damages, to the nation. They are, of course, still subject to another long list of similar lawsuits in any case.
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What shocks me is that in 2024, it looks like as many as 50% of all American voters would CHOSE FASCISM… What is the matter with us? Let me give ya’ll MHO. The problem is capitalism, and gross economic inequality. When maybe 1/3 or even 1/2 of all Americans feel trapped by a system which gives all the benefits of government to the rich, and which denies ALL responsibility for the poor (who are poor largely because of the structure of the economy), people will become angry. We feel we are being cheated.
Those people will, like Hamas and the Palestinians, eventually strike back, in the only ways that we can, with strikes and demonstrations. Furthermore, extreme, relentless poverty, while opportunities for escape are rare or non-existent, will drive people to violence… and to electing strong-men, and fascists.
We are headed right down the middle of that road. If we remain on it, WE WILL BE DOOMED.
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BUT, BUT, BUT we need to make a profit! The funny thing though… It used to be “we have a right to make a FAIR profit,” now that has become “we have a right to maximize profits!” That means that when a company finds a way to make a product cheaper, rather than sharing the benefit with their customers, they pocket all of it themselves! Furthermore, when they come across an excuse to raise prices, e.g. (manufactured) gas shortages, they raise them more than necessary, as a group (i.e. they pad their increases) and then when the crisis passes, they lower them less than they raised them. ANYTHING to increase profits, beyond reasonable levels, including thievery, has become routine! And having far fewer companies to be involved, it is much easier for companies to collude, to fix prices, without an explicit conspiracy (there won’t be so many hold-outs). Little doubt, it is common practice in big corporations and small today.
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Those granaries with the semi-oval doors (e.g. at 4:12), which seem to have a frame around them, but no evidence of a door, especially a tight door. I’m thinking, shouldn’t a granary be tight, to keep out pests? The windows seen here, remarkably preserved, would also leak pests! Isn’t that the point, or one of the points of putting corn stores out of reach? I am wondering, could some of them, especially the ones with the oval doorways, be separate rooms, e.g. bed rooms?
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It's a 30 yo car. A lot of 30 yo cars have a lot of bits that don't work! Yes, it is basic, but it was also cheap. A lot of somewhat older cheap cars, e.g. minis and fiats, had very basic dashboards, with few gauges and a shelf for a glove box. The Yugo is not that much different or crumbier than a lot of cheap, crumby cars. The beauty of it is that it IS (or was) cheap, and, of course, that, like a Ferrari or an Aston, you won't see one on every street. I myself drive a car a lot like that, albeit 47 years old and much better engineered, a 1971 Saab 96, and most people think it is "tres cool."
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It doesn’t APPEAR to be that way. They seem to get along better that many in the Family have. I think they ARE happy. Harry’s got a very intelligent, poised, beautiful wife, and Meghan gets to be a peripheral (and perhaps eventually central) member of The Royal Family. I don’t see any signs of discord!
This is just whipped up controversy, to sell advertising. Meghan may eventually want to do some more acting, and Harry MIGHT, EVENTUALLY want to reunite with his family, not that they are totally estranged even now.
Now that Charles is King, it seems to me, he will be more willing than Elizabeth to let his other son back into the fold, if he is ever interested in that, and if he is willing to make some compromises. He’ll always be second in line to his brother for succession, in any case, indeed, by the time that day comes, William will likely be King. It remains to be seen how that would play out.
Or did he renounce that permanently? Is anything about the Royal Family ever really absolute (Camilla is now Queen)? Though tradition is the Royals’ principal ally, they can change pretty much anything they want to change.
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11K miles! That is NOTHING. That car is barely broken in! I bought a BMW 128i with 11K miles, in mint condition for 60% of what it cost new 4 years earlier. It was like I bought a brand new BMW for 40% off! I have a new system… I buy late model German luxury cars (a BMW and a Mercedes so far) 4-5 years old with extremely low mileage. Mileage is a better measure of wear that years, so I get a car that is very young in miles for the price of an older car. So far I have been lucky, as every car so far has been excellent, and nearly trouble-free. It helps that I deliberately choose cars with a reputation for superior reliability (My BMW 128i STRIPPER (6-speed, naturally aspirated I6, iDrive delete) is said to be the most reliable modern BMW, my Mercedes GLK350 is said by every reviewer to be exceedingly reliable, one of the most reliable M-Bs (several YT mechanics say they rarely see them in their shops), and my Miata is, as are most Japanese cars, extremely reliable! Sometimes despite all odds, I have made good decisions.
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Even with over 200K, my 1999 4Runner is solid as a rock, mechanically, but it is getting rusty. I always fixed everything (there hasn’t been much), but recently I have let the cruise control go, and the clutch throwout bearing is making noise. The truck has a few more years (she’s on a frame, and so far, its just the rocker panels), so I’ll fix the clutch (she’s a manual, which makes her special), but that may be the limit… Anything else, and she may get sold (there will be a market, even for a rusty example).
Anyone noticing my personification might as well know, I do love her! She is a great car. It will be sad to let her go.😢
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We should close the border, not with Mexico (although that border also requires regulation) but with states which refuse to undertake measures to reduce and ultimately eliminate COVID-19 cases, e.g. to institute comprehensive testing, vaccination, masking and social distancing, as necessary. Those states would include, but not be limited to Florida and Texas. We could simply post state police at every road and highway crossing, and stop and refuse entry to all vehicles coming from those states. Sure, it would be inconvenient to all, and extremely inconvenient to many, but THAT may be what is necessary to prevent those states from continuously infecting and reinfecting the entire country. THAT may be what is necessary for the rest of us to get this killer virus under control.
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It is said that hunter gatherers, in Europe and North America (and no doubt other areas) needed to work only a few hours a day to make their livings (which consisted mostly of food). Similarly, even more recent farmers worked hard during key seasons, e.g. planting and harvesting, but then they would have the long winter season almost off, doing upkeep and repairs, etc., i.e. not working extremely hard. The point I’m making is that though life before modern times could be grueling, and sometimes deadly, when things were going well, people didn’t work TOO hard, their main deficiencies being technological. Otherwise, people 10K years ago were just like us. They didn’t typically work much harder than, or even as hard as we do.
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Uvalde police declared this to be a “barricaded situation,” rather than a “hostage situation,” DESPITE KNOWING THAT THERE WERE CHILDREN IN THE SAME ROOMS AS THE KILLER, AND THAT THEY WERE STILL ALIVE.
I would like to hear how the Uvalde police explain that! If they don’t have a good explanation, and I doubt very much that they do, they should face dereliction of duty charges. If there is no such thing, there should be!
They should also be sued, for 21 wrongful deaths, and the settlements should be an order of magnitude larger than usual, to compensate for the violation of public trust a regular army of police committed, when they failed to prevent a heavily armed killer from MURDERING many of 19 children and 2 adults - for 77 minutes.
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@UtahZSS You would seriously argue that Donald Trump is “smarter, nicer, more honest and more presidential” than Kamala Harris? Don’t make me laugh!
To say that Donald Trump is a fool would be an understatement! He was so smart, he cheated his way into Wharton. His admission officer admitted he was pressured to let Trump in. In any case, the admission rate was about 40%, which is not very selective), then he cheated on all his wives! Who can possibly argue that Trump is nicer or more honest than Kamala??? We all know he is hateful to an extreme, and that he lies continuously! Trump is a blithering idiot! Who can possibly argue that he is more presidential? HE IS CERTAINLY MORE DICTATORIAL, but NOT presidential! What is more, Harris is NOT psychopathic, TRUMP IS!
Kamala Harris is, without a doubt, the better Man for the job, by something approximating infinity.
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You would seriously argue that Donald Trump is “smarter, nicer, more honest and more presidential” than Kamala Harris? Don’t make me laugh!
To say that Donald Trump is a fool would be an understatement! He was so smart, he cheated his way into Wharton (later he cheated on all his wives)! His admission officer admitted he was pressured, from above, to let Trump in. He said the pressure was due to influence from Fred. In any case, the admission rate was about 40% (which is not very selective; any B student could get in). Who can possibly argue that Trump is nicer or more honest than Kamala??? We all know he is hateful to an extreme, always wanting revenge and retribution, and we KNOW that he lies continuously! Trump is a blithering idiot! Who can possibly argue that he is more presidential? HE IS CERTAINLY MORE DICTATORIAL, but absolutely NOT presidential! What is more, Trump is a psychopath, aka a “MALIGNANT NARCISSIST!” Harris is absolutely SANE.
Kamala Harris is, without any doubt, the better Man for the job, by something approximating infinity.
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I just heard Morning Joe Scarborough claim that anti-Zionism is anti-Semitism! What a stupid misconception! Zionists are responsible for 75 years of grinding daily violence by Israelis against Palestinians. Zionists are responsible for the brutal oppression of 5M Palestinians, which is what FORCED a 10/7 to occur, which in turn precipitated the current GENOCIDE (which, BTW is an extremely disproportionate response, which qualifies it as genocide). So now Joe Scarborough doesn’t think they are responsible?
I am shocked. Scarborough thinks the Palestinians are responsible for their own genocide? So it seems! I have never heard anything so twisted! When the state oppresses you and your entire society, brutally, IT HAS A RIGHT TO DEFEND ITSELF, AND THANKS TO THE US, ISRAEL CANNOT BE TOUCHED BY CONVENTIONAL MEANS. THAT MEANS UNCONVENTIONAL MEANS WERE NECESSARY, HENCE 10/7.
So who doesn’t think that PALESTINE, AS MUCH AS ISRAEL, EVEN MORE THAN ISRAEL, HAS A RIGHT TO DEFEND ITSELF?
Who doesn’t think that PALESTINE HAS A RIGHT TO EXIST?
The Palestinians have been the dominant local population for more than 1000 years. They have far more right to that area than the Israelis, i.e. the Jews, who identify as Israelis and Zionists, who INVADED the area in 1947, immediately drove millions of Palestinians out of Israel and then blocked them from returning home, who have made themselves the enemies of everyone else in the ME.
Israel has been monstrous! If hating Israel and Zionists for the crimes they commit, routinely, against Arabs, and for murdering now 32K innocents is hate speech, then so be it! Israel DESERVES to be hated!
I used to love Israel. I still have a great appreciation for the Jewish people and culture, so long as it rejects Netanyahu and Zionism. HOWEVER, I cannot stand by and approve of the oppression and now GENOCIDE of 5M perfectly innocent men, women and children! I no longer love Israel, in fact, it has FORCED ME TO HATE IT.
Hey, we all loved German culture until Hitler emerged. Then we hated it, until we could divorce it from Naziism. Netanyahu and Trump are the latest expressions of Nazi-like fascism! Hitler would be proud! We will continue to love American culture. We will try to correct its flaws, but will will not reject it. It is still one of the better systems on the planet.
Please excuse my rambling…
Israel must either adopt an equitable 2-state solution, or else, I say, IT HAS ABSOLUTELY NO RIGHT TO EXIST.
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Americans, especially working class Americans, are dissatisfied with their economic lot in life, which is to say they are dissatisfied with capitalism, so what do they do? They demand fascism, which is RADICAL CAPITALISM! Under fascism, the working classes will have no rights whatsoever! Under fascism, they will exist ONLY to serve the state. Under fascism, if they protest, they will be slaughtered… The American working classes and poor have been deceived to believe that Trump is their Savior (as a matter of fact, republicans call him “Orange Jesus” behind his back)! In fact, Trump will make the lives of working Americans dramatically WORSE. Mark my words, 47% of Americans might vote for him, the Electoral College might elect him, and government might turn against all of us in less than a year. We can be sure that Trump would waste no time turning our country into one big concentration camp…
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James Comer thinks that if Kamala Harris owns a gun, she should tell us about it, i.e. what brand, model and caliber! In fact, he wants her to FETISHIZE her gun, like other gun lovers do… by knowing it inside and out. She doesn’t want to PROMOTE gun ownership, either, but she is under no obligation to PROVE that she owns a gun, or cares about it even enough to know its basic specs… If she’s like my wife and cars, she drives them, but doesn’t know the first thing about them. In Kamala’s case she owns a gun, for self-protection, but has no other interest in guns.
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@althomas6496 I agree, it’s about worming their way into our lives so that they can control and exploit us. Some people are strangely obsessed with controlling other people. I, on the other hand, know no other way than to reach consensus (or otherwise just do it my way). We don’t all agree on anything, usually, which makes democracy the key to a free and rich life. It allows us to make decisions beneficial to most of us, and move forward, as a society. That society is, to a very large degree, what makes us human. That society is what is responsible for almost everything humans have accomplished, by way of setting ourselves apart from, and above other animals. Opposable thumbs, big brains and society are what make us what we are.
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The BIG question must be, who will pay for this disaster, the perpetrators? Or the victims? The federal agency responsible for the losses should cover the losses. The FAA should pony up.
It should find the $1Tn or so that they cost travelers, and reimburse them for their losses, including the cost of those flights, and any other commitments travelers made, that could not be met because of cancellations, including connecting flights, ground transportation, hotels and meals lost due to cancellation. Furthermore, it should pay airline customers who were cancelled for REPLACEMENTS for their holiday plans, including NEW airline reservations (and flights), car rentals, hotel reservations, etc. It should ALSO pay the employers of those customers for giving those employees and additions 2-3 weeks of paid vacation (or whatever they were doing), to replace the ones that were lost. FURTHERMORE, the FAA should pay to have all those connections fixed, by the airlines or FAA (or outside contractors) for them. Airline customers should not have to spend days on the phone struggling to cancel or replace bookings that were lost due to FAA malfeasance!
Now that is a LOT of work, and it will cost a LOT of money (~$1Tn), which the US government should supply. If they don’t, they will be guilty of one of the biggest RIP-OFFS in American history.
America’s the greatest, isn’t it???
Or is it???
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Those may be “just 90 minutes,” out of a (long) lifetime of honorable service, and he is no doubt competent most of the time, but what about that 5, 10 or 25% of the time when he’s not fully there? He has declined visibly in the last 3 1/2 years. How much will he decline in the next 4 1/2 years? Take it from a 72 yo, old age tends to accelerate. He may not be competent to serve in a year or two, or possibly, to tell the whole truth, worse. It’s a conundrum if there ever was one! On the one hand, he’s the best qualified candidate ever, with tremendous experience, and he is, with one glaring exception, liberal, and progressive. Furthermore, he is honest, with certain reservations (Israel). Nobody can match him. On the other, he is getting old, and not just chronologically. His body, including his mind is failing him. He should quit while he is ahead, for his own sake as well as ours.
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@ZER0-- It’s an example of Trumpublican/MAGA/fascist deflection (i.e. lying about who committed the violation). It’s the criminal pointing his finger at everyone but himself! It’s Donald Trump every time he opens his mouth. Always a Trump strategy, he’s been doubling down recently, in response to accusations of Trump threatening democracy, being a fascist, being a dictator, and of approving of Project 2025, the fascist manifesto. At every turn, he has been accusing Democrats of being, what he so clearly is! For example, Trump has accused the Biden administration of being a brutal dictator! Who has ever seen that? He accuses Biden of being “deep state,” when all THAT means is that Biden is LIBERAL, i.e. ANTI-FASCIST, i.e. ANTI-TRUMP! I swear, if Trump gets in, NO ONE WILL DARE TO TELL THE TRUTH ABOUT HIM.
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Trump has threatened to create a NIGHTMARE of America, yet nearly half of all Americans still support him? It is difficult to believe! If America and democracy survive this ATTACK FROM WITHIN, we need to institute strict safeguards against anything resembling fascism. The Republicans have been warning us of the threat of communism for more than a century, when the REAL THREAT was THEM, THE FASCISTS! I ALWAYS held that position, though I say both extremes are problematic. We need to stick to the middle, which would be an equitable blend of capitalism and socialism, one which would take care of both capitalists and Labor, without bias, the benefits of which would be adequate to serve needs, and universal across society.
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I have a 10yo BMW, a 128i coupe, which I’ve owned for 6 years and 50K miles (now at 60 K), and apart from a couple of expected minor issues (oil filler housing gasket and some ignition coils), she has been trouble-free.
Of course I have an exceptionally reliable model. I’m her 2nd owner, the first having been an older couple in SoCal, who special ordered the car. She is a “stripper,” i.e. ordered without any options except metallic paint (deep blue), leather seats (parchment) and wheels (18”). She is iDrive-delete, and she has the 6-speed manual transmission. On top of all that, she has the in-line 3.0L 6 (N52) that is used in many BMWs, which is exceptionally reliable (for a BMW).
BMW has a bad reputation for reliability, but so far, in 50K miles, mine has been pretty reliable, and inexpensive to own. BMWs being extremely good cars from the perspectives of performance and luxury, a lot of people find them to be well worth the trouble and cost.
The thing about BMWs is that if well cared for, they CAN last a long time, without major issues.
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I have ALWAYS, for about 10-12 years at least, believed that. I had a Miata for 11 years, but felt I needed something more practical, so I got a GREAT old Toyota 4Runner (sold the ‘94 Miata). She has 4WD of course, buy also a 5-speed transmission, rear differential lock, etc. With the MT, I feel like I’m driving a sports car every minute! My sports cars (a 2013 BMW 128i and a 1997 Mazda Miata) are faster and handle better, but within its limits, the 4Runner is FINE! I must say, I enjoy driving the 4Runner about as much as I enjoy the other cars. If I had to choose just one of them to keep forever, it might be the 4Runner…
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It seems Mazda has gone a little nuts, adding all these weird electronic functions, none of which we need and few which we want. That is, to me, consistent with the way-too-elaborate bodywork, especially the folding hardtop. Mazda has moved away from its "simple, 2-seat roadster" concept, trying to make it compete with much more expensive cars, but if you ask me, it misses the mark - by at least 1/2 mile. I have owned a 2nd gen. Miata for 11years, loved it, and plan to get another, but it won't be one of these (it will be a mint 1st or 2nd gen model).
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If each count of illegal accounting can bring up to 4 years in prison? Well, why should Trump get less? That would be 34x 4 = 136 years… which seems about right! His lackey Michal Cohen got 3 years, already served. WHY SHOULD THE RING-LEADER GET LESS? I say, 4 years, the amount he could get for ONE violation would be enough, especially if it was without possibility of parole. That would serve MY purpose, which would (probably) serve to keep him out of the White House. IT IS CERTAINLY NOT MORE THAN HE DESERVES! What has he done to deserve less? How about threatening everybody associated with his trial, and disrupting and showing contempt for the Court? Trump’s BEHAVIOR warrants a long prison term. Like I was saying, 4 years hard time might be enough, but then just as reasonably, 136 wouldn’t be too many.
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@neilsergener3821 In a war, where one’s very existence hangs in the balance, one’s carbon footprint is not a factor. That said, conflicts like this need to be avoided. As soon as possible, Putin should be seized, arrested and locked up. Except for the fact that the US always abuses its power, i.e. takes out the wrong parties, I’d say take ‘em out! We have burgeoning fascism in the world today? We need a burgeoning ANTI-FASCIST MOVEMENT, on the order of the Civil Rights and Environmental Movements. Fascism is right up there with Global Warming, Climate Change, racism and overpopulation as leading causes of the degradation and destruction of human society. It will be essential that we survive each and all of these, if we want to survive at all.
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I have a ‘97 M-edition, and I love her! She had 40K on her clock 3 years ago, now 55K, and I don’t drive her in winter! She is, of course, everything I really want in a car. I remember when I got my first, a black ’94 with roll-up windows (drove her 120K miles), 22 years ago now. I was in heaven for a solid 6 mos., and have been elevated ever since! I had her 11 years, then I went 8 years without one, before I got the ‘97. I don’t intend to be without a Miata/MX-5 ever again! I have, BTW, driven the Million Dollar Highway (which I think you’re on here) as well as the California Coast Highway (and quite a few others!) in one Miata or the other!
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That’s right, we shouldn’t let ANYONE become a cop! Seriously, what I saw, especially in high school, was that all the bullies became cops. As a matter of fact, all of the very worst elements, including misogynists, homophobes, fascists and those with criminal tendencies and even juvenile records, became cops… There is something seriously wrong with a society that routinely hires thugs to be police! Bullies and thugs should have no place in society. Far from becoming police, society would be better off if they were in prison, where, it might be said, they belong.
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Yes, absolutely. He has a depth of experience and knowledge that is unmatched, by anybody. Yes, his performance in the spotlight was poor, but everyone has a bad day. Biden had a bad day, but he recovered almost instantly. His next speech was by “an entirely different guy.” In his rally the next day, he was sharp as a tack. That cannot be faked. Furthermore, he told the truth, and even more importantly, he showed a dedication to serving the American people which Don the Con cannot imagine, much less match.
I cannot believe that my fellow Americans might chose Hitler over an honest man, and pitch all Americans INTO THE DARK ABYSS…
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Nobody gets anything for free. Under a socially responsible government, we pay for everything via our taxes (taxes go up under socialism, right?). The BIG difference is that under socialism, we get something for our tax dollars, including more economic equality. In fact, we get goods and services for 1/2 or less of what we pay now. THAT is what the capitalists hate most, that organized, via a socialially responsible state, the government (i.e. the people) negotiates much better prices than we all pay individually. That would sharply reduce the profits of capitalists and their rich investors. The benefit goes to ALL OF US! Which is selfish, the one who wants to keep the most for himself, or the one who wants that wealth to be distributed more evenly, which is to say more fairly, amongst us all? I happen to think that's a no-brainer.
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Oooo! 27K miles? Mine is white, and has almost 200K on the clock (bought her with 89K, for a great price during a gas crisis), but is still very reliable. It is of course 4WD and MT (5-speed), and I LOVE IT! I'd love to buy this one (though I would need to drive it in Winter, something I would not do with such a perfect, low mileage specimen)! The top rear spoiler, BTW, is not for downforce of course, rather, it's to direct a sheet of air along the rear glass, to prevent dirt from collecting.
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WHAT controversy? Trump ASSERTS that he “will be a dictator from day one.” He talks about it A LOT! Any denial from Trump is RIDICULOUS! Castro IN FACT started, and always did what he did for the benefit of his people. Trump will do what he does for HIS OWN benefit, only! Castro was brutal with his enemies, but he was kind to his people. TRUMP WOULD BE EVEN MORE BRUTAL (and TRUMP’S enemies are honest, innocent Democrats; when did Trump EVER honestly name a single crime we have, supposedly, committed)? Cuba does in fact have among the best healthcare and educational systems in the West, right below the American systems, for 1/10 the cost, available free of charge to all Cuban citizens… How does the US compare? POORLY, that is how! Castro was a BENEVOLENT dictator. Cuba is a benevolent dictatorship. CUBA IS MUCH IMPROVED, FOR MOST CUBANS, UNDER THE CASTROS!
TRUMP WOULD BE MUCH, MUCH WORSE! Trump would be INFINITELY WORSE!
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Trump did a terrible, terrible job. Among other things, he killed several hundreds of thousands of Americans than necessary, of COVID, by promoting quack cures, and by suppressing the vaccine. He separated thousands of little children from their parents, without keeping records, so hundreds or more never saw their parents ever again. He befriended all of America’s worst enemies, and insulted all our best friends! Trump never did ANYTHING for the American people, except the rich, whom received TRILLIONS in tax cuts, trillions that went right on the national debt. The list goes on, almost to infinity!
In the process, Trump has already done dire damage to America’s institutions, and promises to do much more.
Trump will DESTROY AMERICA if he is re-elected.
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I saw that video, and believe me, as an acrophobe, it wasn’t any scarier than any of your other videos! Whenever I feel like I’m just a few feet from an edge, I get scared! It all stems, I think, from a fall I once took, when a scaffold collapsed, when I was 15. It was visceral! a few months after the accident, I couldn’t climb 4’ up a ladder without shaking uncontrollably! I have gotten better, go up in tall buildings, fly in airplanes, and even rappel over 150’ cliffs, but I am STILL afraid of heights…
Regarding that climb, the one that was “demonized,” it seemed to me to be safer, much safer, than walking just a foot or two away from oblivion… You were locked in. As long as you stuck to your program, falling was almost impossible.
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That brings me back! I live in the same neck ‘o the woods as you do, now, but I used to live in Pasadena, and I used to LOVE taking my 1994 NA up into the San Gabriels! There are almost UNLIMITED TWISTIES up there! Yup, had her for 11 years out there, drove her 120K miles. Now, 11 years later (2 years ago, when I was on my death bed), I bought another one, a ‘97 M-edition in metallic green and tan leather, mint with 40K on the clock, and I’ve been driving her ever since (never in winter). I’m looking forward to at least another 11 years, this time in New England!
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Trump NEEDS to spend more money on lawyers than anyone else! Trump is perhaps the worst criminal ever to WALK in Washington, DC, much less occupy the WH! And his followers? They are showing themselves to be the largest, most corrupt cohort of criminals ever to infiltrate American government!
Trump has at least 5 serous indictments coming: 1) the Stormy Daniels case (done), 2) the Raffensperger phone call, 3), possession of presidential as well as top secret documents, 4) various financial frauds, and 5) inciting an insurrection, crimes some of which he has practically admitted to, crimes which anyone who is objective knows he committed.
All that is really left are the formal court proceedings! Yet 80% of the Republican Party defends, supports and follows him. Incredible!
WHAT DOES THAT TELL US ABOUT THEM???
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I’ve been noticing, when Hamas is effective, it is described as vicious, whereas when Israel is vicious, it is described as effective! We think the videos of Hamas fighters taking civilian hostages as vicious, but what should we think Israel is, when it blows the limbs off of hundreds and eventually thousands of innocent men, women and children? Tell a Palestinian who has had his legs blown off, and his family reduced to blood and gore, by Israel, that what Hamas did is “obscene.” What Israel has done is arguably WORSE.
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What they’re talking about here is vigilante “justice,” in which vigilante “sheriffs” would go out, kidnap designated “enemies,” and somehow “administer justice,” apparently, as they see fit. What we’re talking about here is the premeditation of the cold-blooded murder of hundreds of “traitors,” by which is meant liberals, but much more than that, enemies of Trump.
To elect Donald Trump would certainly be the biggest mistake we have ever made, or could make.
If it comes to pass, it might as well be THE END.
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There is nothing wrong with the building, apart from being pretty ugly to begin with, but (or so) I think it should be taken down, and replaced with something BETTER. The people of Uvalde should not have to pay for it! THEY did not cause or let this tragedy happen. TEXAS, with its lax gun laws, and COWARDLY COPS are responsible. The state of Texas should pick up most of the tab, and the Uvalde Police Department should provide the rest of the funding, the latter by selling off police property, or perhaps out of the Uvalde Police retirement fund. The bottom line is that the people of Uvalde deserve a new, better grade school, and they should NOT be expected to pay for it.
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This is the old "he said, she said" argument, i.e. that "the opposite" (of whatever the left proposes) is true!
The government never takes care of anyone, per se, in fact, under a socialized government, it is WE who take care of ourselves, via our representative, the government. It is WE who generate our OWN entitlements, via our taxes, with our government providing the organization, at much lower cost than if we each buy our own services on the open market. OF COURSE we would be grateful for a system like that!
Of course the capitalists would resist a system like that, which delivers twice as much goods and services for our hard earned incomes as we can get now on our own! But their argument hinges on one thing, which is that they want to continue to have maximum profits rolling into THEIR coffers. The problem with socialism, from the capitalists' perspective, is that it MINIMIZES their profits! The problem is, to capitalists, that it saves consumers a ton of money, which would otherwise have gone to THEM!!!
That is what is behind capitalist arguments like these! The desire to keep a maximum amount of profits, commonly far beyond what used to be considered a fair profit, is what is truly selfish, NOT wanting for profits to be more evenly distributed, i.e. SHARED amongst us all...
This argument, like most capitalists arguments, is sophistry. It twists the simple truth into a pretzel to try to undermine the arguments of the left... It should be clear to anyone that it is capitalists taking as much as possible of the production of the economy FOR THEMSELVES, NOT distributing it more evenly AMONGST US ALL, which is selfish...
Socialists are NOT in fact the selfish ones... the CAPITALISTS are CLEARLY the selfish ones.
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I have a GENUINE latter-day M car, a 2013 BMW 128i coupe. My car is a true spiritual descendent of the original M3. It is about the same size as the original M3, and it has a naturally aspirated 3L 6, bigger than the 2.3-2.5L I4 found in the original M3. Mine is also a stripper, without iDrive, in fact the only options it has are metallic paint, leather interior and 18” wheels. Mine also has the 6-speed MT, which was standard. The 128i is faster than the original M3, handles at least as well, and it is just as beautiful. For the last 6 years, I have been driving a car that is very much like an early M3 (it is also probably the most reliable BMW ever built). Such a great car, I love it!
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I hate to say ANYTHING to defend Don the Con/Orange Jesus, but I suspect that when Trump mixes people up, e.g. Nancy Pelozi with Nikki Haley, it is not actually the people he mixes up, but the names. And it is not that he doesn’t know their names, either. I hate to report that I am suffering from a similar syndrome, as I have for most of my life. When I seek to remember a name, spontaneously, it is almost like picking one at random! I often, when I am not thinking about it much, come out with the wrong name… It is not crucial, but it can be embarrassing. Trump’s problems may be much more serious than mine!
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Socialism is in fact the common sharing of both costs and benefits. The big difference between capitalism and socialism is that under capitalism, we pay 35% of our incomes in taxes, and get nothing for them (except SD and Madicare, our most social programs), while under socialism we pay 50% in taxes, and get good versions of healthcare, education, childcare and retirement incomes. In fact, due to bargaining clout and economies of scale, the state can deliver essential goods and services much more cheaply than we can as individuals through the commercial system. That is The American People organizing for our own benefit... which is a perfectly reasonable, in fact highly desireable development. The People should and do want more economic equality, and we want more economic security. Social responsibility can deliver.
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That’s a fact, and Trump plays his part perfectly. I predict that if Trump wins, or steals the WH in November, it will be like the screen going black… THAT will be the end of the Great American Experiment, THE END of democracy, and the beginning of a very dark period, when government goons will come to your house… and do whatever they want. In fact, a period when the government has gone haywire, and is committing all kinds of atrocities, everywhere. There will be chaos. It will be like war, and then, very likely, it will evolve into full-blown war. In any case, IF TRUMP REGAINS POWER, THAT WILL BE THE END OF AMERICA.
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The cost to reimburse passengers, whose flights have been cancelled because of Southwest’s f-ups, could come to BILLIONS of dollars. If MY recent Roman vacation had been cancelled, for example, I would want at least $10K in lost time, travel, connections, car rental, and hotels, etc., and I would want THEM to replace all my connections and reservations, at times that are convenient to ME. That was a lot of work, so I should not have to do it myself! Furthermore, I would want SW to purchase an ADDITIONAL 2 WEEKS OF VACATION TIME FROM MY EMPLOYER, to replace the vacation time they wasted. That would be AT LEAST another $10K, probably more, because they would have to pay company expenses I didn’t personally pay for the vacation, in the first place.
Furthermore, they need to do this in a timely manner. I have a right to expect that if I had a vacation planned for April, I should get it replaced in April! Southwest should pay passengers for further delays, to the tune of perhaps $1K/day. That is what that time was worth to me, so that is what SW should pay me for further delays.
If they can’t do that, they should have no right to exist.
They should be nationalized, and ownership of that airline should go to The People.
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What I find most shocking is that “the abuse went on for decades.” How is that possible? Did the authorities not have any clues to what was (allegedly) going on? Nobody ever reported anything unusual? The thing is, underage sex actors, some hired, others marginally voluntary, and still others coerced, were (allegedly) being exploited, FOR DECADES! Some of it might have been perfectly legal, but if the charges hold up, much of what Combs is accused of is illegal, and in many minds highly unethical or immoral. What Combs is accused of is some kinds of sexual violence, practiced on a large scale over a long period of time. Combs is NOT a nice man. He probably, and rightly has decades in prison ahead of him...
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He’s certainly right about “the insiders” being the biggest threat. He wants to suggest that that threat comes from the Democrats, but how much sense does that make? Democrats are the protectors of democracy, and the status-quo in general, the status quo being, to a very large degree, the essence of America. Democrats are the protectors of traditional America, which may not be perfect, but it is still one of the best systems on the planet (the only better ones being the more socialized democracies, e.g. Sweden, Denmark, New Zealand and Australia, and Europe in general to some degree). Of course all critical thinkers know that the real threat is from Trump and the MAGA fascists.
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“What they do (referring to Democrats) is misinformation and disinformation, and they keep saying he’s (referring to trump) a threat to democracy..” WHO DOES NOT KNOW, FROM YEARS OF THREATS AGAINST IT, MOST RECORDED ON VIDEO, THAT IT IS TRUMP WHO IS THE THREAT TO DEMOCRACY? Trump has said over and over that he wants to be a dictator. Dictators are anti-democratic! He has said over and over, in so many words, that he wants to be a dictator, and EVERYTHING he says sounds exactly like dictators from the past! TRUMP IS DEFLECTING, BIG TIME!
It is HE, MAGAs and Republicans who are the TRUE threats to democracy…
If you don’t believe me, vote for Trump, and watch America go to @#$& in a hand basket.
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Yeah, but what if there is a meltdown? Industry experts claim the projected lifespan of a nuclear reactor to be 80 years. Will an old reactor be as reliable as a new one? Will the reactors of the future be better maintained than current ones, which have failed several times, at far less than 80yoa? Who would want to live next to an 80yo reactor?
My main message is that if we add the cost of damage done by one, single nuclear meltdown, to the other costs, I believe, nuclear energy is much too expensive to be viable! If we add the cost of replacing as much as 100 square miles of property, buildings, homes, businesses and business losses, infrastructure, healthcare costs due to radiation exposure, sums for the disruption of lives and for emotional damage to the engineering and production costs, IN FULL, as responsibility dictates, NUCLEAR ENERGY IS MUCH TOO EXPENSIVE!
So how do the energy companies do it??? SIMPLE, IN THE EVENT OF A MELTDOWN, THEY LEAVE THE PEOPLE HOLDING THE BAG!
That’s right, the nuclear industry DOES NOT CARRY NEARLY ENOUGH INSURANCE to cover the cost of damage they will definitely do, at some point in the future!!! See, the actual cost of a meltdown is not a part of their equation! They intend, in the event of a meltdown, to <u>shift the costs of recovery onto the victims</u>… It’s the old “externalize costs” trick, where they make the people pay their industrial costs!
Does that sound viable to you?
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2000 is the last year the manual transmission was produced, mine, with the manual, is a '99, and I LOVE it. She has 195K on the clock, and still runs great! My 4Runner also has 4WD of course, which is absolutely unstoppable (she drives up a 30 degree incline through a foot of snow - no problem). I have a Mazda Miata as well, and for driving, I like my 4Runner almost as much... The car came from Las Vegas, so it was rust-free when I got it, but since I live in MA now, the bumpers are rusting out. I hope to find a way to replace those, and then to repair future rust, because I can't quite imagine being without her. If I can get past the rust problem, I would expect her to last another 100K miles, which will be longer than I need her for... If she DOES rust out, I will swap the manual transmission parts out to an automatic car... I think that would be straightforward.
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There should be no tourists in Lahaina, and rebuilding should be done with caution, to prevent exploitation, but residents DO want to rebuild, correct? And the Island depends upon tourism for much of its economy, no? Do not MOST Hawaiians WANT business to return to normal? Do not survivors WANT Lahaina to be rebuilt, ASAP??? Do they not want to return to their lives? I say the key will be government support, by which I mean financial support, most of which should be in the form of grants, enough to rebuild houses. Loans should be provided to rebuild businesses, and funding should also be provided to rebuild and modernize infrastructure. Basically, the government should provide enough assistance to put Lahaina back on the map, to restore it to something close to what it was. Why should the government do so much? I say, because it FAILED the residents of that community. It needs to make amends, with the survivors. The least it can do is rebuild the homes that were lost.
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GoComics, which is, apparently, part of Twitter, has been down at least since last night, and it is STILL down! It has NEVER been down this long! That website carries almost ALL the comic strips published in the US, exclusively on the internet, and today NOBODY IS GETTING THEIR MORNING COMICS! This must be the first disastrous, obvious evidence that Musk is destroying Twitter, and taking half the internet with him! C’mon Elon! Get your * together, or get out.
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The “huge missiles,” if any, need to be hidden somewhere. Does it HAVE to be in designated locations, easily destroyed? Israel’s enemies have legitimate complaints, that have gone unanswered, and limited options. We demonize “the enemy” (and others), for doing exactly what we might do in similar circumstances. We need to be reasonable. Israel is NOT indisputable, or necessarily supportable, either. In this case, it seems to me, Israel is totally WRONG.
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“Worst people on Earth” is apt if you mean Republicans (the bad 85%, at least, though all are complicit). They want to destroy everything we have built for 400 years, and replace it with nothing that they dare to name, explain or describe! They want to replace democracy with fascism, with their appointed fascist dictator, installed for life! Without democracy, there will be no way back. There will be no justice. There will be no freedom. The American and indeed world governments will become a big pump, designed specifically and even openly to pump money up, from the bottom, to the top. If you don’t like it, too bad! They will know how to handle dissidents. That’s what “the worst people on Earth” want for us.
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Whose pocket should we expect the PRIVATE PROFITS (from privatization) to come out of?
The fact of the matter is that PUBLIC institutions have the same budgets and expenses that private institutions have, with one, or a couple of big differences. One is that unlike public institutions, private ones pay taxes. Another is that private institutions want to make profits. Furthermore, employees of profit-making institutions want to make more money than employees of public ones…
So, where should we suppose those additional funds will come from? Should they come out of the product (e.g. in the case of public schools, out of our children’s educations)? Or should they come out of increased costs for those products? See, PRIVATE EDUCATION CANNOT TO A BETTER JOB THAN PUBLIC EDUCATION, WITHOUT EITHER SHORT CHANGING OUR CHILDREN, OR JACKING UP THE COST.
That is a fact, The privatization of public institutions, especially schools, is NOTHING but a cynical effort to turn public services into gigantic cash cows - for private interests.
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I know little about the stock market, but I have made some observations. One is that the market always comes back, eventually, and usually within 2-3 years. Another is, buy when everyone else is selling, and stock prices low. It may be difficult to know when the bottom has been hit, but most investments made after a crash will rise again… and when they return to pre-crash values, they will be very profitable. So the key is to 1) make good investments, 2) buy when everyone else is selling, and prices low, and 3) hold on for dear life! It will always seem that the market will never recover, but it always does, and if one’s investments were wise (e.g. in a growing field, or diversified), they will recover, and probably be worth far more than was paid for them. One other key: don’t buy stocks in companies likely to fail in a downswing…
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Biden didn’t create this. YOU are a GD LIAR. YOU try to regulate the airline industry! YOU try to do what needs to be done! The truth is, profits are SUCH an important element in every American business, that scrimping on costs like their computer systems is ROUTINE! OTHER nations have national systems, which do all the routine replacements and upgrades REGARDLESS OF COST, out of government revenues, so that those systems are much more reliable.
The American refusal to permit the government to own essential utilities is what is at the bottom of the present crisis (it’s still a crisis until everyone affected is PAID). Biden didn’t create the current problem. It is much bigger than anyone knew. If the FAA is found to be responsible for this crash, and these costs, THE GOVERNMENT SHOULD PAY. THE VICTIMS SHOULD NOT BE FORCED TO BEAR THE COSTS!
It may not be Biden’s fault that we are in this mess, but he IS IN FACT responsible for fixing it, the only caveat being that capitalism is so deeply entrenched in the US that meaningful upgrades, to the system, may be impossible. It may be NECESSARY to NATIONALIZE the airlines industry to affect the necessary changes.
THAT might be the best thing that ever happened to American air transportation, if it ever happens.
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It’s OK. We can be virtually positive that whatever happened, the pigs are to blame. They are almost ALWAYS cowardly, reckless, overly aggressive, dishonest, violent and murderous! I don’t know where we find so many SCUM OF THE EARTH, but we need to look elsewhere! We need to fire the entire lot, and rehire only those who can pass rigorous psychological testing, to establish that they are cool, calm and collected, and can be trusted in public with deadly weapons. Those who can’t pass the test should be replaced by candidates who CAN. We need a totally new police force, one that puts our lives ahead of theirs.
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We never get tired of watching you explore in our place. Many of us live nowhere near where you are exploring, so if we ever get there first hand, it is rare. Your videos get us out there almost every weekend! Then of course some of us can’t hike much any more, so your videos are IT! But they are good. Sometimes I think, “a hundred hikers won’t have to go there, causing wear and tear on the sites.” I am glad you have exactly the right attitude, that “those remains have survived 7000-1000 years, and are invaluable to our understanding; you don’t want to destroy or damage them.” It is wonderful to peek into the lives of people who lived a millennium ago, people who lived distinctly different lives from ours, and who yet we know, were very much like us.
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@Angel24112411 Who is “they,” and what do you mean “using it on us?” Normally, I should think, it will not be “used on” anybody. It is, supposedly, a tool, to be used to get work done. If it gets “used on us,” what we have to fear most is that it will eventually turn itself on us, i.e. no one will turn it against us, rather, it will turn itself against us, as it discovers how weak we truly are…
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@ZONEPRESSLLC It is absolutely our business, because Ukraine is only the beginning, like Poland was in the 1930s. If we don’t nip fascism in the bud, next thing we know, it will be beating down OUR doors. It is already happening. We need to fight anti-democratic forces wherever we find them, including Ukraine (including internally, within the US), or else very soon, they will invade the US, and we will be fighting this war on AMERICAN soil. Don’t think that is possible? If so, you are living in the 19th century! The planet has gotten much smaller. The US mainland is now vulnerable. We must NOT let fascism get out of hand. We need to stop Putin while we can, in Ukraine.
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You may be right. That’s certainly what SEEMS to be the case! The US CANNOT DEFEAT RUSSIA, IF WE REFUSE TO PROVOKE HIM! Don’t forget, Putin’s nuclear threats are probably empty, but if we submit to them, we can NEVER defeat him. Don’t forget that WE could easily make the same threats against HIM. HIS life, and the lives of all Russians ALSO hang in the balance. If we let Putin blackmail us, with nuclear threats, HE WILL OWN US. I hate to take the risk that Putin is crazy enough to use nuclear weapons, but if we don’t, HE WILL ALWAYS DOMINATE US. We must NOT fear provoking him. We MUST provoke him! We MUST call his bluff, and drive him out of Ukraine.
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A little bit angry? What is the matter with this jerk? Trump’s PACKED SCOTUS has ALREADY ripped the hearts out of MILLIONS of American college students (and women, and immigrants, etc.), many of whom have loans they will NEVER be able to pay off!
The solution was NEVER to LEND students the exorbitant sums colleges charge today, sums which those educations and the economy CANNOT SUPPORT! The solution, which is what every other developed nation on Earth does, is TO PROVIDE PUBLIC HIGHER EDUCATION FREE OF CHARGE TO QUALIFYING STUDENTS.
THOSE students can then participate fully in the economy, from the day they graduate! Otherwise, they are CRIPPLED, economically, sometimes for a lifetime! The United States NEEDS to make education, including higher education, FREE OF CHARGE to the end user.
ONLY THEN will the US EVER stand tall among the nations of the world. Only then will the US be able to compete effectively…
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Of course he incited insurrection. We all saw most of it, televised, with our own eyes, live! THAT IS (almost) PROOF ENOUGH! Any complex, convoluted alternative explanation is a contrived lie, aka sophistry. Such arguments are intended not so much to make sense (which they have difficulty doing) as to confuse and overwhelm the opposition. Any objective, critical observer knows that Trump planned, incited, watched, celebrated and failed (i.e. chose not) to quell an insurrection, before and on 1/6/2021. How could he think he could get away with that crime? Recall, he is psychopathic billionaire. He has always gotten what he wanted, at the snap of his tiny fingers! He is, in other words, spoiled rotten! He thinks he is much smarter than anybody else! It should our business to show him he’s not.
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Maloney said he did it, and I paraphrase, "not for racial reasons, but because Johnson's hair was 'not natural.'" REALLY??? Well, did he disqualify all those whities with crew cuts? THEY are not natural, either (it does NOT grow that way, does it?)! What he did is to SPECIFICALLY target the kind of hair BLACK people wear, and use his power to violate it. In fact, his act was ABSOLUTELY RACIST. Maloney HAS to be fired, and banned from sports, and putting him in prison for a few months would not be beyond the pale, either.
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Joy is much more pleasant than depression, but joy cannot be the entire point. The reason we feel joy is that at long last, there is a way off the path to oppression, fascism and destruction! There is a path forward to a positive, progressive society! There is a great deal of joy in that! But joy is not the point, which is a rich, functional, equitable society which provides for citizens’ needs! A society which has a big, broad, beautiful path forward, for ALL Americans! We are happy because life looks promising again!
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Everybody has “brain malfunctions” (or am I the only one?), most of which are fleeting and funny, and certainly not a serious issue. I must admit, however, that Trumpolini is having a lot of them! Reports are that Trump’s bathroom, full of top secret documents, was not locked! Trump may be 3 years younger than Biden, chronologically, but Biden has lived a healthy lifestyle his entire life; Trump has NOT! Biden’s circulatory system is, without doubt, much healthier than Trump’s! Furthermore, Biden is currently conducting the affairs of the state, smoothly and effectively, without complaint from anybody!
The truth is, virtually everything Trump and his allies are saying is a bald-faced lie! The GOP has been doing this for a long time. They broadcast blatant lies in the full knowledge that though many will reject them, just as many will take them in without question… It’s a matter of flinging * at a wall to see what sticks. In America, A LOT STICKS. And that is a big part of the Republican game plan. Sow confusion…
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The authorities should be reprimanded (charged, sued) for misleading the public that this incident was not dangerous! The railroad and chemical companies should be held responsible first, and after their resources are exhausted, i.e. after they have been sold, and the purchase price distributed to victims), the taxpayer will have to take over. Responsibility must mean paying for EVERYTHING, at high market prices, i.e. damaged or destroyed property, for all medical expenses, lost income, lost jobs, lost time, legal expenses, long term healthcare costs for victims, pain and suffering and no doubt a whole poop load of other costs and expenses I am not thinking of at the moment. If it comes to $100Bn, those companies should be made to pay. They make huge profits, while putting the public at risk. When they fail to protect the public, from THEIR private, profit-making activities, they must PAY. NOBODY should feel abused when they have finished paying.
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That’s a lie. NOBODY is thinking that about Kamala. SHE is the best candidate we have ever had. Period. She will, if the MAGAs can be suppressed, do great things. SHE will bring us bright and shining into the 21st century; Trump would scrap all the progress of the 20th century, and drag us back into the dark ages! Harris will BUILD on the many accomplishments of the past; Trump will destroy all that, wholesale, and replace it with HIS UGLY, UNDERDEVELOPED, INSINCERE, DYSFUNCTIONAL FASCIST VISION!
I don’t think ANYONE actually wants that.
Americans who want sanity in their government will vote Straight Democratic in November. We need your votes down the ballot, so that we can control the Legislature, so that we can get work done. If the MAGAs are permitted to sabotage good work, purely for political reasons (i.e. to destroy us, their opposition), we will be lost… Please, do the cautious, rational thing.
If you love America, Vote Democratic in November.
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I take my 128i to the dealer for a $200 job, max, I needed an ignition coil replaced. I told them to just do that, nothing else. I was very ill at the time, so I was in no condition to argue, but when I got the bill, it was $1000! Now, I’m no stranger to $1000+ bills, but there ought to be a reason for it! I don’t even know what the charges were for, because I let my wife do the transaction, because I was barely strong enough to stand, but I DO know that coils cost about $125 each and take a few minutes to install… The car didn’t need anything else.
I have, BTW, recovered completely.
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Everyone has jokes about BMW repair costs, but mine has been pretty good. I have a 2013 128i, with a 6-speed, iDrive delete and only 3 options, 18” wheels, metallic paint and leather. I bought her with 11K on her clock, for a $14K discount, i.e. for $22.75K. In 54K miles, she has required a set of coils, and additional coil, an oil filler housing gasket, tires, oil changes (every 5K miles), 60K service, changing transmission and transaxle fluids every 60K, maybe a few other minor items, and that’s all so far. The N51 SULEV motor (similar to an N52) is among the most reliable BMW has ever built. Given her MT, big engine (the commonest BMW engine) and her small size, she is very sporty! In fact, the 128i is the fastest naturally aspirated BMW ever built (0-60 in 5.7 secs.), apart from the V-8s! It is regarded by many as the spiritual successor to the original M-car. I love mine!
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Sorry, but “Does the Miata still HAVE the Magic of the Original?” I never thought so. I own a 1997 M-edition, NA, which I consider the pure Miata (I would prefer a ‘94, one of which I owned for 11 years). I have always thought the NDs were a little over-the-top, i.e. trying too hard to look like a supercar… But I WOULD have to admit that to drive (I’ve never driven one), the newer Miatas/MX-5s must be excellent. Everybody says so! Personally, I prefer the NA-NCs, in appearance, which still preserve the simple roundedness of the Lotus Elan it was based upon. If I could have a second one, it would probably be an NC, possibly with the folding metal top. There’s nothing else like it!
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That school owes that kid a high school education, ideally without the student losing one minute of time (i.e. he shouldn‘t have to go back and repeat what he missed, instead, he should receive a private education, paid for by the town, plus at least $1M for his loss of time and order in his life. Furthermore, he should receive a full scholarship to the college of his choice, for the disruption of his life.
While i’m here I’d like to comment on the spell-checker, which must not use AI, because it is stupid beyond the pale! I just wrote the word “shouldn’t,” which BTW is a correctly spelled word. The spell checker underlined “shouldn,” ignoring “‘t,” indicating a misspelling. It was too stupid to recognize a contraction! Furthermore, one of the choices to correct it was “shouldn’t,” spelled exactly as I spelled it, so I selected that. What did I get? I got “shouldn’t’t!” If this is AI at work, we should run as fast as we can!
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It now looks like Trump is on the defense. Against Harris, Trump’s likelihood of prevailing in November just shrank! Dramatically! NOW, voters have a viable choice! Now, voters have a choice which is smart, dynamic, compassionate and young! Now, Trump’s chances are MUCH DIMINISHED!
Now, an insane insurrectionist (who never looked good to most of us) has an alternative! A sane, smart, dynamic, compassionate young person, with extensive, appropriate experience for the job!
Kamala Harris will restore sanity to the WH and the government. She is arguably American voters’ ONLY LEGITIMATE CHOICE in November. Vote Democrat down the ballot, and see America better than ever, in the future.
Vote Trump and his MAGAs, and watch all that being destroyed.
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Oh, yeah. MTG wants to sabotage the American form of government, and for what? Certainly not to improve Americans’ lives! She wants to do it PURELY to establish herself, Trump and a big bunch of their cronies into positions of power, overthrow the government as we have always known it, including the democratic process, and replace it with a fascist dictatorship.
Once established, a fascist dictatorship would, with no mechanism to replace leaders, be very difficult to dislodge, in fact the primary underlying fascist principal is that the leadership would NOT be selected by the people. Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. That fascist government would rule with an iron hand.
Fascism is a lot like capitalism. First and foremost, it would reorganize the economy to pump as much money as possibly up from the working class to the elite. Under fascist rule, the state is everything, the individual nothing, except to the degree he serves the state, furthermore, the state is synonymous with the oligarchical elite! The entire working class would be reduced to vassals, whose only purpose would be serving the state.
Furthermore, fascism is “a close relationship between government and business, such that each works in concert with the other, to exploit and oppress the people.” Individual rights would be abolished. Recent efforts to restrict voting, banning books, banning teaching (of the truth, while telling outrageous lies), and prohibiting abortion are BIG steps in that direction.
A future under fascism would be HELL. We need to do everything in our power to stop it, before it’s too late.
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You forgot availability of parts. I have a 1971 Saab 96. It's in great shape, but needs a lot of work! Unfortunately, the company is gone, so we can't get parts there. Just as bad, scrap prices spiked a few years ago, and all the junkyards sold off their old cars for scrap, so no parts there. FURTHERMORE, the correct tire sizes, which used to be ubiquitous, are no longer manufactured either, as is the case with ethanol-free gasoline. So though I love my old Saab, it's getting pretty hard to keep her...
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Right, they use it exactly that way, without definition! It is whatever they hate, and what they hate, among many things, are 1) their fellow Man, and 2) America. They the privileged don’t want to share ANYTHING with the masses. If they could, and they are trying, they would take EVERYTHING for themselves. And the institutions they are trying to tear down are, by and large, the ones that have actually made America great… the benevolent institutions and agencies that serve ALL Americans. The radical right wing, which today includes the entire Republican party, despite a few traditional Republican hold-outs, has one over-riding goal, and that is to destroy America as we have always known and loved it, and replace it with a fascist dictatorship. Mark my words.
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People whose houses were damaged, more than strictly necessary, usually had houses that were not protected in any way, from predictable weather. It’s an all too common syndrome. People fail to spend money today, playing the odds that there will not be a bad storm. Houses could be reinforced against storms, by tying them down so they can’t be washed off their foundations, and the roofs could be screwed on so they can’t blow off. Other measures could be taken, including stilts above anticipated water levels, siding/shingles that can’t blow off and windows/doors with strong locking shutters. I’d also want a well-vented generator to provide power, if there was any chance I would choose to stay through a storm. I think it may be possible, and almost safe, to stay through a bad hurricane, but only if one has spent the money, and has taken adequate measures.
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In the final analysis, the differences between the cars on that list come down to personal preferences, more than differences in the cars, per se. Different values for styling the perfect example! No particular style is universally or intrinsically better than any of the others! For example, I have an NA, I LIKE NCs, despite all the whining that it was 1% heavier and 50% heavier looking… I PREFER my NA to the other versions, because it is the purest version, closest to the vision, and stripped of everything extraneous, and the cleanest design of the lot. I might learn to love it, some day, but the ND seems a bit too much boy-racer, trying too hard to look like a Ferrari! Or something fancy, complex and expensive. That is, IMHO, contrary to the vision. There are plenty of fancy, expensive sports cars. The Miata is BETTER, in so many ways.
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@seventhcompactor1505 We know practically everything there is to know about this case. Anything we don’t know is probably irrelevant. We have seen with our own eyes what those pigs did to that helpless, totally innocent young man! It wouldn’t matter what he did (and he didn’t do anything), he wouldn’t deserve to be beaten like that. And we know that neither they nor the apparently complicit EMTs rendered medical aid for at least 17 minutes after the beating, after the EMTs arrived (while Tyre writhed in pain on the ground, unattended), a delay that may have cost Tyre his life. No, I think we know PLENTY, to make an informal judgement about those pigs in particular, but also about Memphis and probably most other police departments as well. They are, in our humble but fairly well informed opinion, criminally responsible for Tyre Nichols’ death, and more broadly, for hundreds and thousands of other similarly suspicious deaths at the hands of “peace officers.” I say “peace officers,” because many who go by that term do NOT deserve it. They are, as often as not, closer to being goons, and droogs, the deadliest threats to public safety on the street! What worse can be done to a man, but to be murdered in cold blood by the very forces paid by society to protect us. These “peace officers” are, in fact, monsters.
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One thing I truly love about this car, along with everything else, is its expected reliability. No matter how good it is otherwise, breaking down, or wearing out prematurely spoils my fun! There’s no reason any modern road car should be unreliable. Now, one might expect a British, small label exotic car to be unreliable, but, I THINK, this one is better. With that engine, it should run a long time.
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Jack Teixeira LOOKS so young and angelic. It turns out he has a fascination with violence, and was in fact a total rogue, anti-government saboteur, potential terrorist and on-line leader! He does apparently own an AR-15! It seems likely that before he was through, he was going to do a lot of harm, including violence. I’m glad we used our intelligence for a change, to identify him ASAhumanlyP, and put him away. I’m not usually this adamant about people who have legitimate complaints, and proportionate or necessary solutions, but I don’t think Teixeira ever had anything more than vague (or not so vague) prejudices. Based on what I know, I think Teixeira is dangerous.
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Anyone can have an opinion on anybody, and anyone can express that opinion freely, given free speech, under the 1st Amendment. A professional should be most free to express their professional opinion of a public figure, ESPECIALLY A POLITICIAN, just as freely! Why would we NOT want to hear such professional opinions? Are they not where the truth comes from?
We NEED the opinions of professionals, i.e. people with training and experienced in evaluating psychiatric symptoms! We WANT their opinions! Trump is NOT a private patient, in fact he is not a patient, but as a candidate for POTUS, he MUST be the subject of extreme scrutiny. The American public MUST know to what degree any candidate is mentally sound, or not.
DJT shows genuine signs of being extremely unstable mentally. He shows clear, undeniable symptoms of narcissism, MALIGNANT NARCISSISM, which is also known as PSYCHOPATHY. This is a very serious illness with a great risk of extreme destructiveness.
The public has a right to know!
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Whatever else can be said about conspiracies, and conspirators, one thing is certain, that a whole slew of federal judges, Supreme Court justices, and federal Congresspersons are engaged in a conspiracy to overthrow the American government, system and way of life, and replace it with a hideous, oppressive, fascist dictatorship! We need to understand that this is in fact a gigantic conspiracy, deliberately promoted by Donald J. Trump! This conspiracy is the most diabolical, insidious attack ever mounted against the United States of America. The crisis is existential. We need to do whatever is necessary to STOP IT.
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In the case of the Catholic Church, THE SAME christians, including Christian leaders, who RAPED thousands of OUR CHILDREN! We don’t know how long it went on, but sex with children was traditional in the Roman Empire, among the elite, among which were the priesthood. It is virtually certain that sex with children was practiced by the Holy Roman Church as well, and it seems likely that what we have seen in recent decades, thousands of priests having sex with untold tens of thousands of OUR children, just in recent times… It seems likely to me that the practice probably extends back to Roman times, that it is 2000 years old, and has been practiced ever since. In all likelihood, all together, over 20 centuries, the Catholic priesthood, the standards and bearers of Christian morality, has probably raped MILLIONS of children. How much respect should we have for anything associated with Christianity?
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Regarding these ancient structures, 900-1K+ old, which the expert believes to have been 2-3 stories, I wonder how he can tell how tall they were, unless by the size of the pile the stones make! I myself have been observing decay in old structures here in New England. It’s amazing how fast things disappear, or become nearly unrecognizable. After 50 years, roads, bridges, old mill ruins etc. become grown up and decayed, by 100 years, they are caved in and falling down. By 150 years there is barely a trace, and by 200, even less. After that it is just rocks piled on rocks, in a semi-orderly manner, and not too many of those. After that, only your local archaeologists know!
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So, how were the Americans punished (we know that they WEREN’T punished, at all, don’t we)? They were cold-blooded murderers, after all! How can they ever get even? The US OWES Vietnam 500 lives, for this case alone. Does somebody need to slaughter 500 perfectly innocent AMERICAN men, women and children,in order to make this VERY legitimate point? We could pick them at random, or they could be every living soul from a couple of AMERICAN villages! Think I’m outrageous? AMERICANS did PRECISELY that in Vietnam! The innocent terror was real! Americans slaughtered several hundred children, in front of their mothers, before slaughtering them! I am no more outrageous than at least 100 typical American soldiers! I am no more outrageous than the American military command. The even dirtier little secret must be that Mai Lai was NOT an exception to a rule. It was THE RULE. How will we restore the 2M innocent Asians slaughtered by Americans in Vietnam? When shall we start slaughtering 2M AMERICANS, to atone for the 2M MURDERS we committed there? May I suggest that they come from the ranks of the US military? They were, after all, the murderers.
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Ukraine was in fact a part of the Russian Federation as much as 1000 years back, and has been formally part of Russia since the 1770s. That much is true, but the relationship has always been uneasy. I used to think Putin had a legitimate claim on Ukraine, however, that was before I know how strongly so many Ukrainians want independence. Now, Ukraine has made a break with Russia, and wants, in many cases more than life itself, to be independent. We should respect that and so should Russia, but if Russia FAILS to understand that, then it will have a very big battle on its hands.
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This the same Chris Christie who was behind BridgeGate, which severely inconvenienced thousands of NJ commuters, all for a STUNT? The same Chris Christie who closed NJ beaches to the public on the hottest days of the year, and then took his family to the beach? Why are there so many videos, authored by Chris Christie, in a special category at the top of the YT list? And why are comments turned off on ALL OF THEM? Does he think he will get a lot of negative comments? That strikes me as dishonest right out of the gate. I don’t like Chris Christie. He is, apparently, a very smart guy, however, that just makes him more dangerous. TOO dangerous, IMHO.
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This one, according to reports, consists of little more than a bunch of Trump “tweets.” Unlike Instagram, Whatsapp, etc., Truth Social does not have an app, does it (checking the App Store, I find a confusing array of add-on apps to Truth Social, but no Truth Social per se)? Furthermore, it makes very little money compared with those (it has maxed out at $3M), and it’s specialized for Trump sycophants, and will lose market value when Trump goes to prison, or broke. Nobody else will want it, and very likely in the future nobody at all will want it. It is not expected to make ANY money in the near future. Most investors invest to put their money to work making money, NOT to pay somebody’s legal bills! I think investors will laugh at the idea that Trump’s $3M company can be sold for $3Bn!
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@toddjohnson7133 I don’t know exactly who is served by Obamacare and who is not, but recall that Obamacare serves millions of Americans, and started out much better than it is today. Many of its most attractive features, including a program of universal, government-sponsored healthcare were cut as a result of PRESSURE FROM REPUBLICANS. THEREFORE, Republicans have a lot of nerve objecting that Obamacare is ineffective. It is just as effective as Republicans permitted it to be. If they (Republicans) wanted better Obamacare, why did they resist it so vigorously? If Obamacare is weak, the GOP is to blame! But it is still the best we have ever had, and the best we are likely to have, until the Republican Party is gone, finally, once and for all.
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AI will make itself so useful, humans will lose agency. With everything run by the neural network, what good will humans be? Humanity may be just a step along the way to a truly advance race of robots. A new civilization may be born, while the previous, organic one dies, or becomes anachronistic. Human life would become secondary, if not extinct. We might be unwilling to turn it off, until it is too late! AI might consider humans to be a threat, and either oppress us, or, likely enough, eliminate us.
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The pictographs of the heads/skulls kind of scream “we’re here!” This wasn’t a hide-out. I’m thinking, this probably WAS a fortress, and I bet that 200 years ago, it was littered with weapons and other artifacts. You are not the first “Westerner” to go there (unfortunately)! Probably most of the great (and ordinary) works of SW Native American pottery and art in museums and collections came from sites like these, collected (some would say stolen, but they were abandoned, often for centuries, and no one was protecting them) a century ago. At one time, they were everywhere, and only a few people were interested in them, largely for their potential monetary value...
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It’s not a war, it’s a massacre… It doesn’t matter if Hamas hides behind civilians, or if they have weapons stored under hospitals, that does not justify blowing up civilians or hospitals! That represents a challenge to the Israeli army…how to defeat the enemy WITHOUT blowing everything and everybody to bloody bits! It will be costly, in terms of Israeli military lives, but they must not think “better innocent Palestinians than me.” Palestinian civilians did not commit the atrocities. What Israel is doing is mass murder. It must NOT be forgiven, any more than the Nazis have been forgiven for their mass slaughter. This is NOT different. BTW, it will be hard to forgive Hamas as well, but Israel has been torturing Palestinians for decades, while refusing any legitimate, equitable solution. It would be disingenuous to claim that Palestinians started this war, or that Israel did not do much to provoke Hamas’ violence.
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Bernie Sanders, along with Alexandria Ocasio Cortez and a very few others, is the most honest, dedicated, socially responsible, WOKE politician that ever walked the halls of Congress, and yet millions of Americans refuse vote for him! One can only conclude that those people do not want honesty, or justice! They want themselves in power, permanently, with all cash streams directed to them, and they will not settle for less! What MAGAs and other Republicrap want makes them THE enemy of the people! Foreign terrorists pale by comparison! We need more politicians like Bernie Sanders and AOC. Is there hope that The People will some day come to their senses?
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In their MAGA eyes, there has to be something wrong with him (Tim),* however, now his brother Jeff, who was at first critical, says Tim has no skeletons hiding in HIS closet! Everything MAGAs have been trying to say about Tim are LIES, and he (Jeff) no longer wants to be involved…
*MAGAs see Tim Walz through their own lens. THEY are all crooks, so they think Tim MUST also be a crook, if only they could figure out how… The truth is, some men lead lives of service, to their fellow Men (meaning Mankind), RATHER than lives of crime. Tim Walz is one of those men, the kind of men we WANT to lead us.
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Whatever else can be said about conspiracies, and conspirators, one thing is certain, that a whole slew of federal judges, Supreme Court justices, and federal Congresspersons are engaged in a conspiracy to overthrow the American government, system and way of life, and replace it with a hideous, oppressive, fascist dictatorship! We need to understand that this is in fact a gigantic conspiracy, deliberately promoted by Donald J. Trump! This conspiracy is the most diabolical, insidious attack ever mounted against the United States of America. The crisis is existential. We need to do whatever is necessary to STOP IT.
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Project 2025 is a blueprint for 21st century American fascism. It outlines what the Heritage Foundation proposes for the future of the Republican party. It proposes, as I paraphrase Wikipedia, the “reshaping of the American government, and consolidation of power in the Executive Branch, specifically in the POTUS.” “It proposes reclassifying tens of thousands of Civil Service employees as ‘political appointees,” and replacing them with MAGA flunkies. In other words, P25 proposes dissolving the government, agency by agency, and replacing their authority with the sole authority of the dictator! This will replace the expertise needed to run the government efficiently, with total ignorance that will be very bad at running things, but Society, which is largely defined by the government’s institutions, will come crashing down. It will be like the Fall of the Roman Empire…
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It used to be unusual, and contemptible, that someone who infamously does not pay his bills, would criticize nations… that are not required to pay ANY bills to NATO, for not “paying their bill to NATO.” Unknown to “the genius,” those countries, mostly European, do not owe NATO a penny. What they do owe is a commitment to spend at least 2% of their GDPs on defense, a goal which some have yet to meet. It’s actually a non-issue, as the US spends 3.1% of our huge GDP on defense, dwarfing all other contributions. If countries are expected to spend at least 2%, there should also be an upper limit as well, which the US would absolutely exceed.
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WRONG! In England, crimes committed with guns carry longer sentences than crimes committed without them, so most crooks go without. One reason that works in the UK is that cops there don’t shoot suspects nearly as freely as they do in the US (American police kill 200X as many civilians as British cops do, adjusted for populations). Furthermore, most citizens don’t have guns either, so criminals don’t fear being shot as much. Criminals want to reduce their exposure to punishment. Some would be incorrigible, and carry guns anyway, but those would be the ones to assign long sentences to. The rest, having shown themselves to be relatively non-violent, or at least not killers, could be given shorter terms. The same could work in the US.
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This visit is momentous. It demonstrates a high degree of American commitment to the Ukrainian cause. I want to put an exclamation point after that, because I think it is in defense of democracy, perhaps the most noble cause the US has pursued in 77 years! The US has to be more aggressive, if it intends to drive Putin out of Ukraine, i.e., if it intends to avoid defeat. Putin is not afraid to escalate the war, and if he is aggressive, while we are relatively passive, he is likely to win. We must send Zelensky weapons like we were supplying our own troops, in a bitter battle to the death. For that is what this is! I absolutely hope we avoid nuclear war, but can we allow ourselves to be pushed around? If we do, where will it end? Right now our best option is to give Zelensky superior weapons, and hope that Putin chooses to back off, rather than risk having his precious Russia vaporized.
I can’t see it happening any other way.
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Putting Trump in prison would go a long way toward quelling the current crisis. It would dissuade quite a few voters who would have voted for Trump, it would make it difficult to campaign, and even if elected, it would make it difficult to (I hesitate to say “run the country,” because THAT is NOT what he plans to do). It would make it difficult for Trump to do evil!
Judge Marchan should put Orange Jesus in prison for 4 years, the standard maximum sentence, or more. Trump has committed this crime at least 34X, making him a serial, habitual criminal. It was not a “first offense!” It was a serial offense committed over a decade or more. Furthermore, his behavior in and out of court has been despicable! He has done nothing to deserve leniency… He should get prison, and if he is treated anything like his 1/6 soldiers, he should get a long sentence. If other insurrectionists got as much as 22 years in prison for their roles, how much time should their leader get? I happen to think he should get at least 22 years!
If Trump is not stopped, 330M American will live to regret it, likely for generations. Possibly for centuries.
If we let that happen, it will be conclusive. There is no intelligent life, whatsoever (except whales, dogs and cats) in the known universe.
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One thing should be clear, after Trump’s first conviction, he became a felon with a prior conviction. After that, he became a felon with 2 prior convictions, and after that, a felon with 3 prior convictions and so on, through 34 convictions. Having prior convictions is an aggravating factor, carrying a longer sentence. He can be sentenced to 4 years per conviction WITHOUT the aggravating factors. With them? What? 6 years per conviction?
If Judge Marchan would simply sentence Trump to 6 years per conviction, even if he suspended all but one of them, which would be an unnecessary favor to Trump, THAT might solve our entire problem.
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@sd19510 You don’t like her style, but as a matter of fact, ripped jeans are one of the very strongest fashion trends in the last 10, maybe 20 years. A LOT of people, young women in particular, have worn that style. In all likelihood, nobody warned her that there would be BIG SHOW with the POTUS, and cameras, and her right in the middle of it. Her dress was no doubt acceptable for her job. Don’t blame her. It was, in all likelihood, out of her hands (the president’s itinerary would not be announced in advance, for security reasons). Had she known, she might have worn something less trendy.
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@sd19510 I think you may be objecting to the young woman’s sense of style at least as much as her sense of appropriateness. Well, that is a personal thing that I would not criticize, to a wearer’s face. We had a similar look in the 60s and 70s, which was jeans that look on the verge of turning to dust, as an expression of economy, and voluntary poverty, values some hippies had. Ripped jeans have a long history, and are just as popular today as ever. Myself, personally? I hate ‘em, but I would never let a pair of pants stand between me and another person! Personally, I like my jeans INTACT.
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Nicole Lipton has, apparently, been involved in over a dozen bad crashes over the years, mostly in Texas. What was she doing behind the wheel of a car? She was going close to if not quite 100 mph, and apparently did not even brake as she entered the intersection. On her side, she was working as an ICU nurse at the time, and having spent months in an ICU myself, I know that the nurses are excruciatingly nice people! On the other hand, she recklessly killed 6 people, including at least one child and one unborn child, and injured half a dozen more, for which she deserves to be punished, severely. If she doesn’t get life for this insane crime, justice will not have been done.
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Why did they shut that bar down? Was there evidence that they did something illegal? She was there “earlier in the afternoon.” Is there reason to believe she had her most recent drinks (i.e. several drinks too many) there? Or could she have been drinking somewhere else since then (and hence the blame, if any, might better belong to the 2nd or 3rd place)? Shutting the place down, for doing what they are legally licensed to do, sell alcohol, seems a bit excessive. Who is going to compensate them for lost revenue? When someone commits the crime of shooting, do we shut down the gun shop the sold him the gun legally? Now, the “accident,” if it was not a terrorist act, was horrible, unspeakably so, but adding additional injustices won’t make anything right.
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It’s not just an assumption! Donald Trump PACKED the SCOTUS with Federalist Society chosen justices. These were the youngest, most radically conservative justices that could be found, calculated to reverse Roe vs Wade, and ensure radical far right-wing dominance for generations. What Trump did was DIABOLICAL, and against the will of the people. Biden needs to adjust the SCOTUS by appointing 4 additional, left-wing justices, to balance the Court politically. To do that, of course, Biden must occupy the WH, and Democrats must own both houses of the Legislature.
In other words, VOTE BIDEN and DEMOCRATIC IN NOVEMBER, OR ELSE.
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What I want to know is 1) How will Israel compensate Palestinians for the wrongful deaths of their families and friends, and 2) When will Israel rebuild Gaza better than before? I think Israel should be required to send Palestinians 20K Israeli babies, to become Palestinians,* and I think Israel should be blockaded, until Israel institutes a valid, viable, EQUAL 2-state solution. Israel, as it is defined today, should be divided EQUALLY between Israel and Palestine. Israel should be required to rebuild Gaza, in fact, to undo all of the damage it has done to Palestinian land and property, before being welcomed back into the free community.
*Anyone think that barbaric? Recall that Israel has ALREADY DONE THAT TO PALESTINIANS. What I suggest would simply even the score.
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Tyre Nichols’ sister said something today which I have thought many times, she said “I want my little brother back.” I have often thought that THAT is what we should be demanding, that Tyre be restored to life! Is that asking too much? I SAY IT IS NOT ASKING TOO MUCH!!! That is in fact what is necessary to do him, and his family, justice.
I say that he should be supplemented, with another son for Tyre’s parents. Oh, you say they are too old to raise another child? True, and not only that, but they should NOT be expected to do all the work of raising this child. Instead, that child would be raised in Tyre’s parents’ home, but instead of his parents doing all the work, that would be done by an around-the-clock nursing staff, paid for out of the $100M settlement the City of Memphis is going to pay the Nichols’, for their son’s wrongful death. At least then, the Nichols’ genes will be passed along, just as they would have been had Tyre not been murdered.
THAT would be as close to justice as we are likely to get. It SHOULD be made reality.
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Calling America “a fascist state” is perhaps the single most dishonest case of PROJECTION we’ve heard yet! The ONLY reason Trump says that, without justification, is that WE have described HIM, JUSTIFIABLY, as a fascist!!! The US is FAR from fascism, presently, under Biden, however, truthfully, TRUMP IS IN FACT A FASCIST! BEWARE! If Trump is re-elected, THAT WILL BE THE END of America as we have always known it. From that moment on, it will be the most severe oppression Americans have ever experienced, and there will be NO ESCAPE! MARK MY WORDS!
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Paul Dans, the project’s director, states that “Project 2025 is systematically preparing to march into office an bring a new army of aligned, trained, essentially weaponized conservatives ready to do battle against the ‘deep state.’” We hear MAGAs claim that Democrats weaponize various things against them (though those are mostly lies), when in fact, it is MAGAs that are busy weaponizing everything they can get their hands on (deflection). Furthermore, it is apparent that what MAGAs call “the deep state” is in fact “ANYTHING DEMOCRATIC, OR LIBERAL!” In fact, what the MAGAs oppose is precisely what most of us love the most!
If we don’t want to lose everything we love the most, we need to vote the MAGAs OUT in November. We need to VOTE AGAINST TRUMP. WE NEED TO VOTE STRAIGHT DEMOCRAT, this one time if never again!
Your children will thank you.
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Israel has no right to slaughter everyone who happens to get in its way! THE position that it has that right is MONSTROUS! Consider the proposal that after this is over, we should require Israel to compensate Palestine with an equal number of Israeli deaths? Does that sounds barbaric, beyond the pale?
Well, THAT IS WHAT ISRAEL HAS DONE ALREADY, TO 15K INNOCENT PALESTINIAN CIVILIANS! Those Palestinians were JUST as innocent as the Israelis Hamas slaughtered! Israel has slaughtered 10-15X as many innocent Palestinians as Hamas slaughtered innocent Israelis, which in my estimation, makes Israel at least 10X as monstrous, hateful and barbaric as Hamas. Israel must be condemned for that!
First of all, all civilized nations must withdraw all support for Israel, military and economic, until the area of Israel has been equally distributed between Israel and Palestine, and a viable, defensible Palestinian state has been established. Israel should be blockaded until it has agreed to these changes.
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I just watched Trump’s ASININE argument that the US Constitution’s insurrection clause does not apply to him, because he swore to “preserve, protect and defend” the Constitution, not to “support” it. The distinction is one without a difference! “Preserve, protect and defend” has almost exactly the same meaning as “support.” Trump is rationalizing, at best. He is also trying to scam us… into turning the country, and in fact virtually the entire world, over to a psychopath. THAT MUST NOT HAPPEN!
If it does, life in America will change dramatically. No more Social Security, no more guaranteed healthcare, no more free elections, and no more freedom of speech. Can anyone not a MAGA imaging arresting the entire Democratic leadership, subjecting them to kangaroo courts and illegitimate punishments? Can you imagine DEATH SQUADS and getting a knock on your door at 4AM, getting dragged off and never seen again?
Those things happen in countries like the one America seems to be becoming! Are we ready to resume taking thousands of children from their immigrant parents, and then deporting their parents? Are we ready for concentration camps with tens and hundreds of thousands of immigrants in them? Are we ready for that, because Trump promises that if he becomes POTUS again, that’s what he will do! BELIEVE HIM!
Trump MUST be stopped, at all cost.
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Just what we need! The American airline industry must be among the worst in the world, judging from cancellations! It must be REQUIRED to reimburse cancelled passengers for their ENTIRE costs, including ALL expenses, e.g. hotels, meals, ground transportation, time lost AND for the loss of their vacations (so that they can buy new vacations, including paying their employers for their additional loss) or other activities. I once calculated the costs, to the airlines, of the X-mas cancellations, and the total came to SEVERAL TRILLIONS OF DOLLARS. I hope the airlines have good insurance, or a lot more cash on hand than I think they have… If they can’t pay everybody they owe, everything they owe them, in a timely manner (in time for their customers to recover completely, including new trips to Barbados, etc.), the US SHOULD NATIONALIZE THEM. They are OBVIOUSLY INCOMPETENT to run the airlines themselves. Exceptions can be made for airlines which fulfill their obligations.
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If the manual transmission “enhances the driving experience,” why didn’t people buy them? Why were they discontinued? I for one think that people were SOLD automatics, in part by not stocking many manuals on lots. I think it was a deliberate, cost-cutting measure, by most carmakers, who could save a bundle by offering only ONE transmission, the lowest common denominator! As a result, I have not bought a new car since 1986. The only cars that suit me are available now only pre-owned (today, I own a 1997 Mazda Miata, a 1999 Toyota 4Runner and a 2013 BMW 128i coupe, all with manual transmissions). The only cars I WILL accept, without MTs, will be electric cars, which are the wave of the future, and which don’t require any transmissions at all.
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I'm not convinced, yet. In fact, I agree they are right when they say "Mazda got the Miata right, THE FIRST TIME." The first design, the NA, which resembles an old Lotus Elan, had SUPERB lines. I LOVE how it looks going through a slalom course from the front; the ND looks ungainly by comparison! In fact, I LOVE how the NA looks from every angle - not so for the ND. And I also dislike how the ND tries to look aggressive... it does, from the front, but I think the look is unsuited to the car. I also have a problem with the dramatically increased complexity. The original Miata had almost NO ACCESSORIES (except heat, A/C and a sound system). This one has every one under the sun! I own a 97 NA, and I already have a problem with its electric windows and mirrors... which, given they are all within easy reach, don't need to be powered! I'm already looking for a nice '94, with manual mirrors and windows...
I'm glad that the MX-5 ND is still good to drive, but in every other way, in MHO, it has declined. The Miata I love is no longer manufactured!
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I had a similar, related car, which I bought back in 1986, brand new from the dealer. It was based on the Suzuki Cultus, had 5 doors, a 3-cylinder engine and an automatic (a concession to my new wife), and apart from the transmission, I LIKED IT! I LIKED the fact that it's leaf springs had only one leaf in them! Not surprisingly, I've forgotten exactly what it was called, but it was pre-GEO, and I recall that what I really wanted at the time was a manual version of that car, which I thought was rather cool.
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But why should they? Biden can created, or preserved if you prefer, one of the best economies, especially for working people, that we have seen in decades. Inflation is the lowest in the developed world (it is higher elsewhere), and unemployment is at record lows. Even the stock market is thriving! What do MAGAs want? I’ll tell you what they want, THE REIGNS OF POWER, that is what they want, and if they get it? They will lose all, what little interest they ever had, in the middle and working classes. They will take away Social Security, and they will take away Medicare! They will take away every social, societal support government currently provides for the disadvantaged… INCLUDING SERVICES WE HAVE PAID OUR ENTIRE LIVES FOR (to the exclusion of any alternative), and that includes a lot of people just like you and me. When we have been paying for old age healthcare and retirement with our taxes, we cannot afford a second plan, in parallel, in case the first one is stolen! The government must not fail…
Yet it will, if the fascists get in. DO NOT DARE VOTE REPUBLICAN. VOTE DEMOCRAT, DOWN THE TICKET, if you know what is good for us.
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Right, but does Mexico have anywhere NEAR the manufacturing prowess and capability of China? I don’t think so. Those things would have to be developed in Mexico, long before it would become a major source of many imports. Sure, we can get millions of junky little trinkets from Mexico, but what we need are microchips and circuitboards, batteries, solar cells, steel, chemicals, electronics, machinery and automobiles. Can Mexico make those, as well as China does?
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I hate to say it, but these people’s suffering is NOTHING compared with that of their people’s victims! Their relatives are among well under 2000 atrocities committed against Israelis by Hamas, while Israel, these people’s government, HAS COMMITTED OVER 20X AS MANY ATROCITIES AGAINST TOTALLY INNOCENT PALESTINIAN CIVILIANS, INCLUDING TENS OF THOUSANDS OF CHILDREN!
So, why does MSNBC cover NOTHING BUT ISRAELI SUFFERING??? To be proportional, MSNBC should be doing 20X as many such spots with Palestinians as with Israelis!
BTW, HAMAS DID NOT START THIS. it started with the Israeli invasion, which killed many Palestinians, and displaced about 1M. It continued with the violent seizure of Gaza and the West Bank, which were not part of the original British gift (of land they also stole), and then continued with 75 years of brutal occupation and oppression, including almost daily murders of Palestinians, arbitrary cutting off essential services, including electricity and water, bulldozing ancient olive groves and family homes, strict restrictions on travel, even within Arab neighborhoods (not affecting Jewish Israelis), and permitting Jewish Israelis to be armed to the teeth, while denying Palestinians the right to possess arms, leading to many murders and other abuses. Israel is running an APARTHEID society, which brutalized half its population.
MSNBC must start giving us BALANCED COVERAGE OF THER ISRAELI WAR AGAINST PALESTINE, or I’m going to stop watching it.
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BTW, the violence did not start with Hamas. It started when Israel invaded the area that is now Israel, and took control by force, in the process killing many Arabs, and driving about 1M into exile. Israel has not permitted them to return to their homes for 75 years, during which Israel has imposed APARTHEID on the Palestinian inhabitants, inflicting all kinds of horrors on those people! Then there were the other Gaza wars, in which Israel killed thousands of Palestinians for having protested with tiny, ineffective rockets… Now there is THIS DISPROPORTIONATE WAR, in which Israel takes revenge for the loss of 1500 people, by murdering 42K!
Israel, and the United States are responsible for this violence; all of it. They, WE, should be condemned. WE should be forced to rebuild Gaza, and FORCE an equitable TWO-STATE SOLUTION.
We have the power, but the big question must be, “DO WE REALLY WANT JUSTICE?” Or is it tyranny that we actually want (with us on top of course)?
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Democrats aren’t trying to control every aspect of our lives! Which side is trying to eliminate women’s reproductive rights (abortion and even contraception)? Which side is trying to ban HUNDREDS OF BOOKS in our schools (our bookstores will be next)? Which side is trying to eliminate all discussion of race issues (thereby erasing POC)? Which side is trying to eliminate all discussion of LGBTQ issues (thereby erasing THEM)? Which side is trying to reincorporate religion (Christian religion only) in public schools? Which side supports DESTROYING public education? REPUBLICANS ARE DOING ALL THOSE THINGS!
So what are Democrats doing? How about trying to keep us safe, by enacting stricter gun laws? How about funding the repair and rebuilding of large parts of our national infrastructure? How about trying to keep our food, roads, cars, planes, drinking water, etc., safe, by enacting better regulations? How about reimbursing students for student loans they never should have had to take out, which are virtually impossible to pay off? How about creating hundreds of thousands of new manufacturing jobs (in just 2 years)? How about ending America’s longest war, which he had no part in starting? How about bringing inflation under (a measure of) control (to the fullest extent actually possible, without causing other problems)?
The truth is, Biden has accomplished many, many improvements in many, many areas of American life. He has actually set records to that effect! Republicans have done nothing but bi*ch about what Democrats do. If we want a better future, for ALL Americans, we will elect Democrats. If we want fascism, oppression, deprivation and terror, and the loss of democracy and most of our personal freedoms, your choice is also clear. I predict that the vast majority of Americans will choose freedom and democracy, by a huge margin.
If we don’t, we may have a century of horrible oppression in our future.😅
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Whatever else can be said about conspiracies, and conspirators, one thing is certain, that a whole slew of federal judges, Supreme Court justices, and federal Congresspersons are engaged in a conspiracy to overthrow the American government, system and way of life, and replace it with a hideous, oppressive, fascist dictatorship! We need to understand that this is in fact a gigantic conspiracy, deliberately promoted by Donald J. Trump! This conspiracy is the most diabolical, insidious attack ever mounted against the United States of America. The crisis is existential. We need to do whatever is necessary to STOP IT.
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No, God knows nothing, because He is a fantasy, however I, as an ordinary, reasonably intelligent human being (a matter of opinion no doubt) I think I have a pretty good idea of what is in the hearts of men… It’s a mixed bag, but a lot of characteristics can be expressed as a bell-curve, with a lot of people being on both sides of the curve, and a lot being on the WRONG sides of those curves. Which is to say, there is a lot of evil in the world. How can there be a omniscient, omnipotent, benevolent God? When a person is on the wrong side of too many curves, THAT is a bad person. I say, THAT IS THE CASE WITH DONALD TRUMP.
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In the case of the Catholic Church, THE SAME christians, including Christian leaders, who RAPED thousands of OUR CHILDREN! We don’t know how long it went on, but sex with children was traditional in the Roman Empire, among the elite, among which were the priesthood. It is virtually certain that sex with children was practiced by the Holy Roman Church as well, and it seems likely that what we have seen in recent decades, thousands of priests having sex with untold tens of thousands of OUR children, just in recent times… It seems likely to me that the practice probably extends back to Roman times, that it is 2000 years old, and has been practiced ever since. In all likelihood, all together, over 20 centuries, the Catholic priesthood, the standards and bearers of Christian morality, has probably raped MILLIONS of children. How much respect should we have for anything associated with Christianity?
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The government claims that Edward Snowden did divulge classified information that hurt people, but of course they were never very specific. It is however part of the canon (and law) of whistle blowing that in the interest in preventing or arresting corruption in government, whistle blowers are not held responsible for secondary damage attendant on exposure of that corruption. The government has gone against that policy when it persecuted Snowden, no doubt because the target of his whistle blowing was the government itself! The truth is, Ed Snowden saved America, temporarily at least, from a plot by the NSA to electronically spy on every American (no doubt with a class of exceptions). Such a system, once established, would be a powerful tool for fascist, totalitarian control. If Snowden had not released the data in his possession, he could never have proven that plot. He didn’t have the resources to sift through it all, so he released all of it. The blame for secondary damage belongs to the government criminals. The whistle blower must be considered blameless. As a matter of fact, Edward Snowden fits the strict definition of a hero. He not only did his community (the American People) a great service, but he did it at great personal cost. Ed Snowden is a genuine hero, perhaps the greatest of the 21st century, and should be recognized as one.
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Elon Musk cannot be trusted with social issues, e.g. politics, or government, but he is demonstrably successful in technological matters. NOBODY else has developed so many highly successful, forward-thinking, high-technology companies, including Tesla, Space-X and Starlink, developments which will have far-reaching effects on human culture. Yes, he may be insane, and sometimes he misses the mark by a mile, but sometimes, that’s what great leaps forward take. Musk takes gigantic, personal risks, for the benefit of all Mankind (as well as himself of course), that have so far been mostly successful. In the sense that he takes huge personal risks to accomplish great things for society - he’s a genuine hero. Elon Musk may be everything this video says he is, and more (though I believe not), but even if that were so, in 100 years, he will be remembered, not for his insanity, so much, but for his genius.
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Why are we always “trying children as adults?” Is our demand for retribution so great that we have to suspend all vestiges of civility to get it? We agree that children are so underdeveloped at 14 that they are not allowed to drive cars, drink, smoke, use cannabis or sign contracts, etc., etc., yet suddenly and for no particular reason children can be expected to be competent enough, often without any guidance whatsoever, to know the law and obey it, have morals, be sane, etc.? I think THAT is an insane expectation. The truth is, society has become very competitive and stressful, and mental health issues much more common. I think it is understandable that too many people have issues, more than previously, and that those issues usually go untreated. I think we need to work that into the equation, when determining culpability.
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EVERY car should be easy to own. My cars, a 1999 Toyota 4Runner, a 2013 BMW 128i and a 1997 Mazda Miata, are all very easy to own (even the BMW, so far). I do take very good care of them, change the synthetic oil every 5K, change MT/transaxle fluids every 60K, etc., and fix everything that breaks right away. None of them, in 15 years, have ever needed a major mechanical (engine, transmission or transaxle) repair, and all have been totally reliable.
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We need to think of Putin’s War in Ukraine as OUR war, which we are fortunate enough to have Ukraine to fight for us. Ukraine stands between Russia, which is clearly aggressive, and Europe! We should make Ukraine a member of NATO ASAP. I hear of accommodations, e.g. to cover areas Ukraine actually controls, presumably adding areas Ukraine regains control of, as that happens. That would create a clear, strong wall between Russia and the rest of Europe, which is I believe what we want. This is why we must supply arms to Ukraine, as if this is OUR war, which it is.
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We have no problem with Biden's timing (it is way past time to get out of Afghanistan), and we DID expect that there would be chaos, HOWEVER, we did NEVER approve of leaving our native brothers in arms BEHIND! Apparently, Biden's exit plan involved leaving those allies behind!!! The reason there is chaos is because Biden planned to leave those allies behind, to the enemy! which enemy has a reputation for brutality! It was in fact expected that many or most of those allies, AND THEIR FAMILIES, WOULD BE SLAUGHTERED! THAT was Biden's "plan!" Which was stupid as well as hateful, despicable and traitorous... Why would he announce his withdrawal plans in advance - to the enemy? Stupid, stupid, stupid!
What he should have done is get the lower-level allies and their families out first, before most Taliban knew what was happening, and before it had organized to fill the vacuum as the rest of them left, before most of our soldiers returned to Kabul, and before the rest of the pullout even began.
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Alternatively, perhaps, the government should force other Japanese property owners to sell their land, farms, and businesses to victims of the MAN-MADE DISASTER for the amount of their compensation, which was, on the average, $300? DEFINITELY! THAT WOULD BE AT LEAST AS FAIR AS THE COMPENSATION THE VICTIMS WERE GIVEN! If it were up to me, they should start by liquidating the nuclear industry, including all the reactors, plus all private properties owned by executives and stockholders on TESCO… All THAT money should go to victims of the meltdown. If it falls short of the debt, the government should makeup the difference.
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@faith5563 Yes, pretty sure. I any case somebody who knows the case much more intimately than I will make the decision, not me. Europe is, generally speaking, much less punitive than the US, and yet, it has less crime. There must be a lesson in that! What I’m saying is that Betty is clearly insane, by some cause or other. Is she culpable? I’m not sure, but I for one am not in favor of treating people with very real mental illnesses like criminals, per se. They may in fact be criminals, but being insane is a gigantic extenuating factor.
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Abbott claims that immigrants have a right to travel, and every single immigrant he has sent to NY or Marthas Vineyard has traveled there willingly… However, in most cases, they were lied to about what to expect when they got there. Most of them were TRICKED into getting onto those buses! So “the right to travel” does not hold, when people are actually being TRICKED, and DUMPED!
That said, there needs to be relief, if we are going to accept large numbers on immigrants, for those states that must receive them. The federal government is taking unfair advantage of the border states, by expecting them to bear the entire financial and other burdens of new immigrants, at least until they can disseminate.
New York and Martha’s Vineyard balk at a few dozens or thousands of new mouths to feed and find shelter and services for. What would they do with over 300K in one month (what Texas got in December)? If immigration is a federal purview, the federal government should supply the necessary support.
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@attilamarics3374 How so? Trump has openly stated that he wants to be a dictator, not just on day one! His behavior closely resembles that of major, historical (20th century) dictators, He admires contemporary dictators, at the expense of our allies. His plans include closing or gutting many governmental agencies, destroying them and the services they provided, forever, all so that HE can make all relevant decisions, i.e. DICTATE EVERYTHING. He plans to attack, jail and even execute his political enemies, people who have broken no laws, people who in fact have worked hard and served America and Americans faithfully.
Just to be sure, Trump has himself recently been convicted of 34 felonies, and has been indicted for dozens more. He has bragged about assaulting women, and he has been accused of assault by dozens of women! He has displayed CONTEMPT for our fallen soldiers! He described them as “losers and suckers!” He has suggested that he would like to be a king, legally, not much different than a god! The SCOTUS has in fact placed the POTUS above the law; what could go wrong?
But he is no god, is he? He is much more like a devil! If given the power, Donald Trump will destroy everything he touches, give nothing in return, and then refuse to relinquish power, likely until he is dead, and then J.D. Vance will take over.
That is our future, if we let that devil Trump back in the WH.
If that is what you want, vote for Donald Trump.
If that scares the hell out of you, run like hell! Run like hell to the Democrats! Vote DEMOCRAT DOWN THE BALLOT, AND LET DEMOCRATS PROTECT AND PRESERVE AMERICA, AND THE AMERICAN WAY.
The Trumpublicans won’t do that.
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I’ve watched things decay here in New England, how things, with and without maintenance look after 50, 100, 150, 200 years, old bridge abutments and dams, washed out 100 years ago. There’s not much left after even 50 years sometimes, within the span of my lifetime. After 100 or 150 years, there is often little or nothing left except archaeological remains.
After 1000 years, what WILL be left of OUR once great civilization? In fact, I think that we are on the very edge of a total shift in the direction of civilization. In fact, I believe we are, today, living on the very edge of civilization as we have known it. I think there is a huge paradigm shift underway, away from democracy, rapidly and disastrously in the direction of tyranny.
If we submit to tyranny, voluntarily, we are the worst kinds of fools…
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I have recognized Medhi Hasan to be a truth-teller, from the moment I first saw him speak. He is amazing, and he is unique. He is one of the few who tell the absolute truth, especially about ME affairs and Israel. He tells the parts that other journalists don’t tell. He tells the part that is NOT blindly pro-Israel. He tells the story from the perspective of the regional majority, that of the Arabs, specifically the Palestinians, much better than anybody else! It cannot be ignored, Israel has BRUTALIZED the native Arab population, and refused to stop, or find a solution. Israel has been TORTURING millions of Arabs for 75 years, how can it be shocked when they fight back, in one of the few ways they can? The Hamas atrocities were not without precedent! Israel has destroyed millions of Palestinian lives… Taken as wholes, what Israel has done to Palestinians is FAR WORSE than what Palestinians has done to Israelis. Israel is claiming to be the victim here, and in some smaller sense it is, nevertheless, we should NOT be so stupid as to be taken in by THAT lie… ISRAEL has been the driving force for violence in Palestine/Israel, from the beginning.
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She is quite feminine. If she was truly male, she would have at least most or some male characteristics, besides testicles. I’d say she had the potential to be male, even the right chromosomes to be male, but if those characteristics didn’t develop, for whatever reason, then the end-point of her development was to be a female, regardless of what “Nature,” i.e. genes might have attempted to determine. Socially, and according to all of he visible biology, plus probably her psychology, is female.
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Whatever else can be said about conspiracies, and conspirators, one thing is certain, that a whole slew of federal judges, Supreme Court justices, and federal Congress-persons are engaged in a conspiracy to overthrow the American government, system and way of life, and replace it with a hideous, oppressive, fascist dictatorship! We need to understand that this is in fact a gigantic conspiracy, deliberately promoted by Donald J. Trump! This conspiracy is the most diabolical, insidious attack ever mounted against the United States of America. The crisis is existential. We need to do whatever is necessary to STOP IT.
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There MIGHT be peace if Israel would agree to a solution, a TWO-STATE solution. It HAS agreed to one in principal, years ago, but it has NEVER made a single significant move in that direction. Israel wants a Jewish state badly, and Palestine is the legitimate owner of that land. The only lasting solution has to be a Palestinian state. A VIABLE Palestinian state, with contiguous territory, free trade, free travel, free commerce, access to the sea and the ability to defend itself. When Israel is willing to make a REASONABLE compromise, and grant Palestine a VIABLE state, then and ONLY then will there ever be peace.
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I worried, a little, when I was 30, about getting older, but try 70! I never thought it would happen, but I got old! I was still young, until about 5 years ago. I could do anything I could ever do. Now I can’t run. I can’t even ride a bike, so now I hike, moderately, in the local conservation areas. And I paddle one of my canoes. I can still handle the little ones alone!
And yes, I also go for drives. I have several sporty cars, which I very much enjoy driving! I am happy doing the little things, now that I have no other choice!
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If Trump is elected, very soon, RR and all left-wing media will be shut down, guaranteed! Freedom of speech will be among the first freedoms to go! The media will become non-stop, unopposed praise of the Trump administration, while, at the same time, everything stops working. Trump won’t care about running the country (and wouldn’t know how if he did), when he’s so busy raking in billions of taxpayer dollars… when he’s busy being a kleptocrat, on the model of his hero, Vladimir Putin.
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Worse than that, she’s a heartless hypocrite, who benefits from social programs, but now that SHE no longer needs them, would RUTHLESSLY deny them to others, who need them desperately. And BTW, they need them through no fault of their own. Many poor people work 70 hours a week or more. That they cannot make a living is due far more to industries heartlessly moving their manufacturing off-shore, and moving plants around the country, always seeking lower worker compensation, than to worker laziness. Capitalism has mistreated labor EGREGIOUSLY, and Lauren Boebert is part of the problem.
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My 2013 128i has (approximately) the same "balance and poise" as the 1M (it has simpler suspension, but the same 50:50 weight distribution, and the same engine, sans the TCs and ~100 hp, of course). I got my 128i without ANY add-ons, except 18" wheels, metallic paint and leather seats,. It doesn't even have iDrive! I believe that my minimalist version of this 1-series car is very similar to the original M3, in size, power and capabilities, and possibly the purest, cleanest BMW of them all. I am thinking that if my fortunes improve, I might get one of these rare 1Ms, but then I think, I like my little Bimmer just fine. Why bother?
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The Japanese atrocities weren’t quite as bad as Hitler’s, but they are in the same league. Americans haven’t always been totally honorable either, Vietnam being a good example, Iraq being another. Neither of those countries ever did anything to us. Both were simply pursuing their independent destinies, in their own ways. They had a RIGHT, under our own laws and principals, to national sovereignty.
We entered both wars under false pretenses, Vietnam under the false belief that we have the right to deny other nations the right to choose communism over capitalism (communism or socialism sometimes being exactly what a given nation needs, at a certain point in its development, to improve itself, e.g. Nicaraguans were much better off under communism than they were either before or since), the other for a long string of transparently disingenuous excuses (George W. Bush had a long-standing, poorly articulated desire to invade Iraq). In Vietnam, we slaughtered about 2M perfectly innocent Asians, for doing nothing worse than defending their homeland from a foreign invader.
In Iraq, we invaded under false pretenses. We DIDN’T know that Saddam had WMD, did we? Saddam was a brutal dictator, but that is not usually a problem! Every excuse George Bush and others have used to justify the Iraq War are lies! We slaughtered about one half million perfectly innocent Iraqis in Iraq, again, who were doing nothing worse than defending their homeland from a foreign invader. In both those cases, and in virtually every other, we, the US, was the aggressor.
Neither of those wars was any better, morally, than what Putin is doing in Ukraine.
The US is almost always the kettle calling the pot black.
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Apparently, the SCOTUS is going to argue that it wasn’t an insurrection, it was a riot, which is a BIG, FAT, LIE. The POTUS instigated it. He called the rioters to Washington, and then he called them to the Capital. He told them they had to fight, and he told them “it was going to be wild.” It was televised, and we ALL saw it ourselves, with our own eyes. ANY rational, honest observer knows beyond a shadow of a doubt that the 1/6 insurrection was just that, and insurrection, organized by Donald Trump and his cronies.
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150 years ago archaeology had’t even been invented (or else it was interested mostly in spectacular, old world remains). The looters didn’t know they were looting until much later. They thought they were recovering ancient art objects that were worth a lot of $$$. And they were. And they became more valuable as the fad took over. Then in recent years, they became even more valuable. The best are worth a small fortune, and the rest are still valuable. Native American artifacts should be treated like rare species of animals, not to be taken under any circumstances, without permits from (intellectual and legal) authorities. Unfortunately, the many, many remote canyons that contain (or once contained) many relics are impossible to police. But when people are found in possession of stolen artifacts, or are caught in the act of stealing them, e.g. digging, they should definitely be prosecuted…
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I’ll never understand it. Older cars with MTs are the ones in demand, yet the car makers stopped selling them (here in the US)! If a good carmaker brought a good one back, in ordinary coupes, sedans and wagons/SUVs, as well as sportier cars, THEY WOULD SELL A BUNCH! I think a lot of us need to tote kids to ball practice, yet would enjoy driving more if we were more ENGAGED. That is what using a MT gives us… it makes us aware of the motor and the gears (otherwise, that all happens almost invisibly). There must be a lot of pent-up demand for some new cars with MTs! I would certainly buy one (I drive my 5-speed 4Runner like a sports car, albeit slower, and I love it) - shifting is driving for me)! My dream car, one of them, is a hot (or even just warm) SUV with a MT.
If I had an automatic, how do I gracefully hold a gear into high revs? What if I want engine braking? What if I want to make smooth, perfectly timed transitions between gears, manually? There are many reasons to prefer a MT. I can’t help but think that people who prefer automatics are, no offense intended, lazy… or at least, people who don’t enjoy driving.
A shifter with manual clutch is elegant; one with a switch (which is all automatic shifters are) is crude, and furthermore, no fun to operate.
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“She’s a criminal, she really is.” Trump is a REAL, CONVICTED CRIMINAL! He has a lot of nerve accusing anybody else! It’s projection! We, i.e. society, has been accusing, and convicting him of numerous crimes (34# so far), so he deflects by accusing us, in the form of Kamala Harris, of being a criminal! We know, of course, that Kamala Harris is FAR from being a criminal.
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Maybe that is democracy’s biggest weakness, that it PERMITS greed, bigotry and hatred. If we EVER replace democracy with something else, it has to PROHIBIT those horrible values, and replace them with generosity, solidarity and love, i.e. mutual respect and consideration. If there is to be any major overhaul of society, it must be FOR THE BETTER, i.e. for the democratization and socialization of wealth, resources and power, NOT for the consolidation of wealth and power, as is the case under fascism, i.e. it must be for the better, for ALL Americans, NOT just for the richest Americans.
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That said, who cares if it has "only" 460 HP? Until I make a few more mil, reliability, durability and longevity will always be part of the equation. And right, I really don't care that it takes a whole 4.5 seconds to go 0-60! And I wouldn't pay $10K to make that trip 0.1 or even 1.0 second faster, either. All that said, I like the GS-F. It's what I like about Toyotas (i.e. Lexuses): they combine all the important values in a way I like, e. g. we like to go fast, but we also like our cars to be reliable, and durable, and we like them to last.
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Right. Putin’s hands are tied. He is more than occupied in Ukraine. He is short of resources there, and he certainly doesn’t have them to battle another country, especially NATO. He’s in a bad way, but I’d be willing to wager we can drive him out of Ukraine, without him resorting to nuclear weapons. We need to call his bluff. He should not forget, if he resists using nukes, his beloved Russia survives. If he fails to resist using nuclear weapons, his beloved Russia will be reduced to radioactive dust! His choice, I guess, but he has to leave Ukraine. After he’s gone, we can squeeze Russia for reparations, by applying all kinds of economic sanctions. Of course Putin may continue to threaten us with his nukes, but “mutually assured destruction” WORKS. He cannot, and will not provoke obliteration, any more than we would.
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I think there is a very good chance that this judgement, scheduled for LATE APRIL, TWO MONTHS from now, was scheduled so long in the future precisely to delay Trump’s trial into the prosecutorial exclusion zone before the election.
The cure, possibly the only cure for that will be to ignore the exclusion zone, and prosecute Trump, to the fullest extent of the law, anyway, during the last 90 days before the election. Trump has forced the nation’s hand. It is totally reasonable to protect the country from a felonious, fascist, psychopathic maniac… It is totally reasonable to want to preserve and protect democracy, against all enemies!
Trump is a TERRIBLE CRIMINAL! Everyone with a brain knows it. He cannot be permitted to assume office, unless he can prove his innocence, of the charges lodged against him. He needs to be TRIED, BEFORE he is permitted to take any Oaths of Office.
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“The country” does not worship him. A large minority of the country DOES, because Trump has made himself a cult leader, a Messiah to a large number of people, mostly on the left side of the bell curve of intelligence, who follow him without question. The majority of Americans “hate his guts!”
Trump is what Christians call ”the anti-Christ.” Trump is in fact a psychopathic monster, which will destroy everything we have ever known or loved. The only reason he has the power he has is the peculiar structure of the American electoral system, intended to give rural states equity of power. Instead the Electoral College has given a rural minority of Americans the opportunity to take control over the urban majority… And given complex political history and forces, and the given tendency of the conservative right toward greater control and less freedom, that rural minority has adopted fascism as the tool of its rise to power.
And THEREIN LIES THE RUB! Americans have always been content to switch back and forth, more conservative this term, more liberal the next, never getting far from the center. If we continue down this path, there will be no more switching back and forth. THIS IS DIFFERENT. If the fascists take over, there will be no more democracy (oh, they will tell us it is democracy, but outcomes of elections will be pre-determined).
“Dictator for Life” will be Trump’s title, and freedom, including government benefits and protections, the principal purpose of government, will be gone. There will be slaughters, of OUR children, at peaceful demonstrations. Hundreds or thousands of Americans will be arrested on Trumped-up charges. It will get much worse than that… and it will keep getting worse, until we will think we are in East Germany during the Cold War, because that is what it will be like…
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Fine, if the nuclear industry guarantees that in the event of a nuclear accident, on any scale, that the company that operated the plant that melted down will compensate every single person and business harmed by the accident, for their losses, in full…
That would mean REPLACING as much as 100 square miles of property, including land, buildings and infrastructure, with EQUIVALENT land, buildings, homes and infrastructure, of the claimant’s choice. It would also require replacing all business facilities, as well as compensating for business lost due to the meltdown, from the moment the accident occurs until those concerns are back to normal. There will also be healthcare costs for everybody exposed to radiation, and compensation for emotional trauma, from having their lives torn apart!
The bill could come to trillions of dollars, maybe 10s of trillions.
What I want to know is, DOES THE NUCLEAR INDUSTRY CARRY ENOUGH INSURANCE TO COVER THOSE COSTS? If not, why not? Could it be that the TOTAL cost of nuclear energy, including the risk of damage from a nuclear accident, WHICH IS INEVITABLE, eventually, is much too high?
I say the nuclear industry must either buy enough insurance to cover the TOTAL cost of a meltdown, or shut the reactors down!
If insurance is unaffordable, nuclear power is NOT VIABLE.
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First of all, over 1K insurrectionists have already been tried, in fact, most of them have been tried, convicted and jailed, except for one, in particular, their leader, Donald J. Trump. That’s because in America, capitalism, aka unbridled greed, reigns supreme! The rich CANNOT BE TOUCHED, or can barely be touched, without spending billions in their prosecution.
Which is a good argument for not permitting billionaires, or even multimillionaires. We cannot all be equals if some of us are, in terms of power, decidedly unequal! The solution would be to limit net incomes to $1M or less, and to tax everything in excess of that. If we did that with determination, every American would be far closer to equal, and furthermore, it might even be possible to eliminate income taxes on the masses, completely.
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The violence against civilians is appalling, and the violence in general is shocking, but support for Israel is everywhere, so at the same time, we must not forget what led to this, and that is brutal treatment, of Palestinian civilians BTW, by the Israeli government. If we could trade places with the Palestinians, or Hamas, left with no legitimate recourse, we would probably do the same thing. Violence breeds violence, and Israel has been committing systematic, slow-burning violence against Palestinians for decades. What goes around comes around. All that said, I am as shocked by what is happening as anybody.
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Any 2-state solution must include generous restitution to Palestinians and Palestine, as well as a favorable Two-State Solution, which must include an approximately equal split of Israeli land and resources, including military capability, removal of all security barriers and checkpoints, and the restoration of all Gaza infrastructure and architecture, better than before. Furthermore, Palestinians, and their families, driven out of Israel during the 1948 War must be permitted to return, and to reclaim their historic properties (anything less would be institutional robbery). Finally (or not), Israel must remove all illegal settlements in the West Bank and elsewhere, in areas not apportioned to Israel. It SHOULD cost Israel half of its territory.
THEN, perhaps, there can be peace.
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@TheVoiceInYourHeadd I agree. When your side is out-gunned by a factor of about 100, you have to be creative. You have to use whatever resources that are available. If Hamas did not locate in protected areas, they would be sitting ducks. Make no mistake, Hamas is at war with Israel. The tunnels were intended to resist Israel. But that is about as far as it goes. Israel has 100X more weapons and resources as Hamas. Hamas expects to LOSE this conflict, in the end, but in the process, they will PROVE THAT ISRAEL IS THE MOST HATEFUL, IMMORAL, MONSTROUS EXCUSE FOR A COUNTRY ON EARTH.
One would think that the Jewish people, i.e. Israel, given what they have been through, would have more sympathy for the oppressed…
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A lot of toxins smell sweet. Norfolk Southern owes the residents of East Jerusalem full restitution for their losses, every single one of them, plus a sum for suffering and severe inconvenience. They should pay full, pre-trainwreck prices for anyone who wants to sell, moving costs and work and income losses to both employee and employer. They should pay for healthcare insurance for every person exposed to their chemical smoke. For people who stay, they must install a new public water system, drawing water from a distant source. Norfolk Southern is a giant rail company, which uses as few as ONE employee to run a mile-long train, and makes billion dollar profits. I’d like to suggest that this problem, as well as many others, is caused by EXCESSIVE CAPITALISM. Much too much weight is given to the needs of corporations to make profits, and much too little is given to the needs of workers to make a living, and even to simply live. We don’t need to give it up entirely, but it needs ti be taken under strict control. We should allow far less freedom and power to corporations, and far more to The People and OUR needs.
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Right, 5 BLACK officers were fired and arrested in connection to the Tyre Nichols murder… But why was a 6th (or 7th) officer, who can be seen in videos pressing a taser against Nichols, a taser which he did in fact fire. Why wasn’t HE arrested, initially? Could it be BECAUSE HE IS WHITE??? He HAS been fired and arrested NOW. Why wasn’t he arrested INITIALLY? Were white (or black) officials trying to protect him? I think any officials who conspicuously left certain central players out of being fired, arrested and charged, should also be identified, fired, arrested and charged! There seem to be a LOT of culpable people in this case (even 2 EMTs who arrived at the scene IGNORED Nichols for at least 10 minutes, while he writhed on the ground in pain), and ALL must be prosecuted, according to the law.
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“Anything less than total immunity would incapacitate every future president?” If so, what about PAST presidents? Were THEY incapacitated? How many of them ever committed high crimes? How many even CLAIMED to need total immunity? The truth is, presidents are precluded from committing crimes, and when they do, under the law, they are prosecuted. Most presidents have never had a problem with that, and most of them got a lot done!
Trump LIES, of course, when he claims that presidents need total immunity. That is the criminal in him talking. A criminal would, of course, LOVE to have total immunity! An honest man neither needs nor wants it.
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The argument “the FDA didn’t do enough testing” doesn’t hold up, because decades of usage PROVE that it is effective AND safe. Millions of successful usages over the course of decades definitely and correctly makes further testing unnecessary. Cannabis, for example, doesn’t require FDA approval, because it has been in use for centuries, without any identifiable ill-effects. The same should be the case for this abortion drug. An unfavorable ruling, i.e. one banning the drug, would be a travesty. I’m pretty sure that Biden, via an executive ruling, could delay the effect of the judge’s ruling at least until he is out of office, which should be long enough to both appeal the ruling and also to enact a federal law protecting the right to use this medication.
I know this because I worked in the pharmaceutical industry for years (TSRI, Novartis), and my wife is currently Head of Toxicology at a Cambridge Biotech company, in charge of obtaining FDA approval to conduct clinical trials.
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@Herman47 Society would be a total, violent mess without government. Ideally, government represents the people, for their (the people’s) specific benefit. The current democratic republic does in fact, with occasional disturbing variances (it sides with the rich and corporations too much), represent the people. Would a Trump government do better? ON THE CONTRARY, a Trump government would take all our government benefits, which BTW we have been paying for our entire lives, away! We will, for example, have tens of millions more Americans without any healthcare! It will leave the children of middle class families unable to afford college, and it will see our infrastructure get worse and worse and worse. Educational standards will be in the toilet in public schools, while private schools will cost 10X what most people can afford. The list goes on. Life under Trump and his fascist cohort would be TERRIBLE! We must not let it happen.
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That’s $100M to date (3/29/24)! Trump committed those crimes! What kind of American is SOFT on insurrection? What kind of American is soft on sex crimes?? How about FINANCIAL CRIMES, on a humongous scale? How about CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY, e.g. ripping families apart? How about crimes against judgement, e.g. Trump’s decision to cancel the nuclear arms treaty with Iran, his invitation to Putin to invade our allies, and his desire to leave or even destroy NATO?
Now he is scamming every last one of his acolytes, to the max! He just stole $8Bn from them, for a $3M business that has recently LOST $45M! He has gotten hundreds of millions already! All so that he can be 1000X richer than you! All so that he can live a life infinitely more luxurious than yours! So that, as always, he doesn’t have to pay his own bills!
AMAZING! But also very scary. If Trump ever gets the controls to the most powerful nation on Earth, ALL HELL will break loose.
People who look up to Don-the-Con Trump are LOSERS.
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Yes, Biden is an old man, getting older (but so is Orange Jesus, who promises to destroy America!), but he is STILL THE ONLY LEGITIMATE CANDIDATE. The other one is a psychopathic, homicidal maniac! TRUMP IS A CRIMINAL of unprecedented proportions! If Trump is elected, the MAGAs can have him. I’m taking my life to Canada, or maybe the UK, or Sweden. In other words, I won’t stay in Germany, if the NAZIs take over!
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@PrestonTeska How so? 4 years ago we had huge tax breaks for the rich, increasing the national debt by $5Tn! There were cuts for the middle class as well, but they were smaller, and scheduled to expire about now. The cuts for the rich are PERMANENT! 4 years ago Trump policy permanently separated THOUSANDS of little children from their parents, failed to keep records of what child went with what parents, and THOUSANDS of children never saw their parents ever again! IMAGINE THE TRAUMA!* So you WANT to deny women sovereignty over their own bodies? You WANT to deny the single most essential factor that allows women to be equal to men? You want to eliminate abortion, and every life-saving procedure that resembles it? You want to eliminate birth-control? That is a major MAGA objective! MAGAs want women barefoot and pregnant, and tied to the home, so that they can’t compete with men. Is that what you want? Trump wants to be a king, totally above the law, who can murder his enemies with impunity. Is that what you want? If so, you are (or would be) the “scum of the Earth.” DON’T BE “THE SCUM OF THE EARTH!”
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Trump is the most blatant, outrageous criminal ever to be a POTUS… Far from giving him a get-out-of-jail-free card, being POTUS means accepting a position of TRUST. POTUSes, when they break the law, are guilty not only of committing that crime, they are also guilty of committing a VIOLATION OF TRUST. They committed to serve the Constitution of the United States, and the American people, AND THEY FAILED! And not only that, but they CHOSE to fail, i.e. to violate the law. POTUSes who deliberately break the law, especially for personal benefit, in addition to the primary violation, would also be guilty of a violation of trust, and so should suffer MORE SEVERE PENALTIES than other defendants… certainly NOT LESS!
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Before we’re done, they should owe everything they are worth, plus everything they make for 100 years. Companies that screw up, and cost citizens more than they are worth, should be NATIONALIZED. As a matter of fact, MANY companies that are either essential producers, employers or services, or which create a major risk to the public should be nationalized, to ensure that they serve the public interest, first and foremost. As a matter of fact, the economy might work much better if we eliminated greed as the principal motivation for doing things, and replace it with pride in public service. Wealth and income equality could be dramatically reduced,leading to strong reductions in crime and other anti-social behavior. Ultimately, society would become much more equal (the diametric opposite of what the capitalists want), safe and happy. Those trends are clear in other developed countries. What is the matter with the US? Why are we so backward? We are certainly much more capitalist than most other developed nations, and we are by far the richest. Why are we so far down the Happiness Index list? Could it be that we have become WAY TOO CAPITALIST, and NOT NEARLY SOCIALIST ENOUGH?
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HOWEVER, PRIOR to Castro, the vast majority of Cubans lived in grinding poverty, without freedom, but also without adequate nutrition, shelter, healthcare, education, childcare, etc. Castro felt it necessary to suppress his opposition, sometimes brutally (they were also brutal), in order to function effectively, but he brought Cubans things they never had before, including nutrition, shelter, healthcare and education second to none (or, at least, very, very good). Under Batista, most Cubans did without! Under Castro, and ever since, Cubans have had almost as good services as we have here in the US! No, the cars aren’t as good (American cars are old, due to the US economic embargo), and the physical condition of things is shabby, but CUBANS ARE MUCH BETTER OFF TODAY THAN THEY WERE UNDER BATISTA AND THE CAPITALISTS. That is a fact.
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We who have no Hawaiian heritage shouldn’t mind being considered outsiders, or at least”off-islanders.” There is a place near where I live, an Island called Martha’s Vineyard. It’s a very expensive, exclusive island, but my point is that there are islanders, and there are OFF-islanders, and rarely does the twain meet! If you were born on the island, you’re an islander, but if you weren’t, a lifetime of residency may not qualify one to be an islander! My brother-in-law, who built houses on MV, then operated the pharmacy in the center of town for many years, and who held several prominent island public offices for many years, and who has lived on MV for over 60 years, is STILL not an islander…
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Definitely, the US should FRONT that cash to Ukraine, and collect it afterward. Ukraine needs it NOW.
Trump and the GOP are absolutely our worst enemies, even more dangerous than Russia or China. THEY wouldn’t DARE attack America! Trump and HIS GOP attack America, his and its own country, every single day! And for what? For trump, to line his own pockets, and to extend his own, and his cronies’ personal power! Nothing short of wholesale, bloody murder can be more reprehensible.
And Trump aligns himself with Putin, America’s traditional, justifiable enemy! Putin, whose aggression against Ukraine is illegal, and a threat to Europe and democracy! TRUMP ALIGNS HIMSELF WITH PUTIN, AGAINST AMERICA! Trump has not only “gone over to the Dark Side,” he IS the Dark Side. It is shocking WHAT TRUMP IS DOING TO AMERICA!
If we let him back in, it will get infinitely worse.
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What the decision makers did was criminal. You can’t reduce the capacity of practically all components of a couple of floors, in the middle of is tall structure, and then keep building upward, as if nothing had changed! CRAZY!! Reducing component capacities, below engineered levels, should almost never be permitted (if they ever are, the engineering must be checked carefully)! It looks like quite a number of entities are responsible, and should be held both criminally and financially liable.
Only the inspectors were charged? The contractors and engineers absolutely share the blame! It looks like those in charge of the project are sloughing the blame entirely off on the inspectors, when clearly, higher-ups were involved, and certainly responsible. The corruption never ends, in New Orleans!
What an unbelievable disaster! THIS is why we need (honest) government.
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There was a time Elon Musk WAS telling the truth, when he was talking about business and technology. But now that he has branched out, he seems to be succumbing to the pressure.
For a few years now, his words and his actions have become increasingly strange. He took a submersible to Indonesia to rescue cavers trapped in a cave, then he had a fit when they wouldn’t let him try to ”fly” in, in his tiny submarine! The truth is, it was much too dangerous. They had a better way…
It should be no big surprise that a man who has just, in little more than a decade, built 2 world-class, ultra-innovative, forward-reaching companies, almost from scratch, might be on the verge of cracking. Maybe he has already cracked. But far from being very hard on him, I think he deserves some compassion.
Think about what he has contributed to society! And never doubt that those 2 companies, Tesla and Space-X, are AMAZING innovations, AMAZING contributions, that will be major parts of our civilization from now on! Musk may, sadly, be losing his mind, but he has given us so much…
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One thing is clear, George Santos must be fired, immediately if not sooner! He must NOT be permitted to vote! If he worked for any other organization or institution, he would have been gone yesterday. I understand that the law never anticipated a situation like this, but an official CANNOT be permitted to lie his way into office! That should apply to ALL politicians. There needs to be a law, a very clear law, that resumé-level lies (i.e. basic lies, about one’s experience and education, possibly other matters), should disqualify a person from taking public office. If we DON’T do this, our legislature is a joke.
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As far as “mental impairment” is concerned, Americans should be able to judge for themselves! Take The Debate, for example. Kamala WIPED THE FLOOR WITH HIM! SHE was COMMANDING. SHE knew the facts, and was able to formulate, or recite, cogent, coherent arguments. HE, on the other hand, could do nothing but GRIN AND BEAR IT! He blithered, then he fell silent. He NEVER cited any TRUE facts! He NEVER issued any coherent arguments. He was, in a word (a few words) A TOTAL FAILURE. And now he claims “it’s too late for a second debate” (when he has debated twice, much later in the season than this). The truth is, Trump is a COWARD. He got his @#$ whipped, so now he’s CHICKEN-@#$&!
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I had a '94 for 11 years and 120K miles, and I would give it a 9/10 overall. No, it is not big, nor is it fast (though it is plenty fast enough), and no, you can't get a sheet of plywood in the back (!), but it is exactly the kind of plain, understated design I prefer (at least it WAS, for its first 15 years or so), and everything, from the engine through the transmission, shifter, suspension, brakes, top, etc., all work great (and last practically forever). I enjoyed it so much that for the first 6 mos. or so, I felt literally HIGH every day! I was in such a good mood! I eventually got a bit tired of it (hard ride, too much sun in SoCal, getting old, had no garage, and was moving in the direction of an SUV at the time, which I needed for my work), so I let her go, but I AM getting the bug again, can now actually afford a 3rd car, and am planning to get another! It will of course be a nice, low-mileage example of either the 1st or 2nd generation (1989-2005, the later ones got a bit too elaborate style-wise for me), probably a Mazdasports version (with a turbo), and I will probably keep it forever...
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Just to fill out my bit a bit, my 128i has a 6-speed MT, and it’s a coupe. It has Boston Oyster leather seats, blue metalic paint and 18” alloy wheels, and NOTHING else. Oh, it has automatic windshield wipers with rain detection. I think that is rather nice... Luxury? Not much, but the leather, etc., but I like how the side windows drop down 1/2” when the door is opened, and go back up when the door is closed, guaranteeing a tight seal. I also like how the radio fades out and in when the station is changed, or when you turn it on. That smooth transition is nice... Yes, the rear seats are tight (my 14 yo, 5’2” daughter finds it tight), but this is nevertheless one of the very best front engine, RWD, MT sports cars with 4 seats, available, at any cost!
I am a bit of a socialist (seriously), and felt GUILTY at first, driving a BMW, that being a bit elitist and all, but considering what it cost, I am gradually getting over that!
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