Rebane's Ruminations
February 2019
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[Our favorite cartoonist RL 'Bob' Crabb and I share thoughts on the US benefitting from a multi-party (four or more) political smorgasbord.  Bob offered this good rendition, filched from the 2feb19 Union, of Howard Schultz's presidential ambitions.  There should be a lot more to say about that.  gjr]

RLCrabb190202

Posted in

302 responses to “Sandbox – 2feb19”

  1. Todd Juvinall Avatar

    Trump at 45 approval today

    Like

  2. Todd Swallows Avatar
    Todd Swallows

    George, did I understand you to suggest globalization has NOT been going on for centuries.
    Yes it has. But one example: When the Spanish came to the Americas and planted flags they weren’t playing golf. Subjugation and global trade in language, germs, agriculture, medicine, philosophies, religion and politics ensued. Two halves of the world melding, integrating (scary word among Rs) – globalization.

    Like

  3. MMM Avatar
    MMM

    ,,,here you go Alt Facts Walt,,,trumpski play schedule hack published by TrumpyLeaks,,,
    https://www.axios.com/donald-trump-private-schedules-leak-executive-time-34e67fbb-3af6-48df-aefb-52e02c334255.html

    Like

  4. Walt Avatar

    So what hummmer? He’s still been getting the job done.
    No matter what your ALT reality cares to whine about.
    Sooner than later the traitor will be found. And dealt with.”properly”..
    On good authority it’s said that you have been “ALTered” as well.
    Care to elaborate?,, Was it painful? Was it elective?

    Like

  5. MMM Avatar
    MMM

    ,,,Altered Walt,,,all good here, no parts missing… Thanks for asking!!!

    Like

  6. MMM Avatar
    MMM

    ,,,In case anyone does not know,,,some areas of the US are veritable cesspools of fringe thinking…Eastern Virginia Medical School is or was one of them. Students were probably rich white kids descended from Confederate flag waving former slave owners,,,
    https://www.cnn.com/2019/02/03/politics/northams-medical-school-yearbook/index.html

    Like

  7. Gregory Avatar
    Gregory

    “Students were probably rich white kids”
    Meaning you don’t have a clue.
    3M assumed to be Keachie, the one false Scotsman, now from North San Juan that is truly a cesspool of fringe thinking. Being, too.

    Like

  8. Walt Avatar

    Says you. Just an ALT excuse. No “parts missing”? OH… So you had some added….Got it…Thanks. Hey.. If you want to live that ALT lifestyle, have at it.
    No,, the majority of people won’t subscribe to life according to ALT. Kinda like what your queen said. “I reject the facts and substitute them with our own.” (in regards to the lawlessness on the border)
    Now is this your ALT “state of the un-unified address”?
    https://dailycaller.com/2019/02/05/kamala-harris-state-of-the-union/
    Anything to disrupt standing tradition.

    Like

  9. MMM Avatar
    MMM

    ,,,Gregory,,,what do you think of when you medical school,,,lots of Pell grants??? Do tell,,,if you have the inside scoop???

    Like

  10. Walt Avatar

    Hummmer says”Students were probably rich white kids descended from Confederate flag waving former slave owners”
    You DO realize those were DEMOCRATS…… Right?
    Nothing “ALT” about that.

    Like

  11. MMM Avatar
    MMM

    ,,,Altered Walt,,,what is in a name??? ”’Democrats”’ is just a word…Republicans used to be conservatives, limited government, fiscal hawks,,, We have a two party system so they remain in name only as Democrats or Republicans…Thanks for asking!!!

    Like

  12. George Rebane Avatar

    ToddS 915am – you seem to have the same mistaken definition of globalization embraced by 3M. I have consistently used the modern meaning of globalization used by both the Right and Left (including the UN). If you have another definition you’d like to discuss, then define and label it.
    In the meantime, try to grok ‘single unified global governance’, and let me know what part of it is confusing.

    Like

  13. Gregory Avatar
    Gregory

    The guy who is and, soon to be was, Governor of Virginia IS a Democrat, and certainly was a Democrat when he created the blackface/KKK motif for his yearbook.
    What sort of professional or graduate school has yearbooks?
    Mostly forgotten is his recent paean to 4th trimester abortion. You know, making the baby comfortable while awaiting the thumbs up or down from Mom and the doctor chosen to fulfill her needs.

    Like

  14. MMM Avatar
    MMM

    ,,,George,,, I cannot remember if Steve Forbes has been kicked to the curb by Conservatives but here is his take,,,
    https://www.forbes.com/sites/steveforbes/2011/11/02/columbus-father-of-globalization/#7ce8762e2f4b

    Like

  15. Todd Swallows Avatar
    Todd Swallows

    Better add globalization to your private glossary of terms.
    Webster says:
    the process by which businesses or other organizations develop international influence or start operating on an international scale.
    PIIE: Globalization is the word used to describe the growing interdependence of the world’s economies, cultures, and populations, brought about by cross-border trade in goods and services, technology, and flows of investment, people, and information
    Is this not exactly what I described regarding the Spaniard and the America’s?
    Interdependence of world economies would include the trading of slaves, sugar, coffee and textiles between Africa, the Americas and Europe. Globalization is not new.

    Like

  16. Gregory Avatar
    Gregory

    Keach, everyone knows that Globalization is what Mitt Romney was doing when shipping jobs from the US to Asia to earn sky-high interest rates for the California State Teachers Retirement System “investments”.

    Like

  17. George Rebane Avatar

    MMM and ToddS re ‘globalization’. Indeed both of you have used globalization in the sense of world trade and the colonization carried on by the SEVERAL sovereign nation-states and kingdoms of Europe. Forbes uses it in the same sense, so we do have a problem with ‘globalization’ trying to be the label for two distinct and separate meanings. As you know, I have no problem with making/adopting labels with distinct operational meanings.
    I am of the school that has always used globalization in the sense of unified world governance (e.g. per Kissinger’s ‘World Order’), and NOT world trade and security treaties among nations that remain sovereign within their boundaries. Globalization is a dispute between the conservatives and progressives/socialists only in the sense of governance – trade is a confusing fog in such discussions. How do you want to proceed?

    Like

  18. MMM Avatar
    MMM

    ,,,oh dear,,,more racism at Eastern Virginia School of Confederate Medicine,,,
    https://www.cnn.com/2019/02/03/politics/northams-medical-school-yearbook/index.html

    Like

  19. Walt Avatar

    Hummmer is now working to ALT history?
    Conservatism is alive and well.
    As for you and yours,, just WTF happened to Democrats? Pretty much extinct. JFK would be considered “far Right” by today’s standards.
    The left has had to “rename” itself over and over. Dem. got turned into a title of shame, then in short order stunk up the identity of LIBeral. Progressive is now the newest steaming pile.
    Now it’s just COMMIE bastard, and Marxist stooge.
    No problem,, it’s “just a word”….. But you own it.

    Like

  20. MMM Avatar
    MMM

    ,,,Gregory ”’Mostly forgotten is his recent paean to 4th trimester abortion”’ Do you mean the US Military???

    Like

  21. Walt Avatar

    Short memory hummmer? Still rich Southern DEM rich kids honoring their roots.
    What next? Abraham Lincoln was a Democrat too? Good luck selling that.

    Like

  22. Walt Avatar

    Well, Emery griped about no snow. Well,, it’s here for the next two weeks. (according to the “experts”)

    Like

  23. Gregory Avatar
    Gregory

    3m 1111am
    Keach is now running on empty.

    Like

  24. Walt Avatar

    Trump is too trusting. Trump will have his back turned to the queen of the DEMned far too long. I hope there is a sniper to keep the cross hairs on Pelosi. She is sure to come out of her seat and attack him out of blind hate and rage, the moment Trump mentions “the Wall”.

    Like

  25. MMM Avatar
    MMM

    George,,,If you look at my 843am I paraphrased Mann ”’If you look at globalization as an undulating, five-century arc…”’
    My thread was a new thread,,,in your response you seemed to think I was making an argument for ”’single, unified global governance”’,,,mine was not related to Agenda 21,,,it was more about trade…

    Like

  26. MMM Avatar
    MMM

    ,,,Altered Walt,,,your short memory must have canned the fact that Trump was a Big NANCY supporter before he figured out what saps the MAGAs were.

    Like

  27. Walt Avatar

    That be the “ALT” world order. Right Dougy?

    Like

  28. MMM Avatar
    MMM

    ,,,here is your chance boys,,,head down to TJ and become a part of the Human Wall,,,
    “Tremendous numbers of people are coming up through Mexico in the hopes of flooding our Southern Border,” Trump tweeted Tuesday. “We have sent additional military. We will build a Human Wall if necessary. If we had a real Wall, this would be a non-event!” -Trumpski

    Like

  29. MMM Avatar
    MMM

    ,,,it’s gonna be fun if Trumpski declares a state of emergency to build the wall.
    ,,,next time there is a Dem or Independent in the White House and there is a school shooting,,,there could be state of emergency ordered to implement heavy gun control…

    Like

  30. Paul Emery Avatar

    I see Todd is still impressed by the discredited Rasmussen Report polling. Sad, he has such a short memory. They were 9 points off the mark in the midterms. We had a detailed discussion about this. Gregory was a Rasmussen supporter back then but he doesn’t brag about them anymore like Todd does. .
    “Rasmussen’s final poll was the least accurate of any of the 32 polls. They had the Republicans ahead nationally by one point. Democrats are currently winning the national House vote by 8.6 points. That’s an error of nearly 10 points.
    Of course, it’s possible for any pollster to have one inaccurate poll. Fortunately, for statistical purposes, Rasmussen released three generic ballot polls in the final three weeks of the 2018 campaign.
    The average Rasmussen poll had Democrats ahead by 1.7 points on the generic ballot. That’s an underestimation of their eventual position of nearly 7 points. This made Rasmussen’s average poll more inaccurate than any other pollster. “

    Like

  31. MMM Avatar
    MMM

    ”’The Real Cost of Trump’s Border Wall on Your Wallet
    Trump claimed that the cost would only amount to $12 billion. But even that amount isn’t that low when contrasted with the $2.3 billion spent on physical barriers for the entire period between fiscal years 2007 to 2015. Plus, an internal report by the Department of Homeland Security estimated the cost of the wall to be much higher at about $21.6 billion, and even that could be an underestimation, according to the Brookings Institution.
    According to a report by the Government Accountability Office, the DHS report didn’t provide enough comprehensive analysis to convey the true cost of the wall and its inefficiency, which will ultimately cost the American taxpayer.
    Here’s a breakdown of construction cost estimates according to various sources:
    President Trump: $12 billion
    House Speaker Paul Ryan: $15 billion
    Department of Homeland Security: $22 billion
    The Washington Post: $25 billion
    Senate Democrats: $70 billion
    Besides the cost of the physical construction of the wall, there also is all the paperwork. For example, there are legal fees that must be paid in order to acquire the land where the wall is going to be constructed. Even after acquisition, the U.S. government still has to compensate the former owner, which will raise the total bill on the construction of the border wall.
    Then there is the economic cost of the wall beyond the immediate acquisition of land, legal fees and construction. Mexico is America’s third-largest trading partner. Foreign-born workers in the U.S. account for about 16 percent of the labor force as of August 2017, and they frequently work in key domestic businesses like automotive manufacturing. In addition, foreign-born workers still actually contribute to the U.S. Social Security fund. In 2010, according to the Brookings Institution, undocumented workers contributed $13 billion to Social Security.
    https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/real-cost-trump-border-wall-195830968.html

    Like

  32. Todd Swallows Avatar
    Todd Swallows

    MMM 12:00
    ,,,it’s gonna be fun if Trumpski declares a state of emergency to build the wall.
    The dumbest thing Trump could do is declare a State of Emergency. I wouldn’t be surprised if this is the Dem’s end game. They will all act offended, but not too much. He gets his wall but in a few years the Dems get climate change, guns, healthcare, education . . .
    I’m certain his advisors have warned him, but who needs advisors when you’re Donald Trump?

    Like

  33. George Rebane Avatar

    MMM 1208pm – What porosity rate (#illegal aliens/year) for our southern border is acceptable to you? Without your telling us your number, all the other talk is bullshit without basis.

    Like

  34. scenes Avatar
    scenes

    “MMM 1208pm – What porosity rate (#illegal aliens/year) for our southern border is acceptable to you?”
    I can pretty much answer that one.
    1) Everyone that is currently in the US has a legal right to be here.
    2) In trade, there’s some unknown, unfunded amount of border security to be added.
    Wait 10 or 20 years. Wash, rinse, repeat.
    Seriously, there’s no point in even asking. It’s all a lie.

    Like

  35. Todd Juvinall Avatar

    Trump is kicking butt in the polls. Up to 48%. The dems are apoplectic.

    Like

  36. MMM Avatar
    MMM

    ,,,No George,,,talk ”’A Wall” is a bullshit catchphrase,,,You could build hundreds of miles of wall without affecting porosity to any significant degree. You could build “fire lookout towers” every 10 miles in those areas and do the same thing.
    Where is the budgeted plan showing details of the areas that walls are proposed??? There is a billion dollars in the bank for wall construction and Trump cannot even come up with a real plan…

    Like

  37. George Rebane Avatar

    scenes & MMM – I’m not arguing for building anything when I ask what porosity you both would accept as a definition of a ‘secure border’. I’m looking for what’s known as a criterion or utility function, which when known allows progress in discussing such concepts and assessing alternative approaches. Without that we’re reduced to the pabulum you guys have been spewing here for weeks (months?), and getting nowhere. I have told you mine which is 15K illegal entrants per year. What’s yours?

    Like

  38. Paul Emery Avatar

    Todd, Gregory, What a laugh, you are still touting the Rasmussen Polls. what gives you confidence they are accurate?

    Like

  39. scenes Avatar
    scenes

    “I have told you mine which is 15K illegal entrants per year. What’s yours?”
    Zero would be a good number, but impractical and probably of negative value.
    I’d highgrade the competition. Rather than just whipping up a number like 15k, I’d start with looking at countries with fairly restrictive regimes (Australia, Switzerland?).
    I’ll suggest several cadres…
    . People and immediate family (spouse and children) with recognized graduate degrees in technical subjects between the ages of 20 and 40.
    . Investors with a minimum of $X,000,000 (1 million? 5 million) to invest locally + spouse.
    . Retirees as a subset of investors
    . (experimental) a marketplace where US citizens can exchange citizenships with foreign nationals including all benefits (SS, Medicare, pensions, etc. ) if desired. Money can change hands here as a form of arbitrage.
    . A tiny handful of refugees (5k a year or under) who are doing US dirty work overseas. Good for trading for intelligence or translate workers.
    . No chain migration.
    Everyone is under a probation. No felonies. Minimum English skills after so many years (5?).
    Total number? I’d go 100k under those rules.

    Like

  40. scenes Avatar
    scenes

    Whoopsie…I didn’t read the illegal part of your question. I was assuming immigration from all sources.
    It’s impossible to shut down 1/2 of illegal immigration (or so) due to the amount of overstayed visas. In-country law enforcement needs to be amped up quite a lot.
    Physical porosity on Mexican border? I’ll throw out 10% of the current number, obviously it’s a matter of decreasing marginal value. There’s bound to be an inflection where any more becomes impractical. Lemme look that up.

    Like

  41. Todd Juvinall Avatar

    Funny how Paul Emery still thinks his polls are right. They are wrong and he just can’t accept it. In an Iowa poll, Trump over Warren and Schultz and he is over 52% Looks like Trump might be a shoo-in. Of course, all the Trump haters will commit suicide if that happens.

    Like

  42. MMM Avatar
    MMM

    ,,,George,,,ok, let’s use 15k
    But that still doesn’t explain what percentage of physical wall gets you to that number…or if lookouts, guard shacks, patrols, concertina wire, electronics, etc. will get you there also and at less cost.
    The wall will be financed by China. The other methods could be pay as you go.

    Like

  43. Walt Avatar

    And to deliver the butthurt response,, “sour grapes” Stacy.
    https://www.foxnews.com/politics/republicans-troll-stacey-abrams-over-sour-grapes-defeat-ahead-of-democrats-sotu-response
    And all of a sudden the buzzard of Broad St. refuses to believe his own poll. It’s blasphemous to say anything other than DOWN where Trump is concerned.
    Noe be sure to strip search Queen Nan for ANY knife, dagger or dirk
    she could assault President Trump with. She is well known for backstabbing.

    Like

  44. Paul Emery Avatar
    Paul Emery

    Todd has a habit of subscribing to loser polls. What was it? the Unsqewed poll of ’12 that had Romney winning by eight and now the discredited Rasmussen poll that is the only one that has Trump within 10 in job performance. He’s a failed local politician and developer that can’t hold a job for an organization he created so what else can you expect.

    Like

  45. Walt Avatar

    Watch out!! Dougy is trying to do MATH!!! Would that be the old “new math”? Common Core math? (you REALLY need to show your work with that one.) Or just Close is good nuff?(better define “close”)
    Maybe some ALT math no one has heard of yet?

    Like

  46. Walt Avatar

    But Paul.. You were just singing the praises of Rasmussen just last week when Trump was down.

    Like