Random Political Posts

[pnwguy]

Dec 13, 2021 20:41:54 GMT LFC said:

Rand Paul is a hypocritical dick. That is all.

Perhaps anal parasite would be a better metaphor...

[jackd]

Would Ivermectin cure him?

[pnwguy]

Dec 13, 2021 22:20:07 GMT jackd said:

Would Ivermectin cure him?

Neigh…

[AnBr]

[LFC]

I was thinking this should be posted in Random Non-Political but then I read it. Policies and political attitudes are clearly impacting population growth in the U.S.

The U.S. population grew at a slower rate in 2021 than in any other year since the founding of the nation, based on historical decennial censuses and annual population estimates.

The U.S. Census Bureau Vintage 2021 Population Estimates released today show that population grew only 0.1% and that the COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated the slower growth the country has experienced in recent years.

The year 2021 is the first time since 1937 that the U.S. population grew by fewer than one million people, featuring the lowest numeric growth since at least 1900, when the Census Bureau began annual population estimates.

Apart from the last few years, when population growth slowed to historically low levels, the slowest rate of growth in the 20th century was from 1918-1919 amid the influenza pandemic and World War I.



Slower population growth has been a trend in the United States for several years, the result of decreasing fertility and net international migration, combined with increasing mortality due to an aging population.

In other words, since the mid-2010’s, births and net international migration have been declining at the same time deaths have been increasing. The collective impact of these trends is slower population growth.

This trend has been amplified by the COVID-19 pandemic, resulting in a historically slow population increase in 2021 (Figure 2).

[jackd]

It's not necessarily a bad thing. Overpopulation has been an issue with respect to many issues, especially ecological issues.

[andydp]

You may have heard of the Candace Owens interview with Pres Trump where he praised the efficacy of the vaccines.  Of course Candace immediately tried to walk it back.  She said Pres Trump was "too old" to surf the net and get "real" information.  

So... if pres Trump is "too old" to surf the internet, how does that affect his abilities to lead the free world after 2024 ?

[pnwguy]

Dec 28, 2021 14:49:35 GMT andydp said:

You may have heard of the Candace Owens interview with Pres Trump where he praised the efficacy of the vaccines.  Of course Candace immediately tried to walk it back.  She said Pres Trump was "too old" to surf the net and get "real" information.  

So... if pres Trump is "too old" to surf the internet, how does that affect his abilities to lead the free world after 2024 ?

What sort of Doubting Thomas are you? He hires The Best People who he has to do that stuff. Why read daily presidential security briefs when they can just recite the highlights? Someone of his stature and importance doesn’t need to get bogged down in details.

[goldenvalley]

Dec 28, 2021 14:49:35 GMT andydp said:

You may have heard of the Candace Owens interview with Pres Trump where he praised the efficacy of the vaccines.  Of course Candace immediately tried to walk it back.  She said Pres Trump was "too old" to surf the net and get "real" information.  

Is Trumpism leaving Trump behind?  He got them so far, but now he faltered on a key aspect of the ideology so they'll just write him off as "too old".   So much for loyalty!  

[LFC]

Dec 28, 2021 17:29:59 GMT goldenvalley said:

Is Trumpism leaving Trump behind?  He got them so far, but now he faltered on a key aspect of the ideology so they'll just write him off as "too old".   So much for loyalty!  

Donald may be learning that he's not the only one who gets to apply purity and loyalty tests.

[LFC]

[AnBr]

While true, Uygur is a dead-ender that railed against Clinton well past the primaries. He owns tRumpism more than the average dead-ender by his media presence.

[Traveler]

I just saw that last night. Pretty hilarious satire on Magats. Depressingly true as far as that goes, but nice to have a chuckle for once.

[LFC]

The FBI posted a tweet in honor of MLK. Given their history it wasn't exactly well received.

Yesterday the FBI’s Twitter account posted a tribute to the civil rights leader (a guy the FBI liked a lot). It, too, probably shouldn’t have:

Here's a few of the responses but there are many, many more in the same vein.

[LFC]

Greg Abbot's political ploy of sending National Guard troops to the border is failing badly, much like just about any other policy they try to put in place. That's what happens when politics is always put before the people.

When Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) announced in March last year that he would be sending hundreds of Texas National Guard troops to the U.S.-Mexico border, he spurred a wave of posturing from Republican governors over “securing” the border. Following Texas’ lead, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis sent Florida state law enforcement officers and National Guard troops to Texas. South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem sent her state’s troops as well — funded by a Tennessee auto scrap billionaire.

State police deployed in conjunction with the troops have stuffed Texas jails full of thousands of migrants and asylum seekers facing misdemeanor trespassing charges.

Over time, though, the media attention faded. The politics grew less potent. But Texas’ troops are still there. And things are getting bleak. Here are five points on the current situation with Abbott’s “Operation Lonestar.”

[LFC]

Once again libertarians like Rand Paul, who claim to favor local government control, freak out when a local government does something they don't personally approve of. F***ing hypocrites. Is it any wonder why multiple attempts to run municipalities under libertarianism have collapsed under their own weight of its own silliness?

The Big Board, a D.C. bar and restaurant known for its innovative beer-pricing system, has an owner opposed to District of Columbia’s regulations requiring masking and proof of vaccination from indoor patrons.

After receiving complaints, warnings, suspension of their liquor license, and a Health Department inspection that found food safety violations in their kitchen (including mold buildup in a refrigerator), most business owners would have complied with the regulations to avoid getting shut down by local authorities. Instead, they started a GoFundMe and invited a handful of Republican lawmakers to eat burgers and pose for sympathetic press to signal solidarity against masks and mandates.

It’s no surprise that the Big Board got their liquor license suspended for violating COVID-19 ordinances, nor that they got inspected by the Health Department, since they publicly announced that they had no intentions of complying with the rules. Daring bureaucrats to enforce the law is not a great strategy for staying in business.

Two of the lawmakers, Sen. Rand Paul and Rep. Thomas Massie, are Kentucky Republicans with dedicated followings among conservatives and libertarians. They have made principled speeches in Congress against military adventurism, deficits and debt, and overbearing federal regulations. On issues ranging from guns to abortion, they vocally advocate for the federal government to get out of the way, and for states and cities to engage in greater local control.

But they have taken the opposite position when it comes to pandemic health regulations, so much so that Sen. Paul even went as far as to suggest D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser should be impeached for implementing them.

Libertarians believe in maximizing personal choice and individual self-determination as long as you are not harming other people. That also means minimizing government laws and regulations to only those necessary to prevent people from harming others—and holding them accountable for violations of those laws and regulations. Government force should not be used to stop adults from consuming things that are bad for their health or to make people do things that are good for their health. Whether choosing to eat raw meat, drink a bottle of Windex, or refuse a blood transfusion—adults should be able to control their own bodies.

In addition to smaller government, libertarians believe in local control. The people who are closest to a problem have better knowledge of the best solution than a congressman thousands of miles away. Our founders gave limited power to the federal government, leaving most decisions to the people or to the states. Different states and localities will take different approaches and the results of different policies can be compared. If a city like D.C. or a state like New York is going to require masks and vaccination for indoor dining, libertarians may see it as an overbearing government overreach, but other cities like Dallas or states like Florida can eliminate mask and vaccination requirements. Whichever approach is a mistake, we can evaluate from the results, and the mistake is not applied to the entire country.

Republicans have never had a problem denying the citizens of D.C. home rule (basic self-determination through local government) or blocking funds for implementing cannabis legalization and other local measures for decades. D.C. even put “No Taxation Without Representation” on its license plates as a symbolic protest against Congress controlling a city that doesn’t get a vote in Congress.

If “liberty” Republicans like Massie and Paul speak out for localism and against federal overreach on every other issue, why are they taking such a strong stand against local health codes in the midst of a pandemic that has killed over 13,000 Kentuckians and nearly 1,300 D.C. residents?

[Bact PhD]

Feb 7, 2022 20:19:18 GMT LFC said:

Once again libertarians like Rand Paul, who claim to favor local government control, freak out when a local government does something they don't personally approve of. F***ing hypocrites. Is it any wonder why multiple attempts to run municipalities under libertarianism have collapsed under their own weight of its own silliness?

Libertarians believe in maximizing personal choice and individual self-determination as long as you are not harming other people. That also means minimizing government laws and regulations to only those necessary to prevent people from harming others—and holding them accountable for violations of those laws and regulations. Government force should not be used to stop adults from consuming things that are bad for their health or to make people do things that are good for their health. Whether choosing to eat raw meat, drink a bottle of Windex, or refuse a blood transfusion—adults should be able to control their own bodies.

In addition to smaller government, libertarians believe in local control. The people who are closest to a problem have better knowledge of the best solution than a congressman thousands of miles away. Our founders gave limited power to the federal government, leaving most decisions to the people or to the states. Different states and localities will take different approaches and the results of different policies can be compared. If a city like D.C. or a state like New York is going to require masks and vaccination for indoor dining, libertarians may see it as an overbearing government overreach, but other cities like Dallas or states like Florida can eliminate mask and vaccination requirements. Whichever approach is a mistake, we can evaluate from the results, and the mistake is not applied to the entire country.

Republicans have never had a problem denying the citizens of D.C. home rule (basic self-determination through local government) or blocking funds for implementing cannabis legalization and other local measures for decades. D.C. even put “No Taxation Without Representation” on its license plates as a symbolic protest against Congress controlling a city that doesn’t get a vote in Congress.

If “liberty” Republicans like Massie and Paul speak out for localism and against federal overreach on every other issue, why are they taking such a strong stand against local health codes in the midst of a pandemic that has killed over 13,000 Kentuckians and nearly 1,300 D.C. residents?

(bold mine) Those who claim the libertarian mantle here in Flori-DUH behave in a similar manner. Home Rule is a great and wonderful concept...until some locality does things Those In Charge (or Those Who Have Big Bucks) don't like. Then it's Pre-Emption Time!! And of course, most of the time the pre-emption is because of something a blue locality/county decided to do...like banning the sale of certain sunscreens, or the use of plastic bags, or operate a locally-owned utility in the way local officials see fit, or...

[LFC]

OK, the tyranny of the federal government has now gone too far. They are taking away my God(tm) given right to broadcast fart noises from an automobile! March on the Capitol! FREEDUMB!!!

U.S. federal highway regulators have decided they will no longer let speeding Teslas blast booming fart noises at people. Gaze upon the government working as intended.

Specifically, the recall concerns Tesla’s “boombox” feature which lets drivers play pre-recorded audio through the front speaker in place of its horn. First introduced back in a 2020 update, the feature reportedly allows users to pick through pre-recorded song clips as well as sounds of an assortment of other sounds like goats bleating and, yes, farts discharging.

A brief reminder here that Tesla, the fart car company, attained a $1 trillion valuation late last year.

Anyways, the problem—as the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration saw it—was that these boombox sounds could potentially drown out pedestrian warning sounds required in Teslas and other electric vehicles if used while the vehicle was in motion.

“While Boombox can enhance the conspicuity of the vehicle to pedestrians, a vehicle that uses Boombox when in motion may cause the PWS [pedestrian warning system] to be noncompliant with FMVSS 141 [vehicle sounds requirements], which could increase the risk of a collision.” the NHTSA wrote in a recall filing.

[andydp]

This could have gone in the political humor page or better yet a Schadenfreude thread.  Side joke: since he and JLo gave it up, looks like he's got more disposable income.


Former New York Yankees slugger A-Rod, who Trump once called a 'druggie' and a 'joke,' is part of the group buying the former president's DC hotel

Former New York Yankee Alex Rodriguez is part of a group of investors looking to buy Trump's DC hotel. Rodriguez is part of the $375 million deal for the property, which will see it rebranded.  Trump has, however, openly expressed his dislike for the former Yankees slugger, calling him a "druggie."

BUT...

According to the AP, should the deal go through, Rodriguez might find himself helping Trump recoup some $73 million in losses from the hotel and possibly even turn a profit. ***


www.msn.com/en-us/money/other/former-new-york-yankees-slugger-a-rod-who-trump-once-called-a-druggie-and-a-joke-is-part-of-the-group-buying-the-former-president-s-dc-hotel/ar-AATRKqi?ocid=msedgdhp&pc=U531

*** Based on the recent Trump Organization accountancy canoodling revelations, the accountants and lawyers will want to see hard evidence of worth

[pnwguy]

Feb 15, 2022 19:24:34 GMT andydp said:

This could have gone in the political humor page or better yet a Schadenfreude thread.  Side joke: since he and JLo gave it up, looks like he's got more disposable income.

Even better would be if the new property name becomes something like "F*ck Trump International", "BLM Suites", or "Justice Ginsburg Hotel"

[Bact PhD]

I didn’t want to risk being a Debbie Downer in the “Fun” Adult Beverage threads, but this is worth a read:

www.washingtonpost.com/transportation/2022/02/19/utah-dui-law-driving/

I was taken aback by the degree of the reduction in fatal crashes (bold mine):

But a new federal study that examined what happened after the law was passed in 2017 found Utah’s rate of deadly crashes dropped more quickly than in neighboring states and the nation as a whole. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration analysis also found alcohol was less often a factor in crashes. And the changes came without cutting into Utah’s tourism industry, according to the study.

The National Transportation Safety Board, an independent agency responsible for transportation-related accident investigations, including those on roads, issued a call nearly a decade ago for states to lower their blood alcohol concentration, or BAC, limit from .08 percent to .05 percent or lower. Utah was the only state that did so. The new federal report released earlier this month has government and outside safety advocates sensing an opportunity.

“The whole point of a policy like that is to save lives, and what NHTSA study shows is that Utah was able to save lives without hurting its state economy,” said David H. Jernigan, a professor at Boston University’s School of Public Health who has worked on alcohol policy issues for 35 years. The .05 percent standard is used in some other countries, and Utah’s experience shows “it can work in this country” too, Jernigan said.
NTSB board chair Jennifer Homendy noted in an interview that Utah was the first state to establish a .08 percent limit, in 1983, at a time when many states had BAC limits of 0.1. “If history repeats itself, we’ll see a move across the U.S.” to follow Utah again, Homendy said. “At least that’s our hope.”

[snip]
To compare fatal crash rates across states and over time, NHTSA study looked at the number of deadly crashes per 100 million miles traveled on roads across the country. Researchers compared the figures for 2016 — the year before Utah passed its .05 percent law — and 2019, since the law took effect at the end of 2018.

The law allows police to arrest a driver whose blood (or breath) alcohol concentration hits .05 percent, even if they show no outward signs of intoxication.

The fatal crash rate in Utah fell 19.8 percent from 2016 to 2019. For the rest of the country, it went down 5.6 percent during that period, according to NHTSA. Among neighboring states, Colorado’s rate of fatal crashes fell 3.8 percent, Nevada’s dropped 9.7 percent and Arizona’s rate rose 3.1 percent, the agency found.

“The crash analyses highlighted reliable reductions in crash rates and alcohol involvement in crashes associated with the new law that were consistent with, or greater than, those observed or predicted by prior research,” the study concluded.

I won’t be surprised if the agitation to lower the legal BAC limits gets renewed…but I also won’t be surprised if Flori-DUH brings up the rear. Floridians LOVE the party lifestyle here.

[LFC]

So Rep. Lauren Bimbobert and Rep. MTG were grunting like baboons, only with less self-awareness and intelligence, at the State of the Union with such stupidity as "build the wall!" Well, folks, this is the big, beautiful wall they want to pour billions into building.

Smugglers have breached the Trump administration’s border wall along the US-Mexico frontier more than 3,000 times, government maintenance records obtained by the Washington Post reveal.

Nearly 500 miles of barrier was constructed by the Trump administration beginning in 2019, mostly in rural New Mexico and Arizona. Former president Trump touted the “big, beautiful wall” as the “Rolls-Royce” of barriers, but smugglers have breached the wall at least 3,272 times, mostly with common power tools found at hardware stores.

I wish I could call these two fringe but they really do represent a substantial portion of the GOP base very well.

[LFC]

Floriduh Republicans never fail to fail.

Florida Fails To Pass Safety Laws To Prevent Another Condo Disaster

Lawmakers in Florida’s GOP-controlled Senate and House couldn’t reach an agreement on Friday over reforming the state’s condo laws to prevent another massive collapse like the one in Surfside, Florida that killed 98 people last year.

• The chambers clashed over a provision in the House bill that would ban condo owners from waiving the funding of reserves used to pay for building repairs. The Senate argued that the provision would be too expensive for the condo owners.

• Friday was the last day of the regular legislative session, so that window’s shut now.

• But hey, last week wasn’t a total loss for Florida Republicans: At least the legislature was able to come to a consensus on banning kids from hearing about LGBTQ+ stuff.

Awesome! You can't force condo owners to fund reserves so that they can pass on ignored maintenance costs on to future unsuspecting buyers who will then put them off because they are now too expensive! This is exactly why they the collapse occurred in the first place. So much for the party of personal responsibility.

[goldenvalley]

While I would be glad to stop this clock changing twice a year I am surprised:
1) that the issue actually is being dealt with in Congress at all and 2) see the bold...I inserted that

The U.S. Senate on Tuesday passed legislation that would make daylight saving time permanent starting in 2023, ending the twice-annual changing of clocks in a move promoted by supporters advocating brighter afternoons and more economic activity.

The Senate approved the measure, called the Sunshine Protection Act, unanimously by voice vote. The House of Representatives, which has held a committee hearing on the matter, still must pass the bill before it can go to President Joe Biden to sign. The White House has not said whether Biden supports it....

I'm not sure I like day light savings time but I hate the spring forward ritual. That one hour change messes up my internal clock more than going to stay on the East Coast does with the 3 hour time difference.

[LFC]