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#3101 2026-01-24 17:25:05
- kbd512
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- Registered: 2015-01-02
- Posts: 8,474
Re: Politics
SpaceNut,
If you point a firearm at a law enforcement officer, they will shoot you! This outcome is the real physical world reminder that the law still applies to you, regardless of how you perceive yourself. Nobody is forcing these dimwits to engage in this idiocy. They're being encouraged to act like street thugs by Democrat politicians and media cretins who don't get shot by the Police because they never show up to these clown shows.
How many lunatic leftists are prepared to die to attempt (and fail) to prevent law enforcement from arresting the usual assortment of illegal alien child rapists and murders that the Biden (Democrat) administration rolled out the red carpet for?
I guess we're about to find out.
I'm quite pleased that our radical leftists have now decided that they support The Second Amendment to our Constitution, but if they want to use their 2A rights to murder law enforcement officers, then they're going to find out that Republicans have been 2A supporters far longer than they have been. Either think before you act, or suffer the consequences when you don't.
FYI...
Renee Good was apparently sent $15,000 USD, via Venmo, by the Mayor of Minneapolis, Jacob Frey (Democrat), on the 3rd of January, mere days before her lunatic behavior towards law enforcement cost her her life, with the payment description set to "Melt ICE". Presumably, that payment was made to act like a prototypical leftist lunatic. You can't spend bribe money you received from the Democrat Party to act like a street thug after you've been shot. I'm sure it's "just a joke" since this is a leftist we're talking about here, but one of her Venmo payments she made out to someone else had that payment description set to "terrorism".
A normal person can be forgiven for thinking that people like Renee Good are terrorists when they pay other people for "terrorism".
Radical leftists are free to continue LARPing as a revolutionaries, but they should know that most revolutionaries get shot in the streets.
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#3102 2026-01-25 08:30:21
- SpaceNut
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- From: New Hampshire
- Registered: 2004-07-22
- Posts: 30,381
Re: Politics
Saw the video of the Minnesota shooting and the agent pushed a woman, being near the one shot stepped up to rebuke the agent was then mugged and tackled to the ground, pepper sprayed and shot while he struggle for his life all for protecting the honor of the pushed woman.
We are all civilians first regardless of what jobs we do. Assault is still assault even when in a uniform as you are all civilians once the clothes' are off.
Maybe she hit first but did not see that.
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#3103 2026-01-25 08:41:32
- offtherock
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- Registered: 2017-10-26
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Re: Politics
Trump is a walking pile of shit.
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#3104 2026-01-25 15:43:00
- kbd512
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- Registered: 2015-01-02
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Re: Politics
SpaceNut,
When you actively seek out law enforcement officers to fight with, you should expect them to fight back, because that is what we train them to do. They are not obligated to twiddle their thumbs and wait for you to shoot them. All of this insanity could have been avoided by allowing those officers to do their jobs, then fighting a legal battle in court. If you attempt to fight a gun battle in the streets using weapons against people who are better trained and equipped than you are, the only likely outcome is that you lose your life.
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#3105 2026-01-26 07:07:12
- SpaceNut
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- From: New Hampshire
- Registered: 2004-07-22
- Posts: 30,381
Re: Politics
Trump issues four immigration demands to Walz, Democratic leaders
Trump on Truth Social
The president posted on Sunday:“That is why I am hereby calling on Governor Walz, Mayor Frey, and EVERY Democrat Governor and Mayor in the United States of America to formally cooperate with the Trump Administration to enforce our Nation’s Laws, rather than resist and stoke the flames of Division, Chaos, and Violence:
1. Governor Walz and Mayor Frey should turn over all Criminal Illegal Aliens that are currently incarcerated in their State Prisons and Jails to Federal Authorities, along with all Illegal Criminals with an active warrant or known Criminal History, for Immediate Deportation.
2. State and Local Law Enforcement must agree to turn over all Illegal Aliens arrested by Local Police.
3. Local Police must assist Federal Law Enforcement in apprehending and detaining Illegal Aliens who are wanted for Crimes.
4. Democrat Politicians must partner with the Federal Government to protect American Citizens in the rapid removal of all Criminal Illegal Aliens in our Country. Some Democrats, in places like Memphis, Tennessee, or Washington, D.C., have done so, resulting in safer streets for ALL.
In addition, I am hereby calling on the United States Congress to immediately pass Legislation to END Sanctuary Cities, which is the root cause of all of these problems. American Cities should be Safe Sanctuaries for Law Abiding American Citizens ONLY, not Illegal Alien Criminals who broke our Nation’s Laws.
All of these requests are rooted in COMMON SENSE, and will provide the best possible circumstances to, MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN! The Trump Administration is standing by, and waiting for ANY Democrat to do the right thing, and work with us on these important matters of MAKING AMERICA SAFE like it is in all sections of our Country where we are, together with Local Leadership, participating and involved.
DONALD J. TRUMP PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA”
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#3106 2026-01-29 13:41:21
- Terraformer
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- From: The Fortunate Isles
- Registered: 2007-08-27
- Posts: 3,992
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Re: Politics
So any competant nation could build a workable car of good quality. Just maybe without all of the superfluous electronics.
Britain, the country of the Henry Hoover and creator of The Best Plug In The World, should be all over this. Amongst other ruggedised simple equipment.
Use what is abundant and build to last
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#3107 2026-01-30 01:56:51
- clark
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- Registered: 2001-09-20
- Posts: 6,383
Re: Politics
SpaceNut,
When you actively seek out law enforcement officers to fight with, you should expect them to fight back, because that is what we train them to do. They are not obligated to twiddle their thumbs and wait for you to shoot them. All of this insanity could have been avoided by allowing those officers to do their jobs, then fighting a legal battle in court. If you attempt to fight a gun battle in the streets using weapons against people who are better trained and equipped than you are, the only likely outcome is that you lose your life.
When armed citizens go looking for a fight, yes, violence becomes more likely, and that’s reckless. But “they’re trained to fight back” is not a moral blank check, and it’s not even the standard we claim to hold law enforcement to.
Officers aren’t trained to win gunfights as a first principle—they’re trained (and empowered) to enforce the law while minimizing unnecessary harm. That means de-escalation when possible, tactical patience when feasible, and force that is necessary and proportionate, not force that is convenient, retaliatory, or emotionally satisfying. “You should expect them to fight back” is a description of risk, not a justification for everything that follows.
And “just fight it in court” is a nice slogan until you remember that court is slow, expensive, unevenly accessible, and doesn’t resurrect people. The legal system is exactly why we demand higher restraint from the state: because the government gets more authority, more weapons, more protection, and more second chances than the average person.
So yes: if you choose the street as your courtroom, you’re gambling with your life and everyone else’s. But the state doesn’t get to respond like a rival gang and then shrug: “What did you expect?” The whole point of professional policing is that the people with the badges are supposed to be the adults in the room—especially when someone else is acting like an idiot.
WTF is wrong with expecting that we can complain about our government and how our government operates without the fear of being shot down dead in the street like a dog? Looks like the leftist communists didn't need to vote; Trump boot lickers are more than happy to grab their ankles while cosplaying a day on Epstein's island.
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#3108 2026-01-31 00:16:33
- offtherock
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- Registered: 2017-10-26
- Posts: 61
Re: Politics
I dont know it looks like pure execution to me.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rRl_BNfgIHo
cant be bothered spending much time on it though.
He prob.just wanted to get rich like their previous killer.
Correct me if im wrong though, havent studied this much.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aXaBjBTRXV8
how can people not view maga as a pile of moronic gangsters.
i just cant wrap my head around that.
america is now just a banana republic.
Last edited by offtherock (2026-01-31 00:18:35)
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#3109 2026-01-31 01:32:01
- kbd512
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- Registered: 2015-01-02
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Re: Politics
clark,
But “they’re trained to fight back” is not a moral blank check, and it’s not even the standard we claim to hold law enforcement to.
If people like Alex Pretti cared at all about morality, they would not assault law enforcement officers in the process of executing an arrest warrant on a child rapist.
Officers aren’t trained to win gunfights as a first principle
If you don't win your gunfights first, then you don't get to apply any other principles.
And “just fight it in court” is a nice slogan until you remember that court is slow, expensive, unevenly accessible, and doesn’t resurrect people.
If Alex Pretti was kept in jail by the State of Minnesota after he assaulted two federal law enforcement officers and vandalized their vehicle 11 days before he was shot during his final assault against federal law enforcement officers, then he'd most likely still be alive today. That means he wouldn't need to be resurrected because he'd still be sitting in a jail cell where he belongs.
Alex Pretti was released because the State of Minnesota and the City of Minneapolis are run by criminals who clearly don't care at all about the people they're supposed to protect and serve, unless Minnesota Democrats now exclusively protect and serve thieves, rapists, and murderers. They keep paying and encouraging their hooligans to fight with federal law enforcement officers, then bailing them out after they get arrested for assaulting federal law enforcement officers, so there's no other logical conclusion to reach.
The signal chat excerpts between Walz, Frey, and their street thugs indicate the violence they're perpetrating is intended to distract attention away from the fact that Walz and Frey were active participants in an organized crime ring which fraudulently disbursed about ten billion dollars worth of Medicaid funding to people who only provided care to their wallets. After having been caught stealing from the federal government, they then thought to themselves, let's add incitement to violence, funding violent organized criminal activities against federal law enforcement, and insurrection to our list of federal charges.
The legal system is exactly why we demand higher restraint from the state: because the government gets more authority, more weapons, more protection, and more second chances than the average person.
The duty to exercise restraint on the part of the state doesn't mean its citizenry are allowed to actively seek out federal law enforcement officers to assault to avert attention away from the criminal activities of their local and state government officials. Thieves like Walz and Frey will always feel entitled to what other people have, but that doesn't mean that they are.
But the state doesn’t get to respond like a rival gang
Gang members randomly attack other people who they believe are part of rival gangs. Whether they are or not is irrelevant to them. This is precisely what the left does, and why they eventually lose public support. If any law enforcement agency starts doing that, then we're in agreement that they're acting like a gang. That's not what happened here, but you are welcome to go through as many anti-logic loops in your head as are required to believe otherwise.
The whole point of professional policing is that the people with the badges are supposed to be the adults in the room—especially when someone else is acting like an idiot.
I'm disappointed that you, a leftist, refuse to support Alex Pretti's right to choose between a court battle and a gun battle. Our professional federal officers worked with Alex Pretti, a professional local street thug and idiot, to save him and the tax paying general public from a slow, expensive, and unevenly accessible criminal trial, which would most likely have resulted in a slow and expensive prison sentence.
WTF is wrong with expecting that we can complain about our government and how our government operates without the fear of being shot down dead in the street like a dog?
You don't "complain about your government" by chasing after federal law enforcement officers and assaulting them in the streets while they're in the process of arresting child rapists. The question you're really asking is, "Why isn't our federal government playing our stupid games by our stupid rules?" The answer is simple and direct. When the left refuses to interact civilly with people who were previously behaving in a civil manner towards them, they only have themselves to blame.
Looks like the leftist communists didn't need to vote; Trump boot lickers are more than happy to grab their ankles while cosplaying a day on Epstein's island.
Our leftist communists are still pretending that laws don't exist if they disagree with them. Everyone else seems to accept that this is not how the law works.
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#3110 2026-01-31 02:52:57
- kbd512
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- Registered: 2015-01-02
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Re: Politics
clark,
Here's a video showing the behavior of your perfect little angel towards ICE a few days before he was shot:
Associated Press - New video shows Alex Pretti in scuffle with federal officers days before his death
These two goobers were caught using Signal Chat to provide real time locations of ICE agents to street thugs like Alex Pretti:
Goober #1:
Goober #2:
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#3111 2026-01-31 08:47:15
- offtherock
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- Registered: 2017-10-26
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Re: Politics
its very questionable ethically to be doxing some private information here about somebody.
we have no way of knowing or understanding if this should really be here.
its lawless.
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#3112 2026-01-31 14:02:19
- kbd512
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- Registered: 2015-01-02
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Re: Politics
offtherock,
its very questionable ethically to be doxing some private information here about somebody.
Only publicly released information provided by Alex Falconer in a YouTube video has been posted here:
MNHouseinfo - Informational interview with Rep.-elect Alex Falconer (DFL-Eden Prairie)
we have no way of knowing or understanding if this should really be here.
Alex Falconer publicly claims he's running a "resistance network" against ICE
I'm going to take Alex Falconer at his word. You are free to fabricate an entirely fictitious alternate reality in your mind.
its lawless
If you think it's "lawful" for members of the Minnesota state government to post real-time information about the locations of ICE agents who are in the process of executing arrest warrants for illegal alien child rapists and murderers, then there is no definition of "lawlessness" that you and I will agree upon.
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#3113 2026-01-31 16:26:43
- kbd512
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Re: Politics
In their own words, these fanatical and violent leftists view federal law enforcement agents arresting illegal alien child rapists and murderers as "literal nazi gunmen". They call their home state of Minnesota a "battlefield". They claim that they are "at war" with our federal government. At least they now believe in our Second Amendment, which is "progressive" for them, I guess, except that they still don't accept the results of the last election, which was the American electorate collectively exercising their First Amendment rights. That means they still don't believe in "our democracy".
Most of these goobers are delusional "larpers" (live-action role players) who seem to think only their beliefs are "morally correct". In actual practice, they're cannon fodder for our home-grown communist revolutionary wannabes. To be perfectly clear with my leftist Americans, I know how important "larping" is to all of you. I know that dressing up in costumes and pretending to be someone else is an important part of your core identity. As a personal entertainment practice, I take no issue with this. However, if you "play dress up" as a soldier and then engage in violence against federal law enforcement agents, I can tell you as someone who has worn our nation's uniform that you will then be treated as "the enemy", because that is how you have chosen to present yourself to the rest of society. After you publicly state that is what you are, do not whine about being treated as what you claim you are.
Since none of y'all have ever picked up a real history book to know where "your socialist movement" (your brain-bowel movements to people who have studied history or lived in communist countries), you should know that the very first groups of people that the Russian and Chinese communists imprisoned and murdered after they seized power were the artists, actors, and other assorted misfits within their societies. That means the communists convincing you to toss yourselves into a meat grinder today will make you disappear soon after they seize power, because if you were successful in your revolution, then you're a threat to their power.
The Horst Wessel effect refers to the Nazi propaganda machine’s successful transformation of SA member Horst Wessel from an obscure stormtrooper into a revered martyr and mythic hero following his death in 1930. Joseph Goebbels utilized Wessel’s killing by communists to create a cult of personality, using his lyrics—the "Horst Wessel Lied"—as a national anthem to sanitize political violence and encourage absolute devotion to the Nazi movement.
Key elements of this propagandistic effect included:
Martyrdom Myth: Wessel was portrayed as a saintly, self-sacrificing figure, despite his actual life as a pimp and SA leader, transforming his sordid death into a foundational Nazi myth.
The leftist propagandists have already used mass media extensively to portray Alex Pretti, a violent street thug, as a self-sacrificing ICU nurse. They've even used AI-manipulated videos with ICE agents who had no heads to manipulate public perception of what happened.
Iconography and Cult: His grave became a shrine, and he was honored through films (e.g., Hans Westmar), biographies, and the renaming of places, such as Friedrichshain to Horst-Wessel-Stadt.
I stopped counting after seeing 2 dozen different styles of T-shirts making references to Alex Pretti and Renee Good. My personal favorites were "Be Good - Be Pretti" by Tee Public, and "I am Good and Pretti" from a store on Etsy. All the iconography seems to be saying, "be someone who assaults law enforcement officers". The unspoken part is that you're also choosing to be someone who gets shot in the streets after larping as a communist revolutionary foot soldier who has no clue or care that they're being manipulated like "meat puppets" by their leftist politicians- essentially, cannon fodder for their communist cause.
Symbolic Anthem: The song "Die Fahne hoch" (The Flag on High), which Wessel wrote, was elevated to the status of a co-national anthem, promoting the ideals of violence and loyalty to the Führer.
NPR - Bruce Springsteen releases anti-ICE protest song 'Streets of Minneapolis'
LarryLongTroubadour - Ballad of Alex Pretti by Larry Long
Not One More - A Song for Alex Pretti | The Midnight Republic
Justification for Violence: The narrative was used to rationalize SA retaliation against communists and solidify the party's image of aggressive bravery.
The leftist mass media, leftist political office holders, and the rank and file leftists have all used the deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti as justification for further violence, but that justification process began long before either of those two cretins met their ends. The moment the massive fraud scheme was revealed to the public, it was necessary for Minnesota Democrats to avert attention away from their criminal enterprise by using violence against federal law enforcement.
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#3114 2026-01-31 17:16:23
- Terraformer
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- From: The Fortunate Isles
- Registered: 2007-08-27
- Posts: 3,992
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Re: Politics
Looking over at Iran, wondering when the panic buying starts. Filled up my tank just in case. There were people there with containers to fill, petrol not diesel, so you're capped at 30L unless you notify the fire service. Diesel has no such limits because a spark won't cause an inferno.
In domestic news, looking forward to the Manchester by-election. Not unlikely Reform take it, causing much wailing and gnashing of teeth. Fun times, though St George's Day could be funner. Depends on how many more girls get raped by dinghymen between now and then, perhaps.
Use what is abundant and build to last
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#3115 Yesterday 09:32:54
- RobertDyck
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- From: Winnipeg, Canada
- Registered: 2002-08-20
- Posts: 8,367
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Re: Politics
kbd512: You have been a member of this forum for many years. I realize you are emotionally invested in your candidate for President, but seriously it’s time to open your eyes. Even the Russians laughed at America for electing Trump a second time. The woman who heads RT News (formerly Russia Today) said Americans have an attention span of a goldfish. You should know what he’s really like.
As for “child rapists”, the only one you need to concern yourself with is named Danald J. Trump. There are already pictures released from the Epstein files. How many times has Trump appeared in the Epstein files?
Yes, the woke people need to be stopped. Yes, Obama created more regulations than any President. Obama hired academics who created regulation based on ideology, not anything practical. Yes, the damage must be corrected. But two wrongs do not make a right.
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#3116 Yesterday 09:50:29
- RobertDyck
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- From: Winnipeg, Canada
- Registered: 2002-08-20
- Posts: 8,367
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Re: Politics
I have a question for Americans on this forum. Who could replace the Vice President? Choosing a Democrat is not going to happen. JD Vance is worse than Trump. Trump’s health is so bad he will not live to the end of his term. He already demonstrates dementia. Eg, confusing Greenland with Iceland. But Vance? He argued that ICE can break into a home without a judicial warrant. He argued an “administrative warrant” is good enough. Let’s be clear, an “administrative warrant” is filled out by ICE themselves, not any judge. The 4th amendment states a judicial warrant is required. It doesn’t matter what arguments you or anyone makes, a judicial warrant is required. Period. Violating that means violating the Constitution. Vance wants to treat the Constitution as toilet paper.
Other things: he hates all democracies in the world. Wants to overthrow all democracies in Europe. He supported the AfD, Alternative für Deutschland = Alternative for Germany. All For Deutschland was a slogan of Nazis, so the slogan is outlawed in Germany. He’s explicitly Nazi.
I could go on, but Vance is worse than Trump. Before Trump is impeached or just dies of medical problems resulting from old age, Vance must be replaced. Trump wants to be the smartest person in the room at all times, so has removed anyone smarter than himself. Who is left that is actually competent? Who is qualified to be VP?
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#3117 Yesterday 10:04:42
- Calliban
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- From: Northern England, UK
- Registered: 2019-08-18
- Posts: 4,293
Re: Politics
Whilst tarrifs have their uses, Trump's use of tarrifs as a political weapon in every dispute or negotiation is damaging to American industry. Businesses make investments with return windows measured in years to decades. They are now in a situation where they have no certainty at all about whether a particular business case is profitable or not, because the tarrif rate changes at the drop of hat. That makes future investment in cross border supply chains very risky. KBD512 would like to see more goods consumed by americans made by americans. That sounds good in theory. But different parts of the manufacturing process require labour at different skill levels and price points. There are also issues with economy of scale that make it difficult for individual nations to produce complex products for a limited internal market. The smaller a nation is, the more difficult that becomes.
Last edited by Calliban (Yesterday 10:06:46)
"Plan and prepare for every possibility, and you will never act. It is nobler to have courage as we stumble into half the things we fear than to analyse every possible obstacle and begin nothing. Great things are achieved by embracing great dangers."
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#3118 Yesterday 10:58:22
- Void
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- Registered: 2011-12-29
- Posts: 9,242
Re: Politics
Quote:
I have a question for Americans on this forum. Who could replace the Vice President?
I think he will do just fine. Our Legislature and Supreme Court can hobble him is necessary, but I don't think that will be needed. Our government is not just the president.
Quote:
Trump’s health is so bad he will not live to the end of his term. He already demonstrates dementia. Eg, confusing Greenland with Iceland.
Anyone could do that. I prefer a vast mind that is bigger than its verbal skills than a Fountain of world salads.
Have you watched how Elon Musk stumbles with words sometimes? Is he senile? There is just probably some many plates spinning at one time that on occasion small mistakes happen which can easily be corrected for.
Examples: https://giphy.com/explore/spinning-plates
Quote:
Whilst tarrifs have their uses, Trump's use of tarrifs as a political weapon in every dispute or negotiation is damaging to American industry.
Results are still not yet defined, we will see.
My speculation on the situation is that the USA is a 2-mode country. This is our other mode East Asian and East European threats are less now than per the Cold War. Other threats are more important now.
Great Britain does have two modes. But Scotland is small. So, your other mode is not of equal size to your Pseudo-Latin mode.
You could try to bind with the Nordics get Huggy with them. Good luck with that blending. Tell they you want Greenland. But even if you could unify that, that would be unification in one vector and insufficient union in the other.
France has Poland, or will Poland have France?
You guys just don't have the unification tools that the USA does. Even Canada does not have a sufficiency of tools yet.
You can look at is as crop rotation. The soil that grew what it grew from 1929 (Very Approximately) to 2008 (Very Approximately) does not have the nutrients left over to continue in that mode. So then plant something else.
That is approximately part of what I could answer.
Ending Pending 
Last edited by Void (Yesterday 11:24:11)
Is it possible that the root of political science claims is to produce white collar jobs for people who paid for an education and do not want a real job?
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#3119 Yesterday 12:00:32
- kbd512
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- Registered: 2015-01-02
- Posts: 8,474
Re: Politics
RobertDyck,
I realize you are emotionally invested in your candidate for President, but seriously it’s time toopen your eyes.
You want your emotions validated. You came to the wrong place for that. Other people are allowed to have opinions which do not reflect your own. That doesn't make them "totally wrong" and you "totally right".
President Trump is Bill Clinton 2.0. He's a 1990s Democrat who has adopted or co-opted "good for the goose, good for the gander" policies that are anathema to people who want special treatment.
Take the medicine and quit complaining about the taste.
Even the Russians laughed at America for electing Trump a second time. The woman who heads RT News (formerly Russia Today) said Americans have an attention span of a goldfish.
Do you think I care about what RT News thinks of President Trump?
You clearly do, so tell us why that is.
As for “child rapists”, the only one you need to concern yourself with is named Danald J. Trump. There are already pictures released from the Epstein files. How many times has Trump appeared in the Epstein files?
Leftists don't care about children and never have, unless they can find some way to exploit them for political gain. If there was any tangential evidence of criminality on President Trump's part, every Democrat in America would've used it against him already. To quote one of my favorite leftist FBI Agents, "There's no there there."
Yes, the woke people need to be stopped.
Nobody on the left is ever going to do that. That's a major part of why we President Trump was re-elected. Every opportunity was presented to stop doubling and tripling down on pure insanity, but they refused to stop. Once Democrats become entranced with their latest bad idea, they never let go of it until long after it's apparent to everyone else that the idea is a failure.
Yes, Obama created more regulations than any President. Obama hired academics who created regulation based on ideology, not anything practical.
The only personalities involved in left wing politics at this point are activists, community organizers, and self-loathing academics who have been lost in their luxury communism beliefs for so long that they forgot what kitchen table economics is like for the other 90% of the people living in America. The Democrats who do get elected are "give us all of your money so we can redistribute it to ourselves" shysters who never fail to make life worse for the people they don't feel they serve, because they're too busy serving themselves.
Yes, the damage must be corrected. But two wrongs do not make a right.
Damage correction means different things to different people.
Who could replace the Vice President? Choosing a Democrat is not going to happen. JD Vance is worse than Trump.
Both President Trump and Vice President Vance were Democrats who became disillusioned with the wholesale destruction of the American economy and family that Democrats inflicted upon the people they no longer serve.
Vance wants to treat the Constitution as toilet paper.
When Democrats in President Biden's administration were rolling out the red carpet for illegal alien rapists and murderers, you were completely silent on the matter. Your credibility with anyone who is not a leftist, on matters pertaining to the law, is starting at zero.
If you expect me to hear you out, then you'd best get on with the process of posting one of your typical whiny rants about all the illegal and destructive things the Democrat Party has done to Americans in pursuit of their luxury communism dystopia. I'm going to respond to it like any typical liberal, meaning I'm going to respond the way you do, so I'm going to call you every name I can think of, I'm going to make emotional bad faith non-arguments that don't address your arguments, utterly refuse to acknowledge facts the way you do, and then tell you how wrong you are.
Alternatively, make a good faith argument supported by data, rather than your personal beliefs about the data, and we'll go from there.
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#3120 Yesterday 12:23:58
- kbd512
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- Registered: 2015-01-02
- Posts: 8,474
Re: Politics
Calliban,
KBD512 would like to see more goods consumed by americans made by americans.
KBD512 would also like to see more goods consumed by the british made by the british.
KBD512 would also like to see more goods consumed by canadians made by canadians.
KBD512 would also like to see more goods consumed by... if the pattern isn't already clear, then it never will be.
That sounds good in theory.
At least we won't be starting from a point of "bad theory", such as "send your manufacturing overseas and then your (already opulently wealthy) people will be a little wealthier". That is the "economic theory" we've been operating from during my entire life, which hasn't improved the lives of average workers, and never will, because it was never intended to do that.
But different parts of the manufacturing process require labour at different skill levels and price points. There are also issues with economy of scale that make it difficult for individual nations to produce complex products for a limited internal market.
It sounds like you're telling me that we must prioritize which products and services to focus our efforts on, so as to "economize" on labor and capital inputs, rather than exploiting poorer people in foreign countries so some of us can lead better lives. It also sounds like you don't really want to pay your fellow countrymen a living wage for certain products or services, so you'd have to learn to live without things you're not actually wiling to pay your own people to produce. Maybe you only have 5 different brands of tea instead of 500, but you still have tea to drink at the end of the day.
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#3121 Yesterday 13:31:24
- RobertDyck
- Moderator
- From: Winnipeg, Canada
- Registered: 2002-08-20
- Posts: 8,367
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Re: Politics
Quote:
I have a question for Americans on this forum. Who could replace the Vice President?
I think he will do just fine.
I hope the United States will still exist. The Trump administration is determined to convert the US to a dictatorship, and Vance is pushing harder than Trump. Congress and the Supreme Court haven’t stopped Trump. Do you think they’ll do better with Vance?
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#3122 Yesterday 14:07:19
- Void
- Member
- Registered: 2011-12-29
- Posts: 9,242
Re: Politics
As two collective decisions, do you think it is possible that they don't want to stop Trump?
Ending Pending
Is it possible that the root of political science claims is to produce white collar jobs for people who paid for an education and do not want a real job?
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#3123 Yesterday 23:43:49
- clark
- Member
- Registered: 2001-09-20
- Posts: 6,383
Re: Politics
" Our professional federal officers worked with Alex Pretti, a professional local street thug and idiot, to save him and the tax paying general public from a slow, expensive, and unevenly accessible criminal trial, which would most likely have resulted in a slow and expensive prison sentence."
@kbd512, you are a dirtbag of the first order. The willingness you demonstrate to rationalize state sanctioned murder based on political belief is appalling and damming of every single person that aligns with you. A goddamn ICU nurse for the VA, shot unarmed, by poorly trained federal agents, is somehow his fault? You've shown a glimmer of being rationale in the past, talking about your immigrant wife, and being texan in texas. You've been pro gun on numerous occasions and here we have a card carrying gun holder shot by the government, but because he disagrees with your politics, well, sh*t, gunning him down was his fault. Seriously. You're an embarrassment as an American.
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#3124 Today 01:31:21
- kbd512
- Administrator
- Registered: 2015-01-02
- Posts: 8,474
Re: Politics
China's food self-sufficiency ratio dropped from 93.6% in 2000 to 65.8% in 2020, increasing reliance on foreign sources.
Does it make any sense at all that a nation as economically powerful as China can produce billions of tons of steel and concrete per year, plastics of every description, photovoltaic panels, electric power transformers, LED lights, but they still don't grow enough food to actually feed all of their people without massive food imports?
That's precisely what "globalism" has done to the people living in China- incentivized abhorrently irresponsible behavior between governments that is facially absurd, yet somehow justified to everyone on the basis of "price points". The most obvious issue is that the entire system is completely artificial because it's simply not necessary with modern technology. Prior to industrialization, no such absurdity was ever implemented, because it was unsustainably expensive in every sense of the word. Ships carried luxury goods from far off lands- tea, spices, precious metals, furs, articles of clothing, etc. This was profitable because it was something unobtainable locally and the ships carried people as well as goods. Food was provided for a ship's complement while in transit. Whenever you arrived at your destination, you ate and drank whatever was locally available. We never attempted to send the bulk of an agricultural harvest from one nation on one side of the world to another nation on the other side. Ships carried seeds so that food crops could be planted at the destination.
China imported almost 158 million metric tons of grain in 2024. At ~75,000t worth of grain for ships that can actually transit through canals and such, 2,093 ship loads had to be sent half-way around the world. 6 grain ships need to drop their cargo off in a port somewhere in China every single day, or people begin to starve to death. To maintain this sort of foodstuffs rate of delivery, I estimate that no fewer than 132 bulk carriers are required, each one burning at least a couple of tanker cars worth of bunker fuel per day. There is no possible way that makes economic sense from an energy and materials inputs perspective. It's certainly not pragmatic.
This simple example isn't even the tip of the iceberg, merely a microscopic ice crystal attached to it. We've engaged in this sort of lunacy on a grand scale. Everyone has voluntarily participated in this Chinese fire drill since WWII ended. It's why our energy consumption never goes down, regardless of how efficient we become at making and distributing things. You cannot send billions of tons of goods here, there, and everywhere without paying the unavoidable energy and transport system cost. Before large scale greenhouses existed, perhaps that was the only realistic option for certain foodstuffs, but that time has long since past. For metal ores and concrete, it makes no sense at all. Nothing is actually being "saved" by conducting business this way. The "proof" of the system's inefficiency is our ever-increasing energy consumption. That is one real reason why we, The United States of America, now want everyone to earnestly work on reestablishing their own self-sufficiency. It will be painful in the short term, as every major transition has been. In the mid to long term, domestic security and prosperity associated with living wages by owning and operating the means of production will be reestablished.
When you have your own energy supplies, foodstuffs and fresh water, mines and smelters, your own factories to make the things you need, you don't need to participate in the fire drill to nearly the same degree, except by choice. Certain nations will still need to move certain goods by ship, but there will be a lot less of that after domestic production of the essentials has been rebuilt. It's not as if all international trade will cease to exist, either. The bottle of Chanel No 5 you bought for your wife or girlfriend will still come from France. The steel in your car will come from your own nation or perhaps a closely allied nation, definitely not Russia or China, and the hands that made your car will belong to your neighbors and relatives. The food in your shopping cart will come from the next county over.
Australia has some of the largest Iron ore and coal mines in the world. Rather than build their own smelters to make steel, there's a conga line of bunker fuel burning ships that transport the ore and coal to China, followed by another conga line of ships to take the steel for another trip around the world. Australian Iron ore is perhaps 60% Iron, so 40% of the tonnage shipped to China is Oxygen and other impurities. At least 50% of the energy and transport cost is tied to shipping materials that are not even saleable products of any kind.
This is a stupid shell game that trades labor costs for materials and energy costs. Nearly all of us win stupid prizes by continuing to play the game. It's not making all of us richer, it's making a literal handful of people richer while everyone else gets poorer in real terms.
Apart from the obvious benefits associated with not shipping things here, there, and everywhere, achieving higher recycling rates for key materials would have a monumental impact on self-sufficiency:
If we recycled all major metals at 95% or better, then we'd also have almost no requirement to mine virgin metal to sustain the American economy. We'd still mine some metal to maintain a domestic supply, but there'd be no economic advantage to importing massive quantities of the stuff on bulk carriers when so much of what we consume can be provided by improved domestic recycling programs. The overriding point is that the level of energy input and materials input could be drastically lower with no drop in economic activity.
Here's a real overview of President Trump's economic policy for anyone interested in insight vs ignorant leftist rhetoric:
Hillsdale College - Can We Escape the Debt Trap? | MAGA Economics | James Rickards
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#3125 Today 04:07:55
- kbd512
- Administrator
- Registered: 2015-01-02
- Posts: 8,474
Re: Politics
clark,
@kbd512, you are a dirtbag of the first order. The willingness you demonstrate to rationalize state sanctioned murder based on political belief is appalling and damming of every single person that aligns with you.
This young lady's name was Laken Riley:
She never had the chance to become a nurse because she was raped and murdered by the sort of illegal alien criminals those ICE agents were in the process of arresting when Alex Pretti decided to attack them. Your outrage over her death was conspicuously absent.
A goddamn ICU nurse for the VA, shot unarmed, by poorly trained federal agents, is somehow his fault?
Alex Pretti was armed and he did assault federal law enforcement officers at least twice that we know about. Is your claim that they were poorly trained based upon any personal knowledge of Police Procedure, or merely anger over the result? If you repeatedly chase after law enforcement officers and assault them while carrying a gun, your chances of being shot increase exponentially. Being an ICU nurse for the VA doesn't change that. Being a Catholic Priest wearing a MAGA hat doesn't change that, either.
You've shown a glimmer of being rationale in the past, talking about your immigrant wife, and being texan in texas.
My immigrant wife couldn't believe ICE didn't shoot Pretti during his first unprovoked attack against their agents. I'm not sure how being a Texan in Texas makes me more or less "rational", but a lot of your argumentation comes off as very emotional, so I guess I shouldn't expect much logic or reasoning where there likely isn't any.
You've been pro gun on numerous occasions and here we have a card carrying gun holder shot by the government, but because he disagrees with your politics, well, sh*t, gunning him down was his fault. Seriously.
Being pro-gun doesn't mean I think repeatedly chasing after and assaulting federal agents who were sent to arrest a rapist is an acceptable way to behave.
LT Christopher Dorner was a fellow Navy man. He was quite clearly a "card-carrying pro-gunner" as well. Sadly, he also shot seven people who were not initially trying to do anything at all to him. I don't agree with or condone what he did, either.
Politics has nothing to do with how I feel about what Alex Pretti and Christopher Dorner did to other people. They ceased to behave like responsible adults when they began behaving like enraged maniacs over whatever perceived injustice they felt they were subjected to, and that's where they lost me. Both men chose to engage in "street justice" and received "street solutions" in response. Their treatment of people who did nothing to them is what matters to me, not the fact that they shared one specific value I have.
You're an embarrassment as an American.
From the few times we've interacted, you've engaged in a lot of name-calling, angry outbursts over things that were not even done to you, personally, and uncivil treatment of other forum members. I'm not embarrassed by you, but I am disappointed by how you treat others who don't share your opinions.
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