Comments by "Halfdan Ingolfsson" (@Halli50) on "The Rational National" channel.

  1. I'm about to turn 75, I am a retired airline pilot daddy-sitter, taking care of my dad that will turn 97 tomorrow. He has now been in a hospital for 7 days, being treated for fluid retention, low blood count and electrolyte imbalance. Expected to be discharged tomorrow, the hospital bill will be 0 - a big fat zero! We live in one of the Nordic countries, the old man has paid taxes all his life and he has already pre-paid any health care he receives!
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  2. There are many micro-examples of the final cost of reactive measures vs. proactive measures. Here is one: Boeing is now facing the cost of saving some money a few years ago, when management decided to skimp on the design of a feature that was supposed to save themselves and the airlines some re-certification and training costs for the B737 Max. The result: Almost 350 lives so far, a massive hit to Boeing's reputation AND the yet-to-be-determined (but certainly massive) cost of a reactive fix to the problem - pending lawsuits from the families of the victims, the airlines that had to ground their aircraft and the cost of retrofitting already produced aircraft, whatever the retrofit may end up being. Instead of having an runaway-popular product, they now have a gigantic mess on their hands AND a severly tarnished reputation.
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  3. Hearing the terms "John Bolton" and "Human Being" in the same sentence is an indication of the weird times we live in.
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  4. "Why is Trump president - why this, why that?". The answer is very clear to citizens of every truly democratic nation: The US is NOT, repeat NOT a democracy!
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  5. Little Iceland has already tested almost 6% of the entire nation, equivalent to 58,600 tests per million inhabitants (20,930 tests, population 360K). We have followed the South Korean model in that every suspected case from the start (e.g. skier coming home from skiing in North Italy) was tested and quarantined. If negative, a 14-day quarantine was still required, if positive - straight in to isolation, as well all contacts being traced and quarantined also. We are a Republic, just like the US, only our democracy is not nearly as flawed as that of the US. There is full transparency, professionals and scientists do daily press briefings, AND NOT A POLITICIAN IN SIGHT ANYWHERE! That way the entire nation is on board as part of the emergency team. This means we have not yet had to resort to "shelter at home" curfews, only physical distancing and very small crowd sizes (I am loath to call this Social Distancing, technology allows us to retain that to a degree). The statistical models indicate that we will reach the peak in a week (knock on wood...).
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  6. "We're the richest country on the face of the Earth!" seems to be a popular belief in the US, but ARE you really all that rich if a large part of your population cannot feed their children or afford basic health care and are about to be kicked out of their home! You do NOT see these conditions in other western nations, only the US. "We have the richest billionaires on the face of the Earth" is more appropriate when describing the economic status of the US. Meanwhile, the population at large is approaching third-world status. You guys really should revise your definition of the concept "rich country".
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  7. Canadians have their heads properly screwed on - I expect they will eventually enact meaningful regulations to greatly reduce the likelihood of this happening again. New Zealand did this in their own way, Canada will handle this in their own way. Bottom line: There will be no bull-shiting around, after due consideration things WILL be changed, and in a meaningful way.
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  8. The US population has been brainwashed over the last 70 years to believe that social democracy equals Soviet-style communism. They only have to look to Canada and the Nordic countries to see what social democracy amounts to in practice - it is simply a mix of regulated capitalism with good social awareness.
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  9. Living in one of the Nordic countries, I feel REALLY sorry for you US Americans and your broken system. Our systems are by no means perfect, but they are infinitely better than the corrupt rot you are stuck with.
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  10. It is amazing to see how many Americans confuse everything that is NOT free-to-exploit-everybody-capitalism with socialism. North Europe and the Nordic countries are more capitalist than socialist, but US American don't have a clue about things really work there.
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  11. So, the choice US voters have in November is creepy sexual predator Joe Biden or Really-Creepy sexual predator Donald J. Trump. If this kind of slander and digging-up-dirt campaigns have been the norm in the US, it is no wonder mos US citizens cannot be bothered to turn out to vote! Basically, seeing that Bernie has been sidelined, the US is royally and completely fucked. It will cease to be a superpower that anyone heeds or respects by 2025 and be a Mad-Max-type society by 2030, a NRA wet dream...
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  12. I do REALLY dislike when the concept "algorithm" is spun around and made to look a as an evil political viewpoint or policy. The "algorithm" is supposedly to blame, not the people that decide what the algorithm should actually be. The "algorithms" that YouTube and other social media platforms use are, in essence, the processes or rules the owners of YouTube or the other social media platforms have decided to use to control moderation. Blame the people that make these decisions, not the insensible pieces of computer code that are written to fulfill these decisions.
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  13. This killer kid's life as a normal human being is officially over - as it should be. He will enter the horrible US penal system and any chance of him ever becoming human again will be gone. Another crazed killer created, as if there is not enough of them in the US already. One wonders what his parents think of this irredeemable situation. They must have had multiple opportunities to steer him right if they wanted to, but obviously they either failed or did not even bother. One also has to wonder how many OTHER misguided kids are out there, just waiting to follow Kyle Rittenhouse into oblivion...
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  14. There is an old saying that is about not looking a gift horse in the mouth... As long as the donations are spread around, limited to the individual maximum, he can hardly be classified as a mega-donor. The point is, however, completely valid: The only trustworthy politicians in the future will be those that simply refuse to accept large or corporate donations - and are able to prove it!
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  15. I admit I do not know a lot about the nuances of the US voting system, but I did NOT know that one had to register as a Republican/Democrat/Independent to be even allowed to vote. Is this REALLY the case? What kind of "democracy" is that? In my part of the world (Northern Europe) you are automatically registered to vote when you reach the voting age, AND the main premise is that how you cast your ballot is your business and no-one is allowed to even ask how you voted.
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  16. Bernie has been consistently fighting for decades to implement a Nordic-style mixed economy in the US. 'Muricans may be mostly ignorant about the quality of life in the Nordic countries and North-Europe in general, but young people in the US have twigged on to a good thing. It may take a while, but the US will hopefully get there within one generation.
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  17. The logic of defiling ancient historic artifacts when their beef is with contemporary climate defilers totally escapes me - it just proves that rabid climate activists are no better than rabid climate defilers. As far as I am concerned, this kind of behaviour only serves to damage the climate activist cause.
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  18. There are signs that Biden might end up just as useless as Obama. Mostly noise, no actual content.
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  19. I wonder why every 'Murican political candidate has to "approve this message", especially when they have been a visible and obvious part of it? It is striking how "political messages" in 'Murica seem to mainly focus on denigrating an opponent. I have only seen a rare few that are only positive: Instead of dissing an opponent, the message is simply "This is where I come from, this is what I stand for and aim for, this is what I promise to do if you elect me". Surprisingly, many of those ended up being elected! Is it possible that political honesty might be the new winning formula in 'Murica? If so, knock me over with a feather!
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  20. Say anything bad you want about Russians: They still have an ingrained respect for Babushkas!
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  21. Virtually all US TV shows are short, time-restricted clips, wedged between ads, with no genuine content. The result is no in-depth discussion, only short soundbites that are easily twisted and spun any way you like. This is fodder for the media but of no service to the public.
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  22. I believe he is right. EVERYTHING in the US is turning into an unreal "Reality" Show.
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  23. I think Greta Thunberg described conferences like COP26 perfectly: Bla-bla-bla, and then some more meaningless bla-bla-bla.
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  24. Israel might not be treating the Palestinians quite as badly as the Nazis treated the Jews in their time, but they are certainly going down that road...
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  25. A going-demented man is certainly better than an unbridled narcissist (Trump), but is the US really going to jump from the fire into the frying pan? The fire is certainly not a place to be, but the frying pan is only a narrow degree less painful. Biden might be "better" than Trump, but what a rock-bottom bar to be aiming for.
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  26. The two pudding-eating girls were adorable. Just quietly (but messily) eating pudding, no histrionics or anything - and when asked what they were doing, they innocently stated the obvious: "Eating pudding". Hilarious!
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  27. I wholeheartedly agree with most of what you are saying. But - NBC "should not allow these people on their shows"? Are you really advocating censorship in these matter? I would advocate the other option, i.e. point out any conflicts of interest while the nay-Sayers are being interviewed.
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  28. It finally seems that the apathetic majority of 'Murican voters are waking up to the realization that the HAVE to get off their lazy arses and actually be bothered to VOTE to avoid losing their fragile democracy - or perhaps is just young voters that have figured out that their democracy depends on the "demos" (the voting public) to actually participate. A functioning democracy ideally requires over 80% voter turnout. There is actually hope for 'Murica!
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  29.  @markromine5103 , thank you for this explanation - if I understand you correctly, you only have to register party affiliations for the primaries, not the general elections? If so, this makes more sense and at least there is SOME method to the madness. Of course the Republicans would vote systematically in Democrat primaries to screw them up, AND vice versa. The only thing you can depend on in politics is that there will be plenty of underhanded and sneaky people taking part. In my country, you automatically become a registered voter when you reach voting age, BUT each party requires you to be (or at least pretend to be) a party member before allowing you to vote in their primaries. The good news for us is that political parties cannot influence a voter's ability to vote in general elections. There will always be some attempts at gerrymandering wherever you are, but voter suppression does not exist. Even prisoners can vote, regardless of their crimes.
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  30. Sacha Baron Cohen is doing his bit to expose the crap hiding under the surface of extreme right-wingers. His method is frequently daring and often obnoxious, but what he is doing is holding up a mirror to those people, enticing them to go further than they would normally - exposing the true depravity hidden under the surface. If they don't like what they see, they should not blame the mirror. They should take a long, hard look at the filth just exposed and decide if THIS is really what they want to be.
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  31. Oh, the irony... In Fox interviews, Pence more than implies that Biden claimed the "I declassified them" spiel. That was what Trump tried, not Biden. The only sensible reply by any ex-high-official to questions about potential misdeeds they may have committed while in office should be "Not intentionally, I really hope not but I plead the fifth, just in case". Their relationship with Law and Order seems murky, at best.
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  32. Face it: Nancy Pelosi might have been a superb wheeler/dealer ine her prime, but the Trump debacle has exposed her for what she is: A frantically hand-waving Corporate Democrat great-grandmother that is well beyond her "best before" date. Who is likely to step in? Who knows - there are a number of candidates ready to take on the job that are guaranteed to do it better. Who is the most promising? AOC comes to mind, but she's not the only one, and the whole issue is moot if Trump and his handlers manage to steal the upcoming elections: The US will be finished, kaput, done for if that happens. Watching the incredibly quick demise of the US experiment from outside the US is really, REALLY deperssing! We are seriously facing the possibility of the rest of the world having to conffront a genuinely Fascist US America!
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  33. Apparently Joe Fricking Manchin is pissing into the face of a gale is his own constituency. The end result: He will be drenched in his own urine!
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  34. It would be typical Trump, to bring back public executions of the most grisly sort, e.g. by Guillotine. If that ever happens, I bet the last one on TV will be his own! There is one horrifying aspect to this madness: In today's lunatic 'Murica, Trump is quite likely to manage to win and revive medieval execution practices! Even more horrifying: DeSantis might win, and he will be orders of magnitude worse than Trump!
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  35. Please allow Toddler Trump to blunder heedlessly into the quicksand his tariff plans actually are. Tariffs will hurt workers in Canada, but Canada is a civilized nation that takes care of it's citizens - the pain will be mitigated and shared by the entire nation for the short period this madness will last. The same cannot be said for the poor 'Murican consumers that were idiotic enough to vote for Mad Toddler Trump! Everything Trump slaps tariffs on will will bring in tax revenue that Trump will selfishly hoard, but the final bill will be paid by the everyday 'Murican consumer. Energy from Canada will hike gas prices, auto parts from Mexico will hike car prices, and this is just the beginning of a vicious circle. Toddler Trump is performing an economic Hara-Kiri in plain sight. How about we non-'Muricans just sit back and watch the fireworks play out?
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  36. The New Green Deal may not be the entire final solution but, at least, IT IS A START!
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  37.  @arkinyte13 , not many people will shed any tears, given the vengeful nature of the US population - but do not forget that 17 years ago this killer was just an infant, without sin or any intent of becoming a killer, but somewhere along the way he was steered wrong. I am only nominally a Christian and while I find the whole religion bit to be nonsense, there are parts of the philosophy that make great sense (even if fervent Christians seem to ignore THAT). One of them is to at least LOOK for redemption, to see if something can be salvage of a damaged soul. The Norwegian prison system is based on that nowadays, and they are not entirely unsuccessful.
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  38.  @arkinyte13 , agreed - but I still hesitate about your blind, vengeful judicial system. As far a I know, to even LOOK at why an individual broke the law and how serious it is (REALLY serious in this case) and then to consider if the individual is worth salvaging seems to be an outlandish option in the US. Still, doing so would probably cut your prison population by 2/3 in no time and return a lot of "criminals" to society as repentant and useful, tax-paying citizens. But - this is your country, it is yours to do with as you will, only do NOT expect the rest of the world to approve of much of the nonsense going on in 'Murica...
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  39. A sleek move by the Iranians: The legality of remotely killing a high-ranking foreign national in a third country is quite obviously not kosher, any way you spin it. There is no way the bumbling Trump administration will be able to bluster their way out of this on the international arena. Will Trump be handed over to the Iranians? Definitely not, but propaganda-wise this is a win-win situation for Iran and a lose-lose situation for the Trump administration.
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  40. What is the definition of "being woke" in the minds of Repugnicans? To most people it means something like "alert to racial prejudice and discrimination", to others it means "open-minded" and the Merriam-Webster dictionary defines it as "aware of and actively attentive to important societal facts and issues". To every sane person, this is a GOOD thing to be but to not to the crazy Republicans. In Oxford it can mean past tense of "wake" - in this context hopefully the wake over the rotting corpse of the US Republican party a few years hence.
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  41. The cheek of the woman (if she is one)! She confuses the will of the ultra-right Repugnican "base" with the will of "The American People"! The "American people" includes everyone living on the American Continents, i.e. North America, Central America and South America. From Canada in the north, through to Cape Horn, the southernmost part of Chile! Call yourselves "Unated-Statians" and be done with it!
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  42. Consistency is NOT what 'Muricans expect from their politicians, even when it hits them over the head like a sledgehammer - Bernie has actually been the ONLY consistent 'Murican politician for decades, but the average 'Murican voter has a severe handicap: Unable to recognize the genuine thing that is in plain sight and, even in the case of vague recognition, electing the loud-voice-liar-that-intends-to-screw-you-over instead of a someone that has been preaching AND practicing genuine for-the-people politics for decades. People as stupid as 'Muricans appear to be really DESERVE the crappy politicians they have elected to ruin their lives. Sympathy? None deserved, none given.
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  43. I really liked the "Why do people go on Jon Stewart's show" quip! This especially applies to idiotic right-wingers that should know better, idiots like Nathan Dahm that can be assured to be reamed a new anal hole by Jon. Every other developed nation is aghast over the fact that in 'Murica, a citizen has to jump through many and difficult hoops to be ALLOWED to vote (such as REGISTERING!), while Republicans are trying to ensure that purchasing an assault weapon and loads of ammunition is unregulated! EVERY other developed and civilized (and even the most uncivilized) nation has a reversed situation! Voting is a RIGHT, automatically established when reaching the appropriate age, while owning a firearm of any sort is heavily regulated - you need to jump through many hoops, checks and training to own even a single-shot shotgun (high-capacity assault weapons are outright BANNED, what normal society needs them?), while voting is automatic and easy, even if you are in prison. I keep wondering at what point 'Murica started going off the rails like this. Are you a nation of retards? Sorry, stupid question! You have thoroughly proved that you are a nation of undisciplined an uneducated lackwits.
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  44.  @michaela26015  No third parties involved.
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  45. Too many US cops end up becoming brutal executioner with ridiculously little provocation to exonerate all the other cops. Many cops pretend they are "good cops" but while they tolerate murderous bastards like this as their fellow officers, they are complicit to their eyebrows, the end result being that THERE ARE NO GOOD COPS! Just the knowledge these two murderous monsters dressed in police uniforms are likely to get off scot-free makes ones blood boil!
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  46. The lesson for US Americans: Do NOT put your life on the line in the "service" of your country. Whether it is to save lives following a disaster brought on by constant US meddling in the Middle East OR all the wars being fought by the US in the most unlikely places. You will be ignored and neglected when you you come out of it, broken, sick and injured. At best, you will have earned the thoughts and prayers of the scum that sent you there. Nothing more to be had from that quarter. And - please note - only in very rare cases the sons and daughters of the rich will be doing the dirty work!
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  47. Never underestimate the ability of Corporate Cheaters (Repugnicans or Democrazies) to spin and twist reality. The good news is that there are a lot of US voters that are starting to think! Young voters are not buying the traditional bullshit anymore and even if community-friendly politics do not manage to win this round, in 4 years more old, conservative idiots will be DEAD and more young, better-informed voters will be active. The US will eventually be able to enter the ranks of nations that care more about it's ordinary citizens than it's corporations and billionaires.
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  48. I agree that criticism of the current Israeli government's treatment of Palestinians is NOT criticism of Jews and their religion, i.e. NOT antisemitism.
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  49. Meghan McCain is NOT her father, and will probably never reach that level, at least not given her current attitudes.
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  50. I want to amend that comment: Give her another 40 years and perhaps some personal hardship (not necessarily tragic), she is bound to mature in the process, just like her father did.
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  51. So, a safety requirement imposed by Obama but rescinded by Trump that is partly to blame for the recent railway disaster, now to be blamed on Buttigieg? I used to think 'Muricans had the attention span of a goldfish, but I am beginning to think they barely have the attention span - or the intelligence - of a gnat!
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  52. Isn't his criminal negligence, abjectly failing to perform their duty? This actually SHOULD be a rude awakening call for rural police forces but, as usual, nothing is likely to happen and all these people will probably retain their jobs without so much as a reprimand. The argument about more or less policing is moot: What is needed is PROPER policing, something that seems to evade 'Muricans.
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  53. If this is the 'créme de la créme' of white supremacy, you have little to worry about. These guys are whacky, really incompetent and out of touch with reality. Then again, these idiots might be just a smoke screen for the REAL right-wingers, but I seriously doubt it.
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  54. Perhaps people that are NOT right-wingers should start worrying about what direction CNN is now taking? I don't know how to properly phrase it, but I have always felt that CNN is a right-wing media outlet that has been be thinly disguised as something it is NOT.
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  55. What Kamala Harris is saying might be wrong but it is sensible at this point in time. The 'Murican border protection system is STILL operating in the mode (and by the same Gestapo-types Trump/Miller installed), the problem being that the Biden/Harris government just might not AT ALL be interested in changing anything! There are strong indications that Biden/Harris are perfectly happy with the Trump/Miller-induced border situation while speaking against it, and will spend say, 4 years pretending to slowly dismantling it (when it can be done in less than a week). Just remember: Biden/Harris are just politicians and history has invariably proved politicians of any stripe to be inveterate liars! Trump may have taken lying to an entirely new level, but in hindsight he was/is the most honest of political liars: He is unabashed about his lying!
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  56.  C J , My last statement is is not a question, it is simply a statement of a fact: The US is no longer a democracy. It USED to be the example that war-ravaged Europe followed with great success, the proverbial "shining light on the hill", but Reagan poisoned the whole thing and Trump is now trying to kill it off completely. My question is: Will the US population resist or is the US about to follow so many empires of the past - onto disintegration and then oblivion?
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  57.  @monjam112 , that is in name only. My own country (The Republic of Iceland) is also a called constitutional republic, but while the US is disintegrating before our very eyes, the citizens of my country are rising up and demanding a serious re-write of our 77-year old temporary constitution. Iceland is the most modern-Americanized of the Nordic countries (i.e. the most corrupt), but we are NOT willing to follow the US's road to ruin, our "shining lights" now are the other Nordic countries.
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  58.  C J  No, this is an old Nordic name I was given soon after birth. "Halfdan" supposedly means "Half-Danish", and the "Ingolfsson" literally means "son of Ingólfur", my father's full name being Ingólfur Eggertsson. I was born, raised and have always lived in Iceland so the nonsense currently going on in the US only affects us indirectly. When the US catches a cold, the rest of the world gets pneumonia!
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  59.  C J  Yes, I have 2 sisters, Lilja Ingólfstóttir and María Ingólfsdóttir - and for obvious and logical reasons women in Iceland do not change their name when they marry. In recent decades it has become quite common to use the matronym - suppose the father of Herdís's children was creep that they just want to forget: The children are free to use Herdísarson and Herdísardóttir.
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  60.  C J  // This naming convention supposedly makes it EASIER to trace your ancestry far back in time, in our case because of useful documentation. The Icelandic Sagas contain a lot of this information for the important people of the time, but church records going back centuries are the foundation for ordinary people. There is even an on-line database where individuals can trace their ancestry far into the past (https://www.islendingabok.is/english ).
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  61. The kindest framing you can put on this incident is the fact that the police did not, after all, brutalize or kill the black man they arrested for no apparent reason (an even refused to state the reason for the arrest when asked). Is that supposed to be progress in US policing?
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  62. 'Murica fully deserves the crappy, corrupt, bought-and-paid-for politicians they keep electing. Bernie is simply too good for 'Murica, yet he continues fighting for everyday US citizens, like he has been consistently doing for well over 40 years. Again, you 'Muricans simply do not deserve a honest and consistent politician like Bernie! Dishonest liars and cheats, THAT is the kind of politicians you keep electing, and it reflects the general nature of the entire 'Murican nation, what you have become!
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  63. Apparently the US still has massive anti-trust laws on the books, laws that served the US population pretty damn well until the 1980s - when Ronald Bloody Reagan simply decided they should not be enforced anymore. I believe these laws are still there, ready to be enforced again (I hope I'm not wrong). I that is the case, countless large corporations and other entities have been violating these laws since the 1980s! Since Reagan went away, there have been at least 3 not-soulless president (i.e. not Republicans), but for some reason none of them have bothered to start enforcing these laws again. Why?
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  64. As a non-'Murican, I am curious to see what kind of following Trump gets in 2024. Even more curious to see what following DeSantis will get, because he will be infinitely worse for the world. Much as I admired 'Murica in my formative years (the 1960s) I have now realized that 'Murica is a dead end, a cancer like Putin's Russia, Erdogan's Turkey and Orban's Hungary. The future of these countries is in peril! 'Murica is headed for the abyss (like Germany was in the 1930's) and
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  65. The US's most proud argument is that they are TOO BIG and TOO DIVERSE to apply solutions that work just fine for ALL other developed nations. In Common-Sense-Speak this translates into: The US is not small enough to succeed at anything - or the US is so big that failure is guaranteed. What utter hogwash. According to that, you should drop "United" and "States" from the name and let the 50 current states become independent countries, each of them small enough to succeed at something, none so big that failure is assured. After all, every state already has the infrastructure required. Because you are so afraid of China and Russia you could form NAMA (North American Military Alliance) to maintain the current Military-Industrial Complex, and even use this as an excuse to bail out of the apparently money-sucking NATO alliance. In reality, the USA in it's current form could take any lesson from any other developed nation, take it to scale and do it brilliantly. After all, the other nations learned the self-same lessons from the USA in the years after WW2, you are the only nation silly enough to have forgotten them
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  66. There is no "one size fits all", the correct term for such things is "one size fits nobody"
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  67. MSNBC's spots are showing. They have been hiding them for a long time because MSNBC's owners are against Trump, but they are Republicans at heart and not really against many of the things Trump is doing.
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  68. The question remains: If Putin goes completely off the rails and orders Nuclear Weapons to used, will there be top-level Russian military commanders that recognize the world-ending significance and simply refuse to comply? Whatever you can say about Russia and their bad actors, Russians in general are far from being stupid, They love their motherland, probably more than 'Muricans pretend to love their homeland. Russians have been saddled with miserable leaders for too long (much like 'Murica has been during the last half century). It is time for this nonsense to end, the "demos" must be allowed to determine their own fate.
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  69. "Joy" Reid is a highly-paid TV host, and should be taken as such. Health care "for all" is actually alien to her way of thinking - she is riding the the wave, why on Earth should she approve of anything that benefits the masses? That will only detract from her own position.
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  70. I wish you 'd stop referring to the people and organizations that control Joe Manchin as his donors. They are his OWNERS, plain and simple!
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  71. One way to not make people feel stupid would be to stop calling them stupid. They very well MAY be stupid, but how can you tell if you do not know them personally? A better term would be e.g. clueless or misinformed.
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  72. Kerry hit the nail right on the head: AOC has shown more leadership in a few months than most Republicans in their entire life!
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  73. Only in 'Murica...
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  74.  @kosys5338 , like I said, Canadians have their heads properly screwed on. You are NOT going to tolerate this. Period! The only thing that remains to be seen is exactly what measures will be taken - I am confident that this will be carefully (but quickly) deliberated and whatever the outcome, it will address what just happened without excessively punishing the normal, sane everyday Canadian hunting enthusiast.
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  75.  @kosys5338 , PS - I sometimes wonder if living north of the 49° parallel makes you saner than those living south of it. I live at 66° North myself and am fairly sane (well, in my OWN opinion, which is probably a good indication that I should see a shrink...)
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  76. This guy died of his own stupidity.
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  77. Chris Matthew's apology is a step in the right direction, but does he really mean it? Only time will tell. MSNBC and CNN are populated by closet Republicans that have, to give them some due, bee really disgusted by what Trump has turned the Repugnican Party into. Still, closet Republicans are still willing to continue fucking over the US general population, and that is something that will always be a dark stain on them.
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  78. Obama's campaign promises even fooled other nations into having great expectations to the point that he was awarded the Nobel Peace Price on expectations alone. His campaign promises turned out to be empty lies, which is why among US allies Obama earned the moniker "Useless Obama". He ended up as "Drone-killer Obama" and made it easy for Trump to finish the job of further alienating current allies to the point that whatever nonsense Trump starts with Iran, the US will have to go mostly alone.
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  79. The observation that Progressive Democrats might be called a "Tea Party of the Left" is a valid one, and worth discussing - if only to avoid false comparisons. I think AOC put it to bed, but this is a potential conservative chant that should be discussed and nipped in the bud.
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  80. I still fail to understand how an edema-bloated bald idiot like Rogan can be popular among 'Muricans - it is probably a strong clue as to why 'Murica is going down the drain! Being mean, I hope he will ignore his health problems until it will be too late... It will be interesting to see how 'Murica fares in the next decade or two: Shedding all it's traditional allies while gaining dangerous ones like Putin's Russia, Netanyahu's Israel and Xi's China is NOT a prescription for success! The US is almost certain to go the way of the Roman Empire and the Third Reich: Descend into Oligarchy, then Dictatorship and then total destruction and possibly another civil war. I actually DO believe it's former allies will able to retain their democracies and treat the remains of the US gently when the ashes have finally cooled...
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  81. If anyone needed proof that 'Murica is circling the drain on it's way to the sewer, this is it! Any sentinent human being watching the disintegration of the United States of 'Murica can only hope they will live to see the moment reality hits. 'Murica is at the same place Germany was around 90 years ago, when Hitler weaseled his way to power. We all know how THAT ended! Now Trump and his cohorts are trying to do the same. Licking Putin's arse seems perfectly acceptable to the MAGA crowd right now, but when the fallout of WW3 comes home to roost in 5-10 years, the MAGA Repugnicans will be going the way of Göbbels, Göring and the rest of the Hitler crowd: A rather grisly ending!
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  82. David is a man. Does that mean no one should ever refer to him a person with (presumably) testicles , external plumbing and the capacity to impregnate person with a uterus+ovaries? I feel dear Ana is overly sensitive about this - unless she actually has no uterus, does not menstruate and is unable to give birth (for whatever reason), in which case she is fully excused being irritated.
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  83. Extreme and idiotic Gender Reveals have already cost a few lives in the US. Is the risk of everyday gun deaths not enough for you, do you have to add idiotic and uneducated explosions to the mix?
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  84. Why does anyone sign a contract or treaty with Lying Toddler Trump? He has a lifelong history of NEVER honoring ANY deal he makes. This is an issue EVERY negotiating nation should bring up in public, BEFORE signing anything: Why should we sign this, you never honor your contracts?
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  85. So, 'Muricans are tripping over their own feet pointing out Canadian Covid failures! What has been 'Murica's trademark in recent years? Oh, yes, lying through their teeth abut literally everything is what they are known for these days! Should we start taking them seriously now? Hell, NO!
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  86. This is more or less what we did in Iceland in 2008. The bank depositors were saved, the banks were allowed to collapse and, eventually, a bunch of crooked bankers ended up in jail. The state picked up the remains of the banks and came out more or less even in the end. Our recovery was painful but rather swift. Will corrupt 'Murica be able to stay the course? Only time will tell.
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  87. The way things are going, the US will remain Trumpified or, at best, be Bidenified (slightly better, but only slightly). The rest of the world will have no choice than to turn it's back on the US - the first step, already underway, is to dump the US dollar as the currency of choice for global business, especially regarding oil. The following steps will probably be automatic, but will focus on avoiding the crazy gyrations of US politics and the detrimental effect of the US on climate issues. The US will eventually drown AND suffocate in their own shit climate-wise, while the rest of the world goes on it's merry way, planning for a cleaner future. The billionaires that currently own and run the US will be sanctioned by the rest of the world, and can drown (and suffocate) along with their countrymen...
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  88. Point out something obvious to an US American - and he will not get it because he has been stupefied. You are a Canadian American that has enjoyed the benefits of a welfare-oriented capitalistic system all your life and you cannot fathom how stupidly blind the US Americans are. I am an European non-American that has enjoyed the benefits of a welfare-oriented capitalistic system all my life and my mind boggles at how stupidly blind the US Americans are. Well, this opinion of mine is probably unfair - it is not your everyday US American that is stupidly blind, it is those that have control of the media and the political parties that are the problem. They are herding the sheep into maintaining "business as usual". I have a sneaky suspicion that things are about to change...
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  89. US Americans are masochists - they appear to enjoy or at least choose having their arses reamed by by Corporate America instead of having a society where we take care of our less fortunate citizens. Canadian Americans do not have this problem, they already and quietly enjoy most of the rights North-Europeans have taken for granted for over half a century. US America is a seriously sick society, and actually doomed to fail. Putin's puppet (Trump) is only accelerating that process.
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  90. It has long been evident that the US is populated by too many idiots, and too many of them have been put in positions of power, usually by Repugnicans. True, the idiots are a tiny minority, but too many of the are actually in positions of power - which is one of the reasons the US is going down the drain. There have been innumerable examples of corrupt and morally blind individuals being empowered by Trump, and the future survival of the USA as a democracy, as a nation of law and order is in serious doubt. Judge Mary Ellen Brennan really takes the cake, a truly cruel person. She is the embodiment of everything that is wrong and inhumane about the USA, stupidly throwing a 15-year old, a CHILD, into the maw of the criminal-creating machine that in the US is called a "correctional system". The kid needed HELP, not being pulverized by the insanity currently dominating in the madhouse that us called 'Murica.
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  91. Parents should be scrambling to take their children out of this school" - but, then again, a parent that enrolls his/her child into a "happiness" school probably has more than a few screws loose to begin with and are bound to believe this nonsense. Can permanent stupidity be cured? Not a chance.
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  92. I agree with everything this channel advocates, but - can you tone down a bit on the yelling? David is is obviously passionate about the issues, but I feel the shouting and yelling is counterproductive. He should follow AOC's example - she is eloquent, logical and consistent nut she NEVER raises her voice to any degree.
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  93. Interesting angle:The private greed-based and expensive US health care system must be maintained so as not to eliminate all the middleman jobs - at least until those jobs can be moved off-shore...
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  94. This is a problem in almost every country on the Globe: There is a hike in oil prices (for whatever reason at any given time) and the local oil distribution companies start complaining they are low on local reserves and have to import a lot of oil at the increased price - and when the price falls again they are are - surprise, surprise - in possession of SO much reserves purchased at the higher prices that they are "forced" to keep distributing oil products at these higher prices, at least for a while. How much of all this is an outright lie is anyone's guess, but in countries where the authorities do not keep a close watch on shenanigans of the oil distributors (and tightly regulate them), these companies can play their scam at will.
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  95.  @attilamarics4808 , if it makes sense to you or not is irrelevant - this still applies to countries that have to import ALL their oil products. Most such countries have privately owned companies that import, stockpile and distribute these products, even the "socialist hellholes" in Europe Trump was so obsessed with. Not many countries can produce most or all of their consumer fuel.
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  96. This will be an interesting experiment: Running on principles that are to the benefit of the general US population. It must, however, be disheartening to have a constituency that has to be spoon-fed information, i.e. have the mental acuity of a toddler (spelled: a republican district).
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  97. It always amazes me how US Americans have been brainwashed into having a twisted idea about what the word "socialism" means. The concept has been abused to the extent that it is really meaningless. The most successful western countries (I'm talking about the general populations, not the ruling classes of those countries) use a mix of capitalism, socialism and genuine democracy to provide societies where the citizens are content, have a good work/life balance and access to affordable education, health care and social safety nets for the less fortunate of their population. Europe, Canada, Australia and New Zealand are prime examples, but the ignorant US Americans always shrug that off with the "we're too big and diverse" argument. That is apparently correct: The US is too big, diverse and ignorant to succeed at anything other than invading other countries to steal their resources, either by brute force (war), sneakily (CIA subversive actions) or by financial bullying. No wonder the US has gone from being a role model to being generally disliked and now fast becoming hated by allies and adversaries alike, all in the short span of 40 years.
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  98. It's been only a bit more than 80 years since German despots started down this road, using exactly the same methods. They came to a sticky end only a decade later, at a great cost to humanity. Does ANYONE really believe that the Trumpzis will fare any better?
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  99. I have come to the conclusion that the US is doomed. Too many US citizens truly believe that Denmark equals Venezuela, which is the height of stupidity. Current and recent Venezuelan leaders have refused to hand over their oil resources to US corporations and, as a result, the Venezuelan economy is now in ruins, a direct consequence of US sanctions. Comparing THAT to the state of e..g. the Danish economy is something only US Americans are gullible enough to believe. The Nordic countries are almost as Capitalist as the US, the main difference being that Nordic politicians care about the general welfare of their citizens, and have put restraints on capitalism. You are free to be an innovative entrepreneur and make out like a bandit, but you are NOT allowed to screw over the general population in the process! Affordable (NOT FREE!) health care and education is a RIGHT, not a privilege.
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  100. Apparently, the only good politician is a DEAD politician. How can I say something like this? Answer: Simple observation! The ONLY time EVERYONE, allies and adversaries alike, speak well of a politician is when said politician is dead. That is when everyone remembers him/her fondly, mudslinging not required anymore.
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  101. So, Smearconish openly admits he is a Corporate Hack. Any other obvious facts?
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  102. Can either Coronavirus or Bernie Sanders be stopped? The virus; definitely not, at least in the US of A - Trump & Co. have decimated any institutions that might have been useful against a pandemic. Bernie; probably not! Young and until-now disillusioned voters are likely to come out in droves to support good-ole-Bernie, the US population's only hope for a sensible future.
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  103. Can we agree that 'Murican right-wing politics are ever so slightly tainted when Sinema leaves he scene? That right-wing politics remain thoroughly corrupt remains true, it is just, possibly, slightly less corrupt? DREAM ON!
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  104. So the US Police Brutality trend is infecting Canada! Perhaps the public should stop calling them "Cops" and star calling them "Killers" or "Gestapo" instead.
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  105. Yep, continue to appease and give in to Putin's bluff, THAT will ensure World Peace forever! Then, be surprised when it's your turn to be under Putin's heel.
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  106. What do you call this? Censorship? Are cops not allowed their own opinions if said opinions are not Gestapo or SS fascist style? The US police forces have to be completely recycled - every single US cop should be eventually fired over a period of 1-2 years while a PROPER police force is established, and only cops that undergo REAL re-training and pass a psychological test will be hired in to the new police force. Nothing less will do if the US wants to be counted among civilized western nations in the future.
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  107. "... the DNC is going to see AOC's speech before it is - whatever". Given AOC´s knack for delivering a LOT of content in a very short speech, she will nail it - and they will try to censor it! Their problem will be that the original speech will be leaked and the DNC will suffer a lot for their blatant attempt of manipulation. Better yet, why don't Justice Democrats just publish the full speech AOC could LIKE to give at the convention? THAT would really rock the boat! Then again, AOC is not likely to do anything that will NOT help kicking Trump out of office. Stage one, the most important bit. Her 60 seconds are bound to be focused on that. Stage two will be to hold Biden to his promises once he is in office which he (being a Corporate Democrat) will try to weasel his way out of. THAT is when AOC and her followers will come out, guns blazing (a poor metaphor, frankly). Hopefully they will not only rock but capsize the Corporate Democrat's boat!
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  108. Having clamored for Trump's impeachment for a long time, now you see all kinds of problems with impeachment? Make up your mind! The arguments sound sensible, and maybe it is best to have the impeachment inquiry expose how awfully corrupt Trump is - but leave it up the the now-conservative Senate dirty their hands by denying actual impeachment. Pence would not become president (to obviously pardon Trump to the extent possible) and Republican Senators will have shown their true, grafting colors.
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  109. A Covid infection will muck up your blood circulation. I caught Covid in Oct. 2020 and immediately noticed a pronounced circulation problems - hands and feet were chronically COLD, and severe remedies were called for. Fortunately, the problem is slowly correcting itself, over 2 years on. One thing I did NOT experience was notable erection problems (apart from being over 70 years old and definitely slowing down in that department). I count myself as fortunate, any drawbacks were easily handled by Viagra-style medication. To be in his thirties and experiencing severe penile problems must be horrifying, especially for an 'Murican. Then again, he can always go for a penis extension - go and by a BIG gun or a BIG truck or a BIG whatever...
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  110. What is striking is the fact that there is no accountability UNLESS there is a video that proves the cops LIED about what happened. What we can take away from this is that cops will ALWAYS lie about events where they are conceivably in the wrong! When hard evidence is available they are always exposed as liars - and they expect the citizens to trust them. What a farce.
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  111. I agree with everything said here, but I cannot help wondering if there is such a thing as being to rabidly pro-Bernie. Being pro-Bernie myself ( a rather pointless exercise, seeing that I am not a US American and have no say in this), I find the Rational National so rabidly pro-Bernie to actually resemble the pro-Trump crowd - literally a fanatic. I live in a North-European, social-democratic CAPITALISTIC country, and find that Bernie is simply preaching to the US voters what we in norther Europe have had since WW2: Affordable health care and education, wages that you can actually live on, and sensible social safety nets. The US population seems to have been brainwashed into thinking that anything that has the word "social" in it equals the now-extinct USSR-style "communist" philosophy. Europe is, is anything, more capitalistic than the US, at least we still believe in competition, and we still have anti-trust laws that curb the virtual monopolization found in the US today. That is something that Republicans and Corporate Democrats have been quietly abolishing in the US in recent decades.
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  112. Now Fact-checkers are checking the Fact-checkers. The US seems to be very confused when it comes to the truth (whatever that might be in any given case).
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  113. Well, he MIGHT have been a danger to himself so the they simply killed him. Problem solved. He is now stone-cold-dead and thus no longer a danger to himself. What a twisted kind of logic, the kind of logic one would expect to find in the effing US of A, not Canada! These particular policemen should be arrested and charged with the murder of a harmless person, because this killing was simply a murder. I wonder if they had a warrant to enter the premises. If not, this was an outright breaking and entering and murdering a person within the sanctity of his own home. When things like this start happening in a country like Canada, the US American madness has become just as contagious and dangerous as the Coronavirus!
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  114. This in not 'Murican. A political ad that focuses on what the candidate stands for instead of focusing on throwing shite on the opponent - what will be next? God forbid - not honest ads! That would really take the cake and possibly break the traditional 'Murican political campaigning mold.
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  115. Funny how this "legalizing pot" issue has become so important. 1) Smoking too much pot fries your brain but is less lethal than e.g. tobacco. Pot is NOT good for you, but using it rarely harms other people. 2) There are A LOT of people in the US sitting in jail for an offense that is not very harmful to society compared to many other activities. 3) "Taking care" of those non-violent "offenders" is big business in the US now, and I mean BIG business. 4) As a result, there will be no significant change int the US injustice system in the foreseeable future, BUT: 5) A new generation is coming into it's own and you old, corrupt farts should start shaking in your slippers... Biden's corporate stint in the presidency will only be a temporary delay in the inexorable change that Mother Nature and plain physics are going to impose on mankind in our immediate future.
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  116. A year on, the Capitol Police has FINALLY found it's muscle - there were only 27 protesters, and they could be easily arrested. No cowering required. Capitol Police Heroes! There is obviously no shame to be found at this stage... Corrupt US Minority Rule at work! Let's talk again in 10-20 years, when the Fascist States of America have finally been ground into smithereens by it's own atrocities.
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  117. The word "Repugnican" properly describes Sen. Kennedy, he is truly repugnant in everything he says and does. Observing the bullcrap spewing from him with a thick southern drawl is one of the reasons I feel nauseous whenever I hear someone speak with a southern drawl - in my mind a southern drawl is now the accent of lies, dishonesty and narrow-mindedness.
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  118. Apparently US elections are all about who has the most money to bribe main media (via ad purchases) and who is most successful at spinning facts and/or lies. The US might manage to survive the current Trump crisis, but US politics have become so corrupt that the US, as a nation, is not going to survive the NEXT crisis or the on following that. The US democracy experiment is apparently coming apart at the seams.
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  119. For the last two centuries, the strength of the USA has been the US population. Hard-working, innovative and the no-task-is-too-difficult attitude. When the US finally got their arses in gear during WW2, and ESPECIALLY during the immediate post-war decades, the American Dream was really alive and kicking. Now over 90% of the US population has slowly been tricked into virtual slavery, and the country is being run like a Reality Show. The question remains: Will the US population wake up and take control of the situation, or will the US population let itself be dumbly dragged to the slaughterhouse? The US has it's dirty corporate/military fingers in every resource pie around the world. The best the rest of the world can hope for is that the US starts using it's insane military budget to the benefit of the US population itself (health care, education, industry and infrastructure) instead of waging eternal war on nations that have only committed the sin of denying US corporations taking over their resources.
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  120. I hope Mehdi Hasan will give MSNBC the finger by finding a job with some other media organization, hopefully outside 'Murica. 'Murica IS a sinking ship that is only marginally less corrupt than Russia. It is coming apart at the seams, much like France did at the end of the 1700s.
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  121. To be a far-right Conservative (or a Republican, not to mention a White Supremacist) you HAVE to be at least an ignorant sociopath or worse (a narcissistic psychopath?). Anyone with any degree of empathy will, at worst, be a very moderate conservative.
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  122. Republicans: "Drain the Swamp!" Everyone else: "But you ARE the Swamp!" Republicans: "Who cares? We don't." A no-brainer for people who have no shame whatsoever.
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  123. Donny Deutsch is a known face, and he should NEVER show his face in any of the Nordic countries. Not be cause he will be shot on sight of met with any violence, but because he will be booed and laughed out of any of those countries.
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