Rebane's Ruminations
February 2023
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[About time for fresh sand.   Please note the new Trump post for things Trump related.  Thanks. gjr]

Posted in

273 responses to “Sandbox – 1feb23”

  1. Bill Tozer Avatar
    Bill Tozer

    “You are free to be a drunkard, an idler, a coward, a backbiter, a fornicator,” wrote George Orwell, “but you are not free to think for yourself.”

    Like

  2. Don T Avatar
    Don T

    Bill Tozer 9:00pm
    Remember when Reagan warned the world Medicare was going to be a descent into socialism?
    After he switched from enthusiastic New Deal liberal and union leader to be a Republican?
    Medicare currently is popular with 76% of its users.

    Like

  3. fish Avatar
    fish

    Posted by: Don T | 09 February 2023 at 10:17 AM
    Medicare currently is popular with 76% of its users.

    I’m sure it is….much like methamphetamine or heroin is popular with a significant percentage of its users.
    Are you one of the “educated” progressives that jeffy was talking about over on the other thread?

    Like

  4. Bill Tozer Avatar
    Bill Tozer

    Don T @ 10:17 am
    Love to answer you, put could you please put in the date next time. Last time you did the same and after scrolling back a couple days I said, “Why bother?”
    From memory, Reagan was a union leader. Trump was definitely a limousine liberal until the only time he ever ran for office. Was at Chelsea’s wedding. Thomas Sowell started off as a radical leftist, as did David Horowitz (Communist) who once founded and wrote the most widely read Communist Party newsletter in North America.
    Yes, Medicare is popular. Decades of trying to keep Social Security SUPPLEMENTAL Income afloat with Blue Ribbon commissions going to President Regan with Bob Dole as a point man. Clinton had one too. Adjust the COLA, raise the eligibility age have been floated for decades. Nothing new.
    My father never received SS because he was exempt (like school teachers) and had a pension with bennies and still had to buy a Medicare policy. Thus he forced to buy into Medicare. Forced against his will.
    The real money drain and threat to the system is Federal Disability Insurance which is rife with fraud and unsustainable. Next is Medicare that has a shelf life ending in 2028 (broke) per the current. Federal Medicare Board overseeing the program. We all know health insurance cost have jumped up up and away. One can argue about health care relieved, but the program is a out health insurance, not care.
    Don’t know anyone who is advocating for the elimination of SS SUPPLEMENTAL Income (supposed to be supplemental, not the sole source of one’s money…supplemental) or the abolishment of Medicare. Perhaps there are some that have floated the idea, but no one touches SS or Medicare from either party. Off limits.
    Mend it, don’t end it type of thang. Paraphrase: ‘The closest thing to eternal life in America is a government program.’ -Ronald Reagan.

    Like

  5. Don T Avatar
    Don T

    Bill T
    The Reagan socialism scare campaign with Medicare gives historical context on the outcome of the perennial socialism claims by Republicans.
    Socialism is a scare word they’ve hurled at every advance the people have made.
    Socialism is what they’ve called public power, social security, deposit insurance,
    and independent labor organizations. Socialism is their name for anything that helps all people.
    – Harry Truman 1952

    Like

  6. scenes Avatar
    scenes

    “I think one man is just as good as another so long as he’s honest and decent and not a nigger or a Chinaman”
    -Harry Truman 1911

    Like

  7. Bill Tozer Avatar
    Bill Tozer

    Don T
    I see your beef is with the word ‘socialism’ and how it is portrayed by others. Socialism is a hell a lot more than SS and Medicare/Medicaid. It’s government controlling the means of production and property. Bigger government, the solution to all of society’s ills.
    Bill W in his brief appearance here recoiled at the word ‘Woke’.
    To each his own. Me? I see socialism as American Marxism. American Marxism is a more apt term for the far left and what is happening and being pushed for so hard in the USA. In fact, we (my side) would be better off to drop the word ‘progressive’ and just call it what it is. Far Left radical extremism with the need to control everything.
    Government must increase so the individual will decrease. That’s socialism. Controlling the ways and means of production and….well…1984. Control everything. Forced compliance.
    And socialism can only work in a closed system. Thus open borders will destroy the safety net of socialism.

    Like

  8. Bill Tozer Avatar
    Bill Tozer

    ‘Morally And Medically Appalling’: Gender Clinic Case Manager Blows The Whistle On ‘Permanent Harm’ Done To Kids
    https://www.dailywire.com/news/morally-and-medically-appalling-gender-clinic-case-manager-blows-the-whistle-on-permanent-harm-done-to-kids
    We know the stats. 90% of kids who claim they are transgender will change their beliefs (minds) and go back to their true biological sexes by age 18, 19.
    Prepuberity blockers stops the size and growth of the penis, so when the transgender reverts back to being a male, his dong with be the size of an prepubertal kid. The treatments contain the same drugs used for chemical castration. Sterilization is permanent.
    In female kids, the breast are chopped off before they wish to transition back to female. Too late.
    And here is the kicker. Of those kids who went through transgender therapy, 80% of them will transition back to their biological sex and identify as homosexual, i. e., gay or lesbian.
    When the gay community (LBG) realizes that it’s gay kids (future gays) have been bodily mutilated and their genitalia permanently disfigured….well, that will get them up in arms. Look what this gender dysphoria has done to the gay and lesbian community!

    Like

  9. Bill Tozer Avatar
    Bill Tozer

    Anyone here remember joking that snow and white paint will be deemed racist? Still waiting for snow, but wait no longer for paint being racist.
    Even White Paint Is Racist Now
    https://thefederalist.com/2023/02/09/even-white-paint-is-racist-now/

    Like

  10. Don Bessee Avatar
    Don Bessee

    Reality check nobody is buying what creepy grampa joe was selling last night –
    https://currently.att.yahoo.com/finance/news/half-of-americans-feel-worse-off-financially-highest-since-2009-224507782.html
    😉

    Like

  11. Don Bessee Avatar
    Don Bessee

    Looks like creepy grampa joe is in a world of hurt as the big guy with his 10% way more of a problem than corn pop! LOL –
    Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA), who testified Thursday before the House’s new Select Subcommittee on Political Weaponization, said whistleblower disclosures indicate the FBI has evidence that President Joe Biden is aware of the family business schemes, a statement that directly contradicts the president.
    Joe Biden and his staff have claimed seven times that he’s had no part in the family business schemes.
    “I’ve never spoken to my son about his overseas business dealings. Here’s what I know — I know Trump deserves to be investigated,”Biden claimed in 2019.
    But Sen. Grassley, speaking before the first “Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government” hearing, told House members that whistleblower disclosures “make clear the FBI has within its possession very significant, impactful, and voluminous evidence with respect to potential criminal conduct by Hunter and James Biden.”
    “These disclosures also allege that Joe Biden was aware of Hunter Biden’s business arrangements and may have been involved in some of them,” Grassley added.
    https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2023/02/09/chuck-grassley-whistleblowers-say-fbi-has-evidence-joe-biden-involved-in-family-business-schemes/
    😉

    Like

  12. Scott O Avatar

    Oh, horrors! Some companies are making money!
    “Last week, ExxonMobil reported a profit of $55.7 billion and Chevron reported a profit of $35.5 billion. This week, Shell reported $39.9 billion, BP reported $27.7 billion and French oil major TotalEnergies reported $36.2 billion in profits.”
    OMG!
    And what about those companies’ losses in previous years?
    Silence.
    Is the fed govt going to repudiate the taxes gleaned from these profits?
    Hmmmm?
    Biden is horrified –
    “You may have noticed that Big Oil just reported record profits. Last year, they made $200 billion in the midst of a global energy crisis. It’s outrageous,” President Biden said Tuesday night during the State of the Union address to Congress.
    “They invested too little of that profit to increase domestic production and keep gas prices down. Instead, they used those record profits to buy back their own stock, rewarding their CEOs and shareholders,”
    What? No 10% for the Big Guy?
    Instead these evil companies rewarded their STOCKHOLDERS!!!
    Those damned retired people and public employee pension funds.
    As Greta would scowl – “how dare they”!
    Biden knows his base.
    The lefty mouth-droolers and economic idiots.
    Biden claims he wants to get rid of petro and then complains the companies aren’t increasing the output of petro.
    No wonder the left and the Dems love him.
    Complete morons.
    https://thehill.com/newsletters/energy-environment/3852109-energy-environment-biden-pushes-back/

    Like

  13. Misanthrope Avatar
    Misanthrope

    Thanks Biden!
    A 46% drop in natural gas prices this year is rippling across the U.S. shale patch, threatening to slow drilling and chill deal-making in a move unthinkable six months ago as global demand soared.
    Analysts are chopping their outlook for gas prices this year, and for production and earnings. The drop has also put a cloud over merger and acquisition activity, analysts said.
    Such moves were unfathomable six months ago as Russia reduced its gas flows to Europe and U.S. gas became a hot commodity. The number of active gas-drilling rigs jumped about 48% to 157 in the first six months of 2022, according to data from oilfield services firm Baker Hughes.

    Like

  14. Scott O Avatar

    Missy Anthrax 8:56 – So, if Biden can take credit for lowering nat gas prices, why is he not responsible for the “outrageous” profiteering by the oil companies?
    Waiting…

    Like

  15. Gregory Avatar
    Gregory

    Biden can also take “credit” for blowing up the Nordstream 2 pipeline.
    https://www.newsweek.com/nord-stream-attack-senator-raises-alarms-about-alleged-us-involvement-1780192

    Like

  16. fish Avatar
    fish

    Posted by: Scott O | 09 February 2023 at 10:40 PM
    Now Scott….you just stop that! You know what logic does to him.

    Like

  17. fish Avatar
    fish

    More from Mittens Cucksworthy the 3rd….

    AMERICA’S NEWSPAPER OF RECORD:

    Romney Attacks George Santos: ‘There’s Only Room For One Fake Republican In Congress.’

    https://babylonbee.com/news/romney-attacks-santos-theres-only-room-for-one-fake-republican-in-congress

    Like

  18. fish Avatar
    fish

    BIDEN REJECTS FOX SUPER BOWL INTERVIEW? DEVELOPING…
    Must have run out of the juice that helps him remain lucid during State of the Union speeches.

    Like

  19. scenes Avatar
    scenes

    “Thanks Biden!
    A 46% drop in natural gas prices this year is rippling across the U.S. shale patch, ”
    lol. Yeah, that’s right.
    It’s worth thinking about for a second. It’s obvious that Biden ain’t all there, but what exactly have his DEI political appointees + the lifetime civil servants have to do with gas prices…aside from deciding to go to war with Russia of course.
    This goes back 5 years (you need a paid sign-up to go further, probably just as well given the change that inflation makes in these numbers).
    https://ycharts.com/indicators/henry_hub_natural_gas_spot_price
    You know, what I mostly see is an incredible amount of variance starting with the current crew of pirates. Economies hate uncertainty, but you can argue that the Party of knocking down statues, burning blocks of buildings, and child grooming+mutilitation might bring in a period of jumpiness to the current state of affairs. It won’t matter much once the geniuses at the State Department start the thermonuclear exchange with Russia of course.
    OTOH, I’d generally say that the people with the most faith in the Endless Good Deeds of government tend to overstate how much control there really is at the levers. Personally I’d go with the theory that there’s a continuously rising amount of control by .gov, but that no one knows what they are doing, aside from scrabbling for power and money.

    Like

  20. fish Avatar
    fish

    Posted by: scenes | 10 February 2023 at 08:30 AM
    It won’t matter much once the geniuses at the State Department start the thermonuclear exchange with Russia of course.

    Yes but it should eliminate some of that…. uncertainty.

    Like

  21. Scott O Avatar

    scenes 8:30 – “…tend to overstate how much control there really is at the levers.”
    Hard to overstate the govts ability to screw things up.
    Now, as to actually improving our lives…
    There’s that ongoing need to feather their own nests, first.

    Like

  22. scenes Avatar
    scenes

    Just a bit of organizing by the Party of Peace.
    https://archive.is/gZvDD
    “If you come to a protest without a mask, you’re not on our side”
    You know, it’s funny how nicely tied together the whole mask business is. They’re not (and never were) particularly useful in fighting airborne viruses but were primarily a kind of because-I-told-you-so bit of social control. At the same time, they’re just the thing for stylish left-wing mostly-peaceful protestors as a kind of fashion item.
    Check out the must-mask business here:
    https://twitter.com/MrAndyNgo/status/1624023984625819648?cxt=HHwWgICx5bTN2IktAAAA
    “MASKS REQUIRED! YES! STILL!”
    (I admit that …”A radical leftist baker in Oakland who believes in the abolishment of the law has tragically died after being dragged to death by robbers. Jennifer Angel, who ran Angel Cakes, was an anarchist activist. Her GoFundMe says they hope her killers (believed to be black) aren’t jailed.”… is probably the headline of the year).
    Some upcoming sociology researcher is going to write a paper or three on the Mask Movement.
    https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1024/branded_news/13EA3/production/_112817518_gettykente976.png

    Like

  23. scenes Avatar
    scenes

    re: ScottO@9:43AM
    What I’m referring to, and probably should have been clearer, was purposeful control (I figgered that ‘control’ implied purposeful, but maybe not).
    Inputs into the system result in unknown consequences.

    Like

  24. fish Avatar
    fish

    Posted by: scenes | 10 February 2023 at 09:46 AM
    As an anarchist who supported BLM I’m sure she would have wanted it (dragged to death by violent thieves) this way!
    Way to “keep it real”!

    Like

  25. Don T Avatar
    Don T

    Bill T
    My point is Republicans have framed Medicare, public power, social security, deposit insurance, and independent labor organizations as a descent into socialization as a fear tactic to perennially scare their base into voting Republican out of fear.
    It was in response to you lending credibility to something Reagan was associated with, and I referred you to his Medicare scare campaign as a measure of his accuracy.

    Like

  26. Bill Tozer Avatar
    Bill Tozer

    I am not Catholic…but find this quite disturbing:
    ‘FBI Retracts Memo Labeling Traditional Catholics ‘Violent White Supremacists,’ Pushing Infiltration Of Christian Communities’
    This time, the target was traditional Catholic Christians, but you can be sure they won’t stop with Catholics.
    https://thefederalist.com/2023/02/09/fbi-retracts-memo-labeling-traditional-catholics-violent-white-supremacists-pushing-infiltration-of-christian-communities/
    In reading the Wikileaks of 2016, John Podesta was corresponding with another top Hillary Clinton campaign member about the “Catholic Problem” concerning pro-life Catholics. The “Plan” was not needed Podesta replied back to the campaign surrogate at the time. The “Plan” is a DNC strategy to flood the Catholic churches with pro-death choice members and change the tenets of Catholic Church to become pro-abortion. The Catholic Problem. Just popped into my noggin reading the link.

    Like

  27. Bill Tozer Avatar
    Bill Tozer

    Sad story and no one cares. I care. Breaks my heart.
    ‘Detransitioners’ Are Being Abandoned By Medical Professionals Who Devastated Their Bodies And Minds’
    Health providers won’t help detransitioners who seek to undo the damage of transgender surgery and hormones.
    https://thefederalist.com/2023/02/10/detransitioners-are-being-abandoned-by-medical-professionals-who-devastated-their-bodies-and-minds/

    Like

  28. scenes Avatar
    scenes

    “Health providers won’t help detransitioners who seek to undo the damage of transgender surgery and hormones.”
    But it’s a fun hobby and you get a lot of upvotes from your fellow ‘health’ providers.
    Turning mostly-temporary mental illnesses permanent via the magic of chemistry and mutilation is an interesting modern notion. Next up, anyone claiming to identify as a dog will get their ears reshaped, limbs broken and reset into strange geometries, and new hormones that make rolling in a deer carcass pleasurable. It’ll be a beautiful thing.
    No joke, the amount of upcoming suicides will be remarkable. It’s part of the Progressive Way, so it’s all good.
    ……………………….
    “My point is Republicans have framed Medicare, public power, social security, deposit insurance, and independent labor organizations as a descent into socialization as a fear tactic to perennially scare their base into voting Republican out of fear.”
    Huh. I haven’t heard much of that for years (decades, really), although it’s a good strawman for Biden to put out during the State of Dementia. Most of what you hear is along the lines of Republicans is we-cant-pay-for-it, but of course we will. Just keep borrowing money until the bond market fails, print money until it’s valueless. It always happens eventually.
    That’s old people politics in any case. It’s like waving your hands about how THE REPUBLICANS ARE FOR BIG BUSINESS and THE DEMOCRATS ARE FOR THE WORKIN’ MAN, which hasn’t been true for some time. I’m not saying that 70 year old voters listening to an 80 year old President on NPR don’t exist, it’s just that they don’t matter all that much anymore.

    Like

  29. scenes Avatar
    scenes

    re: BillT@1:05PM
    Here’s the document. Whistleblown (is that a word?), not released.
    https://www.uncoverdc.com/2023/02/08/the-fbi-doubles-down-on-christians-and-white-supremacy-in-2023/
    The FBI sources seem to consist of Salon Magazine, The Atlantic (owned by someone who get their wealth the old-fashioned way), and the SPLC
    Of course, for every super-outrageous thing we hear about, 100 others slip by. God knows how many people have ended up in some federal dungeon as targets of some investigation like this. No crime needed, just screw up in an interview and/or some handwaving about ‘conspiracy’.
    Probably the best thing happening here is what a mind-blower it is for old-school patriots. Maybe things were never what they seemed.

    Like

  30. Bill Tozer Avatar
    Bill Tozer

    scenes @ 2:30 pm
    “But it’s a fun hobby and you get a lot of upvotes from your fellow ‘health’ providers.”
    Tru dat. The Plastic Surgeons Medical Association has come out 100% for child mutilation. So has Planned Parenthood. Who cares about abortion and selling baby parts for revenue when their is a whole slew of new customers that will need drugs for a lifetime. There is good opportunities….especially for hospitals and renown medical facilities.
    Suppose it’s better than paying plastic surgeons for cosmetic surgeries not cover my insurance for tummy tucks and big cherry lips like….some famous Hollywood actress. Like Octomom’s lips.
    In a somewhat related angle concerning the obese fat ladies, nowadays the solution is NO MORE exercise and diet but surgeries. Suck that fat out of ya, tie up the belly, life under the knife is the solution. See that Victoria Secrets lingerie for fat ladies and Megan Rapinoe (American soccer player) types in lieu of the Victoria Secrets sexy models has gone over with the public like a fart in church. Bring back the babes! It’s mostly men who buy that stuff for the wives on special occasions, birthdays, and holiday gifts. Anyway…….once you see Lena Dunham in the buff or just as bad, in lingerie, you will demand that Victoria Secrets bring their prior models back.
    Prove me wrong.

    Like

  31. Scott O Avatar

    scenes 9:46 – “Her GoFundMe says they hope her killers (believed to be black) aren’t jailed….”
    Ah, so –
    Shot?

    Like

  32. Bill Tozer Avatar
    Bill Tozer

    Scott
    Shot? No, not with a gun. Maybe a Molotov cocktail or three with a laser in the eyes and a Lock-in-the-Sock (or frozen water bottle) to drive it home. No rules? Gotta.
    ——————————-
    Drip, drip, drip….trickle, trickle, pour. Holy Smokes, the dam is busting.
    ‘CNN in Disarray: Lemon’s Sour Ratings & Licht Wants Barkley, King to Save Network’
    https://www.newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/curtis-houck/2023/02/10/cnn-disarray-lemons-sour-ratings-licht-wants-barkley-king-save
    Well, Charles Barley will get their heads popping from out of the gate and isn’t Gayle King the one Jussie Smollett ran to for compassion and understanding and sympathy as well as famous Alec Baldwin to get their side out first. The tears, o the tears.

    Like

  33. Beep Beep. Avatar
    Beep Beep.

    Weakness breeds contempt.
    EDITORIAL OF THE DAY
    https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2023/02/editorial-of-the-day.php
    “I believe her.” Dead psul.

    Like

  34. Don Bessee Avatar
    Don Bessee

    A liberal outs the trans crazyness being foisted on ignorant kids –
    “Two weeks ago, I brought my concerns and documents to the attention of Missouri’s attorney general. He is a Republican. I am a progressive. But the safety of children should not be a matter for our culture wars,” Reed wrote in the op-ed.
    “During my time at the Center, I personally witnessed Center healthcare providers lie to the public and to parents of patients about the treatment, or lack of treatment, and the effects of treatment provided to children at the Center,” Reed wrote in the affidavit filed with the state’s attorney general’s office. “I have seen puberty blockers worsen the mental health outcomes of children. Children who have not contemplated suicide before being put on puberty blockers have attempted suicide after.”
    In another allegation, Reed said that the hospital “does not require children to continue with mental health care after they prescribe cross-sex hormones or puberty blockers and even continues those medications when the patients directly report worsening mental health after initiating those medications.”
    Reed also said that “on several occasions” doctors at the transgender center “have continued prescribing medical transition even when a parent stated that they were revoking consent.”
    In response, Washington University in St. Louis issued a statement saying that it is alarmed by the allegations.
    https://www.foxnews.com/politics/missouri-university-calls-whistleblower-allegations-against-transgender-center-troubling
    😉

    Like

  35. Bill Tozer Avatar
    Bill Tozer

    Heard about Family Story Hour about 3 weeka ago. A municipal library held a Drag Queen story hour for children, but refused a request by another group (evil bigoted group) that wanted to hold a family values normal people story time event. The threat of a emergency hearing before a judge and some heat in the kitchen got the library to change its mind AFTER iron fisted drop dead refusia. see the ahow it taking on the road to a community near you.. Goose meet Gander.
    ‘VIDEO – Kirk Cameron Draws ‘Extremely Passionate’ Crowd for Story Hour: ‘We’re Just Getting Started!’
    https://www.breitbart.com/education/2023/02/09/video-kirk-cameron-draws-extremely-passionate-crowd-story-hour-were-just-getting-started/?

    Like

  36. Bill Tozer Avatar
    Bill Tozer

    Time for Frtterman to pass the baton? NYT says yes.
    Megan Kelly with VDH on our Senator in hospital John Fetterman. Heck, John McCain held his seat and couldn’t show up to do his job for eight months prior to his deadth. Probably would have been longer if he did not kick the bucket. Anyway….
    https://fb.watch/iCNhQwQtkl/

    Like

  37. Don Bessee Avatar
    Don Bessee

    The woke jihadies dont want to really help have a society. LOL –
    Some Taliban fighters are sick of the 9 to 5 grind, complaining they’ve been sucked into urban life by working desk jobs to run Afghanistan
    https://www.yahoo.com/news/taliban-fighters-sick-9-5-101420096.html
    😉

    Like

  38. Bill Tozer Avatar
    Bill Tozer

    scenes @ 2:30 in response to Dante
    “Huh. I haven’t heard much of that [SS and Medical cuts] for years (decades, really), although it’s a good strawman for Biden to put out during the State of Dementia.”
    Yep, it is more of a old geezer argument now, going back to old days. But, its nice to pull it out of the closet on occassion, dust it off, and put it back in the closet…or take it to the thrift store to recycle it. My favorite thift store name I stumbled upon in Santa Cruz once was “Love Me Two Times”.
    A brillant politician speaks to the issue.
    https://fb.watch/iCQWMBh2FA/

    Like

  39. Scott O Avatar

    “My favorite thift store name I stumbled upon in Santa Cruz once was “Love Me Two Times”.”
    Hey – it’s the Hunter Biden international travel song!
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MsP6EKAzEjI

    Like

  40. Don T Avatar
    Don T

    scenes @ 2:30 pm
    Has it really been decades since you’ve heard of Republicans using the Socialist label to describe Democrats in an effort to scare impressionable voters?
    Seems to be a daily if not hourly thing on far right media, this site included. The historical examples are good for context on how those claims actually materialize.

    Like

  41. scenes Avatar
    scenes

    ” Has it really been decades since you’ve heard of Republicans using the Socialist label to describe Democrats in an effort to scare impressionable voters?”
    Is that what I said? Huh. Probably should read the exchange again old son.
    I admit that I don’t listen to far right media, or much of any traditional media at all. AM talk radio and NPR (or, God help us, Democracy Now!) are just sloganeering machines. I really do believe that the primary audience is the elderly, all fighting battles from decades ago.
    Personally, I’d say that the economics arguments are lost. Currency collapse, bond market collapse are inevitable. The uniparty will always favor short-term happiness over long-term benefit.
    In terms of picking a side, and by that I mean the belief systems of your neighbors, not professional politicians, it seems straightforward enough. Which group disdains traditional culture? which one burns down buildings? which one tears down statues? which one runs the entertainment and social media companies and attempts to heavily imprint it’s views? which one finds child mutilation among the highest good?
    Answer that, and alignment choices become obvious.
    Speaking of socialism, I ran through a chunk of this book yesterday, “The Soviet Tragedy: A History of Socialism in Russia, 1917-1991 (Malia)” and I rather like it so far. A lot of it seems to revolve around the question of whether autocracy and brutality are baked into the cake of socialism.
    I have to admit that Pournelle’s Iron Law of Bureaucracy springs to mind.
    https://www.jerrypournelle.com/reports/jerryp/iron.html

    Like

  42. Misanthrope Avatar
    Misanthrope

    Natural gas prices drops, and now border encounters drops reported. Time for a new narrative? How about the Trump aid who was copying classified docks onto a laptop?
    “CBP Southwest Border Enforcement Numbers for January 2023
    U.S. Border Patrol encounters of individuals who entered the country between Ports of Entry at the southwest border in January 2023 totaled 128,410, down 42% from 221,675 in December 2022. This is the lowest month of Border Patrol encounters since February 2021 when encounters began to increase after the most severe impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on migration.
    CBP total encounters in January 2023 were 156,274, down nearly 40% from 251,978 in December 2022. This total includes Border Patrol encounters and noncitizens processed at Ports of Entry including individuals who sought an exception to Title 42 based on certain vulnerabilities and scheduled an appointment to present in advance via the CBP One Application.”

    Like

  43. scenes Avatar
    scenes

    “Natural gas prices drops, ” -Misanthrope
    For God’s sake, do you read any of the posts from anyone?
    Here. Set to five years. Tell me about the wondrous Biden administration and their natural gas magic. All I see is crazy variability to and fro from normalcy.
    https://ycharts.com/indicators/henry_hub_natural_gas_spot_price
    It’s hard to get away from the fact that natgas availability will be pressed by two buttons.
    1) This seemingly senseless war with the Russians that is all-Biden all-the-time now. It messes with energy cost worldwide.
    2) Making it harder to drill and ship. Both of these are a Big Deal to the shrillest part of the Democratic Party.
    I know you are just here to argue and make big points against the Nazis, but jeez louise man.

    Like

  44. fish Avatar
    fish

    Posted by: scenes | 11 February 2023 at 02:01 PM
    For God’s sake, do you read any of the posts from anyone?

    As a former professional gatekeeper/opinion molder has really has no need of any information that detracts from the narrative.

    Like

  45. scenes Avatar
    scenes

    re: fish@2:05PM
    My bad. I shouldn’t get irritated with these people. They have an emotional attachment to Joe and the DNC, the bureaucracy generally, and get style points for stickin’ it to the Nazis. There’s no need to defend a position with that mindset, just jab.
    Truth is, arguing old-school politics is an old man game. All of that talky talk about unions, publicly funded health care, what tax rates should be, whether the Corvair is a safe car or not, that’s all gone.
    The same people who destroy buildings, tear down statues, brought you Sam Brinton and ‘Rachel’ Levine and Drag Queen Story Hour, who burn down Western Civilization and piss on the remains, are happy to show up here with the occasional political apraxia. After the last few years, there’s no point in compromise.

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  46. Don T Avatar
    Don T

    Scenes
    you wouldn’t be the first to claim no far right media yet still on script with it. Only you would know.
    If your concerned about heavy imprints of views of social media you should look into the house hearings where we learned there was an entire database for complaints on Twitter by the last administration, stuff they wanted removed like when C. Tegan called him a “pussy ass bitch”
    What traditional values are you witnessing disdain of?
    Pre or post civil rights time frame?
    You seem to allude to a lot of generalities to non Republican voters.
    As an independent who ends up voting democrat it’s fairly easy to distinguish differences amongst Republican voters.
    There are actual Republicans that have those values and there are the maga types that are more of a cult like following but still share some Republican values. These are the ones that will call those not loyal to trump RINO, not based on their voting record, but because they aren’t loyal to trump.
    It sounds like you would agree the socialism claim is used pretty regular by repubs, even if it’s not on social security and public power etc. like in past years.

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  47. scenes Avatar
    scenes

    “It sounds like you would agree the socialism claim is used pretty regular by repubs, even if it’s not on social security and public power etc. like in past years.”
    Absolutely. It’s just a general epithet, like calling Trump a ‘fascist’ (kinda hard when the intelligence complex is running a soft coup during most of your administration). Plenty of youtube videos with the ‘s’ or variant used by some Republican member of the DC elite.
    In the meantime, the inevitable occurs. Large organizations get larger and their interests merge over time. If antitrust law mostly avoids Google, they sure as hell won’t go after the UAW, or the Department of Education. At some point it tends towards either One Big Machine or a number of organizations who have made accommodations with each other, a nation of rent-seekers scrabbling up a road of bones. This business of tearing down traditional culture and replacing it, complete with a very large commissar class, is mostly a spectacle of status seeking and money.
    Obviously Trump didn’t succeed, he was basically an unprincipled bomb thrown into the works. The Republican establishment, aside from the occasional real-deal radical, simply fishes skeletal tidbits from the common pot like their counterparts. The ability for government to scale goes up given computers/surveillance and the lack of interest by the general public in self-reliance.
    There’s nothing left to do but bitch.

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  48. Gregory Avatar
    Gregory

    Delirium tremens 249p
    What is there about House Democrats that doesn’t deserve the Socialist ™ label?
    One by one… how many would denounce, for example… Angela Davis? Or her phd adviser, Herbie Marcuse?

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  49. Bill Tozer Avatar
    Bill Tozer

    When common sense draws crickets and exposes the Left’s crazytown. Hey, we ask the questions here, lol.
    https://twitter.com/benshapiro/status/1623469280862867456
    —————-
    Disinformation Inc: Watchdogs blast State Department for funding group blacklisting conservative media
    https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/restoring-america/fairness-justice/disinformation-inc-watchdogs-blast-state-dept-grants-group-blacklisting-conservative-media

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