Random Thoughts XX (that's 20)

[Johnny Fontane]

Unless I missed something....honestly not sure how we got here with the Penn swim team. Trump administration clearly in the right here....I will respect anyone's wishes to be identified how they want (provided I'm told), but Lia Thomas being allowed to compete against girls was....an interesting decision.

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It was the most common sense obvious thing in the world. Even most democrats for women’s rights were against men competing in women’s sports.

[eddieheatfan]

Read on Twitter

Oh man, you all are getting expert level analysis on foreign policy from a basketball forum. If only I was this good at analyzing the Heat.

Probably Syria and Lebanon, but maybe Saudi Arabia too.

huh? saudi arabia is already part of these accords.

No my friend. Saudi Arabia is not a part of the Abraham Accords. They have attached some conditions on what must be done to join. Which we may see this year.

you are right i was wrong i thought that they joined during the first trump presidency or something but again i was very wrong. thank you for pointing that out. man i do do more research on the subject

[HeatFanLifer]

Read on Twitter

Very interesting take indeed. Why is Syria trying to get closer to Israel? Turkey is a NATO ally, surely al-Sharra knows a NATO ally can assert far better defense of a nation than Israel. Yet here the new leader of Syria is trying to join the Abraham accords. Why is that? Keep in mind, Syria just went through decades of dictatorship that saw some of the worst atrocities inflicted on people in modern civilization, just suffered through a sustained air campaign (a decade long if I read correctly) courtesy of Russia, had non-stop fights with Israel, also had Turkey invading from the north and I think still even does, still has US troops in the country, and also suffered an Isis uprising that made Assad’s dictatorship look like a princess fairytail.

What is it about the Abraham accords that is so tempting? I think many state leaders want their own independence and they know the Abraham Accords is the way to get it done. Dependency on a nation is not job security for a state leader. Assad can attest to that.

[contract]

I would like to congratulate all the real Americans in red states that elected representatives that just voted to give large tax cuts to the coastal elites in major metropolitan areas.

[oreon]

I would like to congratulate all the real Americans in red states that elected representatives that just voted to give large tax cuts to the coastal elites in major metropolitan areas.

At the expense of lower middle class and low income. A lot of people without means are going to suffer so people with means can get richer

It's the same thing as USAID, MAGA supporters will push the conspiracy of fraud to justify these cuts. But reality is that hurts the poor disenfranchise. So much for Judea Christian values the church base of Republican party likes to parrot

And to top it all, 3 trillion in extra debt

[goodboy]

yo

[HeatFanLifer]

yo

Sup

[goodboy]

yo

Sup

What it do

[HeatFanLifer]

I would like to congratulate all the real Americans in red states that elected representatives that just voted to give large tax cuts to the coastal elites in major metropolitan areas.

At the expense of lower middle class and low income. A lot of people without means are going to suffer so people with means can get richer

It's the same thing as USAID, MAGA supporters will push the conspiracy of fraud to justify these cuts. But reality is that hurts the poor disenfranchise. So much for Judea Christian values the church base of Republican party likes to parrot

And to top it all, 3 trillion in extra debt

The deficit is definitely a concern. What I am curious about is the role that tariffs play in all of this. If a company is given a tax incentive to produce in the USA and create jobs, while disincentivizing production across the border, then I am in favor of that. If prices go up, median income in the country stays stagnant or decreases, and upper 1% of wealth becomes even bigger part of the pie, then I am not in favor. Will see what the next year holds and reasses next July.

Happy 4th everyone.

[oreon]

I would like to congratulate all the real Americans in red states that elected representatives that just voted to give large tax cuts to the coastal elites in major metropolitan areas.

At the expense of lower middle class and low income. A lot of people without means are going to suffer so people with means can get richer

It's the same thing as USAID, MAGA supporters will push the conspiracy of fraud to justify these cuts. But reality is that hurts the poor disenfranchise. So much for Judea Christian values the church base of Republican party likes to parrot

And to top it all, 3 trillion in extra debt

The deficit is definitely a concern. What I am curious about is the role that tariffs play in all of this. If a company is given a tax incentive to produce in the USA and create jobs, while disincentivizing production across the border, then I am in favor of that. If prices go up, median income in the country stays stagnant or decreases, and upper 1% of wealth becomes even bigger part of the pie, then I am not in favor. Will see what the next year holds and reasses next July.

Happy 4th everyone.

Tarriffs and manufacturing are a different subject. It's not even possible to raise tarriffs enough to close the deficit. Trump and Repubs have chosen not to care about the deficit and have it made worse. They are lying when they say this bill is about the deficit.
This bill is about tax cuts primarily to the rich. And in order to not make the deficit worse than this bill projects they tooks cut to the safety net that poor people rely on.
Whether the tarrifs bring back local manufacturing, it doesn't really matter. It won't change the deficit.
Neither party cares about the deficit. But republicans are worse. They are the ones most responsible for the deficit and they punish the poor for it.

It's gonna take an economic crash one day for either party to care for the deficit. It's coming. Whether 5 years or 10 years. But the deficit is growing at a rate that's unsustainable. At some point they won't be able to hide from the problem

[Vertical Limit]

At the expense of lower middle class and low income. A lot of people without means are going to suffer so people with means can get richer

It's the same thing as USAID, MAGA supporters will push the conspiracy of fraud to justify these cuts. But reality is that hurts the poor disenfranchise. So much for Judea Christian values the church base of Republican party likes to parrot

And to top it all, 3 trillion in extra debt

The deficit is definitely a concern. What I am curious about is the role that tariffs play in all of this. If a company is given a tax incentive to produce in the USA and create jobs, while disincentivizing production across the border, then I am in favor of that. If prices go up, median income in the country stays stagnant or decreases, and upper 1% of wealth becomes even bigger part of the pie, then I am not in favor. Will see what the next year holds and reasses next July.

Happy 4th everyone.

Tarriffs and manufacturing are a different subject. It's not even possible to raise tarriffs enough to close the deficit. Trump and Repubs have chosen not to care about the deficit and have it made worse. They are lying when they say this bill is about the deficit.
This bill is about tax cuts primarily to the rich. And in order to not make the deficit worse than this bill projects they tooks cut to the safety net that poor people rely on.
Whether the tarrifs bring back local manufacturing, it doesn't really matter. It won't change the deficit.
Neither party cares about the deficit. But republicans are worse. They are the ones most responsible for the deficit and they punish the poor for it.

It's gonna take an economic crash one day for either party to care for the deficit. It's coming. Whether 5 years or 10 years. But the deficit is growing at a rate that's unsustainable. At some point they won't be able to hide from the problem

Local manufacturing still exists, not sure how long it will exist if some businesses cant hold up the costs.

For me, fortunately its been manageable..

The tariffs are a hit to domestic manufacturing. At least in my line of business, i get aluminum from colombia and costa rica and we have to pay the tariff to get it out of the port.

Now we have to raise the products by a percentage to get the money back we paid at the port, so the customer pays for it. It is what it is, it sucks. Colombia nor costa rica isnt paying anything and theyre sure not giving discounts because Trumpy hit me with a tariff.

And yes, paying that tariff is still significantly cheaper than buying aluminum/steel made in america.

[HeatFanLifer]

The deficit is definitely a concern. What I am curious about is the role that tariffs play in all of this. If a company is given a tax incentive to produce in the USA and create jobs, while disincentivizing production across the border, then I am in favor of that. If prices go up, median income in the country stays stagnant or decreases, and upper 1% of wealth becomes even bigger part of the pie, then I am not in favor. Will see what the next year holds and reasses next July.

Happy 4th everyone.

Tarriffs and manufacturing are a different subject. It's not even possible to raise tarriffs enough to close the deficit. Trump and Repubs have chosen not to care about the deficit and have it made worse. They are lying when they say this bill is about the deficit.
This bill is about tax cuts primarily to the rich. And in order to not make the deficit worse than this bill projects they tooks cut to the safety net that poor people rely on.
Whether the tarrifs bring back local manufacturing, it doesn't really matter. It won't change the deficit.
Neither party cares about the deficit. But republicans are worse. They are the ones most responsible for the deficit and they punish the poor for it.

It's gonna take an economic crash one day for either party to care for the deficit. It's coming. Whether 5 years or 10 years. But the deficit is growing at a rate that's unsustainable. At some point they won't be able to hide from the problem

Local manufacturing still exists, not sure how long it will exist if some businesses cant hold up the costs.

For me, fortunately its been manageable..

The tariffs are a hit to domestic manufacturing. At least in my line of business, i get aluminum from colombia and costa rica and we have to pay the tariff to get it out of the port.

Now we have to raise the products by a percentage to get the money back we paid at the port, so the customer pays for it. It is what it is, it sucks. Colombia nor costa rica isnt paying anything and theyre sure not giving discounts because Trumpy hit me with a tariff.

And yes, paying that tariff is still significantly cheaper than buying aluminum/steel made in america.

Yeah it’s a problem that raw materials such as aluminum are cheaper if made outside the country than if made in America. The whole point of tariffs was not reducing the debt to nil, but to offset the tax breaks given to companies producing in the states and incentive other companies to make more in the borders. Short term it’s gonna suck, long term hopefully Trump gets some good deals for the country. Like I said, his bill passed today so he has one year to show its results. I’m hopeful, but staying grounded on expectations.

[HeatFanLifer]

Elon Musk’s new party sounds like a Liberal-Libertarian alliance. Bill Clinton style policies (open trade, incentives for corporations, borderline crony capitalism) with a focus on the libertarian priority of balancing the budget (i.e. do what you gotta do but that bottom line better not be in debt). It is an interesting concept, but how many Bill Clinton style liberals are left in this country that would vote third party over the democrat base? The libertarian amount of the total vote is likely 2%, but can grow to 3% if there is enough campaigning.

This new party runs similar to the start of the 20th century when the progressive party (Bull Moose) split from the Republican party and Woodrow Wilson got elected on the Democrat ticket due to split vote. Only question this time would be who is Elon pulling the votes from now? One thing is for sure, Elon dgaf to a degree beyond most rational consciousness. When he thinks he is right he pushes things to an unnatural level.

[Vertical Limit]

Elon Musk’s new party sounds like a Liberal-Libertarian alliance. Bill Clinton style policies (open trade, incentives for corporations, borderline crony capitalism) with a focus on the libertarian priority of balancing the budget (i.e. do what you gotta do but that bottom line better not be in debt). It is an interesting concept, but how many Bill Clinton style liberals are left in this country that would vote third party over the democrat base? The libertarian amount of the total vote is likely 2%, but can grow to 3% if there is enough campaigning.

This new party runs similar to the start of the 20th century when the progressive party (Bull Moose) split from the Republican party and Woodrow Wilson got elected on the Democrat ticket due to split vote. Only question this time would be who is Elon pulling the votes from now? One thing is for sure, Elon dgaf to a degree beyond most rational consciousness. When he thinks he is right he pushes things to an unnatural level.

We will see if he goes through with it. I think his main goal is to disrupt the republican party, much like Bernie did to Hillary, so that he can say he beat Trump (by giving a democrats a path to victory)..


But, a few private conversations between trump admin and elon before midterms, like hey we can cut regulations on this spacex project or regulations for this tesla stuff for you, and he will jump back on the trump train much like RFK did. And elons america first party will be gone

[HeatFanLifer]

Elon Musk’s new party sounds like a Liberal-Libertarian alliance. Bill Clinton style policies (open trade, incentives for corporations, borderline crony capitalism) with a focus on the libertarian priority of balancing the budget (i.e. do what you gotta do but that bottom line better not be in debt). It is an interesting concept, but how many Bill Clinton style liberals are left in this country that would vote third party over the democrat base? The libertarian amount of the total vote is likely 2%, but can grow to 3% if there is enough campaigning.

This new party runs similar to the start of the 20th century when the progressive party (Bull Moose) split from the Republican party and Woodrow Wilson got elected on the Democrat ticket due to split vote. Only question this time would be who is Elon pulling the votes from now? One thing is for sure, Elon dgaf to a degree beyond most rational consciousness. When he thinks he is right he pushes things to an unnatural level.

We will see if he goes through with it. I think his main goal is to disrupt the republican party, much like Bernie did to Hillary, so that he can say he beat Trump (by giving a democrats a path to victory)..


But, a few private conversations between trump admin and elon before midterms, like hey we can cut regulations on this spacex project or regulations for this tesla stuff for you, and he will jump back on the trump train much like RFK did. And elons america first party will be gone

It really is about his business interest. He publicly declares he is against the EV stipend, but I heard behind the scenes he is advocating strongly for keeping it. That’s why Trump keeps calling him out on it. Don’t lie to people. His companies do a lot of good, he should be showing the benefits of continuing the EV stipend. Not putting on a show for what he may view as the proletariat.

Americans don’t like to be viewed as dumb, we do dumb things, but being viewed as dumb or lesser to another kicks in an instinct in people in this society that is not easily seen around the world. Big political test here for Trump to tell Elon don’t do it cuz Elon’s gonna do it and Trump knows how to stop it. Those sweet stipends are worth spending a billion for, will that get him anywhere? I think he’s about to be way in over his head.

[Vertical Limit]

You have elon doing that on the republican side and at the same time you cant ignore what bernie and aoc have been doing since january this year. Theyve been hosting soldout rallies about 10 times already i think in a few months, and theyre hoping that whwn its time to go to iowa in 2.5 years, theyve had built something so big that theyll be undeniable by the democrats.

Their way of doing, the grassroots path, at this day and age has worked in small sample sizes, theyve gotten very few seats in the house and the senate that way.

To say theyll be able to accomplish that at the highest level, i doubt it works. But thats why theyre starting now i suppose, since bernie did do damage to hillarys campaign, both directly and indirectly.

And i guess right now with the democrats not having a single clear cut candidate for 2028, this would be the time.

[HeatFanLifer]

You have elon doing that on the republican side and at the same time you cant ignore what bernie and aoc have been doing since january this year. Theyve been hosting soldout rallies about 10 times already i think in a few months, and theyre hoping that whwn its time to go to iowa in 2.5 years, theyve had built something so big that theyll be undeniable by the democrats.

Their way of doing, the grassroots path, at this day and age has worked in small sample sizes, theyve gotten very few seats in the house and the senate that way.

To say theyll be able to accomplish that at the highest level, i doubt it works. But thats why theyre starting now i suppose, since bernie did do damage to hillarys campaign, both directly and indirectly.

And i guess right now with the democrats not having a single clear cut candidate for 2028, this would be the time.

What even are their policies at this point? We got a lot of people in this country that know the perils of socialism. Not seeing Bernie and AOC diverge from that platform. It’s a fringe element of society that supports socialism, though it does grow in favorability with youth vote. Not saying they aren’t trying to distance themselves, I just haven’t seen it.

[Bishop45]

Almost 90 folks dead from a flash flood with zero accountability

Read on Twitter

[Vertical Limit]

Pam Bondi, Kash Patel and the entire DOJ has lost all credibility today and there is no bouncing back from it.

[HeatFanLifer]

Almost 90 folks dead from a flash flood with zero accountability

Read on Twitter

What would you like accountability to be? I’m all for accountability. While we’re at it, let’s talk accountability for people not getting aid in Western North Carolina. FEMA officials were purposely not going to certain areas due to political ideology and the region was widely neglected to this day. Let’s talk about accountability for the locals of Maui, who suffered a devastating wild fire a couple of years ago. Civilians were prevented evacuation by officials, and many people had to flee into the ocean for safety… if they managed to live through it. Let’s talk about accountability for the Malibu wildfires, where firefighters had no water to even fight the flames.

I am not **** you. This is not a “whataboutism”. This is a yes, let’s bring some accountability to anyone who **** up. I don’t care what your race, religion, political ideology, or anything else is. These are human beings who are needlessly losing their homes or worse and nobody seems to give a **** to identify areas where people messed up and stop it from happening again. We aren’t learning anything.