It seems the Russian troop maneuvers around Ukraine have ended, at least according to this article. Russian units should be back to their original bases by May 1st. Anybody here have any thoughts on this? Was this just a show, or does it indicate something bad on the horizon...?
Who knows when you're dealing with Putin, but my guess is it was intended as a warning rather than a genuine military move. That would be consistent with his recent 'state of the nation' type speech which included a general warning that anyone picking on Russia would regret it.
When Russia has intervened militarily in neighbors it has tended to do so quietly. That was seen in previous relatively recent adventures in Ukraine, such as the annexation of Crimea, where Russia used surreptitious movements of special forces in the initial intervention and only later followed that up with regular troops.
Under the radar, but very impactful change in NYC. The city will no longer prosecute sex workers for engaging in their, for lack of a better word, trade. One way to decrease the power of the police state is to stop arresting and prosecuting people for victimless crimes. Some of the workers THEMSELVES may be victims, but I fail to see how locking them up solves that problem. If you want to weed out the underworld elements of drug trafficking and sex work, you have to bring them into the light. Prohibition taught us this much. How many Budweiser employees are shot down by Coors employees over distribution or territory disputes?? The answer is "zero".
I refrain from posting every load of horseshit that comes out of the TV on FOX everyday, but tonight Tucker Carlson went beyond the pale. First off, I initially saw the segment without sound (per usual) at the gym out of the corner of my eye. Even with no words, I was able to get the gist of it. Classic projection, as always. The people who have made not wearing a mask for the last year a political badge now turning around and claiming anyone who wears one outside is only doing so to make conservatives feel bad.
Now, I don't personally wear a mask outside, and haven't since this started, though I ALWAYS wear one indoors. Then again, other people have medical conditions where even the very slight chance they could catch COVID-19 outdoors is enough to make it worth their while. And frankly, even if there WASN'T a pandemic going on, it's no one's fucking business if someone wants to wear a mask for whatever reason they choose. But since people wearing masks triggers pangs of guilt and being judged in people who have refused to wear them for the last year, apparently it's revenge time.
Because the segment wasn't just about berating and making fun of people who wear them outside, which I initially assumed. First, he called people who wear masks outside the "aggressors" in his latest made-up culture war (which is certainly going to be news to them, because NO ONE is wearing masks to make a political statement). He then straight-up called on his audience to confront people wearing masks on the street and tell them to take of their masks because it's "making me uncomfortable" (verbatim what he gave as a reason). But that wasn't it. He then called upon people to report any parents who have their children wearing masks outside for child abuse. He said children wearing masks outside should be a.) illegal and b.) said it was no different than seeing a parent beat their child at a Wal-Mart. And called upon people to literally call the police and child protective services.
This is an evil man, who works for an evil organization. And let me just state my opinion. I hope anyone who listens to Tucker and engages in this behavior and confronts other people's children in front of their parents gets a can of mace sprayed right in their fucking eyeballs. This is the most CRYSTAL CLEAR example I've ever seen of conservative grievance essentially boiling down to the belief that you have a god-given right to be 1000% comfortable in your every thought, word and deed 24/7/365, and if even a TOTAL STRANGER is simply minding their own business going about their own life, they have NO right to do so if it even makes you question or feel uncomfortable about something for a split second. And no one will ever tell me the right-wing media machine led by FOX didn't cause 100s of thousands of preventable deaths by peddling this fascistic bullshit for the past year.
I wasn't wearing a mask outside, as I mentioned before, because I didn't deem it necessary, and, again, it wasn't about showing my support for Joe Biden or opposition to Trump. But the opening segment on his show tonight has change my mind. I think I am now going to wear a mask outside, just on the off chance it baits someone into following Tucker's instructions and trying it on me. If these are the asinine, ridiculous games we're gonna play in this society, then so be it.
It's also good to see Biden being keen to engage on this issue internationally. Doing that is not just essential to make the best possible progress, but also provides a good way for countries to see the benefits of working together. There's going to be plenty of tension between the US and China over lots of issues over the next few years, but climate change is one of the few where the prospects are good for a meeting of minds and cooperative action.
I think it is risky for other countries to work with the US here - you are always just one election away from having another climate change denier in the White House. At least from here it seems the likelihood of the GOP nominating a non climate change skeptic is very slim.
I refrain from posting every load of horseshit that comes out of the TV on FOX everyday, but tonight Tucker Carlson went beyond the pale. First off, I initially saw the segment without sound (per usual) at the gym out of the corner of my eye. Even with no words, I was able to get the gist of it. Classic projection, as always. The people who have made not wearing a mask for the last year a political badge now turning around and claiming anyone who wears one outside is only doing so to make conservatives feel bad.
Now, I don't personally wear a mask outside, and haven't since this started, though I ALWAYS wear one indoors. Then again, other people have medical conditions where even the very slight chance they could catch COVID-19 outdoors is enough to make it worth their while. And frankly, even if there WASN'T a pandemic going on, it's no one's fucking business if someone wants to wear a mask for whatever reason they choose. But since people wearing masks triggers pangs of guilt and being judged in people who have refused to wear them for the last year, apparently it's revenge time.
Because the segment wasn't just about berating and making fun of people who wear them outside, which I initially assumed. First, he called people who wear masks outside the "aggressors" in his latest made-up culture war (which is certainly going to be news to them, because NO ONE is wearing masks to make a political statement). He then straight-up called on his audience to confront people wearing masks on the street and tell them to take of their masks because it's "making me uncomfortable" (verbatim what he gave as a reason). But that wasn't it. He then called upon people to report any parents who have their children wearing masks outside for child abuse. He said children wearing masks outside should be a.) illegal and b.) said it was no different than seeing a parent beat their child at a Wal-Mart. And called upon people to literally call the police and child protective services.
This is an evil man, who works for an evil organization. And let me just state my opinion. I hope anyone who listens to Tucker and engages in this behavior and confronts other people's children in front of their parents gets a can of mace sprayed right in their fucking eyeballs. This is the most CRYSTAL CLEAR example I've ever seen of conservative grievance essentially boiling down to the belief that you have a god-given right to be 1000% comfortable in your every thought, word and deed 24/7/365, and if even a TOTAL STRANGER is simply minding their own business going about their own life, they have NO right to do so if it even makes you question or feel uncomfortable about something for a split second. And no one will ever tell me the right-wing media machine led by FOX didn't cause 100s of thousands of preventable deaths by peddling this fascistic bullshit for the past year.
I wasn't wearing a mask outside, as I mentioned before, because I didn't deem it necessary, and, again, it wasn't about showing my support for Joe Biden or opposition to Trump. But the opening segment on his show tonight has change my mind. I think I am now going to wear a mask outside, just on the off chance it baits someone into following Tucker's instructions and trying it on me. If these are the asinine, ridiculous games we're gonna play in this society, then so be it.
I am refraining from watching or listening to any news "commentary" anymore. The only exception I might make would be Sanjay Gupta on CNN, who is pretty knowledgeable and logical. It's all a bunch of hysterical horseshit now...
I refrain from posting every load of horseshit that comes out of the TV on FOX everyday, but tonight Tucker Carlson went beyond the pale. First off, I initially saw the segment without sound (per usual) at the gym out of the corner of my eye. Even with no words, I was able to get the gist of it. Classic projection, as always. The people who have made not wearing a mask for the last year a political badge now turning around and claiming anyone who wears one outside is only doing so to make conservatives feel bad.
Now, I don't personally wear a mask outside, and haven't since this started, though I ALWAYS wear one indoors. Then again, other people have medical conditions where even the very slight chance they could catch COVID-19 outdoors is enough to make it worth their while. And frankly, even if there WASN'T a pandemic going on, it's no one's fucking business if someone wants to wear a mask for whatever reason they choose. But since people wearing masks triggers pangs of guilt and being judged in people who have refused to wear them for the last year, apparently it's revenge time.
Because the segment wasn't just about berating and making fun of people who wear them outside, which I initially assumed. First, he called people who wear masks outside the "aggressors" in his latest made-up culture war (which is certainly going to be news to them, because NO ONE is wearing masks to make a political statement). He then straight-up called on his audience to confront people wearing masks on the street and tell them to take of their masks because it's "making me uncomfortable" (verbatim what he gave as a reason). But that wasn't it. He then called upon people to report any parents who have their children wearing masks outside for child abuse. He said children wearing masks outside should be a.) illegal and b.) said it was no different than seeing a parent beat their child at a Wal-Mart. And called upon people to literally call the police and child protective services.
This is an evil man, who works for an evil organization. And let me just state my opinion. I hope anyone who listens to Tucker and engages in this behavior and confronts other people's children in front of their parents gets a can of mace sprayed right in their fucking eyeballs. This is the most CRYSTAL CLEAR example I've ever seen of conservative grievance essentially boiling down to the belief that you have a god-given right to be 1000% comfortable in your every thought, word and deed 24/7/365, and if even a TOTAL STRANGER is simply minding their own business going about their own life, they have NO right to do so if it even makes you question or feel uncomfortable about something for a split second. And no one will ever tell me the right-wing media machine led by FOX didn't cause 100s of thousands of preventable deaths by peddling this fascistic bullshit for the past year.
I wasn't wearing a mask outside, as I mentioned before, because I didn't deem it necessary, and, again, it wasn't about showing my support for Joe Biden or opposition to Trump. But the opening segment on his show tonight has change my mind. I think I am now going to wear a mask outside, just on the off chance it baits someone into following Tucker's instructions and trying it on me. If these are the asinine, ridiculous games we're gonna play in this society, then so be it.
I am refraining from watching or listening to any news "commentary" anymore. The only exception I might make would be Sanjay Gupta on CNN, who is pretty knowledgeable and logical. It's all a bunch of hysterical horseshit now...
Like I said, I haven't worn one outside in my sparsely populated part for town thr entire time. There was no one to interact with in that regard to require it. May have had a different opinion if I lived in the middle of a large city. CDC guidelines even changed on this today. Which is FINE. But the language used last night was so specific, framing any who exercises their right to do so as an enemy of society at large, a child abuser, or both. Plenty of parents have kids who need to wear masks anyway, such as those with cystic fibrosis or other ailments that have nothing to do with COVID-19. Telling millions of people those parents are just doing so to make you feel bad, should be stopped and should have their kids taken away is straight-up Nazi-level shit. And he knows who he's playing to. And he doesn't even do it out of any real sincere belief, but for money.
Also, plenty of parents are overly cautious about all sorts of things. Maybe we disagree about that hyper-caution. But in no way would you describe it as child abuse.
Also, plenty of parents are overly cautious about all sorts of things. Maybe we disagree about that hyper-caution. But in no way would you describe it as child abuse.
The fact he told people to call the cops on people he assumes are "liberals" so closely to the Chauvin verdict, which he also declared a step towards the "end of our society" is also not lost on me. Purposefully trying to engineer more contentious, unesscesary interactions with cops. I have to hope most police departments or child service organizations would laugh off these calls. I would hope all of them would. But you know they are now going to get them.
And yeah, I would say the #1 priority of a parent is to protect your child from harm. So if someone is erroring on the side of more caution than necessary, painting that as nefarious, rather than just trying to do your best to meet that obligation, is repulsive. But it seems this is quite literally a news segment broadcast to millions of people with a direct goal of causing physical confrontations in public.
There is nothing overly remarkable about Biden's speech before Congress tonight. It's just him doing what he does. But it once again shows why he's absolute krytonite to the way Republicans want to currently frame things and oppose him. Everything he proposed domestically came AFTER he set the image in everyone's head of grandparents being able to hug their grandchildren again instead of touch their hands against the glass of a window. This is why you hire professional speechwriters to frame your agenda.
There is nothing overly remarkable about Biden's speech before Congress tonight. It's just him doing what he does. But it once again shows why he's absolute krytonite to the way Republicans want to currently frame things and oppose him. Everything he proposed domestically came AFTER he set the image in everyone's head of grandparents being able to hug their grandchildren again instead of touch their hands against the glass of a window. This is why you hire professional speechwriters to frame your agenda.
He kept his stutter mostly in check too. Pretty impressive speech all in all. I kinda don't think he can keep the crazy progressives in his party from ruining things, but I guess time will tell.
There is nothing overly remarkable about Biden's speech before Congress tonight. It's just him doing what he does. But it once again shows why he's absolute krytonite to the way Republicans want to currently frame things and oppose him. Everything he proposed domestically came AFTER he set the image in everyone's head of grandparents being able to hug their grandchildren again instead of touch their hands against the glass of a window. This is why you hire professional speechwriters to frame your agenda.
He kept his stutter mostly in check too. Pretty impressive speech all in all. I kinda don't think he can keep the crazy progressives in his party from ruining things, but I guess time will tell.
It's usually just good for a joke at this point, but would anyone bat an eyelash if, in response to his call to replace lead piping around the country, right-wing media pivoted to a "lead poisoning isn't really that bad" position??
The lead pipes are a touchy issue. They aren't bad if left alone (not unlike asbestos in that regard). Flint fucked up by changing the water source without doing the proper treatment of the pipes first. Changing the pipes can be a disaster if they don't do it right. Chemistry can be a bitch!
The lead pipes are a touchy issue. They aren't bad if left alone (not unlike asbestos in that regard). Flint fucked up by changing the water source without doing the proper treatment of the pipes first. Changing the pipes can be a disaster if they don't do it right. Chemistry can be a bitch!
Pipes? Seriously darling, if you are going to pipes to maintain your conservatism, probably you are stretching and not as conservative as you would have us believe.
Is okay, I went through that moment myself. You still breathe in and out, you just understand reality, not a bad thing in the end, just... different.
The lead pipes are a touchy issue. They aren't bad if left alone (not unlike asbestos in that regard). Flint fucked up by changing the water source without doing the proper treatment of the pipes first. Changing the pipes can be a disaster if they don't do it right. Chemistry can be a bitch!
Pipes? Seriously darling, if you are going to pipes to maintain your conservatism, probably you are stretching and not as conservative as you would have us believe.
Is okay, I went through that moment myself. You still breathe in and out, you just understand reality, not a bad thing in the end, just... different.
Well, to be honest, I was just addressing the science part of the lead pipe removal issue, not making any political comment. The lead in the pipes is deactivated by a layer of oxidized metal so it isn't dangerous if left alone. Switching to a more acidic water source leaches away that protective layer and causes the problems.
I can count five people who can possibly have handled a single ballot. The printer, the distributor/packer, the voter, the counter & the auditor. How does this prove anything? All it’s doing is wasting tax payer money to do it.
I can count five people who can possibly have handled a single ballot. The printer, the distributor/packer, the voter, the counter & the auditor. How does this prove anything? All it’s doing is wasting tax payer money to do it.
The fact this is even being allowed to take place by such a transparently biased and partisan organization is a joke. Nothing they "find" will carry any legal weight whatsoever. It's only purpose is to further the conspiracy theory. And the judge who let it proceed gifted that to them. The oft-referred to "big lie" given even more gas for the fire. Recent polling suggests 70% of self-identified Republicans believe Biden got less votes than Trump. That number has gone UP in the last 100 days, not down.
I can count five people who can possibly have handled a single ballot. The printer, the distributor/packer, the voter, the counter & the auditor. How does this prove anything? All it’s doing is wasting tax payer money to do it.
The fact this is even being allowed to take place by such a transparently biased and partisan organization is a joke. Nothing they "find" will carry any legal weight whatsoever. It's only purpose is to further the conspiracy theory. And the judge who let it proceed gifted that to them. The oft-referred to "big lie" given even more gas for the fire. Recent polling suggests 70% of self-identified Republicans believe Biden got less votes than Trump. That number has gone UP in the last 100 days, not down.
Well I just read the full story about this on CNN (and it does sound like the biggest joke), and my guess their next play is to claim they found enough fraudulent ballots to flip it to Trump, but because the ballots were fraudulent they destroyed them so they couldn't be counted again.
I find it hard to imagine this will stand up to constitutional scrutiny, but there is one interesting exclusion from the law - companies that own and operate a theme park are exempt. While that appears to be aimed at satisfying Disney's special pleading, it would be possible for other companies to start their own theme parks to qualify for the exemption. If anyone thinks this law will stand up, perhaps they should consider investing in theme parks .
I find it hard to imagine this will stand up to constitutional scrutiny, but there is one interesting exclusion from the law - companies that own and operate a theme park are exempt. While that appears to be aimed at satisfying Disney's special pleading, it would be possible for other companies to start their own theme parks to qualify for the exemption. If anyone thinks this law will stand up, perhaps they should consider investing in theme parks .
Imagine passing a law aimed only at placating one man and his voters, but also carving out an exception for your state's #1 tourist attraction and pretending you're taking a principled stand against big tech. And yeah, a "theme park" does not need to take up half the real estate near Orlando. It can be a Tilt-a-Whirl and cotton candy stand.
Me in a nutshell. Put the brakes on the Democratic social nonsense but hit the accelerator on their infrastructure ideas. The social attitudes will change over time anyway. Focus on making our tax dollars pay off in long-run dividends...
Me in a nutshell. Put the brakes on the Democratic social nonsense but hit the accelerator on their infrastructure ideas. The social attitudes will change over time anyway. Focus on making our tax dollars pay off in long-run dividends...
Republicans are running against a Democratic Party that basically only exists on Twitter and online comment sections. Biden's actual proposals laid out in the State of the Union (not technically called that the first year, but you get my drift) are exactly that.
Bill Clinton's famous line "the era of big government is over" was essentially waving the white-flag and admitting Reagansim had won. Biden's speech is more like saying Reagansim is finally dead. As in, we've tried this trickle-down horseshit for 40 years, it's never worked, and we're gonna try to build from the bottom-up rather than the top-down. It actually might be a historic pivot point.
Alot of people who have followed liberal politics alot longer than I have commented the day after it's the boldest agenda they've heard from a Democrat since LBJ, but framed by simple words like "family" and "jobs". I think Biden's team has a very keen understanding of what the situation in the country is and what they're doing with their rhetoric.
They also pointed out both the infrastructure and family bills do NOT create new agencies. This is specifically to rob Republicans of the "creating more needless bureaucracy" argument. The proposals basically a.) have the government provide jobs (infrastructure) and b.) either put money in people's hand or save them money they already earn ( the pre-K and childcare proposals). The right has boxed itself into a corner with Trump's populist veneer. Alot of young conservatives now EXPECT the government to help people financially. Going back to Ayn Rand-land isn't gonna work this time.
In my current neighborhood, only 11% are Republicans. No surprises there; it's a modest neighborhood near the outskirts of left-leaning San Antonio, with a solid minority population. My former home is 52% Republican, far less than I would have expected in my parents' stupidly wealthy neighborhood (I would have guess 75% Republican or more), but then again, SA is a big city and it does lean liberal overall.
In my current neighborhood, only 11% are Republicans. No surprises there; it's a modest neighborhood near the outskirts of left-leaning San Antonio, with a solid minority population. My former home is 52% Republican, far less than I would have expected in my parents' stupidly wealthy neighborhood (I would have guess 75% Republican or more), but then again, SA is a big city and it does lean liberal overall.
Interesting, according to your linked article, only 24% of my neighborhood are Democrats. I guess that makes sense, since I'm about as far away from Detroit as you can get and still be considered the 'metro' area.
My neighborhood ... the widget says 17% Republican, estimating in the absence of partisan registration. And my reaction - wait, that many? I would have predicted half that, and more independents on the left (socialists and the like) than Republicans. The estimate assigns everyone to D or R in this case, which definitely doesn't feel right.
God, I hope the hounds of war aren't starting to howl. I wonder what would happen if there were coordinated attacks on the Ukraine by Russia and Taiwan by China? Scary thoughts...
You can enter your address and it will give you an estimate of how politically diverse your neighborhood is, based on party registration.
I an not from US however, in my city, about 80% of the population voted for Bolsonaro and in my neighbor, is about 96%.
But I don't get the logic "rich vote for republicans" on USA. In fact, looking into maps, seems like "Rural America" is overwhelming Republican and "Urban America" is overwhelming democrat. There are a lot of extremely rich people who not only spend a lot of money trying to promote leftists values on their country but also export this ideas all around the world. George Soros is the most iconic example.
You can enter your address and it will give you an estimate of how politically diverse your neighborhood is, based on party registration.
I an not from US however, in my city, about 80% of the population voted for Bolsonaro and in my neighbor, is about 96%.
But I don't get the logic "rich vote for republicans" on USA. In fact, looking into maps, seems like "Rural America" is overwhelming Republican and "Urban America" is overwhelming democrat. There are a lot of extremely rich people who not only spend a lot of money trying to promote leftists values on their country but also export this ideas all around the world. George Soros is the most iconic example.
Being rich vs poor is certainly not the most important predictor of how likely you are to vote Democrat vs Republic.
It's still quite noticeable though if you control for other factors, i.e. if you look at the Urban rich vs the Urban poor, a single state or look at it by education.
Last I heard earlier last week, the Arizona "audit" is going exactly how you'd expect. One of the supervisors admitted on camera they are looking for traces of bamboo among the ballots because they believe tens of thousands of illegal ballots were "shipped in from China" (wrap your head around the stupidity of how that would even happen, then move on to how racist it is). They WERE planning on knocking on the doors of voters to ask them how they voted to do some sort of cross-reference, but that has been nixed (terrifying it was even being contemplated). And they were, apparently, roughly 2% (yes, you read that right) done with their hand count before they had to surrender the facility to a high school graduation. Which means at their current pace they should be done by some time in 2023.
Anyone with any sense knows this is a farce, but a farce can still play it's role. And it's role plays into what this article is warning about in advance. What happens when Democrats win elections in States where these type of Republicans control the legislature and governorship and they refuse to certify the results??:
Last I heard earlier last week, the Arizona "audit" is going exactly how you'd expect. One of the supervisors admitted on camera they are looking for traces of bamboo among the ballots because they believe tens of thousands of illegal ballots were "shipped in from China" (wrap your head around the stupidity of how that would even happen, then move on to how racist it is). They WERE planning on knocking on the doors of voters to ask them how they voted to do some sort of cross-reference, but that has been nixed (terrifying it was even being contemplated). And they were, apparently, roughly 2% (yes, you read that right) done with their hand count before they had to surrender the facility to a high school graduation. Which means at their current pace they should be done by some time in 2023.
Anyone with any sense knows this is a farce, but a farce can still play it's role. And it's role plays into what this article is warning about in advance. What happens when Democrats win elections in States where these type of Republicans control the legislature and governorship and they refuse to certify the results??:
What's even more incomprehensible to me is how much of this nothingberder is being funded by donations from people who probably should be finding something else to do with their paychecks. Last I read, Trump supporters aren't exactly the upper crust of income earners...
Comments
Who knows when you're dealing with Putin, but my guess is it was intended as a warning rather than a genuine military move. That would be consistent with his recent 'state of the nation' type speech which included a general warning that anyone picking on Russia would regret it.
When Russia has intervened militarily in neighbors it has tended to do so quietly. That was seen in previous relatively recent adventures in Ukraine, such as the annexation of Crimea, where Russia used surreptitious movements of special forces in the initial intervention and only later followed that up with regular troops.
Now, I don't personally wear a mask outside, and haven't since this started, though I ALWAYS wear one indoors. Then again, other people have medical conditions where even the very slight chance they could catch COVID-19 outdoors is enough to make it worth their while. And frankly, even if there WASN'T a pandemic going on, it's no one's fucking business if someone wants to wear a mask for whatever reason they choose. But since people wearing masks triggers pangs of guilt and being judged in people who have refused to wear them for the last year, apparently it's revenge time.
Because the segment wasn't just about berating and making fun of people who wear them outside, which I initially assumed. First, he called people who wear masks outside the "aggressors" in his latest made-up culture war (which is certainly going to be news to them, because NO ONE is wearing masks to make a political statement). He then straight-up called on his audience to confront people wearing masks on the street and tell them to take of their masks because it's "making me uncomfortable" (verbatim what he gave as a reason). But that wasn't it. He then called upon people to report any parents who have their children wearing masks outside for child abuse. He said children wearing masks outside should be a.) illegal and b.) said it was no different than seeing a parent beat their child at a Wal-Mart. And called upon people to literally call the police and child protective services.
This is an evil man, who works for an evil organization. And let me just state my opinion. I hope anyone who listens to Tucker and engages in this behavior and confronts other people's children in front of their parents gets a can of mace sprayed right in their fucking eyeballs. This is the most CRYSTAL CLEAR example I've ever seen of conservative grievance essentially boiling down to the belief that you have a god-given right to be 1000% comfortable in your every thought, word and deed 24/7/365, and if even a TOTAL STRANGER is simply minding their own business going about their own life, they have NO right to do so if it even makes you question or feel uncomfortable about something for a split second. And no one will ever tell me the right-wing media machine led by FOX didn't cause 100s of thousands of preventable deaths by peddling this fascistic bullshit for the past year.
I wasn't wearing a mask outside, as I mentioned before, because I didn't deem it necessary, and, again, it wasn't about showing my support for Joe Biden or opposition to Trump. But the opening segment on his show tonight has change my mind. I think I am now going to wear a mask outside, just on the off chance it baits someone into following Tucker's instructions and trying it on me. If these are the asinine, ridiculous games we're gonna play in this society, then so be it.
I think it is risky for other countries to work with the US here - you are always just one election away from having another climate change denier in the White House. At least from here it seems the likelihood of the GOP nominating a non climate change skeptic is very slim.
I am refraining from watching or listening to any news "commentary" anymore. The only exception I might make would be Sanjay Gupta on CNN, who is pretty knowledgeable and logical. It's all a bunch of hysterical horseshit now...
Like I said, I haven't worn one outside in my sparsely populated part for town thr entire time. There was no one to interact with in that regard to require it. May have had a different opinion if I lived in the middle of a large city. CDC guidelines even changed on this today. Which is FINE. But the language used last night was so specific, framing any who exercises their right to do so as an enemy of society at large, a child abuser, or both. Plenty of parents have kids who need to wear masks anyway, such as those with cystic fibrosis or other ailments that have nothing to do with COVID-19. Telling millions of people those parents are just doing so to make you feel bad, should be stopped and should have their kids taken away is straight-up Nazi-level shit. And he knows who he's playing to. And he doesn't even do it out of any real sincere belief, but for money.
The fact he told people to call the cops on people he assumes are "liberals" so closely to the Chauvin verdict, which he also declared a step towards the "end of our society" is also not lost on me. Purposefully trying to engineer more contentious, unesscesary interactions with cops. I have to hope most police departments or child service organizations would laugh off these calls. I would hope all of them would. But you know they are now going to get them.
And yeah, I would say the #1 priority of a parent is to protect your child from harm. So if someone is erroring on the side of more caution than necessary, painting that as nefarious, rather than just trying to do your best to meet that obligation, is repulsive. But it seems this is quite literally a news segment broadcast to millions of people with a direct goal of causing physical confrontations in public.
He kept his stutter mostly in check too. Pretty impressive speech all in all. I kinda don't think he can keep the crazy progressives in his party from ruining things, but I guess time will tell.
It's usually just good for a joke at this point, but would anyone bat an eyelash if, in response to his call to replace lead piping around the country, right-wing media pivoted to a "lead poisoning isn't really that bad" position??
Is okay, I went through that moment myself. You still breathe in and out, you just understand reality, not a bad thing in the end, just... different.
Well, to be honest, I was just addressing the science part of the lead pipe removal issue, not making any political comment. The lead in the pipes is deactivated by a layer of oxidized metal so it isn't dangerous if left alone. Switching to a more acidic water source leaches away that protective layer and causes the problems.
https://www.rawstory.com/arizona-forensic-audit/
I can count five people who can possibly have handled a single ballot. The printer, the distributor/packer, the voter, the counter & the auditor. How does this prove anything? All it’s doing is wasting tax payer money to do it.
The fact this is even being allowed to take place by such a transparently biased and partisan organization is a joke. Nothing they "find" will carry any legal weight whatsoever. It's only purpose is to further the conspiracy theory. And the judge who let it proceed gifted that to them. The oft-referred to "big lie" given even more gas for the fire. Recent polling suggests 70% of self-identified Republicans believe Biden got less votes than Trump. That number has gone UP in the last 100 days, not down.
Well I just read the full story about this on CNN (and it does sound like the biggest joke), and my guess their next play is to claim they found enough fraudulent ballots to flip it to Trump, but because the ballots were fraudulent they destroyed them so they couldn't be counted again.
I find it hard to imagine this will stand up to constitutional scrutiny, but there is one interesting exclusion from the law - companies that own and operate a theme park are exempt. While that appears to be aimed at satisfying Disney's special pleading, it would be possible for other companies to start their own theme parks to qualify for the exemption. If anyone thinks this law will stand up, perhaps they should consider investing in theme parks
Imagine passing a law aimed only at placating one man and his voters, but also carving out an exception for your state's #1 tourist attraction and pretending you're taking a principled stand against big tech. And yeah, a "theme park" does not need to take up half the real estate near Orlando. It can be a Tilt-a-Whirl and cotton candy stand.
https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2021/05/01/what-the-infrastructure-fight-is-really-about-485107
Republicans are running against a Democratic Party that basically only exists on Twitter and online comment sections. Biden's actual proposals laid out in the State of the Union (not technically called that the first year, but you get my drift) are exactly that.
Bill Clinton's famous line "the era of big government is over" was essentially waving the white-flag and admitting Reagansim had won. Biden's speech is more like saying Reagansim is finally dead. As in, we've tried this trickle-down horseshit for 40 years, it's never worked, and we're gonna try to build from the bottom-up rather than the top-down. It actually might be a historic pivot point.
Alot of people who have followed liberal politics alot longer than I have commented the day after it's the boldest agenda they've heard from a Democrat since LBJ, but framed by simple words like "family" and "jobs". I think Biden's team has a very keen understanding of what the situation in the country is and what they're doing with their rhetoric.
They also pointed out both the infrastructure and family bills do NOT create new agencies. This is specifically to rob Republicans of the "creating more needless bureaucracy" argument. The proposals basically a.) have the government provide jobs (infrastructure) and b.) either put money in people's hand or save them money they already earn ( the pre-K and childcare proposals). The right has boxed itself into a corner with Trump's populist veneer. Alot of young conservatives now EXPECT the government to help people financially. Going back to Ayn Rand-land isn't gonna work this time.
You can enter your address and it will give you an estimate of how politically diverse your neighborhood is, based on party registration.
In my current neighborhood, only 11% are Republicans. No surprises there; it's a modest neighborhood near the outskirts of left-leaning San Antonio, with a solid minority population. My former home is 52% Republican, far less than I would have expected in my parents' stupidly wealthy neighborhood (I would have guess 75% Republican or more), but then again, SA is a big city and it does lean liberal overall.
Interesting, according to your linked article, only 24% of my neighborhood are Democrats. I guess that makes sense, since I'm about as far away from Detroit as you can get and still be considered the 'metro' area.
https://www.cnn.com/2021/05/05/china/australia-china-war-military-mic-intl-hnk/index.html
I an not from US however, in my city, about 80% of the population voted for Bolsonaro and in my neighbor, is about 96%.
But I don't get the logic "rich vote for republicans" on USA. In fact, looking into maps, seems like "Rural America" is overwhelming Republican and "Urban America" is overwhelming democrat. There are a lot of extremely rich people who not only spend a lot of money trying to promote leftists values on their country but also export this ideas all around the world. George Soros is the most iconic example.
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016/11/01/upshot/many-ways-to-map-election-results.html
Being rich vs poor is certainly not the most important predictor of how likely you are to vote Democrat vs Republic.
It's still quite noticeable though if you control for other factors, i.e. if you look at the Urban rich vs the Urban poor, a single state or look at it by education.
Anyone with any sense knows this is a farce, but a farce can still play it's role. And it's role plays into what this article is warning about in advance. What happens when Democrats win elections in States where these type of Republicans control the legislature and governorship and they refuse to certify the results??:
https://washingtonmonthly.com/2021/05/08/what-happens-when-republicans-simply-refuse-to-certify-democratic-wins/
What's even more incomprehensible to me is how much of this nothingberder is being funded by donations from people who probably should be finding something else to do with their paychecks. Last I read, Trump supporters aren't exactly the upper crust of income earners...