If Drumph wins, I’ll blame the democrats.

[BLADEMDA]

---

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Conservatives hate wokeness. Don’t trigger them by asking what it means — Guardian US

An anti-woke commentator short-circuited when asked to define the term, which the right has turned into a catch-all

apple.news

Half the time it’s used, “woke” seems to be a synonym for “black person” or “gay person”. See, for example, the Wall Street Journal columnist Andy Kessler’s recent opinion piece insinuating that Silicon Valley Bank collapsed because they had “‘1 Black’, ‘1 LGBTQ+’ and ‘2 Veterans’” on the board.

"Woke" is an ideology not a gender or race. It's almost a religion in the sense if you disagree the followers will try to get you canceled or worse call you a bigot, a racist, a hater and likely a MAGA Insurrectionist.

 

[MirrorTodd]

"Woke" is an ideology not a gender or race. It's almost a religion in the sense if you disagree the followers will try to get you canceled or worse call you a bigot, a racist, a hater and likely a MAGA Insurrectionist.

Negative, that's just what you make it out to be.

 

[chessknt]

DeSantis seeks to revoke alcohol license for Miami Hyatt over drag event

Florida governor objects to hotel hosting "A Drag Queen Christmas," with his office saying he "stands up for the innocence of children."

www.cbsnews.com

Why isn't it woke when Florida is telling parents they aren't allowed to make their own parenting decisions and take their minor children to a drag show?

 

[deleted875186]

DeSantis seeks to revoke alcohol license for Miami Hyatt over drag event

Florida governor objects to hotel hosting "A Drag Queen Christmas," with his office saying he "stands up for the innocence of children."

www.cbsnews.com

Why isn't it woke when Florida is telling parents they aren't allowed to make their own parenting decisions and take their minor children to a drag show?

Touche

 

[BobLoblaw78]

We can vote for different governments too.

If I vote for a senator there is far less accountability. There is the election, then a lot of unfulfilled promises and posturing. But more importantly, the senator doesn't have a fear of losing my support for 6 years. With a business that employs me or is striving for my business, I can simply quit if employed or go to their competitor.

What kind of "control" are you talking about? Give me a more concrete example of what you're talking about where you think the government should relinquish power, because in my mind, the government is relinquishing power all the time under Republican politicians. The EPA is being gutted, taxes are lowered, zoning laws are abolished, child labor laws are reduced, etc... There are even some issues Democrats relinquish power for at local levels like reductions in policing obligations and capabilities. Those are all examples of "power and control" flowing from the government to people/corporations.

It's hard to understand what you're really complaining about without clear examples.

Any control or power that can be handled by the state instead of the federal government. I am for the control going back to local communities as much as possible. So, less centralized power not more. So people can again vote with their feet and move. Examples, basically control to pick winners and losers is my biggest problem. For example, granting Tesla tremendous advantages definitely helped them over other car companies. Giving tax breaks and allowing loopholes for corporations is huge power because it allows their "favors" to be hidden. I prefer a level playing field and thus a flat tax. That disallows politicians the ability to open up tax law (at least as easily) that only benefits certain segments. The regulation of everything into the stratosphere where practical things are impossible to accomplish ie- the $30 million NYC subway stairs or $1.7 million SF toilet. The majority of the ludicrous costs were from regulatory measures. Even education has gotten out there. It is common to spend over $10,000 per student that can't read or write. Minimalize the involvement, ie teach STEM and little else (music, home/life ec, sports). If other education is needed, let the private sector come up with a solution. Otherwise wait until college to pursue other educational courses. While they are at it, allow the school voucher program (a bit of a contradiction) so motivated parents can actually have a better chance for their kids. Or better yet, let the local educators determine what is best.

 

[BobLoblaw78]

I'm not surprised that tweet zipped right over your head. In another era you probably wouldn't have understood this political cartoon either

I can always count on you to make a better statement about your character than anything that I could muster.

 

[BobLoblaw78]

Just took care of a 102yo with a hip fracture this week. Is putting a hemi hip or an ICD into a 90yo nursing home resident contributing to society? As I suggested earlier, the healthcare industrial complex is just funneling money in our direction. Hospitals are the largest employers in many cities. Is it better to be funneling money to Forever 21 or McDonald’s instead?

If the patient pays for it, then it should be allowed for this case. I don't want to be the one to decide, but this doesn't seem like a good use of taxpayer money.

 

[vector2]

I can always count on you to make a better statement about your character than anything that I could muster.

Welp, I guess I'll just have to live the fact that the guy who probably favors Bezos getting another $200b while we gut corporate regulation and workers' rights thinks ill of me.

 

[rowsdower88]

If I vote for a senator there is far less accountability. There is the election, then a lot of unfulfilled promises and posturing. But more importantly, the senator doesn't have a fear of losing my support for 6 years. With a business that employs me or is striving for my business, I can simply quit if employed or go to their competitor.

IMO, your analogy is flawed. The relationship between senator and citizen is closer to company and consumer than it is to company and employee. But in any case, I don't understand the 6 years argument? Some companies could be doing reprehensible things and so long as they have the capital, there is nothing I can do to stop them OUTSIDE of government action... they could be doing those reprehensible things for much longer than 6 years btw.

For example, granting Tesla tremendous advantages definitely helped them over other car companies.

Example 1. Tesla. So I might be mistaken, but I don't think there were any laws written that specifically benefited Tesla and prevented other companies from taking advantage of the same tax incentives. Am I wrong on that? I think Tesla just had first mover advantage which is huge in a capitalist economy and allowed them to better take advantage of those tax breaks. So I don't see this necessarily as the government picking winners and losers so much as the government recognizing the costs of climate change and trying to provide incentives to change the course of the market.

$30 million NYC subway stairs or $1.7 million SF toilet. The majority of the ludicrous costs were from regulatory measures

Example 2. NYC subway and SF toilet costs: Those regulations are state and local regulations (for the most part, there are probably EPA rules as well) which I thought you were more in favor of? In any case, I agree with you here in a broad sense. I think it should be easier to build more things in the US and especially housing. BUT I disagree with your conclusion that the government is inherently the problem, I think in a lot of instances the problem is other vested interests with overly selfish motivations. The NIMBYs of the world. Those are people who keep voting in other NIMBYs. So the problem isn't with government, it's with the NIMBYs I disagree with. We could have a government that reduces the bureaucracy and red tape, just need to convince more people.

Even education has gotten out there. It is common to spend over $10,000 per student that can't read or write. Minimalize the involvement, ie teach STEM and little else (music, home/life ec, sports).

Example 3. Education. I don't know enough about this issue to argue with you. I want my kid to receive education in music and the humanities though, so I'll continue to vote for politicians who advocate for that. I'm very skeptical of the benefits of charter schools, it seems like any benefits that charter schools provide could also be provided within a public school system if we chose to devote the resources to providing them. It sounds like you have a very jaded view of the humanities. You want the Public schools to be responsible for STEM and then the private sector can take care of the humanities. Doesn't that kind of go against your main idea that the private sector provides a better alternative if you still want the government to teach the critical STEM courses? Shouldn't it be the other way around with charter schools teaching STEM and the government mandated humanities courses at public schools? This part doesn't sound very well thought out to me.

 

[We'llBeDoneIn15Minutes]

DeSantis seeks to revoke alcohol license for Miami Hyatt over drag event

Florida governor objects to hotel hosting "A Drag Queen Christmas," with his office saying he "stands up for the innocence of children."

www.cbsnews.com

Why isn't it woke when Florida is telling parents they aren't allowed to make their own parenting decisions and take their minor children to a drag show?

Same reason it isn't woke telling parents they aren't allowed to make their own parenting decisions regarding having sex with their minor children. The rights of the child will often come before bad parenting decisions.

 

[We'llBeDoneIn15Minutes]

"Woke" is an ideology not a gender or race. It's almost a religion in the sense if you disagree the followers will try to get you canceled or worse call you a bigot, a racist, a hater and likely a MAGA Insurrectionist.

Some say woke lost the battle when merit is to be discarded if a perfect identity outcome is not achieved. Others say it's the push for widespread socialism over free markets.

Both have legitimate claims as to the death of wokism, but I say the final stake thru the heart is you can put a man in a dress and allow him to compete athletically against women.

 

[We'llBeDoneIn15Minutes]

Conservatives hate wokeness. Don’t trigger them by asking what it means — Guardian US

An anti-woke commentator short-circuited when asked to define the term, which the right has turned into a catch-all

apple.news

Half the time it’s used, “woke” seems to be a synonym for “black person” or “gay person”. See, for example, the Wall Street Journal columnist Andy Kessler’s recent opinion piece insinuating that Silicon Valley Bank collapsed because they had “‘1 Black’, ‘1 LGBTQ+’ and ‘2 Veterans’” on the board.

Interesting. I've never seen woke as a synonym for black or gay. I've always pictured stereotypical woke as white guilt underachieving liberals from well to do families.

 

[nimbus]

Interesting. I've never seen woke as a synonym for black or gay. I've always pictured stereotypical woke as white guilt underachieving liberals from well to do families.

According to some on this board, there are a lot of woke overachievers running medical schools, orthopedic and neurosurgery departments.

 

[MirrorTodd]

Interesting. I've never seen woke as a synonym for black or gay. I've always pictured stereotypical woke as white guilt underachieving liberals from well to do families.

From my understanding "woke" was originally used to reference black people (typically young and in college) who had their eyes opened to the systemic oppression that they as a race have faced since the founding of America. This was of course co-opted by white people who wanted to be included as allies to african americans and then further expanded to inclusive of minorities including LGBTQ people etc etc. Now the conservatives run with it as their all inclusive boogeyman to fight against.

 

[We'llBeDoneIn15Minutes]

According to some on this board, there are a lot of woke overachievers running medical schools, orthopedic and neurosurgery departments.

Absolutely for sure.
Keyword, "Stereotypical,"
as in the rich white kids basically going nowhere that travel to other states to riot and burn.

 

[We'llBeDoneIn15Minutes]

These idiots to be more specific. They are rich, they have accomplished basically nothing on their own, and they apparently relieve their white privilege guilt in destructive pointless rioting.

Atlanta anti-police riot suspects reportedly liberal kids from wealthy backgrounds: 'True White privilege'

'Speak Georgia' co-founder Janelle King, OutKick host Tomi Lahren and Fox News' Tucker Carlson ripped the allegedly rich and privileged suspects from Saturday's Atlanta riots.

www.foxnews.com

The ugly privilege of rich white ‘protesters’

Boy, are they awfully . . . pale for members of the “New Afrikan Black Panther Party”: We’re talking, of course, of the eight “comrades” arrested last week for rioting at a demo planned by the NABP…

nypost.com

 

[RadOncDoc21]

We all know what the Trunp brand represents

Analysis | Trump escalates his white-nationalist doomerism — The Washington Post

The former president now suggests that he is the last line of defense against the entire collapse of Western civilization.

apple.news

“As Trump was rising, so was white-nationalist rhetoric, and so were white-nationalist actors both in the United States and abroad. For many of them, Trump’s narrow election as president in 2016 signaled a moment of pushback against a strengthening of pluralistic, multicultural democracy. Groups like the Proud Boys, which couch opposition to a diversifying culture as a defense of “Western civilization,” gained power — and avoided criticism from Trump.”

 

[FutureInternist]

A massive majority still believe the lies… and that level of “intelligence” keeps them voting Republican

 

[BobLoblaw78]

IMO, your analogy is flawed. The relationship between senator and citizen is closer to company and consumer than it is to company and employee. But in any case, I don't understand the 6 years argument? Some companies could be doing reprehensible things and so long as they have the capital, there is nothing I can do to stop them OUTSIDE of government action... they could be doing those reprehensible things for much longer than 6 years btw.



Example 1. Tesla. So I might be mistaken, but I don't think there were any laws written that specifically benefited Tesla and prevented other companies from taking advantage of the same tax incentives. Am I wrong on that? I think Tesla just had first mover advantage which is huge in a capitalist economy and allowed them to better take advantage of those tax breaks. So I don't see this necessarily as the government picking winners and losers so much as the government recognizing the costs of climate change and trying to provide incentives to change the course of the market.



Example 2. NYC subway and SF toilet costs: Those regulations are state and local regulations (for the most part, there are probably EPA rules as well) which I thought you were more in favor of? In any case, I agree with you here in a broad sense. I think it should be easier to build more things in the US and especially housing. BUT I disagree with your conclusion that the government is inherently the problem, I think in a lot of instances the problem is other vested interests with overly selfish motivations. The NIMBYs of the world. Those are people who keep voting in other NIMBYs. So the problem isn't with government, it's with the NIMBYs I disagree with. We could have a government that reduces the bureaucracy and red tape, just need to convince more people.



Example 3. Education. I don't know enough about this issue to argue with you. I want my kid to receive education in music and the humanities though, so I'll continue to vote for politicians who advocate for that. I'm very skeptical of the benefits of charter schools, it seems like any benefits that charter schools provide could also be provided within a public school system if we chose to devote the resources to providing them. It sounds like you have a very jaded view of the humanities. You want the Public schools to be responsible for STEM and then the private sector can take care of the humanities. Doesn't that kind of go against your main idea that the private sector provides a better alternative if you still want the government to teach the critical STEM courses? Shouldn't it be the other way around with charter schools teaching STEM and the government mandated humanities courses at public schools? This part doesn't sound very well thought out to me.

I listed both relationships (employee and consumer) as it fits for different scenarios, but I wouldn't disagree that consumer is more often applicable. The 6 years is valid. We have to live with the senator's decisions or lack of decisions for 6 years. With a corporation, I can end that relationship by patronizing someone else. And just because I disagree with them doesn't mean that I should be able to stop them. The fact that the government can stop them makes them all-powerful and the ultimate monopoly-- too much control imo.

Tesla and EV beg the question of whether that is what the government should be doing. Is now the time for EVs? Where did the money go? Elon Musk got richer and it decreased the price for rich peoples cars. It had good intentions, but like most things the government touches it had unintended effects that likely benefited the wrong people with a poor ROI. I trust society picking and choosing more than politicians/government. I'm not convinced that politicians truly care about the government until they all stop taking private jets for their own business/personal trips.

You got me on the NYC and SF. It was mostly local. But at least that gets paid for locally....until federal grants come in. I recall a SF park getting millions from federal government. It benefits locals too much with federal taxpayer money which I think is an overreach.

I agree with basic civics, history, humanities, art and music over there K-12 school years. Children need heavy emphasis on basic things that benefit them and society. Children need education on workload management. STEM classes checks both boxes. At some point the children can learn many things on their own time. For example, most sports are after school activities. Kids make time for them because their parents and themselves make these decisions on what they find important. School is not meant to educate you on all things. It is not meant to teach ideology or religion. That is the parents job until the child can take over as a young adult. Trying to have a school system that teaches all things to all kids/parents' preferences is too much. Keep it simple. The 3 R's or STEM. Also, in this day and age it is so easy to educate yourself on subjects of interests. Government should stick to the basics. They should err on the side of not overreaching.

 

[nimbus]

These idiots to be more specific. They are rich, they have accomplished basically nothing on their own, and they apparently relieve their white privilege guilt in destructive pointless rioting.

Atlanta anti-police riot suspects reportedly liberal kids from wealthy backgrounds: 'True White privilege'

'Speak Georgia' co-founder Janelle King, OutKick host Tomi Lahren and Fox News' Tucker Carlson ripped the allegedly rich and privileged suspects from Saturday's Atlanta riots.

www.foxnews.com

The ugly privilege of rich white ‘protesters’

Boy, are they awfully . . . pale for members of the “New Afrikan Black Panther Party”: We’re talking, of course, of the eight “comrades” arrested last week for rioting at a demo planned by the NABP…

nypost.com

Tucker is the epitome of rich spoiled white child with nothing better to do but cause problems. He does exactly the same thing but for a different team.

 

[BobLoblaw78]

Welp, I guess I'll just have to live the fact that the guy who probably favors Bezos getting another $200b while we gut corporate regulation and workers' rights thinks ill of me.

Disingenuous strawman. I support a flat tax that way I can be assured that he and his company will pay their fair share. As long as they have more money to buy political favor, they will have loopholes. PS- I didn't say anything negative about you. I only held up a mirror of your own actions and let you judge them.

If you buy stuff from Amazon you are a hypocrite and only virtue signal. If you don't buy from Amazon then kudos for practicing what you preach.

 

[amyrich]

If I vote for a senator there is far less accountability. There is the election, then a lot of unfulfilled promises and posturing. But more importantly, the senator doesn't have a fear of losing my support for 6 years. With a business that employs me or is striving for my business, I can simply quit if employed or go to their competitor.

Any control or power that can be handled by the state instead of the federal government. I am for the control going back to local communities as much as possible. So, less centralized power not more. So people can again vote with their feet and move. Examples, basically control to pick winners and losers is my biggest problem. For example, granting Tesla tremendous advantages definitely helped them over other car companies. Giving tax breaks and allowing loopholes for corporations is huge power because it allows their "favors" to be hidden. I prefer a level playing field and thus a flat tax. That disallows politicians the ability to open up tax law (at least as easily) that only benefits certain segments. The regulation of everything into the stratosphere where practical things are impossible to accomplish ie- the $30 million NYC subway stairs or $1.7 million SF toilet. The majority of the ludicrous costs were from regulatory measures. Even education has gotten out there. It is common to spend over $10,000 per student that can't read or write. Minimalize the involvement, ie teach STEM and little else (music, home/life ec, sports). If other education is needed, let the private sector come up with a solution. Otherwise wait until college to pursue other educational courses. While they are at it, allow the school voucher program (a bit of a contradiction) so motivated parents can actually have a better chance for their kids. Or better yet, let the local educators determine what is best.

Did you just actually propose that school education be limited ONLY to STEM? I'd like to actually understand what you think the purpose of education is.

 

[vector2]

Disingenuous strawman. I support a flat tax that way I can be assured that he and his company will pay their fair share. As long as they have more money to buy political favor, they will have loopholes. PS- I didn't say anything negative about you. I only held up a mirror of your own actions and let you judge them.

A flat tax seems superficially "fair" until one does just the most basic, basic research about it and realizes it's a highly regressive giveaway to corporations and the uber wealthy. But indeed, being a proponent of a flat tax is exactly is in-line with the general views you've espoused....i.e. views that benefit billionaires like Bezos to the detriment of everyone else.

If you buy stuff from Amazon you are a hypocrite and only virtue signal. If you don't buy from Amazon then kudos for practicing what you preach.

Uhhhhhhhhh, or we could all just continue to shop at Amazon and support general principles of capitalism while simultaneously ensuring that they pay a fair share of taxes and treat their workers right. But nice try with the false dichotomy "gotcha"

 

[BobLoblaw78]

Did you just actually propose that school education be limited ONLY to STEM? I'd like to actually understand what you think the purpose of education is.

No. I want more emphasis on STEM and on reproducible teaching to help aid the teachers in reaching our kids solely on educational items. Certain subjects are luxuries. I think I addressed this more in a previous post.

Anecdotal, but I see way too much emphasis on making sure the kids are present but not as much on learning. Kids are allowed to disrupt the classes and other's learning. Bad student's hold back the majority of remaining students by distractions, behavior and other antics. I don't think private school teachers are really any better than public school teachers. They just have smaller classes and they are not told to "deal with" the disruptive students. I think addressing disruptive students is needed with more responsibility placed on the parents.

 

[rowsdower88]

With a corporation, I can end that relationship by patronizing someone else. And just because I disagree with them doesn't mean that I should be able to stop them. The fact that the government can stop them makes them all-powerful and the ultimate monopoly-- too much control imo.

Most things a senator votes on aren't going to affect me. Similarly, most corporate actions aren't going to affect me. The problems arise when their actions affect us negatively. I feel like this is where another example would help your argument because I really don't know what you're talking about. When a corporation dumps waste in my community, that affects me negatively and your suggested recourse of simply not continuing business there isn't going to fix the problem. I need government to help. To file a lawsuit maybe or to curtail that corporations actions in the future. In fact, the government
SHOULD stop bad corporate actions. Unless you're suggesting some ideal Nozickian Nightwatchmen state... which is way too libertarian for me to engage with.

Tesla and EV beg the question of whether that is what the government should be doing. Is now the time for EVs?

We voted for politicians who believe in climate change and want to curtail it. There is no begging the question fallacy here unless you question the premises underlying man-made climate change and our capacity to address it. I'm not interested in debating that.

Elon Musk got richer and it decreased the price for rich peoples cars. It had good intentions, but like most things the government touches it had unintended effects that likely benefited the wrong people with a poor ROI.

I think it had great intentions AND great outcomes! Look at how many companies are taking advantage of the government tax break now! Almost every car manufacturer is moving towards EVs, we're seeing EV infrastructure being implemented across the country at a pretty impressive clip. Other car companies saw where the winds were blowing and as time goes by I think you'll see the subsidy decrease with time as battery tech improves. (Knock on wood.)

Elon Musk’s $25,000 car for the masses was just unveiled—by Volkswagen

The entrepreneur, however, is unlikely to be worried that Tesla’s planned lower-cost car will be bested by the affordable ID2—at least not yet.

fortune.com

I trust society picking and choosing more than politicians/government.

Why would you trust society to pick and choose things when society is also picking and choosing politicians/government? Am I in a totally foreign mindset when I'm voting for my comptroller compared to when I shop at Walmart? Society is picking both, politicians are (for the most part) a reflection of society.

Government should stick to the basics. They should err on the side of not overreaching.

Yeah, I just disagree with you here. I want as many people as possible educated in as many things as possible. I don't think you've articulated a system that is better at achieving that outcome than the status quo.

Edit: Let me amend this last bit. I don't want kids educated on Creationism, so I will grant your point to a degree. I think we just place vastly different thresholds on what qualifies as acceptable education.

 

[chessknt]

Same reason it isn't woke telling parents they aren't allowed to make their own parenting decisions regarding having sex with their minor children. The rights of the child will often come before bad parenting decisions.

What? You're saying outlawing drag and incest (? Rape) are the same? Why does the state deciding this not qualify as woke again? Because it is about sex or the gays?

 

[We'llBeDoneIn15Minutes]

What? You're saying outlawing drag and incest (? Rape) are the same? Why does the state deciding this not qualify as woke again? Because it is about sex or the gays?

There's no point answering dishonest discussion. Nowhere did I say incest and drag are the same thing. Have a nice day. I don't waste time on dishonest people.

 

[deleted875186]

No. I want more emphasis on STEM and on reproducible teaching to help aid the teachers in reaching our kids solely on educational items. Certain subjects are luxuries. I think I addressed this more in a previous post.

Anecdotal, but I see way too much emphasis on making sure the kids are present but not as much on learning. Kids are allowed to disrupt the classes and other's learning. Bad student's hold back the majority of remaining students by distractions, behavior and other antics. I don't think private school teachers are really any better than public school teachers. They just have smaller classes and they are not told to "deal with" the disruptive students. I think addressing disruptive students is needed with more responsibility placed on the parents.

I think your ideas on education are pretty out there. Kids get just as much social development and learning as anything else in primary school.

 

[We'llBeDoneIn15Minutes]

What is “true wealth”?

That's an excellent question. I am referring to true wealth as opposed to nominal wealth. If your net goes up 25% and inflation goes up 25%, your nominal wealth increased; you're true wealth didn't.

Similarly, not all goods and services are the same. If GDP goes up largely because fairly useless industries such as bomb building for Ukraine and a huge spike in casino gambling (excluding rich foreigners that love to throw away their money on American gambling), true wealth and economy is not increased any more than a well oiled illegal drug dealing industry increases economy by hiring thousands of future car and home and healthcare buying consumers; no more so than increasing illegal fentanyl crossing the border causing a huge boom in the Fentanyl treatment facility industry that hires thousands of newly employed future consumers.

Your economy and wealth is what you produce, and their has to be a balance over time of what you consume vs what you produce, It's what causes your currency to have value. Otherwise it's just paper. All of the examples above are basically net drains on the economy and wealth of a nation. They are consuming goods and services but not contributing much of value that others must make up for, and often in this country that deficit of consumption vs production is dumped on future generations. I hope that's a little clearer what I was referring to.

 

[NumTacos]

Most things a senator votes on aren't going to affect me. Similarly, most corporate actions aren't going to affect me. The problems arise when their actions affect us negatively. I feel like this is where another example would help your argument because I really don't know what you're talking about. When a corporation dumps waste in my community, that affects me negatively and your suggested recourse of simply not continuing business there isn't going to fix the problem. I need government to help. To file a lawsuit maybe or to curtail that corporations actions in the future. In fact, the government
SHOULD stop bad corporate actions. Unless you're suggesting some ideal Nozickian Nightwatchmen state... which is way too libertarian for me to engage with.



We voted for politicians who believe in climate change and want to curtail it. There is no begging the question fallacy here unless you question the premises underlying man-made climate change and our capacity to address it. I'm not interested in debating that.



I think it had great intentions AND great outcomes! Look at how many companies are taking advantage of the government tax break now! Almost every car manufacturer is moving towards EVs, we're seeing EV infrastructure being implemented across the country at a pretty impressive clip. Other car companies saw where the winds were blowing and as time goes by I think you'll see the subsidy decrease with time as battery tech improves. (Knock on wood.)

Elon Musk’s $25,000 car for the masses was just unveiled—by Volkswagen

The entrepreneur, however, is unlikely to be worried that Tesla’s planned lower-cost car will be bested by the affordable ID2—at least not yet.

fortune.com

Why would you trust society to pick and choose things when society is also picking and choosing politicians/government? Am I in a totally foreign mindset when I'm voting for my comptroller compared to when I shop at Walmart? Society is picking both, politicians are (for the most part) a reflection of society.



Yeah, I just disagree with you here. I want as many people as possible educated in as many things as possible. I don't think you've articulated a system that is better at achieving that outcome than the status quo.

Edit: Let me amend this last bit. I don't want kids educated on Creationism, so I will grant your point to a degree. I think we just place vastly different thresholds on what qualifies as acceptable education.

Love the “Nozickian Nightwatchmen” phrase. Funny enough, most libertarians I come across have no idea who he was (or the philosophical basis for many of their beliefs), although the same could be said of many liberals who have never heard of Rawls.

 

[NumTacos]

There's no point answering dishonest discussion. Nowhere did I say incest and drag are the same thing. Have a nice day. I don't waste time on dishonest people.

“Same reason” seems to imply equivalence.

 

[nimbus]

That's an excellent question. I am referring to true wealth as opposed to nominal wealth. If your net goes up 25% and inflation goes up 25%, your nominal wealth increased; you're true wealth didn't.

Similarly, not all goods and services are the same. If GDP goes up largely because fairly useless industries such as bomb building for Ukraine and a huge spike in casino gambling (excluding rich foreigners that love to throw away their money on American gambling), true wealth and economy is not increased any more than a well oiled illegal drug dealing industry increases economy by hiring thousands of future car and home and healthcare buying consumers; no more so than increasing illegal fentanyl crossing the border causing a huge boom in the Fentanyl treatment facility industry that hires thousands of newly employed future consumers.

Your economy and wealth is what you produce, and their has to be a balance over time of what you consume vs what you produce, It's what causes your currency to have value. Otherwise it's just paper. All of the examples above are basically net drains on the economy and wealth of a nation. They are consuming goods and services but not contributing much of value that others must make up for, and often in this country that deficit of consumption vs production is dumped on future generations. I hope that's a little clearer what I was referring to.

Our consumption to production ratio does not compare favorably to the rest of the world. We should all downsize….everything.

 

[rowsdower88]

fairly useless industries such as bomb building for Ukraine

Why is this "useless"?

 

[BobLoblaw78]

I think your ideas on education are pretty out there. Kids get just as much social development and learning as anything else in primary school.

You’re right. I went back and looked. I think I’m not making the points as well as I want combined with replying without fully thinking about it. I started with saying I was walking through it as I discussed and it shows. I definitely was in school newspaper, journalism, etc and that had its place and value. I enjoyed humanities. Didn’t enjoy English but that was important. I wasn’t stressing they weren’t important but that STEM was more practical.

My issue stems mostly from the “product” not being better. I get disheartened when I hear about kids not being able to learn bc of other disruptive kids. Or when I hear about blow off classes that nothing is even attempted to be a learning experience. Or when they never come home with homework. I am speaking from experience of multiple kids through HS. I still think there should be bigger focus on STEM with less options in classes and more quality. And regardless of class that expectations of actual learning and engagement should be prioritized. I would be remiss to not mention that votech is a very practical pathway for anyone with interest.

It is hard to be clear but brief. That reminds me of Twain’s “I didn’t have enough time to write a short letter so I wrote a long one”

 

[rowsdower88]

My issue stems mostly from the “product” not being better. I get disheartened when I hear about kids not being able to learn bc of other disruptive kids. Or when I hear about blow off classes that nothing is even attempted to be a learning experience. Or when they never come home with homework. I am speaking from experience of multiple kids through HS. I still think there should be bigger focus on STEM with less options in classes and more quality. And regardless of class that expectations of actual learning and engagement should be prioritized. I would be remiss to not mention that votech is a very practical pathway for anyone with interest.

I share some of those concerns. I just think we can solve some of those problems by throwing more tax dollars and activism at it.

Classes too large for teachers to handle? Build more schools, pay teachers better, require smaller class sizes.

Kids don't come home with enough homework? Advocate for this at PTA meetings or parent teacher conferences or vote for a superintendent who articulates this. I don't know if a lot of other parents want their kids coming home with homework every night. Do charter schools give the students more homework on average? No idea.

Want more focus on STEM? Same thing as above, but I can promise you there will be a lot more people disagreeing with you. For example, I want kids in public schools to have the opportunity to take band class. I want to use tax dollars to pay for teachers who got degrees in music theory to teach those kids. I don't think the private market can do that (or is at least as interested in doing that) outside of larger metropolitan areas. So even if that results in a tradeoff like offering fewer AP math classes or something, I think there would be a lot of people who would make that trade. But I could be wrong, maybe there is polling suggesting otherwise or there are charter schools out there with enough funding to offer more alternatives to poor kids in rural areas.

 

[vector2]

, pay teachers better,

Apropos of your comment, one of my wife's part-time weekend employees already has a full-time job. Single mom, teacher with a master's degree, specializes in kids with disabilities, but doesn't make enough during the week to support her family.

 

[rowsdower88]

Apropos of your comment, one of my wife's part-time weekend employees already has a full-time job. Single mom, teacher with a master's degree, specializes in kids with disabilities, but doesn't make enough during the week to support her family.

I think that's very sad.

I need to do more research on this, but as far as I know inflation adjusted funding for education HAS increased over the years. Is it just still not enough to meet increased demand? Is it being misused? Not sure where to look for more info.

I know IP law and difficulties with
schoolbook procurement are becoming an issue too.

 

[BLADEMDA]

I can't believe the NYC DA is charging Trump with a crime for paying off Stormy Daniels. This is total crap considering all the stuff Democrat Politicians engage in regularly. Charging an ex-President for paying off his mistress. Seriously? Can you say Bill Clinton who lied under oath and in front of the entire country?
I am no MAGA supporter but this is a huge error on the part of Democrats. This will be seen as political revenge and nothing else.

Trump says he will be arrested Tuesday, calls on supporters to protest

Former President Donald Trump took to social media and said he expects to be arrested Tuesday.

www.cnbc.com

 

[chessknt]

I can't believe the NYC DA is charging Trump with a crime for paying off Stormy Daniels. This is total crap considering all the stuff Democrat Politicians engage in regularly. Charging an ex-President for paying off his mistress. Seriously? Can you say Bill Clinton who lied under oath and in front of the entire country?
I am no MAGA supporter but this is a huge error on the part of Democrats. This will be seen as political revenge and nothing else.

Trump says he will be arrested Tuesday, calls on supporters to protest

Former President Donald Trump took to social media and said he expects to be arrested Tuesday.

www.cnbc.com

The reality is that there is no crime severe enough that he could ever commit that would ever be viewed as justified by the right--we saw that at the impeachment after the 2021 insurrection and the following year. If we actually cared about our laws being enforced this would be a celebration of justice that someone like him could actually be held accountable for crimes he committed but instead we have the above take.

 

[NumTacos]

I can't believe the NYC DA is charging Trump with a crime for paying off Stormy Daniels. This is total crap considering all the stuff Democrat Politicians engage in regularly. Charging an ex-President for paying off his mistress. Seriously? Can you say Bill Clinton who lied under oath and in front of the entire country?
I am no MAGA supporter but this is a huge error on the part of Democrats. This will be seen as political revenge and nothing else.

Trump says he will be arrested Tuesday, calls on supporters to protest

Former President Donald Trump took to social media and said he expects to be arrested Tuesday.

www.cnbc.com

Tu quoque? Thought you’d be above that. Not sure if this is an error on the part of the Democrats, it may just be the case that the DA believes he has a real shot at a conviction. If anything, there are a LOT of DeSantis supporters that are fervently hoping that Orange Julius is in jail come Election Day.

 

[vector2]

Charging an ex-President for paying off his mistress. Seriously?

Michael Cohen was already sentenced and sent to prison for facilitating trump's (individual one's) illegal campaign contribution. The error was not indicting trump sooner for funneling the illegal money through Cohen.

 

[FutureInternist]

The reality is that there is no crime severe enough that he could ever commit that would ever be viewed as justified by the right--we saw that at the impeachment after the 2021 insurrection and the following year. If we actually cared about our laws being enforced this would be a celebration of justice that someone like him could actually be held accountable for crimes he committed but instead we have the above take.

The call to Ukraine wasn’t enough.
The disastrous response to the “hoax” wasn’t enough.
The tens of thousands of needless deaths due to incompetence and inability to believe Science wasn’t enough (although fewer Republicans is always a good thing - I would have preferred a different method than their death)
Jan 6th wasn’t enough.
The election meddling wasn’t enough.
The lies about elections wasn’t enough.
The anti-women laws weren’t enough.
The anti-LGBT laws weren’t enough.
The religious fascism wasn’t enough.

As long as he and the Republicans keep their mostly White, mostly “Christian”, mostly male base happy… they will keep electing them, eventhough their polices hurt them (but since it hurts who they hate more, its OK in their books)

 

[BLADEMDA]

Michael Cohen was already sentenced and sent to prison for facilitating trump's (individual one's) illegal campaign contribution. The error was not indicting trump sooner for funneling the illegal money through Cohen.

I don't want Trump as the GOP candidate. Any other person is fine with me except Trump. But, this prosecution is ill-advised because it comes across as pure political payback. If anything, it helps the Trump narrative that the deep state and far left are out to get him. I can't think of anything more petty to charge Trump with as a "crime" than paying off his ex porn star mistress. January 06 Insurrection? No charges. Taking classified documents home? No charges.
Paying off your port star mistress to keep quiet? Charges!

Dan Bongino issues warning over possible Trump arrest, blames 'Identity politics left' | Fox News Video

Host of 'Unfiltered with Dan Bongino,' Dan Bongino reacts to former President Trump saying he will be arrested and previews his upcoming show.

www.foxnews.com

 

[deleted875186]

You’re right. I went back and looked. I think I’m not making the points as well as I want combined with replying without fully thinking about it. I started with saying I was walking through it as I discussed and it shows. I definitely was in school newspaper, journalism, etc and that had its place and value. I enjoyed humanities. Didn’t enjoy English but that was important. I wasn’t stressing they weren’t important but that STEM was more practical.

My issue stems mostly from the “product” not being better. I get disheartened when I hear about kids not being able to learn bc of other disruptive kids. Or when I hear about blow off classes that nothing is even attempted to be a learning experience. Or when they never come home with homework. I am speaking from experience of multiple kids through HS. I still think there should be bigger focus on STEM with less options in classes and more quality. And regardless of class that expectations of actual learning and engagement should be prioritized. I would be remiss to not mention that votech is a very practical pathway for anyone with interest.

It is hard to be clear but brief. That reminds me of Twain’s “I didn’t have enough time to write a short letter so I wrote a long one”

I’m with you, primary education curriculum needs to be completely revamped. I disagree with the idea of school vouchers, we need to be investing more in public education, and focus on less wasteful spending in schools. They blow money on “curriculum material” that never gets used or is crap. Big education companies is making a killing, and kids don’t benefit. Pay teachers more, revamp the curriculum, parents need to be help accountable as well. Private school doesn’t produce better students, the parents are more involved and families are generally wealthier. I agree we also spend enormous amounts on special education at the detriment of the larger population.

 

[BLADEMDA]

"I don’t think they’ll be a motion to dismiss that succeeds. This is New York justice. In New York, of course you can indict a ham sandwich. But in New York, you can also convict a ham sandwich because the jury pool will be very much against Trump and the judges will be very much against Trump.
So, if I were him, I would be worried today. He’ll probably ultimately win on appeal, but do judges today have the courage – if they run for election as prosecutors run for election – to do something favorable to Trump in a city which overwhelmingly despises Trump? That’s what’s wrong with this justice system."
Alan Dershowitz

_____

“There are two systems of justice in the United States and our justice system is in deep trouble,” he said. “We’ve created a special system of justice for Donald Trump.”

The former Harvard law professor said that when deciding to prosecute, there should be clear evidence of a crime.

“They have targeted Trump. The attorney general of New York ran on the campaign, Get Trump,” he said, referring to Attorney General Letitia James. “Bragg essentially did the same thing. They rummaged for years to try to find something. They gave immunity to witnesses. They couldn’t find a real statute, so they put statutes together.”

 

[nimbus]

I can't believe the NYC DA is charging Trump with a crime for paying off Stormy Daniels. This is total crap considering all the stuff Democrat Politicians engage in regularly. Charging an ex-President for paying off his mistress. Seriously? Can you say Bill Clinton who lied under oath and in front of the entire country?
I am no MAGA supporter but this is a huge error on the part of Democrats. This will be seen as political revenge and nothing else.

Trump says he will be arrested Tuesday, calls on supporters to protest

Former President Donald Trump took to social media and said he expects to be arrested Tuesday.

www.cnbc.com

What about consequences and law and order? Do you believe he broke the law by using campaign funds to pay off Stormy Daniel’s? Isn’t that the bottom line? It’s important to hold powerful people accountable. Especially when they’re no longer the sitting president. It’s one of the reasons why Trump was so desperate to win reelection.

 

[BLADEMDA]

What charges could Trump face?​

Manhattan prosecutors may be considering at least two different options — both of which could be difficult to prove.

If Trump’s company had a phony retainer agreement with Cohen that Trump knew about, then prosecutors could make the case that the former president falsified business records. That crime is only a misdemeanor under New York law unless prosecutors can prove he falsified the records to conceal another crime.

That separate crime, prosecutors may argue, was a violation of state election law. Authorities could make the case that Trump paid off Daniels to benefit his campaign.


But legal experts say that could be hard to prove.

“The felony charge would be a novel one, and they’d have to show specifically that the payoff was to influence the campaign,” NewsNation’s Dan Abrams said Wednesday.

Trump’s attorney, Joe Tacopina, maintains that no crime has been committed, and said the payment was not related to Trump’s campaign.

“(Trump) would have done this if he were the TV star that he was before politics ever entered his world,” Tacopina told Abrams.


The legal case against the former president is further complicated by the fact that the prosecution’s key witness, Cohen, has previously lied to Congress.

 

[We'llBeDoneIn15Minutes]

Michael Cohen was already sentenced and sent to prison for facilitating trump's (individual one's) illegal campaign contribution. The error was not indicting trump sooner for funneling the illegal money through Cohen.

I bet you're just as righteous and enthusiastic about putting Joey and Hunter behind bars for much worse. Let me guess; You're not.

 

[We'llBeDoneIn15Minutes]

Tu quoque? Thought you’d be above that. Not sure if this is an error on the part of the Democrats, it may just be the case that the DA believes he has a real shot at a conviction. If anything, there are a LOT of DeSantis supporters that are fervently hoping that Orange Julius is in jail come Election Day.

I do feel this is based purely on political motivation... but... I do agree with you that I want Trump removed from the picture so we can all say:
Hello President DeSantis!

 

[Blockit]

I don't want Trump as the GOP candidate. Any other person is fine with me except Trump. But, this prosecution is ill-advised because it comes across as pure political payback. If anything, it helps the Trump narrative that the deep state and far left are out to get him. I can't think of anything more petty to charge Trump with as a "crime" than paying off his ex porn star mistress. January 06 Insurrection? No charges. Taking classified documents home? No charges.
Paying off your port star mistress to keep quiet? Charges!

Dan Bongino issues warning over possible Trump arrest, blames 'Identity politics left' | Fox News Video

Host of 'Unfiltered with Dan Bongino,' Dan Bongino reacts to former President Trump saying he will be arrested and previews his upcoming show.

www.foxnews.com

Do not fear brother Blade, I feel that many more indictments are coming for those things that you identified him not having been charged for.